Morning thoughts:
Whoa, what happened to my brain last
night?! Using racing terms, I’d say I
hit the trifecta...except the payout wasn’t big money, it was the inability to
formulate a full sentence. š
Let’s see...I went to bed too late on Monday night...what sleep I got
was fractured by the sounds of vehicles leaving the campground, etc....I spent
hours on the road in fast traffic, high temps and humidity. Yep, that’ll do it. But last night I got a good night’s sleep in
an air conditioned environment so I’ve got that going for me today. š
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Planning the route is basically my job...Kim is game for just about
anything so my fears/apprehensions are what puts the limitations on the
route. And looking at the map today,
checking this and checking that, and seeing the possibilities, I had to decide
if I was willing to fight the fear of driving near New York. Forget about driving in New York, I don’t
even want to get near it. It’s not a
fear actually, it’s more of an intense aversion. We (Jeff, I and 3 of the boys) drove to New
York years ago and I swore I’d never do that again. It was very nerve racking for someone who
lives in a small town with only one road going completely through it...and I
wasn’t even the one driving! Our
Venetian traffic doesn’t come close to preparing for the New York driving
experience. Anyway, fight my fear...was
I willing to do it?
Went over our options with Kim...he was good with whatever I came up
with. The pressure is now real....Agh!!
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Evening thoughts:
We can check New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut off the list...the
remaining states can now be counted on one hand. š
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On Michigan highways the exit numbers match up to the mile marker
number. Other states do that too. For
example, Exit 53 is going to be near mile marker 53. Not the case on the roads we’ve been on. I’ve been noticing that the exits go in
sequential order and not matched with the corresponding mile marker. For
example, Exit 12 may be at mile marker 34 and then Exit 13 at mile marker 42. At first I thought it was a turnpike thing
but saw it on lesser roads also. Must
work for them out here but I prefer it the Michigan way.
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In addition I haven’t been seeing those green signs listing the distance
to two or three cities on down the road. That has been messing with my
game...literally.
I play a mental math as I ride...by
using the speed I’m going and the distance to a city listed on a sign, I figure
out how many minutes it should take to cover that distance. Then I make note of the time I should arrive. It involves dividing, inverting and
simplifying fractions and multiplication.
It passes the time and keeps my math skills sharp.
However, I can’t play my game if I don’t have all the relevant
information. Since I can’t look at my
phone or a map, the necessary information is provided by road signs. And the road signs out here are not
cooperating. Just might have to come up
with a new game.
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Once I decided to take on the “driving anywhere near New York City
challenge”, I was all about being thorough when it came to deciding the route. I
searched for a KOA within a reasonable distance then I checked the map. Then I
enlarged the map and checked it again...and again. There was a KOA in
Connecticut about 265 miles away from where we were in Delaware...reachable by
I-95 the whole way. Estimated time was
just over 4 hours. Not a bad ride but I factored in when we’d be leaving,
adding an hour for stops to figure out roughly when we’d arrive at the
campground. Then I thought about whether
we’d be coming through during rush hour traffic anywhere along the way,
etc. Booking a campground doesn’t
usually require this kind of diligence but once I pushed that Reserve Now button I felt we’d be
committed. I wanted to be sure for this
reason: I-95 crosses the Hudson River from New Jersey into The Bronx. Now I didn’t know exactly what that would look
like but assumed/really hoped that it wouldn’t be running through neighborhoods
or on surface streets with stop lights. If
I was going to brave the traffic in and around New York City I wanted to be as
informed as possible and that meant studying the map.
We were on a good roll today: zipped through all the EZ Pass
lanes...crossed into New York on the way to Staten Island...rode up the west
side of Staten Island and crossed back into New Jersey...stopped for lunch at a
service plaza where we took in the skyline of New York across the way...crossed
the George Washington Bridge into The Bronx...and that’s where the good times
stopped.
Rapunzel knew our ultimate destination and had been doing a great job of
keeping us on I-95 up until we were about 2 miles into New York/The Bronx, then
she decided we should take the US 87 exit to Albany. What?! No..no..no!!
That’s not right!! The sign for I-95 to
New Haven, CT says to go that way...over.that.way! What are you doing, Rapunzel?
Come on!!
I knew she wasn’t doing this right because
I had studied the map many times. I got
on the communicator and told Kim we were going the wrong way...87 goes north
and we wanted to be going east. All I
had going for me was the map in my head but I knew this wasn’t right. We eventually turned onto Scenic Route 15 and
that’s when I turned on Biker Girl, the nav screen on my bike... she showed
that 15 was running parallel to I-95.
Okay so at least we’re heading in the right direction now but this went
from simply What?! to What the hell?! real fast. The traffic on 15 was stop and go...mostly
stop. Barely moving and mostly sitting
just added intense engine heat to the already humid 90o afternoon. All told it took over 2 ½ hours to go 52 miles
on a route we hadn’t planned to take. And
we couldn’t really pull off the road to figure this out because there was as
much traffic behind us as in front of us and we’d never get back in. I’m all for riding the road less travelled but
this was getting ridiculous. Argh!!!
Kim and I had lots of time to discuss what was going on....to say I was
frustrated is an understatement. The
only reason we didn’t scrap Rapunzel’s route is because we didn’t know what
traffic was like on 95. I eventually
turned off Biker Girl and my music to practice some deep breathing exercises
trying to manage a growing headache. Anyway
Rapunzel eventually had us take exit 54, at mile marker 39, which got us over
to I-95 where we still had another ½ hour’s ride to reach the campground.
That 4 hour ride took 8 ½ hours.
I told Kim that if Rapunzel was an employee of mine, she’d be
fired. He gently reminded that we
didn’t know what the traffic was like on I-95; it could have been worse. Okay, okay...I get that but her butt would
still be out the door.
I know, I know...Rapunzel is an inanimate object and one of us might
live longer if I learn to let go of my frustration at her. š
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We’re ahead of our daily mileage quota...just might be time to play
tourist soon.
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It was sunny and humid when we started out at 11 a.m. from Delaware...it
remained humid and got hotter as the day wore on. The highest temp I saw was 92o. The sun hid behind clouds for a while in the
late afternoon and that was a blessing.
Caught a little bit of rain on the last leg of the trip and this evening
it rained enough to chase us inside the tent.
High humidity is a constant and I’m getting used to that pervasive feeling
of dampness on everything but I wonder if our clothes will ever smell fresh again after being packed away damp.
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Wednesday’s miles: 267
Total: 1,151
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