Northeast Ride #2 – Day Seven

I’ve been on the road for a full week already. Doesn’t quite feel like although my butt tells me otherwise. I got my camp torn down and loaded up Libby, we hit the road just after 9:00am. I’m not too worried about getting in miles today, just want to make sure I complete the mission I’ve come all this way for. All this way being tens of thousands of miles.

I waited until 9:00 for the office to open. I had forgotten when I arrived last night to get a postcard to send home. I started doing that this year whenever I could find one. Not all that easy these days and I’ve only sent a couple home, all with the same short message, “Love you in Arkansas, Dad” or “Love you in New York, Dad.” The message only changes based on where I’m at at the moment. It’s an old game we used to play on road trips. Whenever we’d cross a state line you’d try to be the first to say, “Love you in (enter state name).” Dad was the best at it, at least until we grew old enough to catch on to his tactics. He’d always start up some random conversation as we got close to a state line in order to draw our attention away. Worked pretty good for a while.

But the office doesn’t have any postcards so I’ve basically waited to leave for nothing. A shot worth taking though. So we hit the road, it’s a short 40 miles to New Jersey and we make pretty good time. I’ve got the GPS set for the first town just inside the crossing I want to hit, Mahwah, New Jersey. The sign here is supposed to be just a simple green state line sign but it’ll suffice for what I need. It takes very little time to cover the mileage but the sign pops up seemingly out of nowhere. I have to cross three lanes to get over to the side of the road, but I’m able to do so safely.

There’s a much prettier sign just down the road but it’s in the center of the road so I don’t feel bad about it. There’s also a much larger sign on the Garden State Parkway but I have zero desire to be on that highway and really very little desire to be in Jersey at all. Florida and Jersey are probably the two worst places I’ve had to ride in regarding other drivers.

I’ve now got 47 states fully completed and only one more elusive sign to find. I follow GPS directions off the highway and into the town of Mahwah. I want to top of real fast and figure out my route to the next crossing. In hindsight I should’ve stayed on the highway though I wouldn’t have known where I was going.

After topping off I decide to go off GPS and go off of memory. Google Maps has the route I need to take perfectly but I don’t have a phone mount and I know Libby’s GPS will take me a different way. I’ll have to rely on my short-term memory which isn’t exactly stellar. We can’t get back on the highway from here so we’ve got to some more two lane back roads. It’s more slow going but the ride is nice at least, until construction pulls us into a detour. Now I’m just following detour signs and the car in front of me, praying that he’s trying to get back on the same road as me.

We finally make it back onto the road we were originally on and continue the long road back to the highway. It’s slow but really isn’t that long of a stretch. We’re back on 287 before I know it. I need to run this down until a certain town and jump back on the back road I was just on. We’ve already gone quite a few miles but I’m have trouble remembering the name of the town I’m supposed to get off at, Bridgeton, Brittington, Badmitten, I don’t know. I’m expecting to have to pull off several times to check my bearings and make sure I’m still on track so I decide to pull off and have a look. I’ve just passed a very large amount of police vehicles on the other side of the road, both state and local. Must’ve been at least a dozen. No clue what’s going on as there are no other vehicles of pulled over there, emergency or otherwise.

I get to the next exit and pull off to a stop light. It is here that I finally get my first close call of the trip. My light to turn left turns green and I start to go, a van that is clearly not stopping for his red light flies in front of me. I always pay attention to the vehicles in cross traffic so I’m able to slam on my brakes and stop, it’s a small miracle I didn’t drop Libby. The gold star driver made sure to honk his horn and wave me off as if I should have known traffic laws do not apply to him.

I pull into the first gas station to check my location, I don’t even get off the bike as this isn’t a break stop. A police helicopter slowly flies overhead and it’s clear now what all the activity just up the road is about, they’re looking for someone. But that’s not my problem so I’m back on the road quickly and looking for the town of Bridgewater. It’s here that I’ll jump off and hit more back roads for a bit so I can line up the right highways into Delaware.

We’ve gone several miles down 287 now and the exit numbers are dropping towards 1 rapidly. I’m getting close to a border crossing and I know it’s not Pennsylvania. The creeping feeling that I’ve gone too far gets the better of me and I pull off again. I’ve over shot by about 7 miles. Time to back track for the first time. I jump back on 287, headed in the opposite direction. Doesn’t take long before I find the exit I should have taken and head towards the little town of Somerville.

Somerville is one of those small historic towns. Plenty of little shops and eateries but the going is painfully slow. I’m not sure how far I’ve got to go to get to the road I need to be on but I pass all the markers I’m looking for and finally through Bridgewater, much smaller than Somerville. I’m now travelling two lane country side at 35mph and get that feeling again so I pull off on the shoulder. I’m still good, the road I’m looking for is just up ahead, and would you look at that, a brewery just a short ways down it.

I finally make it back onto highway 202, same road as earlier but now it’s four lane. It’s a pretty good moving road but it has stop lights that always seem to be red. I finally make it the few miles down the road to the Readington Brewery and Hop Farm. It’s a very nice looking place from the outside. It’s right at lunch time so I’m hoping to actual eat lunch before 2:00 today. The only food they offer is popcorn and pretzels so I’m out of luck. I decide a beer break is in order since I’m already there. The farm has been around for a while but the building is less than a year old. The beer vats are just off the bar and an older gentleman is unloading empty kegs from a tractor. There’s a ton of seating so I’m guessing this joint gets some business. I snap a few photos, enjoy the my beer and get back on the road.

The road remains four lane all the way to our next turn off. Traffic lights remain a minor nuisance but we get there rather quickly. It’s a quick jaunt down 31 and then a slightly longer run on 579 and we reach interstate 295 in Trenton. Just a few more miles into Pennsylvania.

We made quick work with the mileage until we hit the Philadelphia area. The roads aren’t great, there’s construction and traffic is heavy. We finally reach our first real traffic snare of the trip. We’re crawling through town. I’ve still got my jacket on which is fine running at speed but I’m sitting on top of a 300 degree engine and hundreds of other vehicles. I’m getting hot and fast. It’s maybe 30 minutes at most so not the worst traffic I’ve seen on the bike but I’m hot now.

I’m back on GPS by this point. I know that it’ll take me through the interstate system into Wilmington, Delaware just as I need it to. We’re on interstate 95 now and finally hit the Delaware state line. I finally grab photo number 48. It takes a moment for me to get back on the bike. I’m immediately overcome with a feeling of pride, both my own and my father’s. I can unfortunately only imagine what this moment would feel like with him there. It’d be high fives and hugs and “Let’s go get a beer.” My eyes water a bit but I jump back on Libby and head on down the road, content in knowing that I’ve accomplished something that so few will ever get to do. And not for any accolades or recognition but for myself, for Dad. I’ve finally fully completed something that we started ten years ago. I know he was smiling down on me when I crossed into North Dakota two years ago and completed the 48 states, and I know he was all ears today when I finally grabbed this last photo.

It wasn’t a long moment but I got back on and headed down the road to the next travel stop. One of those center of the highway plazas. I filled Libby’s tank and made my way to the travel center to use the restroom and it’s time to lose the jacket for the first time in several days. I’m approached by a woman asking for gas money, and though I’ve got it on me have to give my standard reply of, “Sorry, I don’t carry cash on me.” I kind of feel bad because she may be being honest but there are so many out there asking for gas money, it’s hard to trust. It’s almost like the “homeless” asking for a handout, are you really homeless or just asking for a handout and driving home in a Mercedes? That’s a conversation for another time but I always feel like I’m being hoodwinked.

Time to find some lunch, now at the usual late hour. I decide on a place called the Two Stones Pub. They brew their own beer here. Menu is kind of lacking but a chicken club works for me. Beer is pretty tasty too and I pick up a pint glass for my adventures collection.

We’ve got a little more than 200 miles in for the day so far which bugs me a little bit but I know the day was not planned for a lot. It’s already almost 4:00 by the time I finish lunch so I set my sights on the Capital KOA site. It’s only about 75 miles away so we should get there in the next hour or so, traffic depending.

It doesn’t take long before we hit the Baltimore area. I’ve linked up with a lady in a suburban. She’s weaving her way through the three lanes of traffic, not recklessly but she’s moving. I decide to follow her like a cop and tail her for several miles before breaking off and finding my own way through it all. We make our way into Maryland in just about an hour and head towards a long tunnel under the Baltimore harbor. I’m sure I’ve gone over this before but short tunnels are fine, long tunnels not so much. They aren’t bad but I can’t see with my sunglasses on and have to remove them which means no eye protection. There’s not a lot of bugs or debris in tunnels but still, I’ve caught things in the forehead that likely would be enough to take an eye. Then there’s the smell of exhaust and the deafening noise that I am certainly adding to.

The tunnel is only a couple of miles but I find my suburban lady again. Traffic outside the tunnel doesn’t allow for the kind of weaving we enjoyed before and I eventually lose her. I make it to camp well before dark. I still haven’t made up my mind on tomorrow yet. I was thinking about stopping in Washington DC and taking in a few sights, nothing major, just a few hours of time actually seeing something. This campsite is a short drive into the city so I can go if I do choose to.

Dinner here is Molloy’s Irish Pub & Restaurant. The traffic system here is wild. It’s three to four lanes on either side and there’s gas stations and fast food in the middle of the two. Getting turned around and trying to cross three lanes to get somewhere is stressful. Couldn’t do it daily. Dinner for me is bangers and mash. Sausage is good but a little too finely ground for me. I do eat most of my plate though which is saying something at this point in the trip. My coaster however says, “Live life pleasantly! National Bohemian” I immediately think of my cousin who I mentioned on day two has decorated her basement room in a Boho Western style, Boho meaning Bohemian. I send her a picture and let her know I’m thinking of her. I finish my meal and head to grab a 12-pack.

There’s a 7-11 in the center of the highway here so I find my way across and learn that convenience stores don’t sell beer around here, you have to go to a liquor store. Luckily there’s one not too far, right back on the other side of the three lanes I just crossed. I make it just fine, traffic is dying down a little as it’s getting dark. I grab my beer and head back to camp.

It’s quiet now but the area was teaming with kids with headlamps and flashlight when I got back. A massive distraction but I will never mind kids playing. We hit a few tolls today and most were pay by mail so I’ll be anxiously awaiting those letters. Only one was an actual pay cash spot and it was only the low low price of four bucks. I’ve still got ten dollars worth of loose quarters in my vest pocket though.

It’s getting chilly out now, not cold just chilly. I’ve got my fire going and will spend a little while staying warm by it before heading into my luxurious accommodations. I’m still undecided about tomorrow. I may head into the city to see a few sites, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, the National Mall, just that little area is all I’d like to get to. But I may choose to head south to the Carolinas. I’d love to hit the Blue Ridge Parkway again and I think I could do it and still be home on time. I’ll figure it out in the morning though. For now though, this place has grown quiet so I will enjoy that. Good night, friends.