And The Rest of The Story

It's the day after the storm and we skated through without loss of power or trees.  It seems we must have been in a protective pocket, because for us it felt like just a rainy, windy storm; the wind storms at home on the hillside have been way worse than this.  That saying, we were unusual as the shore communities and Philadelphia area got hammered with flooding, trees down, loss of power and lots of damage.  Our trip continues to have adventure and unexpected twists.

Frankenstorm

Chris and I are in New Jersey at my sisters house waiting for the hurricane to arrive.  The rains have picked up as the day has progressed, the ground is sogging and we are in wait and see mode.  Sandy was to arrive later tonight but she is moving faster and should land in a couple of hours.  We are currently safe, inland but in her path.  We have experienced 100 MPH winds at home, but not sure how high winds will be here.  At home we never had minute to minute updates, but our weather has never effected so many people as here on the East.  We will keep you posted, happy to be with family, my sister happy to have us with her!

South Jersey Sojourn

Alternate title: Erie Canal, C &O Canal, Root Canal!
Well the dental process didn't start out very smoothly but things seem to be tracking better now.  Nancy will get fitted for her crown (though she claims it was her sister who was the princess) tomorrow and it should be installed about 10 days later.  Meanwhile we have been enjoying a terrific Indian Summer here in south jersey.  We were at "the shore" for 5 days hanging out, biking, walking the beach...it was beautiful and almost deserted.  Over the weekend Nancy's cousins came down and we helped out by moving their stuff to a storage locker.  Currently we are at Nancy's sister's place and thought we would be good sports and so we accompanied Mags to her 6 am workout on Monday.  It was a great opportunity to prove how specific exercise and conditioning is, especially for mature adults.  Translation: I'm sore as hell.  (Nancy is less so, or at least that is her story...maybe it is just relative to dental pain.)  Whatever, we are going back tomorrow morning.
This hiatus to our biking is putting us behind the weather curve for making our way down the east coast.  Don't know how it will turn out but so far we are making the best of it.

The Unexpected Extended Stay

We spent 8 days riding from Boston to my sisters house in South Jersey, as Chris says, some miles are better than others.  There were lots of hills and thigh screeching moments, but incredible scenery along the way.  Riding through the Delaware Water Gap national recreation area was one of the moments.  One hill was so steep, I just stopped struggling, got off my bike and pushed my trusty stead with 40 lbs up the hill.  It was not the time to ask me if I was having a good time!  It was really cool a few days earlier to ride past the famous culinary art college in Hyde Park, NY and cross the Hudson on a pedestrian bridge and continue another 6 miles on a trail.  We rode our longest day a week ago Friday - 85 miles, it was a real sense of accomplishment with riding hills and still feeling good at the end of the day.  We detoured from our bicycle map in North Jersey to visit my sister in South Jersey.  I contacted some bicycle clubs and a kind cyclist emailed us a cue sheet on how we could get to her house from Lambertville, NJ on bicycle friendly roads.  It worked like a charm, we arrived wet, cold and happy to see her.  The beginning of the week was great we took care of haircuts, dental cleanings, visiting relatives including 2 aunts, one 91 and the other 82!  We planned to leave that Thursday, but decided to stay one more day to better prepare for the trip.  That night, the achy, roving, toothache that the dentist diagnosed as sensitive teeth, roared its firy head and the need for a root canal was started 2 days later.  Root canals involve several visits and are not very compatible with being on the move.  So we're making the best of it, we rode 63 miles yesterday and are spending several days at a cousins condo at the shore.  How lovely could it get, we rode on a beautiful sunny fall day, it will be in the 60s today and forecasted for 70 tomorrow and the beach is just a few blocks away.  Sometime things don't work out as planned, but if you can be open minded, they still work out!

Berkshire bliss, or not...

We are 3 days out of Boston and have seen parts of MA and CT I've never been to!!!  It was tough to depart from Ron & Diane's into the pouring rain, navigating through unfamiliar urban streets but things went relatively smoothly.  Maybe most people were inside watching the Pats game.  Whatever;  we made it to our "warm showers" host before 5.  It was just starting to rain, again, as we set up our tent.
Yesterday we rode west across northern CT and it was very hilly...but also very beautiful.  We met a bike tourist headed in the opposite direction and exchanged basic logistic info.  Interestingly, he was headed from Philadelphia to Maine so we asked him about how he left Philly.  (This exchange took place from opposite sides of the road.)  He came through Trenton and told us about a 30-mile bike trail.  So we are going to try to use this info to ride to Nancy's sister's in Mantua, in Southern NJ.  We ended the day at a hotel in Windsor Locks, CT, near Bradley Airport.
Today was supposed to be cloudy but those clouds opened up!  Beautiful old towns, stone buildings, tough hills, and some great folks.  We passed a woman in a town and soon she passed us in her car and stopped.  She asked us if we wanted a dry place to spend the night.  We thanked her but explained that we wanted to go 30 more miles before we called it a day.
Tomorrow we will make it to the Hudson River valley but may not cross it for another day.  The weather forecast is not so great but it's mostly about attitude.