Day 12- 7/28: Headed home

After a little waffling on whether or not to continue up the Adirondacks a few days, I decided to pack it in and head home. More than anything else, I'm a bit sick of sitting in the car, and want to get back to more of an easy routine of running. Fort Ticonderoga has made it this long, I'd imagine it will still be standing in a couple more years too. Drove through White Plains, then 80 across PA which was new for me and fairly interesting, if exceedingly long. Found a nice roadside taco stand somewhere west of the Scranton turn-off. Made my Cleveland Ramada destination by a few ticks after 7 (thankyou Hotwire). It's a little smoky smelling (damn OH), but otherwise reasonable. Drove into downtown to get dinner and walk around a little. It's nice. Not bustling (at least on a Sunday evening), but it seems like it's also had a bit of a resurgence and they have a nice scene. I like how they also have all three sports stadiums downtown. The waterfront is still fairly well blockaded off, but there's obviously still a large, active shipping industry, so I suppose that get's priority to a cargo-short clad midwesterner simply wanting to see the beach for the sake of it. LoPresti and I went back and forth a bit on whether Ohio is in the Midwest (I like to say that it's fringe), but it kinda felt like it driving back to my hotel through the neighborhoods. It was the smallest of sampling, but I could see coming back for an extended weekend sometime to check it out. I'm still a ways out, but feel like I'm within shooting distance now, which is comforting. Looking forward to the old routine again.

Day 11- 7/27

Up bright and early for a departure bound for New Haven, CT again to reunite with my car. Pit-stopped in Dover, DE to check out the capitol. LoPresti is on a quest to visit every state capital, so this was a must. A very quant downtown. There's only 38,000 people or so in town. The grounds were really nice though. It felt like colonial US, unlikely other parts of the state we witnessed. Churned up the NJ turnpike, and battled the NYC traffic across the George Washington bridge. LoPresti pointed out the exit that Chris Cristie blockaded as political revenge. So many sites to take it. Rolled into New Haven early afternoon and met Mike's dad at a classic New Haven pizza joint. They are known for the charcoal-fired pizza, kind of like Black Sheep (which actually credits New Haven for it's style). Fresh clam pizza and more of a classic pepperoni/Sausage were both delicious. Mike's dad is a little in the mold of Italian heritage east-coaster, but not nearly as much as his family friend Joe that had moved to Delaware. He was pretty complete with the accent, stature, and quips. Mike toured my around Yale (his alma mater) and North Haven (his hometown). His mom then cooked us dinner and we started making plans for our separate return trips. It's felt like more driving that average this trip touring with Mike, and probably more than I would have chosen to do, but I still feel like I've gotten a good sense of each of the places we visited and it was nice to travel with someone else for a while. It was a fulfilling last day on the east coast.

Day 10- 7/26: Atlantic beach goodbyes and dogfish heads

up for the standard run again by a little before 8. Delaware is not great running. I guess it’s been blowing up over the last 10 years with retirees from other east coast states. Low taxes and slightly warmer weather are pulling people from New York and Connecticut. There is developments everywhere. 800 house complexes filling in farm-fields all over the place. As like any new development, it looks like something out of the Truman show. I can get dropped off anywhere in the city and find my way home. Plop me in one of these compounds and I don’t know where to start. Headed out to the main road, which has lots of traffic, but thankfully a wide shoulder. A lot of the roads have a huge traffic load but literally no shoulder. Ran a fairly miserable 3 miles past development entrances and gas stations until I found a golf cart path that went between developments that was gravel and shaded. At the end of the day, if you’d told me I’d get three miles of soft surface off-road in, I’d have been okay with it, so there’s that.
     Mikes family friends are great . Very stereotypical Italian/Irish east coast people. Quite interesting to take in their world view. They leant is their bikes for the day and dropped us off at s nearby rail to trail that went out to the coast. New enough that google maps didn’t know it existed yet. Pretty quick ride into Lewes which is on the coast and had the ferry to cape May. We weaved through cape henlopen state park on some great trails and popped out at rehoboth which is a beach town complete with boardwalk, popcorn and crowded beaches. Plopped down at our spot, read a little, soaked in the ocean one last time, and biked back to get picked up again and headed over to dogfish head brewing. I knew it had quite the cult following, but it’s got a lot of muscle too. More than twice the production of summit or schells although the tap room was maybe on scale with indeed. Great beers though, and a good atmosphere as always. Dinner at a local cajan place that’s run by a New Orleans couple but with obviously local seafood. Excellent fare up and down from crawfish apps, to crab cakes entree, and pecan pie for dessert. Can’t complain about another great day on the Delmarva peninsula.

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Day 9- 7/25: joe Biden’s stomping grounds

Woke up to the routine run. Not a ton of trails at the state park, but excellent quality. Cooler weather has returned, which is more than welcomed. Drove an hour or so north, and rented canoes at janes island state park, also on the Chesapeake side. We didn’t get s huge paddle in, but it was nice to check out some of the back bays of the big bay. Continued on to Delaware, and met up with family friends of mike that have retired down here. I guess that Delaware is going nuts with retirees right now. Housing developments are going up all over the place. It looks like the Truman show. Way cheaper taxes than all these east coast states and probably way less hassle. A lot of it looks like the Midwest. The infrastructure certainly hasn’t caught up. Many roads had literally no shoulder. Will have to be selective with my run tomorrow. The parents are nice. Pretty classic New England. Good accent, Italian/Irish heritage, sharp, and interesting to talk to. We'll be spending a couple nights here before returning to new haven. Dogfish head brewing tomorrow and perhaps a trip to the Delaware beach.

Day 8- 7/24: headed north again

Up again for the routine run, this time in ocracoke. After a very windy and fairly hot night of camping the night prior, we popped for the hotel in town, which was definitely worth it. The heat wave had broken though, so it was actually fairly cool, relative to the last few days. Jaunt around town, reminiscent of a lot of sleepy beach towns with lots of sand, scrubby trees, and plenty of hotels/ b and bs. They have a bike path that goes out to the nps campground as well, but that’s about the extent of roads on the island. Got a coffee after the run, and we spent another good late morning on the same beach as yesterday. Again sparsely populated and a nice day, despite all the rain they had predicted. Continued on back to the ferry, which takes an hour or so to get us back to Hatteras island, which then connects to the next island and then the mainland via causeways. The sleepy towns get more commercialized as you head north and it’s pretty congested by the time you hop the causeway to the mainland- only 90 min from Norfolk. Made a pit stop at farmhouse brewing, so huge converted farmhouse right in the middle of the Virginia Beach. The beer was solid, but expensive. Ambiance was hard to beat though.
Picked up some grocery supplies for a salad, and camped at kiptopeke state park at the cape of the Chesapeake bay. Great campsites and we had the non-reservable loop nearly to ourselves. Another solid day in the road.

Day 7- 7/23 outerbanks continued

A rather restless night sleep last night. There’s a reason the Wright brothers picked here for the wind and the temps were fairly oppressive as they are in a heat wave. Got up for a mediocre, but at least no miserable run along the single road that runs through the outer banks to the bodie lighthouse, and finished with an actually pleasant run along the beach for 10 min or so. We hit the road and drove to the next island over in an impressive causeway and meandered through the increasingly quaint small towns towards the ferry that would take us to okracoke. The ferry was an hour, which was glorious. Light bird watching and just soaking up the salt air. We stopped for lunch at the pony pen, the. Drove into ocracoke and checked into the hotel we had rental on the the whim last night in the head and with risk of rain much of the day. We did have some rain in the drive, but it ultimately held off and we rented bikes in the afternoon to head out to a beach a bit out of town. Absolutely glorious. Maybe 20 people in sight and not a man made structure to be seen. Biked back in, checked out the lighthouse, and hit the brewery after cleaning up a little. Solid beer with a great 2nd floor deck taking it all in. Seafood again in town at a place on the piers. Another day that’s quite hard to complain about.

Day 6 7/22: Overnight trains and Wright brothers

Day 5.5-6 7/22 and the overnighter

Well- the train was not dead in the slightest. Crammed with people to the point of having trouble finding a seat. I had commented to Mike’s stepfather that there was so much traffic on the freeway over to new haven despite the odd hour and relatively desolate stretch. He told me it was all traffic of people returning from their getaway place- somewhere north or on the ocean, presumably. I put two and two together and wondered if the train was jam-packed for the same reason. 

Basically emptied the train in New York, but picked up an equivalent amount of people, and then I believe did the same in Philly, although I was admittedly more dozing by then. It was a little rocky first couple of hours, but I did actually settle in and sleep for a good while south of nyc. Occasionally  woken up by a stop, but overall the sleep comes way easier than on a plan. Alert again on the outskirts of Richmond, va, so I moseyed down to the snack cart for a dunkin’ coffee (when in Rome) and a forgettable breakfast muffin. 

    The southern Virginia countryside ambled past and was pleasant, if uninteresting. Arrived in Newport News around 11:45, then transferred to a bus that rolled into just outside of downtown Norfolk on time, with a smiling LoPresti there to greet me. Grabbed lunch at a grilled cheese place downtown Norfolk, which was solid and the downtown seemed nice, then headed towards the outerbanks. 

     First stop was the Wright brothers national monument. I’d read david McCullough’s book on then this summer and it was interesting to see the spot where the first moments of aviation took place. We then  drove over to the fort Raleigh which was allegedly the site of the lost colors of Roanoke. Not as impressive, but still kinda cool to see.
     Drove down to our campsite at Oregon inlet and did a little beach time before heading back into town and getting some solid seafood and capped it off with a sunset at Jockey ridge state park. Huge dunes and lots of sand- reminded me of white sand national monument. A great first day on the outer banks.

Day 5- 7/21: Worcester

Day 5 (7/21) journal.

Got a fairly early start on the day with another hot one cooking. Headed out with jack and tonia to a nearby “rail-trail” that they frequent for runs on the weekend. It was crushed rock and out in the woods- a solid spot for training for them. 10 wasn’t pleasant, but we got through it well enough and enjoyed our (perceived) earned Dunkin’ doughnuts afterward. Lingered over breakfast, then walked around Clark where jack works and the neighborhood nearby. It was getting hotter and more uncomfortable by the hour, so we retreated to the house again with time for me to do some laundry and take a brief nap. Drove a town over to enjoy some ice cream, then drove through downtown Worcester and other parts of town I hadn’t seen yet. I think their general mantra is that it’s alright, but nothing special.

      Dinner down at a barbecue place: smokestack barbecue which was great with good beers on tap as well. Went back to their place and spent out the remaining time playing a little cribbage. It was great to see their new home and catch up with them. It seems like they are making the most of their new digs.

Hit he highway bound for new haven to catch my overnight train. Had Siri direct me to mike’s parent’s house and then dropped my car and got a ride down to the central train station. It’s a beautiful station- like St. Paul’s, but actually in use. 12+ tracks and what looked like multiple departures per hour when the new day flipped over. I thought my train would be dead as it’s an overnight train- not the case in the slightest. I had trouble getting a seat it was so packed. Waiting to depart now, wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t get a ton of sleep. Hoping this won’t end up being a mistake. Never a dull moment at least.

Day 4 (7/20)

Up around 7 for a run and to see Henderson off to his running camp. Ran from their place, then hit the road bound for Worcester. Lots of country roads the first hour or so. Kinda cool to see Upstate New York from a different perspective. In general- I really appreciate seeing these friends that moved because of work and find themselves in this new place that they might have liked over over job opportunities, but ultimately it was the job that brought them there, not the place itself. Stopped at Oneonta, NY for a bagel sandwich and smoothie. They had a really nice downtown (it's another collegetown) and gorgeous views of the Appalachians in the valley.

Downtown Oneonta

Up to Albany again, and back on the familiar Mass Turnpike and into Worcester by mid-afternoon. Jack and Tonia have a really nice old house literally across the street from Clark College where he works. He can see his entire "commute" from his front steps. We traveled to Treehouse brewing which is this insanely popular brewery in the area. They only distribute from there and I guess most times it's an absolute zoo. People can be seen leaving with hundreds of dollars of pints on dollies headed for their car. Great beer, but as I've said, there's so many great beers now days, the craziness does seem a little curious. Returned to Worcester for a nice taco dinner at home on the patio and catching up. Probably the best day of the trip yet.

Day 3: Mountains of the east

Not a bad night at Allegheny state park. A bit noisier than the Dunes; I think the host was actually talking to a few of the rowdier ones, but overall not bad and free never hurts. Slept in just a tad (7:15), and paid for it mercilessly with the heat/humidity combo. I broke camp and parked at the beach a few miles away. Foolish decided that I'd do at least some sort of speed, even with the weather to at least get something in for the day. It was quite sweaty (every run this week has been), but I rather quickly pulled the plug on anything faster than a trot. Absolutely miserable out there. Found out later on the weather app that the temp at the time was 78 and the dew point was 73. No wonder why even a 2 min pickup was unsustainable. Got a nice soaking in at the Quaker Lake beach with great scenery after the run at least.
     Hit the ol' Jetta again and put a few miles down until a coffee stop in Olean. Nothing to write home about, although the downtown seemed nice. It's funny that they even have an interstate running through this part of the state. It's scantly populated and seemed marginally used at best. I guess people have to get to Erie, PA somehow.
     Rolled into Ithaca early afternoon and after having a heck of a time finding diesel downtown and even more trouble finding parking at Cornell, I finally met up with Mike Henderson at his XC office. It was cool walking/driving around campus although at 92 and very humid, we didn't linger outside for very long. Burgers downtown with Greta (his wife) were solid too. It's a bit of a short stay as he's leaving pretty quickly for a running camp in New Hampshire tomorrow morning. No worries though, I've got a bit of a drive tomorrow to get to Worcester. I do have some strawberries to deliver after all.

Day 2: National Parks of the east

Day 2- 7/18 journal

*additional from last night: forgot to mention that after going to bed, about an hour later, I heard some rummaging outside me tent. Flipped on my headlamp to see two sets of raccoon eyes staring back at me, more annoyed than anything. I yelled and they scampered off to greener pastures; the dumpster 100 feet away. Funny because I didn’t leave any food out, only the stove and a clean mess kit. Never hurts to look I suppose.

Up at 6:30 and drove down to the beach for a run after breaking camp. The calumet bike trail reportedly paralleled US 20, although after a nice mile along the lake, the “bike” trail turned out to be an overgrown rutted gravel path that was filled with puddles. Not the worst run I’ve been on (looking at you white sands), but it wasn’t outstanding. Commuter trains rolling past every 10-20 min going god knows where and under the constant buzz of power lines. I couldn’t help but get the biased opinion that pence and crew turned this into a national park to tout their environmental record. 

Running back through the massive marshes on the way to the lake again though, I could totally see it. It felt like you were in Florida with the massive expanse of swamp-laden trees. 

The impending storm coming in gave me pause for another dip in the lake after the run, but I was sweating profusely and figured it was worth it. So nice to soak in one of the Great Lakes.

     Hit the road by 9:40 and immediately lost an hour to the eastern time zone. Passed the "RV hall of fame". Interested, but not curious enough to stop.
 Pit-stopped at cuyahoga for a quick double. Actually a pretty cool park- from at least the 45 min I was there. Ran the tow-path and it was beastly hot and humid again (although par for the course over the last week). Lots of woods though and a massive valley. The Cleveland folks have a real gem there.

For a time afterward, I thought there’d be no way I was going to make Allegheny state park as planned. Pulled off in Erie because the brewery had a sign on the freeway and it was close. When I looked at the mileage again, I realized it would be doable, albeit without much room for error if they didn’t have sites (I wasn’t able to reserve due to only wanting a night). I had written on my “plan” though that there were plenty of unreserved available, so I chanced it. Caught the guy at the office just as he was leaving (and an hour later than he should have been there) and he said they did have sites- but to check with the host. Drove to the campground loop to find the hosts weren’t there, but found two open sites right next door. Figured I’d might as well cook dinner while I waited for the verdict. 

The site ended up being open, and after a nice chat with the host (who can sometimes be kind of assholes), I learned that they also weren’t going to charge anything for the night with a last minute deal.So, the moral being- sometimes chancing it does indeed pay off. The alleghenys looked outstanding in the setting sun and the Erie beer was solid as well. Looks like a swimming beach close by for after tomorrow’s run too. Sometimes, things just turn out for you.

Day 1: slogging through chicago

I must be getting older, but I was up before 6 relatively easy this morning and on the road before 7. Pit-stopped at menonomie for a run along the red cedar trail. Not nearly as pleasant this morning as years past. Very high dew points, deer flies, and a slick trail after all their rain. Gutted it out and moved on. Stopped again for lunch with Andy in Madison at an Indian place. Nice to catch up and hear about all the baby stuff in the works.
     One of the problems with leaving the cities in the morning though is that you will hit chicago with plenty of traffic. I decided to challenge myself and arrive at rush hour. No sugar coating here either: it sucked. Lots of stop and go and Siri re routes. Probably added 45 min to my trip. The worst of it all being not wanting to stop and my Hammys just dieing on me.
     Mercilessly made it to he other side and arrived at dunewood campground (nps not state run). After a solid pasta dinner topped with homegrown basil, I walked down to the lake to catch what was left of sunset. It was probably a 25 min walk down there, so not close, but gorgeous colors and nice to see the big lake from a different perspective. Chicago’s skyline loomed off in the distance, and two smoke stacks loomed on either side down the shore always. It’s not exactly Indiana’s isle royale for solitude (freeway traffic the whole night), but it still was a pretty good view. Ready to leave the Midwest’s mega city though and head to new things.