50 States, Day 170

50 States, Day 170 Southington, CT to outside Trenton, NJ

 

"Whatever it is you are feeling is a perfect reflection of what you are in the process of becoming."

~Ester Hicks - Abraham

Cold. No, not the weather. In fact today felt rather warm. I have a cold. Runny nose, coughing, sneezing, sounding like a (PP!) NyQuil commercial cold. A full coverage helmet complicates things. We launched from the sweet 6 and headed for New York, then Pennsylvania and finally our 27th state, New Jersey. Around noon, close to when predicted, the rain fell, a steady rain, but not hard. QG and I agreed we could ride all day in rain like that, since we wore the appropriate gear. Which was good, because that's what we did. Thanks to good gear, we stayed warm and dry.

The toll bridge ($1.00) with a wooden deck seemed a bit sketchy, but no sweat. But a toll bridge, on a rural highway, fifty feet long? The bridge, not the highway.

We actually made good time on I-84, at our 60 mph limit, trucks, busses and motor homes passing us. Halfway to our destination we turned to the rural roads with views and winding turns, much less fun with a trailer and wet streets.

Today's fall colors were a treat, amazing as Saturday's were lame. Perhaps the cold of Saturday night and Sunday morning moved things along. But the trees glowed with cinnamon and brown sugar...

Sorry, I stopped to eat a cinnamon roll. Okay, maybe not. But the camera does no justice to the autumn leaves. And pictures were few and far between as QG isn't taking any in the rain-I don't blame her-and we simply rode, stopped a couple times, ate lunner and got into the motel. And Lawd be praised, once we unloaded and settled in, the skies opened up, dumping 'splatter up off the asphalt' rains. Great to be inside, warm and dry.

And now, not letting a smattering-or a lot-of rain dampen her spirits... Quilter Girl!

Rain, again.  It didn't start until afternoon, but wasn't lots of fun.   It sure makes everything look dull.  Our restaurant choice was not a good one today.  It was a diner with no cars in the parking lot (first clue), no one in the restaurant, waitress watching TV.  Bad signs, all of them.  Their menu was limited due to previous managers leaving and taking all the food with them?  Okay, I ordered a waitress delight, which was an open faced grilled bacon, cheese and tomato sandwich on rye.  Kevin got a turkey burger.  Both were all right, though I know we could have done better elsewhere. And even though we were the only customer, the service was...mediocre. Better luck next time.

Quilting report.  Yesterday, I got all my 4 patches done and the 2" background squares sewed to the darks and started working on the alternate squares.  I got 9 of those done.  From now on I will be putting squares together, there are 132 blocks total -- 66 each of two blocks.  I do have to cut the background for my mom's quilt.  That will

take some time, but the pieces are all ready to be put together.

QG

Tomorrow we head to the Capitol, then the coast. If the weather is as good as this morning, the ride will be pleasant.