50 States, Day 174

  50 States, Day 174 Galloway to Newark  110 Miles

 

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."

~Mother Teresa

 "Where are you headed next?" the guy in a pickup asked us as we sat at a light.

"Newark."

"Lock up your stuff."

Nice.

We put on the rain gear before leaving, the weather report and parking lot in agreement-expect rain. After a score of miles, QG mentioned that with the warm weather and light rain, no big deal. We could do this all autumn. Then the afternoon hit us with torrential rain.

While our gear keeps us dry and warm, when it rains too hard you just can't see. The windshield gets rain on both sides, the face shield as well, and it fogs up. Either fog it up or open it and put up with rain hitting you in the face. Or pull into a gas station, fill up the half tank and wait it out. After a half hour the thundering rain reduced to just rain and off we went again. Since we avoided freeways and turnpikes, Highway 9 took us through towns and through countryside. No sweat since the trip would be rather short today. We stopped at another tire shop and attempted to find our 4.80 by 12 tires. Nope. When we return from sunny California, we'll have to take the time to find the trailer tires, get the oil changed, and fix the headlights, all three jobs having taken way too long to address.

What little we have seen of Newark has been dismal. Very industrial. And the Econolodge is rather sketchy. However, the man that checked us in did a marvelous job, getting the room, arranging parking, reserving the room for our return, and setting up a wakeup call. The bike stays here, and the pickup driver's admonition rings in my ears.

We stopped pretty early, three p.m., due to the horrible weather. No sense doing the tourist thing in the rain. And Newark? Doesn't look promising for a tourist. We'll get to bed early and be ready for that 4:30 wake up call.

And now, a Rant.

These turnpikes. I checked our mileage today and the other day we took the

turnpike, not knowing there would be no exit for Highway 30. We rode twenty- six miles out of our way. They have almost no exits! We realized our error and rode seven miles further as we hunted for an exit. Come on, people, put a freaking off ramp in once in awhile! Oh, you can cruise up those roads, but what good is flying up the turnpike when you're flying in the wrong direction? Even the locals shake their heads and say they don't get it. Give New Jersey the Broken Spoke Award.

And now, dry rested and ready, our own Quilter Girl!

It was not cold today, but it was very wet.  Not too many pictures in the rain!  We are in an EconoLodge that will allow us to park the trailer and bike here and take us to and from the airport.  The front desk clerk was amazingly helpful, getting all this in order for us.  We have found so many helpful people on this trip.  Dinner was at a very fancy Burger King -- it was walking distance.  There was an amazing soda machine that had more choices of soda than I have ever seen before.  It was very small with only one spigot and a place for ice. Very high tech.

QG

Some things that are coming up:

We're right around the halfway spot on this Adventure, so we'll do some recaps; numbers, reiteration of why/what/how we're doing this trip, goals and what to look forward to in the second half. And The Stupidest Driver of the Trip, so far. And we'll throw in a 50 Stories in 50 States short story or two as well. Not to mention a photo or two of the little babies. Maybe a little Cally sand, surf and beach too. Finally, we'll explore why this may not be the halfway point of 50 States in 50 Weeks.

See you tomorrow.