Day 5 - Saturday, August 3, 2018
Willoughby, OH to Kittery, ME
GPS Distance: 717 miles
Travel time: 13h 24m
States Claimed: PA, NY, VT, NH, ME
NOTE: Google Maps route link is the original planned route. From today forward, the routes are relatively unchanged, but the day they’re being done is changing. I’m doing more each day than planned.
Did I sleep in? Not really. Now that I’m the eastern time zone, my brain isn’t completely used to the sunrise at 6am. I am liking the 8pm sunsets, though makes that riding day with natural light a lot better.
Did I sleep in? Not really. Now that I’m the eastern time zone, my brain isn’t completely used to the sunrise at 6am. I am liking the 8pm sunsets, though makes that riding day with natural light a lot better.
Another day, another state, another gas station departure.
I have a 600 mile day that I can take my time with. Or, do I?
My mind has gone numb - did I put my laptop in the bag? Yes - proceed!
Weird lighting for the Pennsylvania welcome sign.
Twilight in PA - and fuel soon.
PA only has ~40 miles of I-90, easy to miss this stop if not paying attention!
NY toll gantry on I-90 - since it worked in IL, it must work here!
I get to NY and once again enter the time drain of the NY Thruway’s service plaza and the lengthy wait to get a Golden Arches breakfast. It was five minutes of staring at the map on my phone while eating...wondering if I should try and get Maine today instead of tomorrow. Hmmm…
So, the median has the food service area - the brick building you see in the distance. Walking felt good.
Off to the fuel pumps - fuel, receipt and off I go across New York.
I can't exactly pin where it looks similar...Minnesota?
We shadowed each other for 100 miles.
Upstate NY or WI? Hard to tell, if you've been to both places.
Another service plaza to navigate, but this stop was quick - gas and get out of here.
In my research, I’d seen where there were a couple of ways to run thru the northeast. One way was to just plough thru and get as many as possible. I figured a good dividing point of roughly half of the states would be a bit easier. The miles ridden were roughly the same, but the time spent in doing them would be better spent.
I had decent time across the NY Thruway...but then the 'fun' of the roads that’ll get me to New Hampshire. Roughly three and a half hours to do 150 miles. I knew this segment was going to be the slowest, and I had to first get around this absolute wad of traffic - all headed the same direction I am.
In my research, I’d seen where there were a couple of ways to run thru the northeast. One way was to just plough thru and get as many as possible. I figured a good dividing point of roughly half of the states would be a bit easier. The miles ridden were roughly the same, but the time spent in doing them would be better spent.
I had decent time across the NY Thruway...but then the 'fun' of the roads that’ll get me to New Hampshire. Roughly three and a half hours to do 150 miles. I knew this segment was going to be the slowest, and I had to first get around this absolute wad of traffic - all headed the same direction I am.
Stop-and-go traffic. No easy ways around this.
Have these been here since colonial times??
Scenic region...never been in this area before this ride.
More farms...you can sort of tell these are much older.
Deerfield River
Two hundred year old buildings with the highway right next to it!
No rain, wet roads only.
Yankee Publishing - The Old Farmer’s Almanac
Architecture blends in with the area well.
By the time I saw my approximate time in Vermont, I knew that we’d press on toward Maine & snag it tonight. Now, the lynchpin to this being successful was the fact that I did have a reservation in New Hampshire. So, I rode the day’s ride as planned and went right to the room. After checking in, I then routed myself toward Maine. About 50 miles and 50 minutes.
About here, I'm having brief second thoughts about this change in plan.
A reflection of me at the upscale restaraunt while I was temporarily 'misplaced'.
There are two bridges between Portsmouth NH and Kittery ME. The major bridge is the one on I-95. The second is a drawbridge along the old US-1 truck bypass. I’d gotten slightly turned around, but was able to get onto US-1 for a leisurely ride thru coastal New Hampshire before finally reaching the U.S. 1 Bypass and the Sarah Mildred Long bridge.
Sarah Mildred Long bridge (Kittery, ME & Portsmouth, NH) opened early 2018
My routepoint on the GPS was incorrect, but only by a couple of blocks later, I see the gas station. Another partial fill of fuel, and another state checked off the list - number 27 at this point.
A familar logo from back home. I'm a long way from home!
Then, a brief moment of reflection. I’m half way thru this little adventure, and I’m about the furthest I’ve been away from home - except when I traveled for work years ago. I didn’t know it then, but I was 2700 miles away from home. It’s time to swing the Wing (see what I did there??) and point her south & begin the second half of this, with the emphasis of heading home.
Well, another slight screw-up, this one’s on me. I think. The intersection between US-1 and I-95 there in Kittery is a series of loops and ramps that could lead a person with a bit less directional aptitude than normal to make a decision which would cost me another few miles of riding in the Pine Tree state. I was too busy looking at signs; I did NOT have the correct directions on the GPS - there’s the critical error.
So, I end up taking a few mile detour until I could find a ramp that’ll allow me to head south. I pause for a moment at the Visitor Center along the Interstate and fire up the backup GPS - good ol’ Google Maps.
“Okay, Google - route me to Super 8, Manchester, New Hampshire”
I can’t be sure, but I think the Google Assistant laughed at me a bit in reply.
Well, another slight screw-up, this one’s on me. I think. The intersection between US-1 and I-95 there in Kittery is a series of loops and ramps that could lead a person with a bit less directional aptitude than normal to make a decision which would cost me another few miles of riding in the Pine Tree state. I was too busy looking at signs; I did NOT have the correct directions on the GPS - there’s the critical error.
So, I end up taking a few mile detour until I could find a ramp that’ll allow me to head south. I pause for a moment at the Visitor Center along the Interstate and fire up the backup GPS - good ol’ Google Maps.
“Okay, Google - route me to Super 8, Manchester, New Hampshire”
I can’t be sure, but I think the Google Assistant laughed at me a bit in reply.
Another view of the Sarah Mildred Long bridge
An uneventful 50 minute ride later, back to lodging. While I was on the way back, the storm clouds that had chased me thru VT and especially NH had showed up here - and I got drenched for about ten minutes. It did feel good - but then, I realized that I had not protected my phone and it had gotten a bit damp.
Oh, yes, it rained hard for several minutes.
A few minutes on the AC unit in the room had it dry enough for the evening phone call home.
The good that came out of this? It was a back track no matter when Maine was hit. Doing it now will allow for more time head thru the area that I’ve read from nearly everyone is the biggest pain-in-the-a** of the entire trip - the North East.
I *do* need to rollout of bed early one more day. From discussion with a couple of people that live in the region, if the weather is good, then it’ll be a beach day on Sunday; and traffic will suck. Well, the only way to mitigate that is to try and get as much done as early as possible, thus the pain-in-the-a** should be reduced.
Well, at least that’s the plan.
The good that came out of this? It was a back track no matter when Maine was hit. Doing it now will allow for more time head thru the area that I’ve read from nearly everyone is the biggest pain-in-the-a** of the entire trip - the North East.
I *do* need to rollout of bed early one more day. From discussion with a couple of people that live in the region, if the weather is good, then it’ll be a beach day on Sunday; and traffic will suck. Well, the only way to mitigate that is to try and get as much done as early as possible, thus the pain-in-the-a** should be reduced.
Well, at least that’s the plan.
THE RIDE CONTINUES - CLICK HERE!
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