Fitting this in.

My phone was wet all day yesterday and the battery wouldn’t charge. Here it is, Saturday the 7th and I’m sitting in a cafe in Hannibal New York, trying to kill time while it charges.

Friday morning at 4:45 I was awakened by the pitter patter of rain on the roof of my tent. I was actually lucky.

For the last week I haven’t been putting the rainfly on my tent. One, it’s just easier and two, it keeps it cooler. But my campsite this time had zero privacy so I put it on so I could change my clothes. I even put all of my gear inside. So when I woke up to the rain, I just smiled and rolled over. And then suddenly sat up, remembering that my clothing bag was uncovered on the back seat of the bike. A quick, wet run and all was taken care of.

I stayed in the tent until almost 8am because I lacked the motivation to pack up in the rain. I finally did so and as I rolled up the wet tent and put it away, I knew I’d have a fun time pulling it out later.

I was off for the day. I just intended to ride, with only the customary stops, nothing special.

My route took me across Vermont and then into New York. I had to take a ferry from Charleston VT to Essex NY. While I was bracing my bike against to waves of Lake Champlain, I was also entering in my next 20 waypoints. Sitting there, otherwise occupied, a really nice couple with a huge black lab approached me to talk about my bike and my combat service. I’m still glad I wear my cvma vest as it is a good icebreaker. We chatted for a bit and I handed him a card. He left and a few minutes later he came back. He’d read the card and wanted to talk more about my trip. They have an Instagram account for their dog that you all might be interested in #shermanthecitydog

I know I mentioned yesterday that it was about 100 degrees all day. Well, today was about 65 with gray, overcast skies, sometimes rain, and really windy. Quite a change.

I was now riding through the Adirondacks. I even went through Lake Placid which ended up being a really bad idea. Apparently it’s where all of New York goes to vacation on a holiday weekend. I survived though and kept meandering on my way.

I found a place to camp at a State Park on the banks of Lake Ontario. Crazy enough, even a State Park isn’t cheap in New York. They have a normal rate, but then they have a weekend rate, an additional fee if you aren’t a NY resident, and an additional $2.75 if you didn’t make a reservation. Damn. I’m surprised I didn’t have to pay more for not being a minority. I cringed as I pulled my soaking wet tent out of the bag and tour pack. This was going to be fun. The camp area was packed, no privacy and it seemed like an elementary school playground without all of the kids running around. I think everyone ignored the quiet time hours. Fortunately the sleeping pill kicked in and I don’t remember much until morning. I do remember having to pull on another blanket as it got cold. It was 53 degrees when I woke up. That makes it difficult to pry yourself out of the sleeping bag. First thing I did was to check to see if my phone would charge. Nope. That made me worried. Fortunately it is charging now. Fingers crossed it still charges back on the bike.

Today I will end up riding through Palmyra, which is historically significant for all of my Mormon friends. I really didn’t plan on going there but as I was plugging in waypoints, it just happened to be the next one up. It should be interesting. I think I’ll take a tour.

Then on to Niagara Falls. Megan says I’m not allowed to find a barrel but I have goals. I’ll try to post pictures but that might get interesting.

Off to put in some miles.