End of Day 1
Trip Start
Aug 18, 2008
1
2
15
Trip End
Aug 23, 2008
Wilmington,
New York,
United States
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
We had to fix my bike chain before we even left the driveway! We worked hard today as it was hot and humid, there were lots of hills and we had headwinds all the way. Our overall route was Burlington to Port Kent via the Ferry, Au Sable Forks, Upper Jay, then Wilmington where we are spending the night in a campground. We heard taking Route 86 straight from Au Sable Forks to Wilmington would be tough on bikes because it is really steep, narrow and can have heavy traffic, hence our circuitous route. We went 42 miles today but 10 don't really count because they were from the Ferry. We are right on target as we wanted to do about 30 miles the first day.
We stopped at Ausable Chasm for a while to ck out the view.
After biking forever into the middle of no where (there weren't any signs), we stopped for about an hour for a swim, a nap in the grass and had peanut butter and maple syrup sandwiches for lunch -- it was Dave's idea but they were good
Ausable Chasm
. We had a second lunch later of chicken and tomato sandwiches. There were lots of hills today and after the worst one Emily asked me a question and all I could say was 'you can leave a message but Alexis died near the crest of that last hill and it may be awhile before she is reincarnated into a form that can respond to you'.
We were getting a little worried about dinner as we hadn't seen a grocery store in ages but we finally came across a little kid's farmstand and we literally bought them out. We got cucumbers, corn on the cob, and a loaf of bread. Then they went inside and came back with four muffins and a loaf of zucchini bread -- we bought it all. They say they are making chocolate chip cookies in the morning and we have to bike back that way to get back on 86 so........
We are at a campground for the night. Dave made a yummy lentil stew with all our new ingredients while Emily and I got water and prepared the tent, trying to get everything up and shipshape before the storm hits. We discovered one of my new tent poles was bent and got that back in to shape, my rainfly pole was broken but we managed to get it workable, and then we found a hole in the rainfly but I managed to patch it with one of my tire patches. It's raining now and Emily says she is getting dripped on.
It should be an interesting night....the three of us in my 3-person tent. I'm ready to crawl into my sleeping bag for the night.
Comments
It's raining here!
You are all awesome. I hope you got the chocolate chip cookies but the lentil stew sounded tasty. I hope to see pictures but can't yet! safe travel and big hugs. who snores? Polly
Rainy Days...
Sounds like you guys are going to have some great adventures! It was a good start, so like you on the ferry! LOL... Take care! Aunt Natalie
I LLLLLLLLOOOOOOOVVVVVVVEEEEEEE UUUUUU!
Hi Munchkin!! I thought of you throughout the day yesterday, especially while driving back from Stowe last night. The sky was black where you were and we had tremendous red lightening here. It was a beautiful show and you would have loved it. I'm sure you saw plenty being right in the middle of the storm. Did you sleep well?.../chuckling/...I'll bet you all did.
Watching the ferry leave was tough, but I knew you were looking forward to the trip and getting back to your friends. I'm really proud of you munchkin, this is a great experience and fantastic undertaking for you all. It'll probably be the first of many bike trips for you. We'll get you some snow tires for your trip back home for Xmas!......Safe Trip to you all........Love, Dad
Miss you!!
hey sweetness...i hope the trip is going great and that the nasty weather has finally broken and that you'll have nothing but perfect biking days ahead of you...i'm thinking of you all and knowing you'll be having an absolute blast.
keep safe sweetness and i look forward to seeing how the trip is progressing
love and miss you lots
lynda