Day 10 - Monday, July 7, 2003

East Kingston, NH to Chatham, NJ

422 miles for the day,  4,690 miles traveled so far.

7:21 in the saddle, 9:20 total time check-out to check-in.

Average speed while riding was 57.4 mph.

Parks visited this day:

Stamps:

Daily Journal:

    I left at 7:30.  I took I-495 around Boston, and then I-95 to Providence, RI.  In Providence, the freeway was packed.  I got off and went to Roger Williams N Mem.  The stamp for the Blackstone River Valley N Her Corr was there also as a bonus.  I was within the corridor and had traveled through some of it.  I actually watched the brief film here.  I usually don't bother but the ranger was very friendly and it was pretty short.

    Streets and Trips had directed me to I-84 via US-6.  Given my fascination with US-6, I really wanted to go that way, but I knew it would be a lot of two lane through towns and lots of stoplights.  I needed to make tracks, a storm was coming in that afternoon and I wanted to make it to Chatham, NJ before the rain came.  So I took I-95 to CT-9, CT-66, I-691, and finally made it to I-84.  In hindsight, I probably should have skipped the short stretch of CT-66 - it was slow through Middletown, and took the slightly longer, all freeway way through New Britain.  I don't think I lost more than a few minutes, though.

    US-9 through Poughkeepsie, NY, was really slow.  Too bad I would have to return to I-94 the same way.  Still, I was able to get to the Vanderbilt Mansion NHS, the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt NHS, and the Eleanor Roosevelt NHS.  All three are in Hyde Park, NY, and within a few miles of each other.  The photo is of the Vanderbilt mansion.  Making my way back to I-84, I then took I-87 (toll road in NY) to I-287 and crossed into New Jersey.  I got off at exit 30 and made my way to the Jockey Hollow VC of the Morristown NHP.  The Continental Army spent to winters here, in 1776-1777 and again in 1779-1780.  I remember coming here for class field trips, since we lived about 15 miles away in West Orange until I was 11.  Of course, there weren't any freeways in the area at that time (1960's).  So 15 miles was quite a time consuming ride.  The photo on the left is of some of the soldier's huts in the Jockey Hollow encampment area.

    I took the roads through the park, and made my way to Fort Nonsense, and then southeast on NJ-124 to Chatham.  Drops were just starting to fall when I stopped for gas in Madison, one town before Chatham.  I made it to my cousin's house just before it started to rain, at 4:50.  We parked the bike in the garage for the night.

    My aunt and uncle live around the corner.  We all went out to dinner at a local Charley Brown's.  Afterwards, I visited with my grandmother, 93, who was bed ridden and staying in a convalescent room set up in the basement of my aunt's house.  She was asleep most of the time, but she may have stirred at least once.  I talked to her for a bit, filling her in on the happenings of my kids.  I am not sure she did hear or understand any of it, but I sure hope she did.

 Map: 

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