Louise, the woman with whom I stayed in Savannah, NY, runs a small weekly paper, and she wrote this piece about me. Check it: http://wcs.wayuga.com/en/222/opinions/8299/
Wednesday, 3 August: I did a whole lotta nothin. The office was closed all day, so I couldn't pay for my campsite. Bummer!
Thursday, 4 August: The office was open when I left, and the sweet lady working there only charged me for one night, because "no one was here yesterday. Besides, you're travelling, you need this." Thanks, nice lady!
After my first lunch break, I got on my bike and felt that old whumpa whumpa whumpa. Dang, a flat tire! My first since I got those thorn resistant tubes in the Tri Cities. I thought I was invincible! I checked out the tube, and it had withstood a serious beating. I pulled about 8000 little tiny wires from steel-belted tires out of the tube, and some chunks of glass from the tire. I decided to do a roadside patch job rather than put one of my wimpy spare tubes in, so I patched the obvious culprit, and then patched several other holes that looked liked they were about to become problems soon.
Rolling along, good as new, I passed through some of the prettiest areas I've seen in New York. It is less habited up here, so I got to see a lot of woods and meadows and a few farms, and an occasional glimpse of the St. Lawrence River. There were a few areas that catered to tourists and fishermen, but these were generally just a handful of motels, campgrounds, and restaurants, with a gas station or two and maybe an ice cream shop or grocery store. There weren't any chain anythings, except the gas stations, of course. Actually, it's been a while since I saw a chain anything. Upstate New York is good like that. I'm finding more reasons to like this state, but they all seem to involve being as far from the population centers as possible.
I got to another state park, which happened to be located exactly as far as I wanted to go today, so I didn't attempt to camp for free in the woods. Also, it's still really humid, so a shower was grand. I figured there wouldn't be anyone in the office when I got here, but I didn't count on this: a sign saying they will open at 9AM tomorrow. I was hoping to be out of here by 8AM at the very latest! I have things to do tomorrow! I even bought prepared food for dinner, so I could get to bed sooner. I can't sit around waiting to pay them. And I was fully prepared to pay to camp tonight. New York, why can't you have an envelope/lock box system for after hours payment like every other state park in the entire country? Oh, yeah, and they have already closed up the cheapest sites for the season, so this site is more expensive than I expected. I picked up the copious amounts of trash around my campsite, and decided New York and I are even. If they are going to make it impossible for me to pay, then I won't pay.
Here's why I can't stick around too late tomorrow: I'm headed to Ottawa to visit a friend for a few days. There's a bridge about ten or twelve miles away that crosses the St. Lawrence River, and I would like to make it across before the wind gets too strong. Fortunately for me, it is supposed to be a tailwind, but I don't want it gusting at full strength when I'm on the bridge. That could be dangerous, especially since I heard bicycles aren't technically allowed on that bridge. I heard this from two other cyclists who had crossed it, however, so I'm planning to play dumb and sweet talk my way across, like they did. I've got to remember to hide the bear mace and ASP, though. So here's hoping tomorrow goes smoothly. I'll be turning my phone off to avoid exhorbitant fees, and I'm not sure if I'll post for a couple of days, but I expect to be back in the states on Monday or Tuesday.
7 comments:
You mean September, right?
Whatever. I said perpetual summer, and I meant it! From here on out, every month will be August!
I wish I had slept a little better last night. There was unexpected rain, and weird noises, and creepy people from Watertown...
And can I just say: you are a computer-lovin fool. I literally posted this 10 minutes ago, and just popped in to be sure it posted alright, and you had already commented!
What a cool article, Cheri! That is so great that she wrote the article about you! Have fun in Ottawa!
Well, you know, I was expecting more accuracy from a scientist--particularly one who is so sharp at pointing out the lapses of others... ;) (What? Do you need proof? :D )
And, while were on that topic, it is technically still summer, although August ended a few days ago....
Finally, it's just good timing: I logged on for about 10 minutes while I switched out of my serious researcher clothes into my beach boy togs and headed out the door to head to a real, Southern California beach and do beach things.
By the way, if you haven't been following the Republican soap opera this week, you are probably better off. McCain nominated Alaska's evangelical, neo-con, "family values" governor as his VP. She promised to drill for oil offshore, in wilderness areas, and through polar bears and the crowd went wild. Ditto when she said that fighting terrorism was more important than liberty and freedom. Damn scary. Oh, and on top of all that, she is woefully unqualified for the job.
Sigh.
You may want to see if you can stay in Canada as a political refugee if McCain wins in November.
Oh, I have *totally* been following that soap opera! Good stuff. Sure, she's unqualified and super right wing and willing to think whatever McCain tells her to, but at least she's young and hot and has a special needs baby! And she eats MOOSEBURGERS! I can't wait for them to get elected and McCain to die in office!
That article and picture was great! I should have been keeping track of how many nice people have helped you along the way. I bet the total is getting pretty high. I had told you that I would get in here to let people know why you may not be blogging, and saw that yours made it.
Great pictures! Thanks. Was going to go look at them before my last comment and forgot.
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