DAY 7: Sunday Oct 26th This was the "race home and PRAY we don't get stormed on" day. Unfortunately the motel we checked into last night didn't have the weather channel!! The one thing we REALLY needed to see, and we had no idea where that rainstorm was. All we knew was that we woke up and it was NOT raining which was a very good thing.

We headed out at around 10am and knew we had a LONG day in front of us, and a potentially really cold and nasty one. We geared up with our heavy silk undergarments and full layers of clothing. Off we headed.

Much of the Virginia trip was "new" because normally we go up on Skyline Drive for any middle-Virginia riding. There were lots of cow farms and horse farms, and lovely scenery. The foliage was still lovely, and we kept looking eastward to watch for rainclouds. The trek up Virginia was pretty smooth and actually sunny and relatively warm. But we kept zooming.

I was appreciating those Welcome signs more and more as we headed north, and was happy as we entered West Virginia and then Maryland where we stopped for a break. Soon we were in Pennsylvania again, and treking our way eastward. We were both getting very tired and the sky was getting darker and darker. We passed Allentown and Bethlehem, and even though it was only around 4pm it was indeed getting dark.

We crossed into New Jersey and I was VERY disappointed by the anemic welcome we got there! There was a tiny welcome sign that was stuck onto a sign that warned us about the speed limits!! Jeez Louise! Bob looked at the weather and decided that our best route was to go THROUGH the center of New York to get home more quickly. O-ho-ho talk about an insane decision! There was lots of traffic, tolls and slowdowns. We did get a NICE welcome from New York as we crossed the bridge. Soon we were heading over the East River and eastwards towards home.

We were very tired by now and stopping every hour or so, as we tooled along the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut (only a quiet welcome from Connecticut) hunting for food. Finally we found some and made it the last few hours up to Massachusetts and home again. Massachusetts welcomed us warmly with a turkey picture on their sign, and soon I was calling off the "last exit!" and "last red light!" and "last stopsign!" and "last right turn!" - and our cats and parakeets were very happy to see us back home!!

Ripley 2003 Trip Page
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