Madison, CT

Day 2

I had a dream last night that the air conditioner made a noise that sounded like rain.  When I woke up I realized the air conditioner wasn't running and it really was raining outside.  We decided to have a leisurely breakfast at the Whaler's Inn and wait a bit to see if the rain stopped.

          Di putting on a brave face in the rain:

It stopped raining later in the morning and we started our ride at 11:30.  We needed to ride to New London on the other side of the Thames River, about eight miles away.  Di had studied the Garmin GPS manual and had entered our destination, so we were confident we wouldn't have to worry about getting lost anymore.  A mere five miles into the ride, however, and we were lost again.  The Garmin screen kept flashing 'Off Course', but wouldn't tell us how to get back on course.  We struggled with the Garmin for a while, but still couldn't figure it out.  I finally asked a woman who was just getting into her car if she could give us directions to New London.  Sure, she said, just go down this road for half a mile and then get onto route 95 south.  I told her that Di and I were trying to avoid the major highways.  She said that was still the best way to go.  I had to tell her that bicycles weren't allowed on the highway.  She was surprised to learn this and then said that if we weren't going to go by highway then she really couldn't help us.  Di then tried using her cell phone and the Garmin GPS to help figure out where we were and where we should go, but still no luck.

          Di using cell phone and Garmin (unsuccessfully):

We then asked another woman if she knew how to get to New London and she replied with great certainty that she did.  She said it was going to be very easy to cross the bridge and gave us the directions.  We listened to these easy directions and then messed them up by immediately heading off in the wrong direction.  We went two miles and didn't see the landmark the woman said we would see in just a quarter of a mile.  Di was annoyed we went the wrong way but I was just embarrassed that the woman may have seen us screw up so pathetically.  I thought we should hide somewhere for a while but Di convinced me to just keep going.  We went back, found the landmark the woman had talked about and then found the road she said would bring us to the bridge.  It was actually an on-ramp to route 95 and had a big sign prohibiting pedestrians and bicycles.  Aargh!  This was getting ridiculous.  We finally decide to take a bunch of side roads that would bring us near the bridge.  We made it to the beginning of the bridge but had to stop because there were no signs telling us how to get our bikes across.  Just then we saw someone riding his scooter up the sidewalk.  Di asked him if he knew how to get across the bridge and he replied that he had just come across!  The little sidewalk he was on eventually wends its way under the highway and up the other side where it turns into the pedestrian walkway.  We never would have figured that out if we hadn't asked this fellow.

          Di getting the pivotal info that gets us across the bridge:

          Di riding across the bridge (finally):

We were finally across.  We had gotten lost, accepted bad advice, wandered around aimlessly, gotten frustrated, accepted good advice, and finally made it.  Those with a philosophical bent could probably find something meaningful in this, but not me.  Put up a sign or two, why don't you!

We stopped in New London to have lunch.  It was now 2:30pm, we had ridden only 13 miles and we still had about 35 miles to go.  Di vows to stop using the Garmin.

          Di gives up on the Garmin and uses paper directions (gasp!):

Di made me take a picture of her walking her bike across a steel-grated bridge.  She said this picture would make our moms happy because it shows we are being careful.  I won't show the picture of Di riding up the on-ramp of route 95 -- that might make the Moms uncomfortable.

          Di taking no chances on a steel-grated bridge: 

We finally arrived in Madison a little after 7:30pm.  The inn keeper was upset we arrived so late.  We explained that we were late because we had gotten lost and rode more miles than planned.  He then replied in the best snarky voice I've ever heard, "And I'm sure you don't have any cell phones with you either."  Jeez.  Well, I guess we deserved that.  We had told him we would be there by 2pm and we ended up being five and a half hours late.  Sorry. Its been a long day.

We got ready for dinner where Di employed her special remedy to restore her well-being.

         Di and her restorative remedy: 

Di won't be adding any comments today.  It seems the curative powers of that special remedy work by first making you fall into a deep sleep.

Di here ...

It was just a catnap ...

Ok, it is true that the Garmin has given us some trouble, but I am not ready to throw it in the river just yet!  We did learn today that the Garmin only likes it if you stay on track with the programmed route.  Going off route causes havoc.  We find this a bit odd considering the Garmin's flagship feature is GPS navigation.   I wish I could blame the Garmin for most of our mishaps today, but as resourceful as we are sometimes its like the blind leading the blind with us and directions.  This is why we cleverly thought buying the Garmin was a good idea ;).  Go figure!

Here is Steve relaxing at a small Country Market.  We both thought this was a good idea as well until I accidentally stepped on Steve's penultimate toe on his right foot.  Luckily there isn't any permanent damage.

At this point in our ride the Garmin was behaving better.  Of course staying on route is key with the Garmin.  In fact, after we left Slices, a pizza/deli where we ate lunch, the Garmin worked pretty well.  It is worth noting however, for the last 25 miles all we had to do was stay on US 1 South to Madison.  Really couldn't go wrong!

Here is Steve posing.  It was such a beautiful area and even more precious was that we had under 10 miles to go.  FYI to the Moms - crossing this bridge on bike was quite safe.   It was paved, so no chance of falling through the cracks.

We ate at Elizabeth's cafe tonight.  A wonderful little town cafe that cooked to order and served fresh farm grown veggies.  We had Salmon too!  Just what we needed after the 47.84 mile day.

In fact, Steve was very satisfied after eating his meal ...

We are off to Fairfield, CT tomorrow; about 45 miles.   Its time to get some sleep!