[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on May 11, 2005]

It's my last night in New Jersey! If you've looked at my photos since my last message, you have a pretty good idea of what I've been up to, but here's a brief rundown:

This morning I biked back into Paterson to see the Great Falls.  I met a man named Joe Shaw, a former trucker who had outfitted his bike like a semi, and he helped me find the falls.  I got lost again afterward and so saw more of Paterson than I'd intended!

I spent the afternoon posting a new roll of photos and looking for a Krishna statue for Leela.  Dave took me to dinner at a Thai restaurant.

12.9 mi

Today I took Ethan's car out to find bikeable roads out of the city.  The route I chose by studying the New Jersey Atlas will be fine, with a few modifications, but I had trouble finding the campground where I plan to stay.  It's not where Yahoo! says it is; it's several miles farther into the mountains, so depending on how I'm feeling, I may decide to stay in a hotel instead!

When I got back, after burning about $10 worth of fuel, I hopped on my bike and rode up Eagle Rock to the Essex County September 11 Memorial for some excellent views of the Manhattan skyline.

I spent the day today at the American Museum of Natural History, which I hadn't seen in some 15 years.  It still beats the pants off the Smithsonian.  Many of the exhibit halls have been renovated, most notably the Hall of Ocean Life, and the museum as a whole has been rearranged to better represent modern evolutionary theory.  The new Hall of Biodiversity is excellent; I particularly liked they way they juxtaposed descriptions of serious ecological problems with inspirational quotes... it sounds cheesy, but it really worked.

This morning I rode the bus to Manhattan and walked from the Port Authority bus terminal all the way through Central Park -- about 10 miles.  I didn't really know where I was going in the park; I just wanted to see what was there and get a feel for the place.  Last time I was there, breakdancing and leg warmers were all the rage!

This morning Dave drove me into Brooklyn so I could see the Jewish wedding chapel that used to be the family hardware store.  After a bite of lunch we continued to Far Rockaway to see his childhood home, where my sister and I had visited our grandparents.  Aside from the house itself, I wouldn't have recognized most of Far Rockaway ... I can't say whether it's gotten better or worse, just different.

This afternoon I biked to a movie theater I had passed on the way into town -- in West Orange, near Edison's historic lab -- to catch a matinee of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."  On the way back I had to ride in rush-hour traffic, and I was very glad I hadn't had to do that yesterday when I was pulling the trailer!  I'll have to time my departure carefully.

4.94 mi

[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on May 3, 2005]

Greetings from Montclair, New Jersey, just a stone's throw from Manhattan. Well, maybe a little farther than that.

I took a sufficiently out-of-the-way route from New Brunswick to Montclair that I avoided most of the traffic, but even so it was like a single continuous suburb.  I got a fourth flat tire.

The distance was much less than I expected, so that I arrived in Montclair around 1:00!  Uncle Dave is taking time off work after an operation and expects to stay home through this week, just to be sure.  I'll be staying in his son Ethan's room -- Ethan is driving trucks for the Marines in Iraq.

Joan and Lloyd treated me to a generous brunch, so I didn't get out the door until 11:00.

The weather was good today, and the roads were nice, through some beautiful, pale green forests... it would have been great if I hadn't gotten three flat tires.  Well, it was great anyway!  I rode through Princeton, which was every bit as pretentious as one might expect.  I stopped at a bike shop but the clerk was so rude to me I walked out, even though I really needed some tire patches!