The weather forecast this morning for the Northeast was dire: thunderstorms, torrential rain, flooding, and dense fog. When we walked out of the hotel at 7:30 am, it wasn't raining and the fog wasn't horrible, so we set off on the BMW with a loose plan to continue northeast into Yew York or possibly Connecticut. Once again we didn't have a set destination in mind due to the weather.
To miss heavy city traffic and hoover up some faster miles, we rode for about 75 miles on interstates today, amusing ourselves by taking a selfie in the reflective silver of a semi-trailer.
Off the interstate we enjoyed the quieter pace of the less congested roads, even though the low-hanging clouds limited our long-distance views.
This part of northeastern Pennsylvania is the Poconos, a 2400 square mile escarpment overlooking the Delaware River. Because it's so close to major metropolitan areas, the forests, hills, lakes, and waterfalls in the Poconos are an extremely popular destination.
We rode through New York state on I-84, exiting in Connecticut. We enjoyed a fantastic lunch at The Bistro, located in the historic 1898 Chas. B. Thompson Queen Anne-style building. In 1866, Thompson was the first person to start a mail-order business, selling items like cheap jewelry and toys. He expanded his business into selling soap, and gave away free dolls to little girls who sold the most soap. Sales were so brisk that he opened his own factory in this building.
Since the horrible weather forecast hadn't yet come true, we decided to ride further than we originally anticipated, stopping for the night in Avon, CT. We're meeting friends who live in the area for dinner on Tuesday, and will enjoy three nights in the same hotel. Tomorrow we plan to ride into Rhode Island, checking off another state on our list, and return back to Avon.
We left Arizona two weeks ago and so far haven't needed our rain gear. We've ridden through the dry heat of the southwestern desert, high heat and humidity in the South, waded into the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama, twisted our way up and down through the Appalachian Mountains, and currently are enjoying the sweeping, curving roads in the Northeast. Everyone we've met has been friendly and interested in our trip, making suggestions on roads to take and where to eat. We're not yet at our half-way point, and so far we've traveled 4,261 miles. We're looking forward to the rest of the trip! Here is today's route
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