Last year I took a rest day after a week of riding across Missouri and eastern Kansas. Storms raged through the area all day. In their aftermath came a strong steady tailwind that blew me all the way to my destination the next day.

Today I’m taking a rest day after 10 days on the road. Temperatures here are expected to be the 90s followed by thunderstorms into the night. Tomorrow will be in the 50s with headwinds. You can’t have everything but I’m glad I’m off the road today.

My daughter Lily’s apartment is spacious, with more than enough room for The Mule and me. Yesterday I stopped at a bank and bought a roll of quarters for today’s wash-it-all laundry event.

Last night I took Lily to dinner at a burger place in West Hartford. If you didn’t know better you’d swear you were on Bethesda Row in Maryland.

My plan for tomorrow was to stay at a farm reputed to offer bicyclist-only camping. I called the farm and learned they are no longer allowing camping.

The B&Bs in northeast Connecticut are either booked up or too expensive. My only option was to book a campsite farther along my route. The software would only let me book two nights so I’m ghosting my site tonight. I hope it works out because I’ll need to ride 70 miles to get there.

My plan is to stay at a hotel in Westborough, Massachusetts Sunday night.

Today Lily and I went out for lunch. On the way back I stopped in a hardware store and bought some small, narrow velcro straps meant for holding computer cables together. I’m going to use them to deal with my gluing snafu from the other night. They should help expand the inside of my tent. Fingers crossed.