What, going home? I thought you were biking back? Well, we did too, but there was a change in plans (actually multiple changes) that developed over several days after Jerry's departure for mechanical reasons. It's a convoluted story, which I will reserve for the Reflections page.
In the meanwhile, enjoy our ride to Trenton along the Delaware Canal Towpath. In Trenton, we rented a car and (mostly) drove home. To save Happy the trouble of driving me over to Virginia and then back to Maryland, both ways through rush-hour traffic, and also to get more miles in along a nice route, I had him drop me off in Greenbelt, MD, and I biked home to Arlington from there. Only about another 19 miles, and the sun was out, and it was warm in the low 70s. Perfect weather after the morning's rain.
We wanted a good breakfast downtown, and everybody said, "Fred's." But Fred's is a "private" club. So we were told to just tag along with a member and ask to go in as a "guest." As it turned out, we were admitted without any questions and quickly given a seat at the large and seemingly endless counter, the only seats in the house.
With lots of wildlife. We saw geese, ducks, turtles, swans, and an egret-looking bird. I say that because it looked similar to the egrets we saw in Florida. If you know otherwise, please let me know. Research indicates it could have been a heron.
At times the towpath gets close to the river. There are areas where the canal wall is very tall with no fall protection, so bike carefully and maintain control!
Eventually, we came to the river crossing at East Trenton Avenue that would take us back into New Jersey and the car rental agency. The rain today started out as a mist but got heavier as we moved south. We were pretty muddy by the time we got to Trenton, and I welcomed the paved surface. Three miles to go!
But Enterprise Rent-a-Car lent us their hose and their bathroom facilities to clean up. I gave both bikes and the panniers and other equipment a good hosing down.
It was a little over 168 miles and 3-1/2 hours by auto from Trenton, NJ to Greenbelt, MD. We had a little trouble getting into the Greenbelt Metrorail Station, ended up returning northbound, exiting at US-1, and making our way back on local roads to a good point for me to start the route home. Which meant, if not at the Metro Station, at least near the course I had laid out for our return trip. Eventually, all went well, and the sun was now out, and it was warm. I was looking forward to a leisurely ride home and was not disappointed.
My last project at STV before I "rewired" myself and decided to stop working for a living: the decking over of the 3rd Street Tunnel between E Street and Massachusetts Avenue.
