Day 127-Atlantic Highlands to ATLANTIC OCEAN!!! (7 Miles)

I woke up feeling lucky that no one tried to rob my room last night and dragged the cart on its side to fit it through the narrowest doorway I've seen. The weather was absolutely miserable with pouring rain, cold temperatures and crazy wind. Luckily I didn't have to spend very much time in it. I got back onto the Henry Hudson bike path, took it to its end and reached the last bridge of the journey I had to cross.

As I got up the bridge deck sidewalk, the winds became like nothing I'd ever felt before. They pushed from left to right and I had to work pretty hard to keep the cart from blowing over into the roadway. As I turned north on the other side of the river, I faced the winds head on and could barely even open my eyes to see my family outside of the rental car further down the path. I didn't run to them, but instead opted to climb over a little dike and run across the beach as soon as I could. The sandblasting the wind gave me was actually really painful, and any plans to go for a long swim were ruined by my fears of the pretty big waves. There was no sitting at the shoreline to contemplate the achievement, just a mad rush to get to the van to stave off the hypothermia. 

And with that, it was over....

We drove back to a hotel in Neptune that Jan and Todd from Grundy Center generously gave my family for a couple of nights. I shaved my beard except for the mustache (which I intend to keep through Movember), showered, and hit the road to Seacaucas, NJ where we took a train back into the monstrous city of New York.

A drive to Philadelphia waited for us tomorrow and I would continue south on a bus to Baltimore. This distance, which would take me a week to run, would be covered in just a few short hours. I suppose I will re-acclimate to distances as I take the long way home.

Day 126-East Brunswick to Atlantic Highlands (22 Miles)

I started the day with a pack of Pop-Tarts before checking out of Motel 6 and hitting the road for my last real day of running. I wanted to get done somewhat early in the day in the off-chance that I could catch a ferry to New York City for the evening. After running through a maze of side roads and busier state highways, I eventually got to the head of the Henry Hudson bike trail. This trail pretty much marked the end of running where I had to share the same piece of pavement with a car.

A few miles into the bike path, there was a break in the trees that had continuously lined the trail. To the south there was extensive home re-buildings, most likely from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. To the north was where the picture below was taken. It's hard to describe that sight, but I savored it at nearby park bench for quite some time. The last few miles into the Leonardo Motel-by far the sketchiest motel of the trip-flew by.

Without wasting much time, I walked 2 miles to the SeaStreak ferry to catch the 5 pm boat into New York. The ride was about an hour long and cost me $45, but there was no way I was going to run this far and not go into the heart of the city. Waiting to board, I struck up a conversation with Glenn, an avid Civil War reenactor going to visit his girlfriend who was in town for the holiday with an elaborate costume. He gave me the advice to walk from the northern ferry stop and catch the returning boat further south.

Walking from 35th St up to Times Square, across half of the Brooklyn Bridge, and then down to Wall Street to Pier 11 was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. During these four hours I probably saw more people than I had seen in the past four months combined. The fact that at least half of them were dressed up for Halloween added to it all.

Back at 10 pm at Pier 11, I met back up with Glenn and took the last ferry from New York back to Jersey. Him buying me a candy bar on the boat and driving me back to the motel would be the last acts of kindness I received from people who had once been strangers.

Day 125-Somerville to East Brunswick (16 Miles)

I woke up and milked yet another motel check-out time before proceeding through a construction zone that would take me to the Deleware-Raritan Canal Trail into New Brunswick. At the end of the trail in town, water was spilling into the river from the canal over the cobblestone path. It took several minutes to push the cart over the very rough surface through a few inches of flowing water.

Getting into the city that contained two of Rutgers' main campuses, I decided to head towards the local bike shop to get some route planning advice. Google maps showed an upcoming highway crossing to be "bike-friendly" but the satellite image of no shoulder and a clover-leaf interchange had me skeptical. Two guys at the shop told me it'd be alright and that was enough for me to proceed.

After running through Rutgers' Cooke Campus I got to Ryder Lane's crossing of Highway 1. I noticed that there was a sidewalk on the other side of the guardrail over the bridge so I decided to go down an exit ramp a ways to get around it. Getting around the guardrail on the other side of the highway was a different story, however. Because the guardrail extended all of the way down to the highway below, I would have to go over it. With the cart being too heavy to lift over, I worked at unpacking all of my stuff then lifting it over. The ridiculousness of this whole situation became very clear when a couple of walkers passed me by.

The Motel 6 on the other side of a busy highway was my home for the evening. After taking a nap and cleaning up, I head to the nearest restaurant, a Chinese Buffet. The water they gave me tasted like molding compost and completely made me lose my appetite. It took the whole length of the country, but I finally found disgusting tap water.

The Jersey Turnpike

Day 124-Clinton to Somerville (24 Miles)

I started the day with what I thought was a free continental breakfast until a bill was handed to me as I started to leave back to my room. It was a bit of a bummer, but I was able to fill up until eating hurt. I had a noon checkout time here that I took advantage of until 11:30. 24 miles seemed like a pretty long ways today after the previous few runs.

Google Maps proved to be money as I arrived into Somerville with zero stress with regard to traffic and no shoulders. The run really opened my eyes to the fact that most of New Jersey is rural farm and forest land. This was true until getting into town where, for the first time, I felt like I was in the suburb of a huge city. It reminded me of the southern suburbs of Chicago I crossed over a month ago.

The motel I was staying in was a couple of miles from the main drag of town. After walking through Somerville and what claimed to be the oldest continuous hotel in the US, I started running east and north to the motel off of the really busy Highway 22. After cleaning up, I went next door to the Houlihan's where I ate dinner at the bar with a couple of businessmen who had just gotten off of work.

Today was again pretty low key. I'm liking these low mileage days as they seem almost effortless. Three more days!

They claim to be the oldest continuous hotel in the US

Day 123-Belvidere to Clinton (20 Miles)

The owner of Hotel Belvidere sat down at breakfast with me and gave me a history lesson on the town dating back to before the Revolutionary War. It was great to have such a knowledgeable host and it made me appreciate how much older the history is here compared to out west. After breakfast I just lounged around a bit before the 11 am checkout time.

I started on the run despite not getting my map (phone) to turn on. I knew how to tackle the first eight miles or so from memory, and hopefully it would start working after that. It eventually did, and it proved to be necessary to navigate through the labryith of local roads that climbed the steep hills that dove through farmland and mill towns. One quarter mile stretch of roads was undoubtedly the steepest of the entire trip outside of Day 1 when we climbed through the Coastal Range on forest roads. Even walking up this monster needed three rest stops along the way.

Even with a later start, I finished the day at the Holiday Inn around 3 pm. I took a nap, showered, and ventured the half mile into town. The downtown had amazing old buildings and was bustling with several small business that were out of my price range for dinner. I walked through town to a Subway where I loaded up before going back to the hotel to relax for the rest of the evening. Me knee is just starting to feel a bit better.

Downtown Clinton

Day 122-Stroudsburg to Belvidere, NJ (17 Miles)

By the time I had woken up, Jamie had already left for work. Graydon was the next one awake and we ate cereal together from his fancy new bowls with straws built in before he had to catch his bus. My cart had been in the back of Lawerence's pick-up all weekend so we didn't have to load it up. We waited for Brian to show up to start work for the day and started out to the Stroudsburg. On the way out, we stopped at the Jonas gas station where we ran into Lawrence's dad and his paving crew about to head out for the day.

We eventually got to the Sunoco station and I had to run my last few miles in Pennsylvania. I said goodbye to Lawrence and Brian after Lawrence had stuffed something into my cart and told me I wasn't allowed to see it until he left. I soon discovered the note telling me to keep a positive attitude and to pay it forward along with a Visa gift card. I was extremely lucky to cross paths with Jamie and Lawrence on this journey. Checking up on me on the side of the road, taking me in for the weekend, and this final gesture were all acts of great kindness that showed what amazing people they are. I look forward to hopefully seeing them again soon as they are looking at taking a trip west.

After climbing a massive hill and arriving to Delaware Water Gap, I crossed the famed Appalachian Trail that stretches from Maine to Georgia. I proceeded down 611, which lost its shoulder and gained a Jersey Barrier as it carved into the walls of the valley made by the Delaware River. Several miles passed where I could see New Jersey but remained in Pennsylvania. In the familiar sounding town of Portland, I crossed the border into my 10th and final state of the trek.

A few miles passed on a busier US highway before turning onto a quiet county road into the town of Belvidere. I checked into the only hotel around for several miles, Hotel Belvidere, and talked for a while with the owner. The hotel was originally built in 1826 and had been beautifully restored just a few years ago. The owner let me store my cart in a storage closet outside.

I showered, walked around town with beautiful old Victorian homes for a bit, before stopping into the local bar and then a deli when I realized the bar didn't serve food. I ate on the back balcony where I could absorb the sun's rays like a turtle, as the owner put it. It was a pretty easy day that was only hindered by my lingering knee pains.

Crossing the Delaware River

Day 121-Rest in the Poconos

I started the day off with an icing routine for my knee which really needed the rest day. The morning was perfectly relaxing and Jamie made a huge breakfast. After a few hours of watching football, I left with Lawerence to help winterize a couple of the houses he manages as part of his company.

The first home was the one he offered to have me stay in in Effort. I'd never really seen a foreclosed house before, and it was interesting to see what can happen to a pretty new home after over a year of being vacant. The drywall was ripped up in a lot of spots where the copper pipe had been stolen and several of the walls were tagged with spray paint. The stolen pipes made winterizing very quick as the water lines didn't need to be drained.

After taking a bit more time winterizing the second home, we went to Lawrence's cousin's house to catch the start of the Eagles game. I've officially left Steelers/Penguins territory and am now very clearly in the land of Eagles/Flyers. We finished watching the game at Lawerence's parent's house where we had a great dinner of grilled cheese and tomato soup. I also got my first taste of apple dumplings which were amazing.

We left for home after a heartbreaking Eagles' loss. I got to meet Jamie's 8-year-old son Graydon before he went to bed. I spent my last night in Pennsylvania watching the Packers get mauled by the Saints. It wasn't a very good weekend for my sports teams, but my new friends in the Pocono Mountains made it a great one overall.

Jamie, Lawrence and myself

Day 120-Effort to Stroudsburg (16 Miles)

After breakfast, I left with Lawrence and Jamie on their way to get flu vaccinations. They dropped me off at Lawrence's uncle's car wash which I had passed on the way to the foreclosed house yesterday. I quickly found myself lucky to be running without the cart as the first few miles proved to have quite a bit of traffic with no shoulder at all.

I eventually got to run a few miles on a less busy cutoff road through state game land before getting onto the super busy Highway 611. Running with the cart through this would've been a nightmare as dodging the traffic to the strip malls and big box stores would have been pretty tough. After going through the busy outskirts I arrived to the bustling small-town downtown and crossed I-80 and waited at a Sunoco gas station for Jamie and Lawrence. They got me a Poconos Mountains t-shirt in Stroudsburg while they waited for me to finish.

They drove me back a different way than what I'd run and we got home just in time to watch Oregon State get whooped by Stanford. After this disappointment we drove up to Penn's Peak for dinner with Lawrence's parents and sister. It was just dark enough to not get a full appreciation of the view, but it was a very cool restaurant and concert hall with lots of memorabilia from the pretty big names that have played there. We got home and I crashed on their couch, falling asleep during what ended up being an exciting Penn State game.

Didn't see this until Day 122, but it was close to my end point today

Day 119-Albrightsville to Effort (11 Miles)

After waking up I met Erva, who had returned home last night just after I left for bed, and enjoyed a massive breakfast. She is a sales rep for Scentsy, and left me with an air freshener before Cliff drove me back to the Exxon station. The beautiful weather seemed like it was weeks removed from the pouring rain of yesterday.

The string of four long hilly days left my knee feeling like someone had jarred an ice pick into it. I took an extended warm up walk to an abandoned pool supply store where I started doing some stretching. As I was laying down a pickup truck stopped by worried that I had just been hit by a car. I started talking to Lawrence and Bryan a bit and Lawrence offered me a foreclosed house that he was managing in Effort to stay in for the night. I was originally planning on staying at an overpriced dumpy motel and was glad to take him up on their offer.

After kind of limping through the run and climbing one last final hill to the house, I met back up with Lawrence and Bryan who informed me that they wouldn't be able to turn the water on for me because someone had stolen the copper pipes out of the walls. Lawrence then offered to let me stay at his place back in Jonas, a town I had passed earlier in the day, which I gladly accepted.

Before driving back to his home, Lawrence wanted to show me one of his favorite sites in the area that he had just recently discovered. We drove awhile before stopping at some state game lands that were probably less than a half mile from Cliff and Erva's home that I stayed in last night. After about a half mile hike, Lawrence made me look down at my feet while I got into the clearing before revealing the gorge carved out by the Lehigh River. This was probably the best view of nature I'd seen since western Nebraska.

We arrived to his house after stopping at the family farmhouse that he would be moving into this winter. Here I met his girlfriend Jamie and took a shower in the first spa shower I'd seen on this run. Lawrence's sister, an avid runner, came over to meet me and we had dinner from Mike's Pizza. After hearing my plans for the next few days, Lawrence and Jamie offered to pick me up from Stroudsburg tomorrow and host me for an off day on Sunday. I was really lucky to meet such a great couple who would give me a great last few days in Pennsylvania.

Lehigh River Overlook

Day 118-Hazleton to Albrightsville (27 Miles)

While the rains continued from yesterday, I attempted to wait it out before the 11 am checkout time arrived. I started out east through the very busy beltway around Hazleton, a surprisingly large city, in the rain. After a lunch at McDonalds, I started down a a less busy highway that had a pretty good shoulder.

After passing through the highest borough in Pennsylvania, Freeland at an elevation of 1972 feet, the bike route started going down country roads again before getting to the Lehigh River valley. At Lehigh Tannery I jumped onto Highway 534 which took me through the large Hinkley State Park. After a massive descent and climb into and out of the main valley, I passed the empty campground that I would have stayed in for the night if my uncle Jason hadn't found me a connection through his church.

I gave Cliff a call outside of the Exxon station in Albrightsville at the junction of Highways 903 and 534. The shelter didn't do much as the wind drove the rain. Soon enough, he arrived, we loaded up the cart into his car, and drove south to his home in the woods outside of Jim Thorpe-a town named after the Olympic decathlete.

After showering and getting situated in their guest area in the basement, I joined Cliff for an amazing steak dinner and great conversation. I learned that he and his wife Erva, who was out at a Halloween parade, were originally from Idaho and that Erva was from the small town of Soda Springs, which is very close to where my grandma is from in Bennington. They moved out to Pennsylvania from Utah several years ago for Cliff's job with a foundry. One of their sons back in Utah was an ultramarathoner who has completed several 100 mile races.

Crossing the Lehigh River

Day 117-Danville to Hazleton (40 Miles)

Today was another case of leaving the motel earlier than I could have in order to get done before dark. I started back down the highway towards Danville before running on what claimed to be the oldest rails-to-trails in the United States, an old Reading Railroad line that was converted in the 1800's. After walking through the main part of town, I continued east after town on a small back road that

After the town of Catawissa, I continued down back roads towards Hazelton. Even though I had crossed taller mountains earlier in the state, I climbed them on highways which took the steepness out of them. These country roads were something else, a sign warned of 14 percent grade for a half mile on one of them. The curviness of the roads always

As I turned down Tomhicken Road, the road that would take me into Hazleton after about 10 miles, the forewarned rains started. The worst of this Nor'Easter was to the east, but I The forest I ran through provided some shelter, but it still got plenty wet. When I got to the b

Outside of my room at the Forest Inn I met Anthony, who was about to start a seasonal job at one of Amazon's largest plants in town. After showering and getting situated I went with him to dinner across the street at Denny's. It was interesting to learn his involvement with the 12 Tribes, a religious based farming community in upstate New York. After dinner, I went to bed exhausted yet again happy that tomorrow would be under 30 miles.

Beaver Valley

Day 116-R.B. Winter State Park to Danville (33 Miles)

I woke up after about 12 hours of sleep that was pretty uninteruppted. It was actually pretty warm last night, and I ended up shedding some unneccessary layers. The combination of 40 miles yesterday and sleeping on a blow-up mattress made packing up and getting ready for the day a little slow.

After receiving a Gideons Bible from a fellow camper, I made my way through the rest of the state forest and across more farmland to the town of Lewisburg. I would've loved to stay in this home of Bucknell University a little longer, but my stop was limited to just a lunch of pizza.

I continued east on my bike route for the second half of the day until arriving at the busy divided highway that would take me south into Danville. I opted to go a mile north towards I-80 for a cheap motel room at the Red Roof Inn. A dinner at McDonalds capped off a pretty uneventful day.

Old homes in Lewisburg

Day 115-State College to R.B. Winter State Park (40 Miles)

As much as I wanted to savor the noon check-out time at the Country Inn, I knew 40 miles would be tough to finish before dark if I didn't get a somewhat early start. After breakfast and getting a map and small football from Amanda at the front desk, I headed east where I had a campground waiting for me.

After a few miles on bike trails, I met up with Pennsylvania Bike Route G which took me around Mt. Nittany into the town of Centre Hall where I stopped for lunch at a pizza place. After this, it was just before 2 pm and I had about 27 miles to go. I continued east for a few miles before rejoining Route V, which I had left to visit State College.

For the next several miles, I was yet again in the heart of Amish country. Whereas in Indiana the alternative to horse and buggy was bike riding, here in Penn Valley the scooter was the method of transportation of choice. I got to see several Amish harvesting their corn. The horse drawn combines were a far cry from the massive machines I saw further west.

After 35 miles, I just wanted to be done for the day. The sun was starting to set and my legs were given quite the shock after a day off. The only thing keeping me from pitching a tent in the state forest land earlier than expected was that the campground had hot showers. I wearily arrived with just a smidgen of daylight left, set up camp, and took a shower in the handicapped stall. I ended up needing the bench in that stall as standing was a tough task after 40 miles. It was completely dark after leaving the showers and, not having the energy to cook, I enjoyed a dinner of dry ramen, a couple handfuls of almonds, and a can of pineapple. I fell asleep a little after 8 pm while reading under my headlamp.

Mt. Nittany