Three ferries home

Route

I slept horribly on my last night in Acadia. I'm not sure why, but it was windy. Seawall was very quiet though, which was really nice. I woke up early, had some coffee and breakfast, packed up, and hit the road.

It was a misty, dreary morning in Maine when I left, but by the time I got down to Massachusetts the clouds had cleared. A beautiful, sunny day. It was windy the whole way down. I felt like I'd brought the wind with me from the north, but it was actually out of the south, so I was fighting it the entire way. A warm wind, at least.

I stopped in Portland, Maine, for a delicious sandwich and a shot of espresso to refill my system, since I was pretty sleep-deprived.

It took me about six and a half hours to get from Acadia down to New London, Connecticut, but I made the 4pm ferry to Orient Point. Waiting in line, I ran into some old high school friends, the Burnses, who were just coming back from Maine too. Pretty funny.

I got a little work done on the ferry, sitting up on the roof deck soaking in the sun and the scenery. It was a beautiful ride from Connecticut to Long Island. The Connecticut River empties into the Sound just west of New London, and it supplies about 70% of all the fresh water that flows into Long Island Sound.

From Orient Point, I drove to Greenport, took the North Ferry to Shelter Island, and caught the sunset waiting for the South Ferry over to Sag Harbor. The Clark family has run the South Ferry since 1833, when Samuel Clark rowed people across in a 16-foot rowboat. I was home about an hour and a half after getting off the Orient Point ferry.

It was a long day, but I was happy to be back. I've got a lot to adjust on the rig and a lot to plan before heading west, and I'm thankful to have these few days on Long Island instead of flying south for work.

One last note on New England: they really love their soft serve up there, particularly in Maine and New Hampshire. It feels like it's everywhere. I kept seeing signs for creemees, which is what Vermonters call soft serve. There are lots of Dairy Queens in New Hampshire, and I passed one place that sold just two things: soft serve and lobster. I'm all for it, with cool flavors like maple and blackberry. It's definitely a New England vibe.

Rhea

She's home with me now. On Day 10 she climbs in, and we head west together.