COLD night last night. We discovered “features” of our sleeping bag (snaps, drawstrings) that we never knew existed in our effort to stay warm. Woke up to woodpeckers again, but this time they were joined by wild turkeys gobbling (and an occasional gun shot out in the woods).
Started the morning heading into Derry NH to get Sidekick Sue (now wearing socks on her hands) a new pair of gloves. Of course, she bought 2 pair (old habits die hard). The bike shop owner was very helpful and thrilled to know that his store was featured on the maps published by the Adventure Cycling Association. Free marketing that he didn’t even know about.
Somewhere around Hudson NH, we passed a very old historic graveyard surrounded by an impressive granite wall that caught our attention while waiting for a red light to change.
Shortly after, we crossed into Massachusetts (our home state for 20 years). Crossed the Merrimack River into Tyngsboro and found the Comet Diner. Hot, breakfast food sounded good to two cold, hungry travelers. Spontaneously decided to call my dear Lotus/IBM colleague, Robin Alvarez, who lives in Tyngsboro to see if she happened to be around. As luck would have it, she was working nearby and was able to take a short break to visit. It was really fun catching up on the last 15 years in about 20 minutes. This was truly the most fun I had all day.
After lunch we rode some major hills through Dunstable and Groton. The best section of today’s ride was picking up the Nashua River Trail (a rail-to-trail project) between Groton and Ayer. It was flat, yet very scenic. A small creek runs through which is home to many turtles, but they were hiding below the surface because of the cold and the cloud cover. I’d highly recommend a visit to my MA friends.
After a few more hills on the way from Ayer to Littleton, we found our new home at the Boston Minuteman Campground. We got ourselves a cabin (with heat AND electricity) because it sounds like tomorrow is going to be a wet wash-out so we are looking at a potential day of rest (and quite honestly, neither of us is disappointed).
You got a cabin?
Yep. Nice and warm last night. and tonight