Absolutely glorious biking day. Quite possibly the best, most scenic day of the trip. The sun finally came out and the temperatures rose into the 60’s. We were able to shed our windbreakers, sweatshirts and cold weather bicycle gloves.
Because we had to ride off course into Millbrook last night, we started the morning by cutting back to our mapped route via 44 into Pleasant Valley, NY and then cutting over to 115 into the Poughkeepsie/Highland area.
On the Poughkeepsie side, we picked up the Dutchess Rail Trail which connects to the Walkway Over the Hudson, and then the Hudson Valley Rail Trail. The scenery and views were incredible, especially over the Hudson River. Well worth the trip if you are in NY and looking for a good bike trail to ride.
When the bike trail ended, we picked up 299 into New Paltz where we had lunch at Murphy’s Restaurant & Pub, and then walked through the downtown strip. The visit to New Paltz had special meaning to me because it is the town where my Mom re-started her life in her early 50’s. After years of raising a family she fulfilled a promise to herself to go to college and get her degree. After a couple years at MCC in Rochester, she moved to New Paltz to finish her Bachelors degree in Art History at SUNY. It was a big deal for her to get her own car, re-learn how to drive, and find roommates to live with while she went to school, without being dependent on anyone else. After obtaining her goal, she later joined us in Boston and made good use of her degree working for both the Museum of Fine Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. We lost Mom to leukemia almost 6 years ago now, but I like to think her spirit was with us today as we looked around her old stomping ground.
From New Paltz, we got on the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail. Unlike the earlier rail trails today, this one was a lot more primitive. It was unpaved, with sections of gravel, sections of mud, and sections of grass with vehicle tracks. We were glad to ride out of it into Gardiner as our bike setup wasn’t really made for that kind of riding.
Once in Gardiner, we headed to our campground. Now that the weather has turned a bit, we are back in our groove. The most convenient campground turned out to be a Yogi Bear Jellystone Campground…. a little more developed than the average campground (complete with water park and arcade), but a place to rest our weary selves all the same. It’s pretty empty right now, but we are told they are fully booked for the weekend, so we are looking forward to a quiet night of laundry (again) and reading. More rain is forecast for the morning, but we are hoping for a window of opportunity to ride on, since we can’t stay here.
That picture of Mark’s back on the bike should be the cover of your book. “In the Back Saddle Again”…..or something like that.
Haha. He always blocks my view.
What beautiful photos! I love this part of NY – we traveled close to where you were last year on our way to the Berkshires. I really want to explore more of this area.
I’m enjoying youer travelogue and am very impressed that you’re writing such detailed descriptions each day while you’re traveling – you must be tired by the end of the day!
I was telling my husband about your trip, and he wants to know how you’re getting back home??
Enjoy this lovely weather this weekend!
Sue
Thanks Sue. Nice comments from you since you are such a talented writer. We will be storing our bike at my son’s house in Phoenixville PA. They will drop us at the closest train station and we can make our way back to Boston where we can get a bus back to our small town in NH. Then in the Fall, we hope to take the train back down and continue another leg of the journey…. we are discussing Williamsburg VA.
Sounds great! We have been camping in northern and eastern VA the past few springs and really enjoy the area.