nubmer tenn

Hello from Rhode Island, although I may be in Connecticut before I actually post this. I believe I was in Burlingame, Vermont when I last wrote.
After spending the night in Burlingame, I drove down towards the Green Mountains National Forest in southern Vermont. I stopped at a ranger station on the way down and got some information on good hikes and a couple of good places to camp. [Side note: I have been universally pleased with the service I’ve gotten from the US Forest Service centers. They are a tremendous benefit for people who are doing exactly what I am: hiking and camping. My tax dollars at work!] I continued on to the hiking spot, which happened to be a couple of segments of the Appalachian Trail. So now I can say I’ve done another 7 miles of that trail – still about 2000 to go! I stopped at one of the many shelters along the trail, to see what they looked like, and they’re pretty spiffy as far as back-country accommodations go. There are basically a lean-to with shelves, kind of like bunk beds, for people to roll out their sleeping bags and pads, as well as lots of hooks to hang backpacks and food. (Most of it’s in bear country.) I met a couple of people who were doing segments of the trail – one guy was on the first day of a 270-mile trek. One of these days I think I’ll do the whole thing. The hiking is definitely different than in the west – lots of tree roots and rocks right in the trail that we don’t have to deal with. And it seems they don’t do switchbacks; most trails kind of angle right up the slope rather than back-and-forth as we do in Yosemite, the Sierras, Glacier, etc. So the eastern trails are steeper, which is fine for going up (for me) but real bad for going down (for me). I’ll have to get the knees and ankles in shape if I’m going to do the Appalachian Trail, and get the lungs in shape if I’m going to do the Pacific Crest trail…
Anyway, I finished my hikes around 4pm, so instead of staying at the campground that was recommended, which was just a few miles away, I decided to take advantage of the daylight and continue on down into Massachusetts. I looked at the map and found a good-sized state park in the middle of the state and headed southeast.
Bad decision. I’d assumed that most state parks (especially one called ‘Mount Holyoke RANGE’; I’m thinking several mountains) would have camping. But it was not so. I wandered around well past dark trying to locate a place to setup my tent, even finding myself hurtling towards Boston on the Mass Turnpike, finally ending up near a state forest that was supposed to have camping – but I couldn’t find it. The only place I could find was a private campground that wanted $32 to set up my tent – no way! I drove into a picnic site and slept in the car, waiting for that knock on the window at 3am as the state trooper rousted me out of my slumber, but fortunately it never came.
Feeling a bit less than refreshed, I headed towards Rhode Island and some state parks I’d seen on the map. Once burned is twice shy, so I got smart and, as I noticed a local library, I pulled into the parking lot to see if I could scare up some free WiFi (it was 6:30am, so the library wasn’t open, but I figured they didn’t shut down their wireless server, and I was right). I was able to determine that there WAS camping in one of the state parks I’d been looking at, so I headed there – and that’s where I spent last night. They even had a pretty good 8-mile hiking loop. After doing that loop, I went out for a drive and checked out the beach at Narragansett (one of my favorite place names!) and went into Newport. Passed a sign that I should have photo’d, showing the possible future of Sacramento: “No. Kingstown”.
Speaking of signs, I keep seeing funny signs, but I never remember them when I write the blog. I gotta get me one of those pocket voice recorders so I can talk to myself while I’m driving. One I saw a couple of days ago, though, was odd: “Thickly Settled”. I’m thinking they were telling me to slow down because there were lots of people there, but I could be wrong…
The speed limit signs in Massachusetts were driving me nuts. Rather than keeping a steady speed for a period of 5 miles or so, they were constantly changing every mile or two. I understand slowing down in a town, but going from 45 to 40 to 50 in a two-mile stretch is stupid. However, a native Massachusan told me nobody pays attention to them anyway, which may be why I was spreading such goodwill with anyone following me. {:>
As I write this I’m consuming a few more in an apparently endless stream of McDonald’s breakfast calories – because I saw the McDonald’s WiFi sign. Should have known that nothing in McDonald’s is free. Guess I’ll find someplace else to post this – I’ll be catching the ferry in New London, Connecticut this afternoon, so maybe something as I wait there.
Update – no WiFi on the boat, so I’m posting this at a Starbucks on Long Island. This is a well-travelled blog – it started life in RI, then grew up in Conn, and gave up the ghost in NY…