Day 15: Hightstown to Barnegat NJ
Mon 24 Jun 2024
Miles ridden today: 41
A lazy repositioning day to David and Tex down the Jersey shore. Must go shopping for allergy meds.
Last night it was a really crazy rain and wind and very happy the bike was under cover in the garage. Lazily scooted down the road, cutting directly south through the pine barrens towards Long Beach Island, and arriving at David and Tex's place just before lunch.
One very unexpected thing on this trip is that my allergies are crazy now--it's mowing season along the nation's road sides, and yikes my hay fever is outta control. It seems like the number one industry in America now is the road mowing industrial complex, between all the mowers and weed whackers and trailering all this equipment around. Also: trucks with those low flatbed trailers will stop at any time in the middle of the road, either letting mowing machines and workers off and on, and if you're stopped right behind them and then try to pass around you will get told not-so-politely to FO because "we're working" and told to wait until the mower 100 yards ahead trundles slowly over on the shoulder and is put on the back of the trailer.
I did wait like a good citizen, and said Sorry sorry to them, and then felt like a doofus when three other drivers behind me told the workers to FO by passing at 50mph or better. I was worried if I didn't wait I'd be seen as yet another Californian to hate, but then again I'm in New Jersey and they're used to being hated, and I wondered which state nowadays is the more looked down upon.
After meeting Tex as his place, we had a pizza stop for lunch, and I enticed Tex to go to Costco, where I found generic Allegra (and Christmas wrappings) for sale cheap. Only 184 days left until Christmas.
Reorganized my clothes yet again--it's been around 90 to 95 every day of this trip and I put my 'mild' weather clothes in their own special stuff sack for use in a couple weeks, at this rate I'll have to use them when I cross the Arctic Circle. I saw it was 101F at BWI airport and 100 in DC. Ugh, and it's not a dry heat.
Dinner and catching up with David and Tex, then in bed early. Gotta get scooting to enjoy cooler riding weather.