Rusharound

Though the week’s sailing at Block Island provided some excitement (remember being trapped nearly underwater on the windward rail, John?), perhaps the biggest adventure was simply getting home. A friend was supposed to pick me and all my stuff up from Point Judith, Rhode Island.

When his plans changed, I was stuck with a decision – rent a van and do two round trips between Cambridge and Pt. Judith, wait until 8PM and ask the friend to come fetch me, or bite the bullet and ride the scooter back to Cambridge. If you’ve seen the thumbnail picture at the start of this entry, you know which path I took.

Remember, dear reader friends, that my 45-year-old scooter tops out at about as many miles per hour. And with 8″ wheels and “vintage” acceleration, I had to plan a trip that avoided I-95, the major interstate connecting my origin and destination.

After ditching my gear at the Ferry Dock’s freight office and getting a dismissive “dumb idea” judgment from the attendant there, I set out.

Time: 0 Hours
Mile: 0

Time: 45 minutes
Mile: ?
Passed a crazy jam of people headed to an airshow.

Time: 1 Hour
Mile: ?
Evidently made a wrong turn.

Time: ?
Mile: 31
Google Maps: Location cannot be found

Time:
Mile: 33
Stopped for lunch and to replan route

Mile: 33
Those are my hand written instructions on the back on my receipt. I had a lot of trouble getting the employees at the sandwich shop to give me tape — that’s why my directions are stuck to the handlebars with a bandaid.

Mile: 36
Time ?
Making friends.

Mile: 47
Time: 3 Hours
Lost again. Stopped for fuel and more directions

Mile: 47
Time 3 hours
Don’t be fooled. The second set of directions worked for only two turns before I got lost. Again.

Not photographed…
Sometime in this stretch I accidentally got onto I-95. That’s right. 45-mile-an-hour-me — on I-95 with nowhere to go but the breakdown lane and the next exit. Did I mention that I was going Southbound, the exact wrong direction? Forgive me for not taking any pictures.

Mile: ?
Time: 4.5 hours
The first part of Boston I recognized — the video store (now closed) near Sarah’s old house in Jamaica Plain.

Not photographed: The baseball cap that had hung on the hook on my scooter for more than 4 hours flies off. I went back for it but couldn’t find it. Too bad because it had been my favorite.

Mile: ?
Time: ?
Graffiti with my name on it makes me feel at home again.

Mile: 95
Time: 4 Hours, 50 Minutes
Arrived home

Think this was a bad idea? The friend who was going to pick me up rode a scooter across the country.

Oh – and those bags you last saw in the freight terminal? Thank you, Jennifer, for picking them up and bringing them back to your house. (Sarah and I retrieved them later that night.)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 at 10:19 pm and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.