Short Cuts

The commute has a couple of variation. One is to cut through the abandon Paul Dever State School. Last year, there was a movie shoot starring Bruce Willis. One Monday morning the place had changed noticebly. There were traffic signals, a market, a stage, gravesite and all the roads were cleaned up. I stopped my bike, looked around and could distinctly hear the Twilight Zone song off in the distance. I had to change my route through the school, but in general we all stayed out of each others space and got along fine.




The school now abutts an industral trucking area. Lots of huge warehouses and cold storage buildings. Hundreds of 18 wheelers travers the main roads and all the trucks from the quary must use the industrial park to avoid the residential areas.

The roads are quiet in the late afternoon.



Riding behind the warehouses is a good alternative.


There is talk about tearing down all the old building and converting the site into a bio engineering industrial area. There are lots of feral cats, deer, skunk, rabbit and a host of other small animals that call this place home. Progress is coming and they will have to fine a new home and it will also mean the end of some really nice commuting.

He is where the commuter returns to the somewhat busy roads of the city.

A Day in Boston and the Harbor Islands.

Line at the Kennedy Library waiting to pay respects







Both boys were home from out of state and had tickets for the Red Sox this weekend. We decided weeks ago to spend the day in Boston with them, and things worked out for us, even with the passing of Senator Kennedy. The tributes were everywhere including every highway alert sign. Which said,
"Thanks Ted
From the people of Massachusetts"





We were torn between changing our plans and stopping by the Kennedy Library to pay our respects. As we continued past the Library exit, wifey lost it and began crying sobs. We both cast our first votes for Teddy and have voted for him every election since. Even when he ran unopposed, just to show our support for him and his work. Things will seem out of sorts in the state for quite a while, but we will all move on and elect a replacement that will continue to fight for the little guys of America. We are both hoping the health care plan will be named after him when it passes next month.

Kennedy family members were spread around the lines outside greeting the people in line.







Boston

If $31 dollars to park for a day is reasonable, then we found reasonable parking in downtown Boston. It was walking distance from Pier 14 and the boats to Georges Island, one of the many islands of the Boston Harbor Islands chain.

While we were waiting a Segway tour formed. At first when I saw the helmets, I though it was a bike tour. All of the tourist adapted very quickly and had little difficulty controling the things. Then they all road off in single file. Cute.


A twenty five minute ferry ride got us to Castle Island and Ft Warren before lunch. Todd, #2 son, acted as our guide and directed us through the fort according to the brochure. Ft. Warren has lots of historic significance, which can be read by, Clicking Here

From Boston with the boys

From Boston with the boys

From Boston with the boys

From Boston with the boys

From Boston with the boys

We ended the day in the North End of Boston with some wonderfull seafood and shopping in the market district.

From Boston with the boys

From Boston with the boys

From Boston with the boys

It was a beautiful day in Boston in spite of the sadness.

GOODBY

 

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the nation lost "the greatest United States senator of our time" with the death of Ted Kennedy.

"For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well-being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts,"



There was more than one time I went to the polls and the only vote I cast was for Senator Kennedy.  During the Vietnam War, and although he was vehemently opposed to it, he wrote, sponsored and push a law through the statehouse in Massachusetts that all tuition and fees are waved for veterans attending State College here. 



It was never about him but his life was dedicated to helping those who needed someone to fight when the "system" was determined to keep them down.   People like Teddy are the reason we do not have term limits for our Congress and Senate.   If the voters of a state think their representative are shit, They  will vote them out.  It happened in 06 and 08.    We are very capable of term limits at the voting booth.



God has determined that Teddy's work is done and now it's time for his reward.   We can all be absolutely sure that there is a special place for Teddy in heaven. 



The boys are home and we are all going to Boston tomorrow to pay our respects to the greatest human and American I have ever known. 

S24O Tour of Cape Cod

Sub 24 hour overnight is what that means.



Brandon and I packed our stuff on the bikes and took off for a weekend camping trip.    Hurricane Bill threatened us but we were confident that we could withstand anything he could throw at us.



We rode to the Cape Cod canal, walked our bikes over the bridge and camped at the state forrest gounds in Sandwich, Ma.

From S24O Cape Cod

It's all written up Here  of if you just want to see a slideshow, Click Here

A Short Tour of Cape Cod

View Larger Map

Reading crazyguyonabike.com, hosting a tourning cyclist (see previous journal entry), and having a friend begin her bike tour this week, I can't shake the idea of taking off for a couple of days.

The original plan was to get to NYC and ride back home to the south coast of Massachusetts. Logistics of getting the bikes to the city using a bus or train we getting pretty involved. Perusing crazy guy and lo and behold, this journal is featured. It begins 35 miles from my home and it sets of the light bulb. Why not a weekend tour close to home. After all we live right on the ocean and there are some great possibilities.



Next weekend Brandon and I will set off from Fairhaven, Ma to Cape Cod. Well will cross the Bourne Bridge, ride the canal service road/bike, walking path, to Sagamore, and follow rt, 6A to somewhere on the Cape. We'll decide that when we get there. Our tour last year on the Erie Canal taught us that planning on a bike ride does not work out that well.

Part of the tour will be on the Cape Cod Rail Trail
We will leave Friday afternoon, ride 30-50 miles, get a campsight then ride home Saturday, in time to be home for the weekly dinner with the Johnsons.

Warm Showers Guest

My co-workers are having a wonderfull time with the name of that organization. However if you a bicycle tourer, warm showers can be a great resource.

Bob, an Englishman who now lives in Florida was having a difficult time finding campgrounds on this leg of his route. He is riding his bike up the Atlantic Coast Route from Florida to Maine. He decided to contact a warm shower host and rang me up. It didn't take long for me to decide that Bob was on the up and up. Being a footie fan really added a lot of "cred" to his request for a place to stay.

My intention was to have him join our regular Saturday evening dinner gang but he would be arriving too late. Approaching our house after an over the top lobster dinner, I spotted the Surley Long Haul Trucker on my front lawn sporting a very fancy looking Yak trailer.

We offered him a warm shower and the use of the washer and dryer before he and I set out to Pub 99 for a couple of cold beers. Easy conversation about footie, biking and life in general, passed the time and helped the beers go down smoothly.

I decided to give Bob a tour of Fairhaven. Problem is that Fairhaven is a Revolutionary War site. After a couple of sentences Bob remarked "oh boy, more stories of English getting thier arsed kicked. I abandoned the war sights to show him the archetecture that was built by the towns benefactor Henry Huttleston Rogers (video)

Bob was a very gracious and comforable guest. All the people and most of the animals took to him nicely. The exception was our new dog, Jenny, who has only been with us for five weeks. Bob was the first "stranger" in the house for Jenny and she was a little miffed. Because she is a new dog, we had to put her out while Bob was there. That and the fact she is a Pit Bull, but Bob was a trooper.

Bob left this morning for his 70 mile ride to Provincetown Ma. He'll have some really good stories about that place I'm sure.

Living and Bartering on the Ocean

I have received lots of scallops as gifts recently. My neighbor just got a few lbs of haddock given to him. Last night we traded some with each other and wifey and I cooked up the fish this evening. Holy Mackerel! With a side of rice and some fresh carrots. yum. Living on the ocean really adds a lot to our culinary delights.

Ninety Nine miles of bike commuting this week, made plenty of room for some really fresh seafood.

Coming Down The Mountain

Wifey and I spent a couple of hours Saturday in our old neighborhood. I was born there and was kind of an Army brat. My parents owned a Luncheonette just outside of the main gait of Fort Rodman. All of the soldiers and officers on the base knew the little grade school kid from the store and allowed him and his bike the run of the fort. The beach above was inside the fort and I had a kind of exclusive access as a civilian. It was the beginning of my climb up the mountain.

Wifey grew up in the cluster of houses in the background, and my home was out of the photo on the left. We never did like each other as little kids, but obviously we kind of grew out of that.








It's ironic that I cut through a military type place on my daily commute. The building across the street from my office is General Dynamics, a military contractor. I have been riding through there for so many years that all the managers and staff know the old guy and give him the run of the place.

I am meeting my financial guy next week in preparation for retirement.

It's almost time for that little eight year old to come down from the mountain.

The photo below was taken along side the tracks when this two engine train roared by during my commute.