12 days in New England - Day 2 - May 18

Day 2 found us waking up to a beautiful Pennsylvania morning.  Steve slept for a bit longer than me, so after I cleaned up, took Max for a walk just a very short distance down the road and we found a cache there.  It was part of a series for the county, would have been nice to get more of them but we had another full day of driving ahead of us.

After our usual cereal breakfast, we packed up and were on the road around 9:30 am.  We saw lots of nice Pennsylvania mountains, even though we picked up some light rain from time to time.  We stopped at a WalMart somewhere along the way and picked up a USB to car charger for the iPod, serving spoons that we didn't have, some non-Michigan deposit pop, and a few miscellaneous items. 

We made it into New York then immediately took the first exit, as that took us down into the very tip of New Jersey, so that I could get a cache in New Jersey.  Thankfully, the cache I found was called "Bovine Royalty" and was located at a Dairy Queen!  We ended up eating lunch there as well as blizzards for dessert after I made the quick find.  Next, we went back into New York, and stopped at the NEXT exit to get a New York cache, at a travel bug hotel.  Tall grass at the cache had me wondering about ticks, and sure enough there was one crawling on my shirt a short time later.  Glad Max stayed in the car for that one!  Crossed the Hudson River, which cost us a $2.50 toll, and Max received his second dog biscuit from the toll collector.

Connecticut was a bit of a navigational challenge, as there didn't seem to be a direct east-west interstate except along the coastline.  We managed to get through just fine, and stopped at a Park and Ride lot which was next to a hiking trail so that I could get a CT cache.  Max walked with me, bet it felt good for him to stretch his legs, too.  Finally made it to Rhode Island, and we stopped just inside the border next to a small historic cemetery for my RI cache.

Didn't take long before we made it to Massachusetts!  Our home for the next three nights would be the Myles Standish State Forest.  This was our bargain stop at only $14 per night.  No electricity but the price was right.  We entered the park through the south entrance, and had to drive (seems like) about 10 miles to get to our campground area which was at the north end.  Curlew Pond, which was really a lake, was a beautiful place to camp.  It was getting dark so I started the charcoal picnic pan which we'd brought and cooked the chicken that I'd had marinating in teriyaki sauce.  Also cooked pineapple slices with the chicken.  We ate in the dark but it was a good meal.

We were very pleased to find that we were just a few sites down from an ultra-modern bathhouse, just opened up a few weeks ago.  Touchless sinks and dispensers, one of those ultra-powerful hand dryers, automatic flush toilets, very nice showers, and even an outdoor dishwashing station that came with hot water.  After checking out one of the other bathrooms in the other direction, we were VERY thankful to be where we were. 

No wifi, no electricity, so just read a book on my iPod to get to sleep.