July 8 53rd Day Atlantic City to Georgetown DE In which I am rescued by the Coast Guard Auxiliary. 77 miles

Rose at 6:00 to get an early start. Riding by.7:15. Started out taking the board walk and intended to stay at the shore, but that proved impractical due to the disjointed nature of the road along the shore and me having misplaced my map. This led me to follow Rte nine which was actually quicker which was a good thing since I arrived at the Cape May ferry only four minutes before its departure. The ride to Cape May was pretty uneventful except for the place where the Rte 9 bridge was closed so the traffic was detoured onto the expressway. As I pedaled up the on ramp I figured I would not get far as there was a set of toll booths right at that place. I was pretty sure they would send me back and I didn't know what I would do then. However when I got to the toll booths I went into the manager's office and explained my plight and was told that while the bridge on Rte 9 was out for cars and trucks, pedestrians and bikes could cross. Thus informed I made my way off the expressway and back to the bridge on Rte 9. I was able to continue without any problem.

I saw an electronic sign giving the temperature as 90 degrees, but there was a brisk head wind to cool me off. (Yes that is irony dripping from those words, but it is true that the head wind was cooling to a degree.)

I had an hour and a half on the ferry to rest and eat and was quite refreshed by the time we landed in Delaware. However I was not prepared for the 100 degree heat that enveloped me when I rolled off of the boat. Again happily, or not, there was a head wind. I resolved to not do any hard pedaling and just put enough energy into the bike to move it along. Thus proceeding I arrived at my destination for the day in a timely way around 5:30.

I was at a state forest facility that according to my map had camp sites. There was no sign of officialdom, but there was a group of about 20 people having a picnic. I went to them to ask about a ranger or campground and was directed to a nearby house. As I started away my informant asked if I would like to have some dinner. I said I'd be back and went to the ranger's home. After learning that the entire camping facility consisted of a porta potty and permission to use the ground I returned to the picnic group. I had neglected to pick up food for dinner on my way so the hamburgers, beans, and cookies were a good deal better than what I had in my panniers. Just as I got over to where they were at a picnic shelter the sky opened up with a 20 minute torrent. We all sheltered together as I explained what I was up to and they explained that they were the local Coast Guard Auxiliary unit 12-09. These are the kind of people who volunteer to help the Coast Guard do its work and so you can suppose that they are predisposed to helping out strangers. We spent a couple hours in conversation, drawing out some coincidental information - one fellow has a son living in Bothell (a Seattle suburb) and one woman lives in the same neighborhood of Arlington VA. as Meredith. We finished with toasted marshmellows and singing. When my hosts had all gone, rather than go to the camp site I just rolled out my thermarest on the picnic table and slept there under the shelter. It felt a little bit like stealth camping.

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