If the other day was Flyin'...

then today could only be described as floatin'. 

I started the Strava this morning so I know I only covered 146 miles. In that relatively short distance however I was in four states, starting with Virginia, then quickly crossing in to Maryland (again), then briefly crawling through Deleware to catch the Cape May ferry to New Jersey. 

While siting two hours, waiting for the ferry, the weather turned from ideal, to less than ideal. Once on the ferry we set sail, so to speak, for Cape May, New Jersey the weather went from bad to worse. As clouds darkened and winds picked up, the rain began to come in curtains of water which blew under the overhang, swept across the deck and gathered to form a river flowing down the ladderways to the deck below. The ferry carries vehicles as well as foot passengers so there were several hundred people on board. In unison, cell phones began to notify everyone of a tornado warning. I had pulled my rain coat from my saddlebag before we left the pier and now wished that I had taken the time to unpack my rain pants. Now, with the bike sitting amidst the maelstrom, there was no way to open my suitcase without getting everything I own soaked. 

So as we docked and were directed to return to our vehicles I sat and absorbed gallons of water into my jeans and shoes. By the time docking was complete and I was released to disembark I was beyond soaked. As soon as I (slowly) rolled down the road I found the collection of rainfall to be 6" to 8" deep in several puddles that extended across the road.. Luckily I was straight up vertical and did not have to turn, so I was able to ford the lakes. 

I found the electricity was out in parts of Cape May, so traffic lights were dark. Typical protocol would dictate that everyone stop and take turns proceeding. Not in New Jersey. The locals know which routes are primary and they barrel right through without hesitation, leaving everyone else to figure out when it was safe to proceed.

By this time it was 5 p.m., I was soaked and somewhat cold, there were deep puddles on the road and dangerous intersections to traverse. My GPS had not been working all day (I think the battery is dead in my Bluetooth) so I was lost also. It sounded like an ideal time to grab the first motel that presented itself and call 146 miles a day. Unfortunately, as has been the case too many times, the cheaper the motel the cheaper the Wi-Fi. Pictures will follow tomorrow, not that there's anything too exciting to look at. 

The bottom end of Jersey is a swamp on an island so streets, I'm told, don't drain quickly. Hopefully tomorrow will be drier and more productive.