Day 108- Lost

I wanted to get up early and get the heck out of here, but like always, something always stops me. It was raining. Since I wasn't actually in a rush, I waited it out. Around 8 it seemed like it stopped, although it still sounded like it was raining all around me. I could hear the wind- it was probably just knocking the drops off the trees. When I finally got out of my tent, I found that maybe it was only lightly raining but I was confident it would get better once I got away from the trees. I went back the way I came. I've stayed in some sketchy places, but this past week definitely deserves an award. Once I was on the road, it was just barely misting, but it slowly increased. I was probably riding right into it. I couldn't use my phone much, but the path was straightforward enough- I could probably take highway 1 the whole way. It's kinda funny. Today would have been a great day to stop and eat somewhere to get out of the rain and possibly get my phone charged, but I had enough food and water to last me all day. I decided not to stop, mainly because it was so cold. I knew it would be so much worse if I had to start back up again. My hands were so cold that shifting gears was a pain- I usually just stayed in high gear and hoped for the best. Eventually highway 1 merged with the freeway and there was a sign saying that bikes were prohibited. Drats, I guess I do have to use my phone. I was confused at first because it said to cross under the freeway, do a bunch of turns and then get on the freeway going against traffic. Are you crazy? But then I looked more closely on Google and it looked like there might be a pedestrian walk on that side. Yep. After that, more highway 1, then I had to get over to the pedestrian walk to cross another bridge. The past few days I've been surrounded by civilization- it's drastically different from, well, pretty much the entire rest of the trip. Finally there were some patches of woods as I got closer to the edge of Connecticut. At the same time, the rain finally cleared. I was feeling much better as my feet and hands slowly thawed out. Somehow my pants dried almost instantly. It was looking like I would only get into Rhode Island after 5. I'm planning on spending most of tomorrow going up through it, but it'll be a Sunday, so my chances of finding a postcard are slim. It'd be best if I could find one today, but I only had maybe an hour or so. I finally crossed over just after 4:30 and set to work. The first stop was at a grocery store- not what I usually check, but success! I quickly wrote it, put it in the post office box in front of the store, and tried to figure out where a good place would be to camp. It looked like there were several patches on the way, so I just started going. I was almost tempted when I found some decent spots, but I kept going. Once it was a bit after 6, I gave in. I'd rather quit early and know for sure it was a good spot than have another night like the past few. I headed into the woods. I could still see the cars, but I felt no one would be able to spot me while they were driving by, especially once it got dark. While I was in my tent, I started to hear the weirdest sound. I'm thinking it must have been fireworks, although I don't know why anyone would be doing that. I thought it would just people shooting but it was different. I noticed a light on my tent that suddenly went off. I had seen a street lamp when I was setting up my tent. Still, I sat there nervously for a bit until I finally checked. Yep, just the street lamp. I heard people talking briefly and a dog barking. I guess I'm not as far away from everything as I thought.