day 1: unexpected rain, unexpected rice

as you can see from the map below, today tom and i rode to hull beach to ritualistically dip our tires in the atlantic ocean. driving winds near the surf and a light rain provided a second baptism. round trip, we covered about 57 miles, including a few wrong turns. as much as i love the new england geography, local governments in massachusetts seem to take pleasure in making thier towns difficult to navigate. we came to a few intersections completely unmarked by street signs and many more giving us only the name of the cross street. in massachusetts it is very easy to see every way one might go, only very difficult to determine where one is.

we ate a delicious brunch at this little diner across the street from the beach. i couldn't stop shivering, so i drank 4 cups of coffee to try and warm up. in hindsight, perhaps i passed seamlessly into the jitters. by the time we finished our hash browns (mixed with rice - interesting!), we were the only people in the place, so we had the pleasure of listening to the waitresses talk amongst themselves as they cleaned up. in time, they turned to us, telling us about their kids and pouring still more coffee. "here you are, sweeties." "there you go, my loves." we are loved.

tomorrow we head west towards tom's uncle's in valley falls, new york - just north of albany. we'll be there saturday or sunday afternoon; we haven't decided our pace right out of the gate. let's see how the legs feel tomorrow.

of the few i took today, this is the picture that tom selected for himself: this is what tom looks like contemplating infinite water and infinite fog.

this is the picture that i have selected for myself.