Day 1 of being on the road

This morning I woke up at 6:45a to rainy skies, got my things together and jumped on the train to go pick up the rental car. When I arrived I asked if the car I had reserved had an ipod jack and the woman said no. WoW! Was I really going to have to do this whole trip with just the radio to listen to? She said the compact cars did not come with that feature, but not to fret because I would probably get upgraded, because they did not have enough compact cars.

We all know that rental cars always cost more than we anticipate, no matter how much you think you have everything covered. My car for the whole time cost $440 more than I budgeted for...Insurance. But that is okay, I will make up for it somewhere. My budget is $126/day to cover food, gas, and motel. I should be able to make up for some of it when I can stay with friends instead of motel.

After waiting forever I finally get to go to my car. Space B4 she said. There was a Mustang in B4! I thought well, now that IS an upgrade! There was no ipod jack, I was bummed. It turns out she told me the wrong space, and I ended up with a Doge Avenger with an ipod jack. Yay!! Not as "COOL", but I would be able to listen to my own music.

I make the grueling drive back to Brooklyn, pick up my stuff, have one last real meal before I start living on my "kickstarter budget", and hit the road at 2pm. 

My intention for the day was to look for two ghost bikes in New Jersey. All my efforts in contacting people in the bicycle community in New Jersey had led me to believe that there might be one of the five that once were. One of bikes unlikely to be there was on the way to the one that might be there, so I took a chance and looked for it. It was gone. But the other one was there!! 

Ghost bike for Camille Savoy, 54 years old. On Route 9W near Alpine, New Jersey.

Tomorrow, I will try to hit the potential three bikes in Philly, and head over to a ghost town about an hour outside of Philadelphia.