Day 8: Easton to Portland

May 11, 2025

Day 8: Easton to Portland

After writing my blog post this morning, I had a banana and a cup of coffee at Tom’s before getting on the road around 8:30 AM. Tom had to go to church at that time so we both left the house at the same time.

I rode on the D&L Trail again, this time eastbound toward downtown Easton. I planned to ride the paved section of the trail underneath a bridge, but the trail was flooded so I had to backtrack and cycled a different way to downtown Easton.

After crossing the bridge to Phillipsburg, NJ, I took a break at Salvaged Sip Cafe and had a cup of yogurt with granola.

I followed the Atlantic Coast Route from Phillipsburg and cycled on River Road toward Belvidere. I had to take another detour because part of the road was flooded. The rain from several days ago must have came down hard in this area.

It was a little after 12 noon that I arrived at Belvidere, a small New Jersey town that’s next to the Delaware River. I had a fishwich and a salad at Uncle Buck’s Diner. This diner must be very popular since people just kept coming in.

From Belvidere, I crossed the bridge to the Pennsylvania side again. As I rode on River Road, there was a hairpin turn that led to a giant hill. There was no way I could ride that so I walked my bike all the way up. I was lucky there were fewer cars on the road today due to Mother’s Day.

My Warmshowers host Dan and his girlfriend Lyn saw me in their car while I was riding toward Portland. I had ridden a little over 32 miles when I reached Dan’s house in Portland. I didn’t have to wait long until Dan and Lyn showed up. They had brought me a chicken wrap.

I chatted with Dan and Lyn in the dining room while they were having a late lunch.

Dan and Lyn are both widowed. Dan is a retired science teacher and is also a pilot who flies a biplane. He was even featured in a few magazines. Dan and Lyn have plans this evening since it’s Mother’s Day and they won’t be back until 8 PM.

Dan allowed me to set up camp in his backyard and gave me the WiFi password so I can post this blog post. He also showed me the spot where he will be building a log cabin on his 13 acre property. I was impressed by all of his hobbies, including woodworking, piloting an airplane, and building a cabin.

After both Dan and Lyn left the house, I sat on the back porch, ate the chicken wrap, sent more Warmshowers requests, and typed this post. When Dan comes back around 8 PM, I’ll take a shower inside the house before going to bed in my tent.