State 39 – New Jersey

5/29/2021

This is the first state on our last major trip of this project. Corvin and I are heading to the northeast to complete 8 more states. School got out on Friday and we started our mad dash across half of the United States to get here. We were happy to find this rest area just over the border with the state sign for us to get our photo with. We’re heading to Liberty State Park. I learned about this on a business trip and thought it would be an interesting place for us to ride. This park is the grounds that have the Statue of Liberty. It looks across the Hudson river to Manhattan island (New York City). I expected this to be busy.

Once we parked, we put on our rain gear and extra shirts. We didn’t figure it would be cold since it seemed like summer in St. Louis. But when we got out, it was around 50 F, windy and drizzling rain. Of course we were here, so it was time to ride. Turns out cold, wind, and rain kept most people inside and we mostly had the place to ourselves. While this is our 39th state of the trip, it has been about a year since we logged our last state and it felt like our first state.

We were both a little disappointed by this ride. I think the weather had much to do with our excitement. Having seen the Manhattan skyline, that didn’t do much for me and Corvin wasn’t impressed. Also interesting is that the Statue of Liberty is facing New York State even though its accessed from New Jersey. You can’t get close without taking a ferry which kept us back as well. The ride was successful and we were slightly ahead of our schedule, therefore not too bad.

Corvin’s Journal Entry

Our Strava Entry.

Our map of completed states.

Stats:
Total Trip Miles:  217.28
Total Moving Time: 42h 12m
Total Elevation Gained: 5946 feet
Total Hogan UPD: 16
Total Corvin UPD: 9

Hogan Haake