After my busy evening the previous day, I decided to take my time going home… I started at Katie's (up at 0600) and visited with her, John and their kids. At 0900, I left Hanover (MA) and drove to Salem, NH (via MA-2, I-93, NH-28). After some exploration in and around the Tuscan Village (wow), I located parking for the Salem Bike-Ped Corridor (1000). Unlike most of the other Rail Trails I've found in New Hampshire, part of this one was paved and very popular. However, the other half of the old rail bed (south of the parking area) wasn’t really accessible. From what the website said, I should have been able to walk south, from the old train depot, all the way to the MA-NH line. In reality, there was so much construction associated with the developing Tuscan Village area (and associated infrastructure) that most was impassible (I didn't try to walk it but saw other people attempting it). Instead, I walked north (paralleling NH-28) until the paved Salem section ended (after about two miles) and the Windham section began. I continued until I passed the “2 miles left” sign and when backtracked to my car. The temps were good but it was overcast all morning - I actually got rained on whenever I was in the open areas but was mostly protected under the nice tree cover. There were lots of bikers out and everyone was in good spirits. I reached the car at 1300 after walking for about three hours (close to 9 miles) and then the skies opened up - it was pouring! Very glad that my timing was good. I’m looking forward to coming back to the area to walk the rest of the Windham section and to tackle the Derry section of the (developing) Granite State Rail Trail. Brenna called and we talked a lot about her new classroom (first year teaching). I also picked up lunch at Wendy's nearby (1355). After that, it started raining a lot more and I was glad to be inside my car. I drove to Manchester via some back roads (NH-28, NH-111) and I-93. Even though the Notre Dame Club event I'd planned to attend didn't start for more than an hour later, I arrived in Manchester at around 1500. Trying to kill time, I explored a bit and then relaxed (and cleaned up) before driving to the New Horizons Soup Kitchen to participate in the planned volunteer opportunity. Met a lot of nice people and spent about an hour (1700-1800) serving food and cleaning up the kitchen. Afterwards, I drove home via surface streets, US-3, I-93, NH-3A and I-89. Altogether, I was able to travel at a very good pace and reached home just after 1900. Spent the rest of the evening unpacking and relaxing. Glad to have been able to celebrate my sister's milestone this weekend!
