I could back track to New York City and try again, which did not seem like much of a solution. There was a ferry that went to Connecticut further out Long Island at Port Jefferson, and one even further out than that crossed the sound as well. I had no idea what the ferry schedule was or how much it cost, but I thought that might be my best option. If I got there after the last ferry had gone, I would overnight in Port Jefferson and go on in the morning. I headed for Port Jefferson. It was better than crossing New York City again.

The town of Port Jefferson itself wasn't bad. It was not really what I expected to find in New York. I made my way through tree lined streets, following the signs for the ferry. When I got to the dock side, I learned that I had over an hour to kill before the ferry came. I parked the bike in the motorcycle waiting area, paid my ferry passage, and began to look around the shops. After a while, I got a Coke and went to the bike to plot out the rest of my days ride. This little side trip and ferry ride had cost me a lot of time, and I had to make a new plan. I had been back at the bike only a minute or so when I heard another motorcycle.

I heard it long before I saw it, as did everyone else in the immediate vicinity. It was an old Yamaha 650 Midnight Special with a guy and a girl on it. They pulled up and parked next to my heavy cruiser. The bike was a true rat bike. It was held together with bailing wire, duct tape, tie wraps, hope, and little more. It smoked and rattled and was generally disreputable. The seat was torn and there was no fairing of any sort. The muffler had long since bought it. It had Maine plates.

The driver was a very good match for the bike. He looked as bad as the bike did. The passenger, though, was a different story. She was really pretty and exceptionally well built. Even though she was really disheveled from the ride, she still had beauty. She was obviously very mad at the guy, and was not at all happy to be there with him. They walked over near a pole some distance away, and she apparently was giving him hell for some reason. Occasionally, she got loud enough that I could make out a few words, and they were choice curse words. I never could determine what the problem was. After several minutes of this, the guy went to pay the ferry toll, and when he came back, the girl went onto the ferry as a pedestrian. The guy stayed near the bike until they called for the motorcycles to load, then he got on his rat bike, fired it up, and rode it on to the ferry. I followed him, far enough back so that his smoke cleared before I rode through it. I ended up parking next to him on the ferry. The girl was no place to be seen.......(cont)