Getting lost on Block Island

For my nine-mile Monday run, I plotted out a course that sent me to the western edges of Block Island, beyond the roads and onto the dirt paths that lead to private residences and that side's beaches.

Google Maps showed dirt paths that connected some of these secluded homes, but when I got to that area via Dorry's Cove Road, I could not tell what was a path and what was a driveway. Each looked like the other, some looked like neither, most were actually both. I ran around, back and forth and in circles before giving up.

Backtracking east to the road, I ran north, but was determined to find if and how those backwoods dirt paths were connected, so I ran west again at the spot I was supposed to come out (Grace's Cove Road) and tried heading south. Finding the connectors this time, I ended up back on Dorry's Cove Road again, feeling triumphant that I found it but realizing I probably ran an extra three miles.

Having done so, did I take the most direct path back to the cottage? Hell, no! I am on vacation and I have all the time in the world to run. I hoofed it up the hills of Beacon Hill Road, Center Road and Mohegan Trail before cruising back to the cottage.

Without the specter of having to go to work afterward, midweek runs are truly a delight, even if you get lost.

Or rather, especially if you get lost.