New England

June 28th - July 7th, 2003

Trip Statistics:

Time Traveled - 55hrs. 31 mins. (Actual riding time)
Miles Traveled - 2,692
Average Speed - 48.5 mph
Accommodations - $494.15
Gas - 135.10
Food (Estimated) - $250.00

June 25th, 11:10 PM - As I type this, I am thinking what a great response we have been getting on our local rides and I see now it is also applying to our longer rides. A few years ago, we took a similar trip to New England and we had three bikes and four people in attendance. This year, there are seven people riding six bikes. Roughly, twice as many and just the right size crowd. (Yes Don D., we can squeeze you in if you catch up to us in PA or NY.) Those numbers are impressive if you think about it. Not everyone would be willing to entrust us with their happiness in the upcoming week, let alone their vacation time. I hope we don't let them down.
    Planning to go are: Wayne Caldwell, Chris Davis, Sharon Davis, Ned Goodman, Dan Harvey, Judy Morris, Chuck Smith and Dianne Smith.
    Once again, we plan to keep you posted by updating the web site on a nightly basis. It was amazing how many people followed our Blueridge Parkway ride and sent us supportive E Mails on a daily basis. Hopefully, we will not disappoint you on this trip.
    The current plan is to leave Friday after work and ride to Princeton W.Va. Chris and Sharon Davis will be leaving Richmond, VA. on Friday as well and will stay in Roanoke. We will meet them Saturday morning in Rich Creek, Virginia where we will turn North on Route 219. Chuck and Dianne Smith will join the Knoxville group on Friday as they will have driven in from Pollack, Louisiana earlier in the day.
    We should get to Utica, N.Y. on Sunday and arrive in Gorham on Monday. We will stay there until Thursday....maybe Friday before we start back. (A lot of the decision will depend on the weather.)
    The Gorham, N.H. weather forecast is calling for temps. to be in the mid 70's in the day and mid 50's at night most of next week.        Please note! One day to be decided, we will go up on Mt. Washington. We will notify you in our writing the night before we go with a expected arrival time. Now, there is a web cam on the observation deck on the mountain. If you are the kind of person that does not have a life and wants to watch for us, click here to go to the web cam site. (Save me the photos if you see us.)
    Well, time to call it a night. As always, the only thing I will miss on this trip is you.

June 27th, - We're off.....but not everyone - Several calls to and from Chuck and Dianne were all hinting at the obvious. They would not be going with us! They came to Tennessee from Louisiana last weekend. They rode the Cherohala Skyway with us last Sunday then stored their bikes in Sweetwater and drove their truck to Atlanta. From there, they drove to Texas and were on their way  back to Sweetwater when their truck broke down in West Tennessee. It was Thursday night when I got the first call but by afternoon today, the truck was still not repaired. I was in hopes of waiting a while for them, or maybe they could catch up with us...but Dianne had already called and cancelled all their reservations.....
    I was a little late as usual but Judy, Ned and Wayne were right on time. We rode up I-81 to Abingdon, Va. and got on Rt. 19. At Claypool Hill Virginia, Rt. 460 joins the road which we followed to Princeton, West Virginia.  This first leg of the ride was only about 200 miles and we got in to our rooms around 11:00 P.M. It was late and everyone was tired. At the time, Wayne never thought anything about the way his bike just died when he pulled into his parking space.

June 28th - The bad news came during our continental breakfast. Wayne announced his bike would not start. It cranked and cranked but never offered to fire. Now what? The Honda dealer in Princeton did not open until 10:00 A.M. It was getting near 8:15 and we have a 30 minute ride to meet Chris and Sharon in Rich Creek, Virginia at 9:00. Wayne was the first to take charge of the situation. He told the desk clerk to hold his room for another night. He took my cell number, got a copy of our reservation synopsis and told us he would catch up with us if they could fix his bike in time. We suspect a problem in the fuel system.
    Chris and Sharon made it to Rich Creek where we had some coffee before heading North. We rode Rt. 219 up through West Virginia. This is one of the most scenic routes in the nation and very enjoyable. The problem is, it takes time to ride. We kept moving fairly well, but a rain shower for about 50 miles, a sit down lunch in Marlinton and a lot of scenic stops caused the near 400 mile day to take 13 hours to cover. We did get on Interstate 68 over to Interstate 70 into Pennsylvania. This was done to play "catch-up" and to try to get into our hotel before midnight. As it worked out, it was 10:00 P.M. We are in Chambersburg, PA.

June 29th - The plan for today was simple. Get on I-81 North to Binghamton, NY, turn North on Rt. 12 to Utica and get into our rooms as early as possible so as to get rejuvenated for tomorrow. The day was uneventful other than to say upstate PA is much, much nicer that the Southern half, scenery wise. To date, we have had a one hour shower of rain in W.Va. It was enough to get the road wet and some of our crew put on their rain gear. Other than that, the weather has been good (great today). We have been in the saddle for a little over 18 hours (actual riding time) and ridden 908 miles.
    I have not been taking many photos but I plan to take several during our stay in New England.

June 30th - This is really the start of the ride. I mean this is where we get away from the things that look and feel familiar. The terrain, the pavement condition, the accent of local people and the prices. Almost as soon as we left our rooms in Utica and started heading Northeast on Route 8, we realized we were "not in Kansas anymore." Signs warning us of "Moose Crossing" and snow fences put a exclamation point on our feelings. The earth got flatter and the trees turned into shrubs resembling Alaska or the Arctic. The language changed and the pronunciation of the letter "R" disappeared. (How's your Hawley?). Friendly faces and smiles are being seen everywhere.
    We lucked into a neat little place to eat on Route 8 in Johnsburg, N.Y. It is Mosher's Diner and we met Melissa and her infant daughter, Hunter, who was keeping Mom company while at work. Turns out, Melissa's husband owns "Dogtown Choppers" in Bakers Mill. (I knew she was a biker chick as soon as I saw her.)
    On our previous ride, we did not get very close to Lake Champlain so I planned the route to pass along the east side of the lake. Route 8 was followed East until it ended at Route 9N. We took it North through Crown Point to Route 17 East. The section of Route 17 (near South Starksboro) over the Appalachian Gap to Route 100 was a gorgeous ride. We turned North on Route 100 up to Route 12. Route 12 ran parallel to Interstate 89 for a while before we entered the city limits of Montpelier. We followed our route through the city and got a real taste of New England by looking at all the old homes and buildings.
    Route 2 East from Montpelier was followed all the way across the remainder of Vermont and New Hampshire to Gorham where we would be staying for a few nights. Our rooms were suppose to have direct access to the parking lot. They did not! They were suppose to have fridges and microwaves. They did not! Finally, I assumed the room phone lines would plug into my computer and I would have access to the Internet. They did not!

July 1st - Chris and Sharon opted to stay South of us in North Conway. Sharon wanted to do some shopping so they got a hotel within walking distance of several stores. You know how it is, you gotta get the grandkids something. Chris on the other hand, headed North to join us for a days ride.
    We planned a light day of riding but it still ended up being 100 miles. We rode North up Route 16, turned West on 2, over to Route 302 via 115. We stopped at Mt. Washington Cog Railroad's base terminal and watched trains leave and arrive for several minutes. While the ride to Gorham was pretty impressive, the scenery on the ride today was much better. As we started heading home, Chris elected to head back to his hotel via Route 16, but Ned, Judy and I were not through yet....
    Our ride back to Gorham took us past the Mt. Washington Tour Road. We rode the van to the top and took photos for about 30 minutes. The chill temp up there was pretty nippy.

July 2nd - Chris and Sharon moved up to Gorham this morning. The ride we have planned took us North to Canada via the upstate of Maine.
    Upper Maine looks similar to upstate New York. It is a beautiful place but you can kinda sense the fierceness of winter. Trees just don't have enough warm weather to get growing and it shows. Very little grass grows in the rocky soil. All streams and lakes have very pristine water but I never was able to spot a trout. Either I was always in the wrong place or the fish are really wild. What was originally planned to be a 200 mile ride turned out to be 300 miles. Partly because I made a mistake in my calculations and a detour in Canada took us off our planned route. We ended up visiting Lac Megantic when we were informed Route 212 was closed between Woburn and La Patrie. The flagman (woman) struggled at first with English but she got better after we talked for a few minutes. Once I understood the road was closed, I began to tell her I knew someone from the area that now lives near me. Without even asking for a name she said "they should stay there". I believe she was demonstrating a deep loyalty to her heritage and the place she lives. Anyone who leaves does not meet with her approval.
    It is easy to get into trying situations while touring New England. When they are doing construction on a road, they usually scalp off all the pavement down to the dirt base. They leave that surface for travel and it can be trying if you're on a motorcycle. After 10 or 12 miles, you find yourself getting faster and faster which makes a tumble more likely. Not this trip, although there was one close call.

July 3rd - Change of plan. Let's start home today. No, we are not tired. No, we are not bored. No, we are not broke. We just wanted to allow an extra day for the ride home so we could take some scenic routes. Gorham is a neat town. It is tourist oriented but it is more for the hiker and outdoors types. Hotels are a little simpler, the shops/stores are not as numerous and it was not as crowded.
    Chris and Sharon Davis lead today! We followed Kancamagus Highway which is an 'OK' ride, but I think we have already seen so much beautiful scenery it made this ride somewhat blah. I understand if you are coming up from the South, the highway would be pretty impressive. But if you have been up North, where the real beautiful mountains are located, Kancamagus is pretty dull.
    Laconia was also toured today and Lake Winnipesaukee is beautiful and active. Boaters, skiers, jet skies and sun bathers were everywhere. We assumed there would be a Harley dealer in town but not so. Meridith, N.H. has the nearest dealer.
    Today we rode about 225 miles. Not a lot but we got into the hotel by 5:00. We are staying in Brattleboro, Vermont.
    BTW, the weather has been beautiful up to date. Temps in the 70's-80's during the day and 50's at night. Not one drop of rain other than that mentioned on the way north in West Virginia. (Keep your fingers crossed...please).

July 4th - Chris and Sharon lead again today! Chris really enjoys the challenge while Sharon is concerned whether or not he is doing a good job. (Don't worry Sharon, you guys did great.)
    Chris selected Route 9 across the Southern part of Vermont and then we turned South on the Taconic Freeway (cars only). We followed it to I-84 West over the Hudson River and then I-81 South to Scranton where we spent the night at the Hampton Inn. After dinner fireworks were on the agenda but fatigue won out and I turned in early. It did rain twice within one hour of our arrival at the hotel. Neither time was hard enough to warrant putting on rain gear...but the bikes were trashed again.
    It got pretty hot this afternoon so a change of plan was made for tomorrow.

July 5th - On the road at 7:00 AM with the intentions of making it about half way back to Tennessee. Others had different plans and peeled off accordingly. Hot again as we followed I-81 down to Natural Bridge, Virginia. No rain as we checked into our hotel room but we heard thunder off to the west. Lot's of bikes were out today. I can smell home but opted to get a good nights sleep and to watch the NASCAR race on TV. Should be home tomorrow. (Knock wood.)

July 6th - Back home by early afternoon. The ride today was all Interstate and pretty much uneventful except for a few light sprinkles around Abingdon, Virginia.
    Overall, I think this ride was a tremendous success. The weather could not have been better and the scenery was gorgeous. Even the climate at Mt. Washington was cooperative. (Only 65 clear days a year per the tour guide.) Daytime temps in the 70's and nights in the 50's were the escape we needed from the heat and humidity in the South.