Mother Nature Owed Me One

Mother Nature Owed Me One

I have always wanted to ride a motorcycle to the northeast. Mrs. BG and I had been discussing going to that area for a while. She had been there before, but I had not.

We started discussing it in earnest. We mentioned it to my dad, and he was interested in riding to that area as well. We put our heads together and set a schedule to go on this ride. Excellent – leave on Friday afternoon, get back home the following weekend.

Well, as things worked out, Mrs. BG actually became Mrs. BG a couple of weeks before our planned departure, so this ride kinda-sorta turned into our honeymoon.

With my dad.

Romantic, ain’t it??

Welcome to my world, dudes.

It coulda been worse, though. Originally it was going just be the 3 of us, and my dad suggested we all share a room to save money on hotel rooms. Ummmm….. Uhhhh….

Luckily, my dad’s brother-in-law, Steve, rearranged some things on his schedule and joined us on the ride. THANK YOU, STEVE! So Steve and dad got to share hotel rooms for the trip. Don’t get me wrong. I love my dad – he’s a great guy and we have a great relationship, but spending a week plus on the road and sharing a hotel room with my dad and the newly-annointed Mrs. BG… Well….

Anyway. Things worked out.

Not long ago, we took a nice trip on the FJR. That trip consisted of SFO in Eureka Springs, AR, and riding Route 66 from Tulsa, OK, to Chicago. The weather for that trip was less than favorable. It POURED for days on end. I figured after riding for hundreds of miles in rain, riding in the rain for days on end, Mother Nature Owed Me One, dang it!

Did Mother Nature cooperate? Well, let’s get this ride report started and see what She had in store for us.

Day 1. The Geeks start heading east.

Today we headed from our home in Columbus, OH, to meet dad and Steve in Morgantown, WV. Mrs. BG and I took a ½ day off from work, so we had the afternoon to get there.

In order to get there from here, we just hit the slab, so not many pictures.

The weather at home was quite nice. Saying so long to downtown Cow Town.



Along the way, the skies kinda clouded up and the temperature dropped a bit, but it was still very comfortable.

We stopped at a rest area and came across some history. This sign describes the earliest mile marker system.



Just below the sign was one of the original early mileage marker thingamabobs. Since I’m a geek, and Mrs. BG is as well, we thought it was kinda cool.



If you’ve never been to Central Ohio, well, it’s kind of boring. All in all it’s a decent place to live, and it is home for us. But it’s kind of boring, so it was nice to see some changes in the scenery.



Eventually we came to a bridge over the Ohio River.



And we crossed the state line.



Just for grins, let’s try to keep track of the number of states we hit. I may forget to keep up with this later, but you just never know, so what the heck. Gotta start somewhere.

So far:

Ohio

West Virginia

So that puts the count at . . . uh . . . let’s see… Carry the 7……

2! 2 states so far. Sweetness!

Random picture as we head towards Morgantown.



We rolled in to town and found the hotel. As we were getting off the FJR, I was looking around the parking lot. No motorcycles. Hmm… I kinda figured dad and Steve would already be there.

Wait? What’s that I see at the light?

Found ‘em!



We beat them to the hotel by approximately 3 minutes, 46 1/3 seconds.

Dad’s bike is the black one, Steve’s is the red one. They are both 2000 Harley Ultra Classic Electra Glides.



When we did the SFO / Route 66 trip, I carried a notebook and a pen the whole way and never wrote one damn thing down. This trip, I decided I’d try to make some notes about the day’s events every evening. Mrs. BG also added her own comments. I won’t bore you with everything we wrote, but it’s gonna be a crutch for me writing this ride report.

So what did I have in there for today.

Not much. Boring day.

But, let me say this for sure: if you’re heading to Morgantown, WV, the Best Western is… Well… It could use some sprucing up. The staff were all very nice, though. That hotel had to have had the weirdest layout I’ve ever seen.

We all went to dinner at the Texas Road House restaurant around the corner from the hotel. The food was OK, not great, not terrible, and we had pretty good service.

Final notes for the day:

1. There was another bike in the parking lot, a black BMW R1150ST, Pennsylvania plate.

2. Libation of the evening? Yuengling. Can’t get that at home. Road trips RULE!!

Tomorrow, we ride for York, PA.

So far so good. Keep up the posts. And watch out, Mama Nature can get pretty ticked off, pretty darn fast. (I spent a bunch of time in AR in the rain earlier this year too. You implying it doesn't always rain there?)

Giggled already... staying tuned for more!

Day 2. Morgantown, WV, to York, PA.

Let me start by saying old people are weird. They get up early in the morning and wake up people (such as Mrs. BG and me) who prefer to ease into the day. Yes, dad and Steve were kind enough to pound on our door this morning. What a way to start the day. Old people…

In discussions with dad about how to get to York, I decided that Mrs. BG and I would take a slightly southern route, off the highway, while dad and Steve decided they would take the slab. We already had hotel reservations in York, so Dad and Steve headed for the slab, and Mrs. BG and I headed on our own route. Mrs. BG and I would meet up with dad and Steve in York, where a couple more motorcycles would be added to our happy little gang of heck razors.

We headed south out of Morgantown. The skies in Morgantown were a wee bit iffy.



Come ON Mother Nature, you owe me one, dang it!

Our route out of town took us by the campus for West Virginia University. Wonder if they’re still pissed about the University of Michigan more-or-less stealing their head football coach. Or if UM is more pissed that he didn’t stay with WVU.



Then we kinda headed through downtown / oldtown Morgantown. Compared to downtown Cow Town, it’s a bit more scenic.







I disobeyed Dr. Zumo which took us on a nice little loop, but that was OK. We’ve got all day…



Eventually, we got outta town and on our way.



As our elevation changed, at times I thought for sure we were going to get rained on. Yippee. More damn rain. As soon as I resigned to getting rained on, the skies cleared for us.



We rode through Masontown, WV. Masontown is one damn fine place, if I do say so myself.



We have one of these back home. Or maybe we have two. Hard to say.



Obligatory barn pic.



We got stuck behind a parade ‘O cagers. Ugh. It was brutal to go THAT slow. Rather than try any risky maneuvers that could be considered not-quite-legal, I saw a place to just pull off to the side and take some pics. Besides, even though the building was abandoned, I liked the sign. Yep – we’re in the hills for sure!







Where we just came from…



Yep, BG liked this road!





Got stuck behind this truck for a bit, but it was OK. Did I mention that Masontown, WV, is a damn fine town?



Yep. Enjoyed this road, alright!



Barn. Silo. Tower. Power lines. Hills. Clouds. This has it all.



We did ride through some wet roads, but never got rained on all day.



There were points where there were flowers along the road as well.



The route out of Morgantown was south-ish through Masontown (a damn fine town, by the way), through Reedsville (be careful through here – there’s a screwed-up 4 ½ way stop and people DO NOT LOOK FOR MOTORCYCLES; damn pickup-driving moron damn near took us out), through Arthurdale and Newburg to Route 50.

BG likey Route 50!!

Route 50 took us through here.



Mother Nature cleared the skies for us and we had a very scenic ride.



Route 50 took us through some very scenic areas.





Gonna call it a night. Day 2 to be continued….

OCfjr said:

So far so good. Keep up the posts. And watch out, Mama Nature can get pretty ticked off, pretty darn fast. (I spent a bunch of time in AR in the rain earlier this year too. You implying it doesn't always rain there?)

Click to expand...

I read on the internet that someone went there on their motorcycle and the weather was beautiful. Since it was on the internet, that makes it real, right???

Tyler said:

Giggled already... staying tuned for more!

Click to expand...

Thanks. Lots more to come, including TONS of pictures....

BG

Enjoying the pictures. Keep 'em coming.

Day 2, continued…

As we moseyed along Route 50, we crossed another state line!



WOO-HOO!!

For some reason, in Maryland they dropped the speed limit down to 50. Great. We saw several LEO’s, so I didn’t push it.



This is a good example of the terrain and scenery on this fine day.



What’s for dinner? It’s beef! (Little inside joke for Mrs. BG.)



Rolling, lush hills.



Eventually, the skies did clear up and bit and it turned into a beautiful day.



Horses are cool.



It would appear that state lines are not consistently marked.

The day was getting later in the afternoon and it was time for a lunch stop. Rolling through Winchester, VA, we came upon an older-looking diner. On their sign it says, “Air Conditioned!” I guess that’s something new in these parts.



The Amherst Diner is a pretty cool place. We had sammiches and tea. Sorry – no pictures of the sammiches.

When I went to pay our bill, I asked the lady working there how long the diner has been around.

Lady: Oh, about 60 years.

BG: Really? That’s cool! My wife and I love to stop at diners like this when we’re traveling.

Lady: Where y’all from?

BG: Columbus, Ohio. We’re riding Long Island tomorrow, gonna stay a day, then head up into Maine. I’ve never been there and I’m really looking forward to it.

Lady: Ohio? Wow! That sounds like a nice trip. Can I come along???

BG: Well, I don’t think we have room on the motorcycle for you.

Gotta love chit-chats like that.

Another view of the diner, taken from the road.



Winchester is a neat little town.





See the U-Haul and fire truck ahead? The U-Haulers stopped to ask the firemen directions. Judging on how they were driving – sudden lane changes, un-signaled turns – I think they need to invest in a GPS.





Water-crossing, FJR-style.



Musta been a long bridge.



After futzing along for a while it was time to gas-up the FJR and time for BG to drink some water. It was getting kinda warm now, not that I was complaining.

Across from the gas station was some . . . uh . . . place with a bunch of stuff out front. I’m not sure if they were selling all that stuff or just displaying it, but I got a laugh when I saw this thing.

BG, with a giant ****.



Another state to add to the day’s ride.



So far, that makes 4 states today:

West Virginia

Maryland

Virginia

Pennsylvania

Excellent!

When I was looking at a route to get us to York, I saw that we could go by Gettysburgh. I’m not really a history buff, but I did want to stop by.



Eventually we made it to the tourist trap . . . er, I mean, museum and visitor’s center.



Gratuitous dorky picture.



On this trip, we didn’t really want to spend the time going though the museum. The place was pretty busy, too, so we asked a ranger dude about seeing the battlefields. After some directions from him, and a quick stop in the gift shop (Mrs. BG collects postcards and all), we saw this display.





We both thought these were kinda cool. We’re both musicians, and met in an orchestra that our employer has.



We rolled outta the welcome center area and started looking for the signs for the Auto Tour.



The Auto Tour is well-marked, and will take you through multiple battlefields.

There are many sites marked for their historical significance.



Gettysburgh is a cool little town.



The sign along the road (not the No Parking sign – the other one up the road a little bit) marks the Auto Tour. It’s a red field with a white star.



Eventually we made it to one of the battlefields.



Now, you could look at this and say, “Yup. It’s a field.” But to think of what happened on these fields all those years ago. It was kind of surreal.



Along the road, there are many, many, many markers telling about which group of soldiers fought where.







The threatening skies from this morning were gone. We were treated to a gorgeous day. Warm, but not too warm, sunny, and a nice breeze blowing.



The way the wind was blowing through the trees, and blowing across the grasses on the fields… Well, it kind of gave me the chills.







Eventually we pulled over at this site for some pictures.









I’ll wrap up Day 2 soon…

Concluding Day 2…

There was more to the Gettysburg Auto Tour, but the clock was ticking and we still had to make it to York, so we decided to mosey on up the road. We will come back to Gettysburg and plan more time to really see everything there is to see.

On our way out, we spotted a B&B. We know where we’ll be staying next time!





Woulda been a cool picture if it weren’t for the SUV in the way.





Roundabouts.

Traffic circles.

Whatever they’re called, not many people know how to go through ‘em.

Ugh.







Eventually we got out of Gettysburg and hit the road for York.

These jokers were following us. Wonder if Mother Nature sent ‘em to spy on us? I got nothin’ here.



Eventually, we made it to our hotel in York, checked in and unloaded the bike.

Dad and Steve had made it there several hours earlier and had headed to the house of one of the additional bikers joining us on our next leg of the journey.

After a couple of text messages and a phone call, I had the street address and we were on our way, after a quick detour to Best Buy so I could buy a tripod for the camera, since I left mine at home. D-OH!!

We made it to Ron’s house, and Mrs. BG took a picture of this merry group of heck razors, enjoying local beerverages poolside. BG, dad, Steve and Ron.



After listening to Ron talk on the phone with his mom (he had to promise her he’d wear his helmet), and Ron’s brother Ray made it to the house as well, we were off for dinner.



We had a tasty dinner at a local Italian joint, and even more laughs. Ron and Ray crack us up!

Dinner group shot taken by our waiter.



After dinner, a quick fuel stop, and back to the hotel.

For a nightcap, Mrs. BG and I went to the restaurant next to the hotel to watch the end of the Cleveland Cavaliers playoff game. (Oh, well.) While there, we started talking with a couple sitting next to us.

Sweet Jesus – it wasn’t a conversation, it was a damn lecture from the husband on all things wrong with this country. WTF is it with people?? We’re trying to be nice to people sitting next to us, but we’re (rather OBVIOUSLY) watching a sporting event and don’t care to be lectured?! Dang, man, give it a rest and STFU, for cryin’ out loud.

Oh, well. People are funny. No way in hell I’m gonna let that twit put a damper on my trip.

We retired to our room, and slept the sleep of travelers.

Tomorrow, we ride into New York City.

Nice pics and scenery. Thanks for taking us along for the ride.

--G

BG,, enjoyed the pictures,,,

Morgantown is my home town ,,, moved to Ohio when I was a youngin'',,

dad still lives in Morgantown,, so the pictures look familiar ,,,

even had dinner at the Texas roadhouse a time or two..

Rt. 50 ,,, Gettysburg ,,,, nice trip ,,,,

Be safe ,, enjoy the trip ,,, send more pictures,,

old&slow said:

BG,, enjoyed the pictures,,,Morgantown is my home town ,,, moved to Ohio when I was a youngin'',,

dad still lives in Morgantown,, so the pictures look familiar ,,,

even had dinner at the Texas roadhouse a time or two..

Click to expand...

Cool! I kinda liked Morgantown, although I thought it'd be bigger...

Rt. 50 ,,, Gettysburg ,,,, nice trip ,,,,

Click to expand...

VERY nice! There were parts that reminded me of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Scraped a peg, too. Didn't scare Mrs. BG when I did it that time, though.

Be safe ,, enjoy the trip ,,, send more pictures,,

Click to expand...

Thanks. The trip is actually over, we're home safe, and yes, we have LOTS of pictures yet to come.

BG

Day 3. York, PA, to Long Island, NY.

5 bikes, 300+ miles, and New York City to contend with. Yippee.

Let the adventure begin!

We were shooting for an 8:00-ish departure. Dad, Steve, Mrs. BG and I were all in the same hotel, while Ray and Ron live local. Eventually the locals met up with us.

Eventually we loaded up and headed out, only a little bit late. But what the hell – we’ve got all day to get there!







Traffic was spotty this fine Sunday morning. Eventually traffic cleared out and we were able to pull up to each of the other bikes and snap a picture as they were riding. We don’t get many pictures of ourselves riding our own bikes, do we?

Steve on his 2000 Ultra Classic.



My dad, on his 2000 Ultra Classic. Yes, all those bags are for all his stuff. Call it me, but I don’t think he packs very light.



In case you’re wondering, Ron and Ray are twin brothers. And 2 of the nicest guys you could meet and ride with.

This is Ray on his, uh, 1994-ish (I think) Heritage Softail.



Ron, on his older Ultra Classic. I think it’s a late-80’s, but I don’t remember the model year.



Our goal today is to make it to Riverhead, NY, on Long Island. Mother Nature was very cooperative. We just settled in and enjoyed the ride.





Getting closer!



Even though I have the Zumo, we didn’t lead. Wouldn’t want to leave the old fellers behind, so we ran sweep a good bit of the time.



At one point during the stretch, our ride leader almost missed an exit, moving over about 3 lanes to get to the exit, causing some consternation and cussing of said ride leader by me. Sheesh.



I don’t think this sign is for the airport in Newark, OH.





You can just make out some skyline or other in the distance.



A couple of things we noticed. Or, I should say, I couple of observations based on things we didn’t notice because they weren’t there:

1. New Jersey does not welcome you. WTF?! Are you trying to garner a bad reputation or something?

2. New York doesn’t welcome you either, but the state does warn you about fines.

What the hell, guys… At least give us a Welcome sign, fer cryin’ out loud!!

We had made a few stops for fuel and for the old fellers to stretch. Mrs. BG and I were fine, however it was getting warmer and AeroStitch AD1’s are kinda toasty as the weather gets warm. I made sure to drink plenty of water at every stop.

I have come to appreciate the 6.1 gallon fuel tank on the FJR. The rest of the heck razors were looking for fuel at 150 miles. I was just noticing the fuel gauge moved.

Now the FUN really begins… Toll booths. Based on my ‘sperience on the turnpike in Oklahoma, I really wasn’t looking forward to toll booths. Especially with 5 bikes. And, even though I like Ron and all, quite frankly he’s a terrible ride leader. Plus, Ray has one of those passcard thingies, so he didn’t go through the cash lanes.



We all pulled over to stretch for a couple of minutes, because our next stint was not going to be conducive to stopping.



One thing – when you pull into those damn booths to pay your toll, BE CAREFUL! In order to be close enough to the booth attendant, I was way over in the left side of the lane. My right foot came down in the center of the lane and I damn near lost it – that crap is slicker ‘n snot! From now on, I was extra-super-duper-diligent pulling into the toll booths.

In the picture above, we all got off, stretched, fiddle farted around… After a few minutes it was time to roll. I’m on the FJR getting my gloves on, Mrs. BG is waiting for the signal to hop on. I hear some engines rev --- WHAT THE HELL?!?! The rest of the group is leaving. F’IN GREAT, GUYS!! I get my gloves on best I can (CyclePort BossAX gloves are as comfortable as can be, when you get them on properly; they have a lining in them that gets all wonky when you take ‘em off and your hands are a little sweaty), Mrs. BG hops on, and we’re off… Trying to not get kilt by the drag-racers coming out of the toll booths, crossing over what was bout 6 lanes of said drag racers…

Oh, boy, let me tell you I was PISSED! Luckily, the FJR is a fine machine for said drag racing, but MAN was I ticked off! I was cussing Ron up and down for leaving before Mrs. BG was even on the damn bike!! Grrr…. After embarrassing some cagers who though they could ‘take’ a motorcycle 2-up with hard bags fitted to it, and after an almost-kinda-sorta-OK-not-really-legal pass to the left to get caught up, since traffic was once again a cluster, we rejoined the heck razors and continued our trip.

Eventually, we were almost to New York City.

Big, cool friggin’ bridge coming up.



We were going over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, I-278, into the city. The plan was to take a southern route around the city.

Traffic on the bridge wasn’t too bad. The drivers were fairly courteous to our gang of hack razors.



Manhattan in the distance. Mrs. BG was fretting over getting a picture due to how the bridge is constructed. Thanks to my most awesome suggestion, she waited until there was a just-long-enough gap to snap a pic.

Mrs. BG and I spent a long weekend in Manhattan in 2008. Wow, what a city. I wouldn’t call myself a county bumpkin, but damn that city is HUGE. We had a hoot (even though Mother Nature didn’t cooperate then, either) and I can’t wait to go back to see more. If you recall, Mrs. BG and I are food geeks. When we were in Manhattan, we had lunch at Bobby Flay’s restaurant. Mmmm… That was one damn fine lunch.

Anyway. I digress.

To think, there used to be 2 large buildings that were once a part of this view.



I was pretty, well, geeked to be riding a motorcycle into New York City. Or around it. Or whatever – it’s my damn trip and I’ll geek out about whatever I feel like geeking out about! It was pretty cool, though, especially considering the fact that just a few weeks ago we were in Tulsa, OK, on Route 66.



This sign is just … classic. Mrs. BG still gets a laugh when she sees this one – check out the one ‘O’ in proctology. Nothing like a proctologist with a sense of humor, right?



After going over the bridge, you kinda loop around and Mrs. BG was able to get what I think are some schweet pictures of the bridge.



Didn’t the aliens destroy this bridge in “Independence Day?” Or was that “Mars Attacks!”? Hell, I dunno, but it was a cool view of the bridge.



YEAH, BABY!! IT’S THE OCEAN!! Or bay. Or whatever. It’s a big-*** thing of water and it’s COOL!



Now the pictures dwindle because we were in traffic. Crappy traffic. Traffic that was crawling along at that speed right between where we can completely release the clutch and just roll along, even at idle (or just above idle), so the left had started getting kinda fatigued. Nothing I couldn’t handle, ‘cause I’m a tough geek, but still fatigued. And, since Ron had left the one toll booth before Mrs. BG was even on the bike, I still didn’t have my gloves on right. So the lining was bunched up just so so the my pinky fingers were kinda bunched up and not actually in the gloves properly, my right thumb wasn’t in right, and both ring fingers were about half-way in. It wasn’t very comfortable, and there was no place, I mean NO PLACE, to pull off and fix ‘em. So I just had to suck it up and deal with it.

So we wound our way along on the Shore Parkway / Belt Parkway. Lots of traffic, drivers out to kill you with non-signaled lane changes, lane changes even after they see you, merging traffic… I’ll call this the Low Part Of The Trip.

It sucked.

We rode through Brooklyn and Queens. If you haven’t seen it or heard of it, there’s a sign when leaving Brooklyn that’s kinda funny.

Mrs. BG didn’t get a picture of it, but here it is courtesy of the interweb.



Sights along the way.



I’ll wrap up Day 3 here shortly…

Finishing up Day 3, York, PA, to Long Island, NY.

It seemed to take forEVER to ride up Long Island. Gee, maybe it’s because it’s a really long island, eh? I’m so dang witty sometimes I can’t help but crack myself up.

Right.

Ray did another one of his last-second-onto-the-offramp moves, and we eventually pulled into a Taco Hell.

It was soooo nice to get the gloves off. After I-don’t-know-how-many-miles of riding with them not on properly… MUCH better…

I wasn’t sure why we stopped. Ron said, “Well, I figured we should stop for lunch sometime, and I don’t really know anything in the area, so why not Taco Bell?” Beh. Whatever. I can deal with that.

As we were stretching for a minute, for grins I said, “Well, let’s see what Dr. Zumo says is close by.”

After a couple of pokes and prods, Dr. Zumo told me that there was a place called Peter’s Diner something like 0.1 miles away. I mentioned that and the group consensus was the Peter’s Diner will probably be better than Taco Hell, so off we went.

For those of you with GPS, I’m sure you’ll be able to relate this next bit. For those of you who are GPS-less, keep this in mind if you’re considering buying one.

Sometimes they get confused.

Dr. Zumo said we needed to take a right outta the parking lot, proceed 0.1 miles, and arrive at Peter’s Diner, on the left.

We couldn’t have timed it any worse to try to pull 5 bikes out of that parking lot. We pulled out at a brisk pace, and what’s that up there on the left?? Beats me, but it isn’t Peter’s Diner.

Fabulous.

We turn around and – well, crap! – we drove right by it because the diner was on the RIGHT, and we were focused on getting into the traffic flow. Alas, we got there anyway.



Good place! After being in there for a while, Ron mentioned that he had been there before. He also mentioned that it was probably a good thing we were there during the day, because it’s in an area that can be a bit rough in the evenings.

While we were eating our lunch (sorry – no food ****, but the gyro platter that I had was enough for 2, and reasonably priced!) I worked into the conversation that Ron had taken off from the toll booth before Mrs. BG was even on the bike. With her bright yellow jacket, it’s not like she’s hard to miss or anything… I chastised him a bit and I could tell that he was honestly and genuinely sorry, so I didn’t ride him TOO hard about it, but still… Eesh. I believe that at one point, my rather agitated verbage went along the lines of, “WTF are you trying to do, here? Get us killed?? I had to drag-race a bunch of cars and pull some other less-than-legal maneuvers to catch back up!!”

It worked though – after lunch he didn’t even start his bike until Mrs. BG was on the bike. Like I said, Ron’s a great guy, just not the best ride leader. I can deal with that.

We eventually got ourselves to the hotel, but rode through some neat areas on our way.



By the time we got to the hotel, I’ll admit my nerves were kinda frazzled. Nowadays I’m not used to riding in a group… It was fairly warm… Traffic absolutely sucked at times… Ron’s ride leadership… Well, I’m not going to throw Ron under the bus, but his, um, style, added to my nerve frazzledness.

We got to the hotel, and I just needed a minute to have a smoke and get my head on straight. I was good to go after a few minutes, but I don’t think I was the only one who had some frazzled nerves.

We got checked in, and the plan was to meet at the hotel bar in a bit and figger out what to do for dinner.

Mrs. BG and I tossed down our stuff, changed outta our gear, and were ready for a couple of oat sodas.



At this point I decided that, if at all possible, I’ll lead as much as I can. No offense, Ron, love ya, buddy, but… I think he was OK with that.

Eventually our merry gang of heck razors convened and we decided to go eat at a place called Buoy One, just up the road from the hotel.

Mmm… Seafood…

These jokers followed us to the restaurant. Spies sent by Mother Nature, perhaps? Hmm???



Mmm… Buoy One… The BG’s likey!!



The ‘facilities’ are uni, which sucks when there are old people camped out in there working on the New York Times crossword puzzle, but we had a nice spot outside for dinner. Which was good, ‘cause it was friggin WARM inside.

It’s good to be you, loyal reader / just-here-for-the-pictures-lurker, because we have food ****!!



Oh, yeah…

Bring it on…



Our group of heck razors.

Left to right, BG, Ron, Steve, Ray, Dad, Mrs. BG.



As we were wrapping up our meal, this lil’ critter showed up.



According to the waitress, that cat just shows up most every night and just hangs out on the patio looking for handouts or cleaning up what people dropped.

Kinda reminded us of Mrs. BG’s cat, Ferrous, the Iron Cat. She was a stray around my Dad’s place around Louisville. Long story short: stray climbed into the cooling fan shroud of my truck. BG started truck. WHACK BAM WHACK BAM. BG says, “WTF?!” Stray runs out from under truck, BG is sick ‘cause he thought he killed the kitten – nah, kitten is fine and we wind up adopting the dang thing and name her Ferrous (as in iron) The Iron Kitten. The loveable little turd.

Score:

Kitten: 1

Truck: -3 blades off the cooling fan.

We wrapped up dinner and were pretty much all pooped. Mrs. BG and I headed just up the road to fill Veejer with go-juice, stopped for a 6-pack of ***** Modelo, and called it a night.

Back in the room, I whipped up a few routes for tomorrow. On the agenda:

Greenport, NY.

Shelter Island.

Sag Harbor.

Jordan’s Bridge.

Montauk.

Today’s final picture, the silly kitty at the restaurant.

BG ,,

I enjoyed the pictures ,,,, Probably the ONLY way I'll ever see NY city,,,

( you've got bigger balls that me to ride there,,)

re: Taco Hell ,,,, On a trip with my buddy out west ,, rode thru Rocky Mtn. Nat. park Colo.

,,, needed a butt break ,, came to a little shopping strip area / town and he stops at Taco Bell ...

He said since we were there we should eat ,,,,, My comment was ,,"you mean we rode 2000

miles just so we could eat at damn Taco Bell !! :angry:

He said he had been out that way a year or so ago and there wasn't any place else to eat....

( had enough gas to ride back to Ohio,,)

Down the road a few miles was a little ski resort town with side walk cafe's on both sides of the

street... :angry2:

Oh well,,, just another part or a great MC ride.... <<<<<<

BG, I enjoyed the story and pictures. Look forward to the rest.

George

Day . . . uh . . . 4, right?

Mrs. BG and I are getting into Vacation Mode. We’re starting to lose track of how many days we’ve been on the road, much less what day of the week it is.

I like Vacation Mode.

Yesterday was a long day. No two ways about it. The ride from York, PA, to Riverhead, NY, was a ride that I’m not in a hurry to repeat. Riding into New York City WAS cool, but I will cross that off the bucket list.

Today, we’re dorky tourists, exploring Long Island.

Before we left home, I whipped up a route so Dr. Zumo could take us around Long Island. I created it using suggestions from Chris, A.K.A. The Axeman. Mrs. BG and I met Chris last September at EOM in West Virginia. He offered up route suggestions, and, since he lives in Sag Harbor, he also offered to meet us and show us around when we get to Sag Harbor.

The Best Western in Riverhead was the most cost-effective hotel we found. It was OK, but appeared to be in a state of flux. It appeared to be a pretty decent meeting / small convention facility, but it was not very busy, with a fair amount of unused space. Based on what I’ve learned in previous lives, unused space in a hotel is revenue not being collected. But I digress.

Our gang of heck razors met up in the morning for coffee at the continental breakfast, and we headed out around 8:30-ish. The skies were clear, and it was a crisp morning. It was an excellent morning to ride.

The route I put together first took us to Greenport, NY, towards the north / northwest corner of Long Island.

Greenport was a really neat town. Since we were in Greenport before Memorial Day, it was before The Season. We got there around 9:00 or so, and damn near had the town to ourselves, it seemed.

I can definitely see Greenport being touristy. It’s right on the water, lots of quaint shops, quite a few restaurants. I wouldn’t mind going back in The Season, as long as I don’t have to ride up from the other end of Long Island.

So, our gang of heck razors rolled in to Greenport, yours truly in the lead. The ride up was terrific. I followed my route, and found a public parking area, so we parked. On our way in, I was keeping an eye out for a place for breakfast. I saw a diner on our way in within walking distance. Life is good.

Let the picture taking begin…

Steve with his Ultra.



My dad, checking out …. Um … something. Hell if I know. Something.



Ron talking on his damn cell phone. What would we EVER do without cell phones in today’s world, you know?



Veejer, looking across the parking lot, gazing upon the water.



In the direction Veejer was looking was this piece of what I guess is artwork.



I think it was really cool.



There just are not places like this back home.



Claudio’s Clam Bar was right behind where we parked. From what we heard, this is quite the destination for motorcycles on Sundays.



Bucha hippy heck razors…

I really like this picture.





Breakfast coming up…

On early Monday morning in Greenport, NY, the streets are deserted, devoid of traffic. Have you ever just wanted to walk up the street in a small town, walking right up the center of the road on a beautiful morning? That’s what we did.



The entrance to Claudio’s.



What town is complete without a hardware store.



How cool is this…



And this is where we went to breakfast. The Coronet, in Greenport.



This place was uber-cool. It’s been around since the 40’s and is just … cool.

Sorry – we slacked off and didn’t take any food **** pictures this time. But the food was verrrrry tasty. If you’re in Greenport and looking for breakfast, you cannot go wrong eating at The Coronet.

After breakfast, we wandered back to the bikes. Ray’s camera needed batteries, so he rolled off on a quest for batteries. We just hung out, chit-chatted, and snapped some more pictures.





After a few minutes, Ray rolled back in. Unfortunately, no luck with the batteries. It would appear that most places in Greenport, NY, carry size AA batteries, but were all out of stock this fine morning. Bummer.

The weather was still cooperating, the temps were just starting to warm up a bit. So far we’ve had a nice ride from the hotel, got some schweet pictures and good breakfast.

We rolled out for Orient Point, NY.

BikerGeek99 said:

...Veejer, looking across the parking lot, gazing upon the water....

Click to expand...

Probably wanting a hug, and an understanding ear. You've got to be aware of those subtle hints.

Relationships require work.

BikerGeek99 said:

Bucha hippy heck razors…I really like this picture.

Click to expand...

I'm likin' them all Geek.

I was hoping I'd see you and the group in Times Square, maybe with the underwear cowboy sitting on your bike.

:lol:

BikerGeek99 said:

Breakfast coming up…

Click to expand...

That'll happen after a hard night of drinking. :blink: Did you get any on the bike?

Really enjoying being along for this trip amigo!

Old Michael said:

Probably wanting a hug, and an understanding ear. You've got to be aware of those subtle hints.Relationships require work.

Click to expand...

:lol2:

You funny!

I'm likin' them all Geek.I was hoping I'd see you and the group in Times Square, maybe with the underwear cowboy sitting on your bike.

:lol:

Click to expand...

Thanks!

When we were initally talking about this trip, we'd talked about riding through Manhattan. We chose not to. Mrs. BG and I were in Manhattan last year, and Times Square is a zoo. Can't imagine taking a bike there.

Underwear cowboy? Um, sorry to dissapoint, but if you like I could strip to my BVD's, put on a cowboy hat and have Mrs. BG take a picture of me on the FJR...

Or not.

Nevermind. Bad idea.

Sorry to disappoint.

That'll happen after a hard night of drinking. :blink: Did you get any on the bike?

Click to expand...

Ah jeez...

Nope, didn't get any one the bike, but I did have this wet fart....

:mega_shok:

Really enjoying being along for this trip amigo!

Click to expand...

Thanks again. Lots more to come...

Uh, I mean, more pictures and witty commentary soon to follow.