A Couple Of Geeks Do NERDS
- Thread starter BikerGeek99
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BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
A more proper ‘Welcome To New Hampshire’ sign. Dunno why it’s so blurry. The dang rain musta been mussing with the camera.
Sometimes the weather may not be considered optimal riding weather, but sometimes the weather also contributes to some cool pictures.
All in all, I’m glad we were in this area when we were, ‘cause they really got hit hard by Irene a couple of weeks later.
The night before, while planning out this days ride, I created 2 GPS routes. One to lolly-gag around and to touristy **** (check out some lighthouses, swing by the Maine Signpost … you know, touristy ****) and one that would take us directly to our hotel. I created the direct one in case the weather sucked.
Guess which one we took?
About 1:30 that afternoon we rolled into the Hampton Inn in Littleton, NH, hoping that they would have our room ready even though we were 1 ½ hours ahead of check-in time. Thanks to our ride out west last year, Sooze got her Hilton Honors thingamabob upgraded to Gold status. One of the cool things about that is, when they can, we get free room upgrades. This would be one of those times.
Where the magic happens.
The sitting room.
It was nice having the extra space to put our wet gear out to dry and still have room to move around.
Now, allow me to share with you one of those things that seems to only happen on the road.
When we got to the hotel and got our room, Sooze took our crap up to the room and I rode across the street for some yummy libations (people in New Hampshire throw some weird looks to a guy walking around a grocery store in wet riding gear with a 12-pack under his arm). Upon my return to the hotel, there was a tour bus parked out front and they were unloading.
My first thought was, “Oooohhhh mannnnnn am I glad we got here when we did. Otherwise it’d be an hour-plus wait to get checked in.”
I thanked our luck and got the bike buttoned up and was kinda-sorta paying attention to the ruckus going on behind me. I noticed something odd about the ruckus behind me. It wasn’t ruckus in English. Sounded kinda-sorta German-ish to me.
I was thinking that the bus was full of senior citizens or something. Well, they certainly were not senior citizens. Try this: a bus load of Hasidic Jewish teenage girls. From the Bronx.
I can NOT make this crap up.
No, I did NOT get any pictures of them. Why? Just because. Woulda been a little too weird. But, trust me. When you’re staying in a hotel with a bus load of Hasidic Jewish teenage girls, you know it. They were very polite and respectful, but they’re still teenage girls. And there were a lot of ‘em. You know – like a bus load of ‘em.
When I got back to the room, I told Sooze, “You are NOT gonna believe THIS!”
Only on the road. I have another story or two from all this, but I’ll save it and tell ya in person over a beer.
We relaxed a bit the rest of the afternoon (and even got to be in the room when the hotel dudes replaced the heavier-than-a-box-of-midgets tube TV’s with spiffy new flat-screen units), did some laundry, and caught up on some emails.
Eventually dinner time approached. It was still raining and we were dry, so as much as we woulda liked to have gone out and scoped out a cool, funky spot for food, we decided to stick to someplace in walking distance.
There was an Applebee’s adjacent to the hotel. Ugh.
Instead we found a little Asian place in the shopping center next to the hotel. We walked over there and had a pretty darn good dinner.
Sooze’s lemon chicken.
My General something-or-other’s (not Tso’s – they had their own name for it) chicken.
After dinner we returned to the hotel, chilled for a bit, and called it a night.
Only rode about 160 miles, but about 100 of ‘em were in a steady rain.
This was a very nice hotel set in a very nice setting. Trust me.
Sometimes the weather may not be considered optimal riding weather, but sometimes the weather also contributes to some cool pictures.
All in all, I’m glad we were in this area when we were, ‘cause they really got hit hard by Irene a couple of weeks later.
The night before, while planning out this days ride, I created 2 GPS routes. One to lolly-gag around and to touristy **** (check out some lighthouses, swing by the Maine Signpost … you know, touristy ****) and one that would take us directly to our hotel. I created the direct one in case the weather sucked.
Guess which one we took?
About 1:30 that afternoon we rolled into the Hampton Inn in Littleton, NH, hoping that they would have our room ready even though we were 1 ½ hours ahead of check-in time. Thanks to our ride out west last year, Sooze got her Hilton Honors thingamabob upgraded to Gold status. One of the cool things about that is, when they can, we get free room upgrades. This would be one of those times.
Where the magic happens.
The sitting room.
It was nice having the extra space to put our wet gear out to dry and still have room to move around.
Now, allow me to share with you one of those things that seems to only happen on the road.
When we got to the hotel and got our room, Sooze took our crap up to the room and I rode across the street for some yummy libations (people in New Hampshire throw some weird looks to a guy walking around a grocery store in wet riding gear with a 12-pack under his arm). Upon my return to the hotel, there was a tour bus parked out front and they were unloading.
My first thought was, “Oooohhhh mannnnnn am I glad we got here when we did. Otherwise it’d be an hour-plus wait to get checked in.”
I thanked our luck and got the bike buttoned up and was kinda-sorta paying attention to the ruckus going on behind me. I noticed something odd about the ruckus behind me. It wasn’t ruckus in English. Sounded kinda-sorta German-ish to me.
I was thinking that the bus was full of senior citizens or something. Well, they certainly were not senior citizens. Try this: a bus load of Hasidic Jewish teenage girls. From the Bronx.
I can NOT make this crap up.
No, I did NOT get any pictures of them. Why? Just because. Woulda been a little too weird. But, trust me. When you’re staying in a hotel with a bus load of Hasidic Jewish teenage girls, you know it. They were very polite and respectful, but they’re still teenage girls. And there were a lot of ‘em. You know – like a bus load of ‘em.
When I got back to the room, I told Sooze, “You are NOT gonna believe THIS!”
Only on the road. I have another story or two from all this, but I’ll save it and tell ya in person over a beer.
We relaxed a bit the rest of the afternoon (and even got to be in the room when the hotel dudes replaced the heavier-than-a-box-of-midgets tube TV’s with spiffy new flat-screen units), did some laundry, and caught up on some emails.
Eventually dinner time approached. It was still raining and we were dry, so as much as we woulda liked to have gone out and scoped out a cool, funky spot for food, we decided to stick to someplace in walking distance.
There was an Applebee’s adjacent to the hotel. Ugh.
Instead we found a little Asian place in the shopping center next to the hotel. We walked over there and had a pretty darn good dinner.
Sooze’s lemon chicken.
My General something-or-other’s (not Tso’s – they had their own name for it) chicken.
After dinner we returned to the hotel, chilled for a bit, and called it a night.
Only rode about 160 miles, but about 100 of ‘em were in a steady rain.
This was a very nice hotel set in a very nice setting. Trust me.
BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
Tuesday, 8/16/2011.
We awoke to gray skies and wet ground. Yep – it was still raining. It had rained all dang night and it was still raining. Luckily the folks at the hotel let me park the bike under the overhang thing so at least it had pretty much dried out overnight. We were watching the radar and weather forecast and figured if we wait until hotel checkout time, we would miss most of the rain.
So we grazed over the hotel’s continental breakfast, chilled a bit, then did the usual: pack up our crap, gear up, and load up the bike.
The flowers outside the hotel were lush and colorful. (And note the Applebee’s sign in the background. We’re glad we didn’t eat there last night – no offense to Applebee’s fans or anything.)
Once again, we didn’t have a ton of miles we had to ride this day, so a bit of rain wasn’t any real big deal. Plus, the night before I treated the bike’s windshield and our helmet visors with Raincoat (good stuff – like RainX but made for plastics) so vision would be less of an issue.
We both got a chuckle out of this fella – car pulled over and he was standing under the Welcome to Vermont sign taking a picture.
Our route today would be a mix of back-roads and maybe a little slab.
One of the places Sooze wanted to stop at was the Maple Grove Farms syrup place. It was kinda-sorta on the way so why not, rain or not!
In case you live in a cave or something, Vermont is kind of known for their maple syrup. Maple Grove Farms used to offer tours of their facility, but due to rising health-department types of concerns, they no longer offer tours. Bummer. But they do have a little museum-ey building and a nice trash ‘n trinket shop.
The rope-looking things are tubing where they tap the sap.
We awoke to gray skies and wet ground. Yep – it was still raining. It had rained all dang night and it was still raining. Luckily the folks at the hotel let me park the bike under the overhang thing so at least it had pretty much dried out overnight. We were watching the radar and weather forecast and figured if we wait until hotel checkout time, we would miss most of the rain.
So we grazed over the hotel’s continental breakfast, chilled a bit, then did the usual: pack up our crap, gear up, and load up the bike.
The flowers outside the hotel were lush and colorful. (And note the Applebee’s sign in the background. We’re glad we didn’t eat there last night – no offense to Applebee’s fans or anything.)
Once again, we didn’t have a ton of miles we had to ride this day, so a bit of rain wasn’t any real big deal. Plus, the night before I treated the bike’s windshield and our helmet visors with Raincoat (good stuff – like RainX but made for plastics) so vision would be less of an issue.
We both got a chuckle out of this fella – car pulled over and he was standing under the Welcome to Vermont sign taking a picture.
Our route today would be a mix of back-roads and maybe a little slab.
One of the places Sooze wanted to stop at was the Maple Grove Farms syrup place. It was kinda-sorta on the way so why not, rain or not!
In case you live in a cave or something, Vermont is kind of known for their maple syrup. Maple Grove Farms used to offer tours of their facility, but due to rising health-department types of concerns, they no longer offer tours. Bummer. But they do have a little museum-ey building and a nice trash ‘n trinket shop.
The rope-looking things are tubing where they tap the sap.
BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
Hopefully you have seen something like this before.
A mold they use for cookies or candies or something.
The entrance to the museum-ish building.
Besides us, there was also a family in there. They were definitely European. I’d guess German or Austrian, based on the language they were speaking. I will say this – they were ALL f’n TALL!! Mom, dad, son and daughter were all well over 6’3”, and the mom was the short one!
Why is my posture so good, you ask? Well, because I happen to have a telephone pole growing outta my head. Duh.
One cool thing about their trash ‘n trinket shop is that you can pick out your loot, take it to the cashier, and they’ll pack it up and ship it to you. A great solution when you’re on a bike that’s carrying more crap than you probably need anyway.
Small-town New England.
Out on the road.
Not only is Vermont pretty scenic, they also allow passing on the double-yellow! No, really – they do. You just do it when it’s safe to do so. And a quick double-yellow pass generally isn’t problem for the FJR. When they REALLY mean don’t pass, they put up these ‘Unsafe To Pass’ signs.
Remember what I said earlier?
A mold they use for cookies or candies or something.
The entrance to the museum-ish building.
Besides us, there was also a family in there. They were definitely European. I’d guess German or Austrian, based on the language they were speaking. I will say this – they were ALL f’n TALL!! Mom, dad, son and daughter were all well over 6’3”, and the mom was the short one!
Why is my posture so good, you ask? Well, because I happen to have a telephone pole growing outta my head. Duh.
One cool thing about their trash ‘n trinket shop is that you can pick out your loot, take it to the cashier, and they’ll pack it up and ship it to you. A great solution when you’re on a bike that’s carrying more crap than you probably need anyway.
Small-town New England.
Out on the road.
Not only is Vermont pretty scenic, they also allow passing on the double-yellow! No, really – they do. You just do it when it’s safe to do so. And a quick double-yellow pass generally isn’t problem for the FJR. When they REALLY mean don’t pass, they put up these ‘Unsafe To Pass’ signs.
Remember what I said earlier?
BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
That’s kind of phallic, wouldn’t you say?
The Vermont capital in Montpelier. Hopefully this New England town will not have permanent damage due to Irene.
Eventually… Finally… The skies started to clear.
One thing is for sure: after riding a hunnert-plus miles in rain, including through some gravel road construction, the FJR definitely would not be confused with a showroom-new bike. Because … well … we actually ride it.
This day was our buddy Bill’s birthday. I’d heard that he planned on getting some ice cream to celebrate his birthday. If you’re in Vermont, where would one possibly go to get ice cream. Hmm…
Wait a sec – I’ve got an idear.
We stopped in to do the touristy thang.
“My, but Ben & Jerry’s bonnaroo buzz ice cream is some VERY tasty ice cream!”
The place was quite crowded and the wait for a tour was about 1 ½ hours.
Screw that.
We did, however, make the trek out to…
I just find this whole concept to be funny as can be.
The Vermont capital in Montpelier. Hopefully this New England town will not have permanent damage due to Irene.
Eventually… Finally… The skies started to clear.
One thing is for sure: after riding a hunnert-plus miles in rain, including through some gravel road construction, the FJR definitely would not be confused with a showroom-new bike. Because … well … we actually ride it.
This day was our buddy Bill’s birthday. I’d heard that he planned on getting some ice cream to celebrate his birthday. If you’re in Vermont, where would one possibly go to get ice cream. Hmm…
Wait a sec – I’ve got an idear.
We stopped in to do the touristy thang.
“My, but Ben & Jerry’s bonnaroo buzz ice cream is some VERY tasty ice cream!”
The place was quite crowded and the wait for a tour was about 1 ½ hours.
Screw that.
We did, however, make the trek out to…
I just find this whole concept to be funny as can be.
BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
The rain had cleared and it was turning into a warm, pleasant afternoon.
Looking down towards the factory.
We looked for Birthday Boy but didn’t see him, so we de-layered and headed on down the road.
If ya ever get the chance, this is a very pretty area of the county to ‘sperience on two wheels.
There are times when it’d be cool if the web offered a way to share the smells we experienced. Then there’s this time.
I take back what I said earlier. The roads and scenery sucked.
We rolled into our lodging destination for the evening: The Inn at Buck Hollow Farm, a little B&B in Fairfax, VT. It’s pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. We loved it.
Some years ago I was visiting some friends up in Michigan. They were doing some renovations to their house so stuff was kinda put wherever it would fit. One piece of stuff that was right by the bed where I slept was a big-*** stuffed bear. For some reason, that night, that damn bear gave me the weirdest, most vivid dreams I’ve ever had (including their neighbors launching Buicks with a trebuchet) so what did we see when we got to our room?
Uh-oh.
Looking down towards the factory.
We looked for Birthday Boy but didn’t see him, so we de-layered and headed on down the road.
If ya ever get the chance, this is a very pretty area of the county to ‘sperience on two wheels.
There are times when it’d be cool if the web offered a way to share the smells we experienced. Then there’s this time.
I take back what I said earlier. The roads and scenery sucked.
We rolled into our lodging destination for the evening: The Inn at Buck Hollow Farm, a little B&B in Fairfax, VT. It’s pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. We loved it.
Some years ago I was visiting some friends up in Michigan. They were doing some renovations to their house so stuff was kinda put wherever it would fit. One piece of stuff that was right by the bed where I slept was a big-*** stuffed bear. For some reason, that night, that damn bear gave me the weirdest, most vivid dreams I’ve ever had (including their neighbors launching Buicks with a trebuchet) so what did we see when we got to our room?
Uh-oh.
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dcarver
Well-known member
A bare-assed nekid Bustanut?
Excellent travelog. Keep 'em coming!!
Bustanut joker
Well-known member
BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
Tuesday, 8/16/2011, continued.
One thing about staying at The Inn at Buck Hollow Farm: if you don’t like animals, this place isn’t for you.
They have: 8 cats, 2 dogs, and a pony.
After getting settled in our room and getting outta our gear (it was kinda warm), we decided to just sit and chill a bit.
This guy was inside wishing he was outside.
This guy was curled up outside on the porch.
They have some old stuff on the porch as well.
Me trying to get artsy-fartsy pictures.
His nap was REALLY wearing this guy out.
More artsy-fartsy pictures.
Which does the FJR contribute to: artsy or fartsy?
One thing about staying at The Inn at Buck Hollow Farm: if you don’t like animals, this place isn’t for you.
They have: 8 cats, 2 dogs, and a pony.
After getting settled in our room and getting outta our gear (it was kinda warm), we decided to just sit and chill a bit.
This guy was inside wishing he was outside.
This guy was curled up outside on the porch.
They have some old stuff on the porch as well.
Me trying to get artsy-fartsy pictures.
His nap was REALLY wearing this guy out.
More artsy-fartsy pictures.
Which does the FJR contribute to: artsy or fartsy?
Bustanut joker
Well-known member
Yet not a freakin' sheep! This report is really starting to suck.
Get yer pucking head outa yer *** dork.
Kisses.
:****:
Get yer pucking head outa yer *** dork.
Kisses.
:****:
BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
The front of the place.
Sooze modeling a shirt made by a friend of ours.
Looking down the fence.
Artsy? Fartsy? Hell if I know.
After us walking around a bit snapping pictures, this guy decided he should come down and check us out.
Slowly but surely some clouds were rolling in.
A rain shower rolled through. We sat on the porch with the cat and let it rain.
We wandered around inside a bit.
Sooze modeling a shirt made by a friend of ours.
Looking down the fence.
Artsy? Fartsy? Hell if I know.
After us walking around a bit snapping pictures, this guy decided he should come down and check us out.
Slowly but surely some clouds were rolling in.
A rain shower rolled through. We sat on the porch with the cat and let it rain.
We wandered around inside a bit.
BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
Ya gotta be careful around this cat. He went from being OK with being pet to trying to bite me, the little turd.
The afternoon was wearing on and we decided it was time to go find some dinner. So we geared up and headed out, since there isn’t ANY place within walking distance to eat dinner.
I’d say this barn has had better days.
This one is having a better day.
We rode into St. Albans and headed through town.
We found our way to the coast of Lake Champlain.
We found a place right across the street from the water and decided to give ‘er a try.
The afternoon was wearing on and we decided it was time to go find some dinner. So we geared up and headed out, since there isn’t ANY place within walking distance to eat dinner.
I’d say this barn has had better days.
This one is having a better day.
We rode into St. Albans and headed through town.
We found our way to the coast of Lake Champlain.
We found a place right across the street from the water and decided to give ‘er a try.
Bustanut joker
Well-known member
Too early here for PUI Posts Velda.. I'm heading out shortly..
BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
At your age? I thought Michigan had laws against seniors driving at night.
:lol:
BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
FOOD **** ALERT!!!
Sooze had the salmon.
I had the scallops wrapped in … BACON!!
When we first entered the restaurant, we were asked if we wanted to sit inside or outside. We chose inside and were glad we did, because another rain shower rolled through.
It can be interesting sometimes to listen as people talk over dinner. There was a group at a table next to us and one of the guys – a young guy, pretty sure he was a college boy – expounding about some accounting thing or other that sounded almost as painfully boring as his public speaking. Dunno if he was meeting the parents or something because he was really playing himself up and they were eating it up.
If you’re ever in the area and stop in this place for dinner, keep an eye on your beer – the place has a very wobbly floor that really shakes the table when people walk by.
One thing we noticed when we pulled up was there appeared to be some kind of festival-ish thing going on across the street. We asked the waitress about it and she told us that there was a replica ship that was making the rounds of Lake Champlain and this was its’ time in St. Albans. Sooze and I thought that’d be kind of cool to check out. So we did.
Touristy must-read information in English and French.
And there was even a pony.
The party was on the pier. Or dock. Or whatever you call it.
The ship was named the Lois McClure.
It was free to board the ship, so what the hell!
They had old-looking stuff lying around.
Lefty-loosey, rightey-tightey. Right?
The brakes.
Sooze had the salmon.
I had the scallops wrapped in … BACON!!
When we first entered the restaurant, we were asked if we wanted to sit inside or outside. We chose inside and were glad we did, because another rain shower rolled through.
It can be interesting sometimes to listen as people talk over dinner. There was a group at a table next to us and one of the guys – a young guy, pretty sure he was a college boy – expounding about some accounting thing or other that sounded almost as painfully boring as his public speaking. Dunno if he was meeting the parents or something because he was really playing himself up and they were eating it up.
If you’re ever in the area and stop in this place for dinner, keep an eye on your beer – the place has a very wobbly floor that really shakes the table when people walk by.
One thing we noticed when we pulled up was there appeared to be some kind of festival-ish thing going on across the street. We asked the waitress about it and she told us that there was a replica ship that was making the rounds of Lake Champlain and this was its’ time in St. Albans. Sooze and I thought that’d be kind of cool to check out. So we did.
Touristy must-read information in English and French.
And there was even a pony.
The party was on the pier. Or dock. Or whatever you call it.
The ship was named the Lois McClure.
It was free to board the ship, so what the hell!
They had old-looking stuff lying around.
Lefty-loosey, rightey-tightey. Right?
The brakes.
Bustanut joker
Well-known member
BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
Now, if you have claustrophobia, and you have the chance to go into the bowels of the Lois McClure: don’t. Sooze could walk upright but I had to duck to keep from knocking me noggin on the overhead beams.
Examples of cargo the ship woulda carried back in its day.
It was rather warm (especially being in full riding gear), so we exited the ship for some external pictures.
The tug next to the Lois McClure was cool, too.
Once the rain that rolled through during dinner moved through, it turned into a pleasant evening.
This is looking from the end of the pier or dock or whatever you call it, looking back at the shoreline. It was kind of an interesting looking shoreline to me – notice the rocks angled up out of the water, and the 2 U-shaped thingamajobbies. I’m curious what purpose the U-shaped the thingamajobbies serve.
I do this from time to time.
Remember what I said about the B&B where we were staying – it is in the middle of nowhere. Or, at least, ‘away from things.’ Not wanting to ride at night on those roads with various native-Vermont critters lurking and waiting to take us out, we headed back towards the B&B.
Examples of cargo the ship woulda carried back in its day.
It was rather warm (especially being in full riding gear), so we exited the ship for some external pictures.
The tug next to the Lois McClure was cool, too.
Once the rain that rolled through during dinner moved through, it turned into a pleasant evening.
This is looking from the end of the pier or dock or whatever you call it, looking back at the shoreline. It was kind of an interesting looking shoreline to me – notice the rocks angled up out of the water, and the 2 U-shaped thingamajobbies. I’m curious what purpose the U-shaped the thingamajobbies serve.
I do this from time to time.
Remember what I said about the B&B where we were staying – it is in the middle of nowhere. Or, at least, ‘away from things.’ Not wanting to ride at night on those roads with various native-Vermont critters lurking and waiting to take us out, we headed back towards the B&B.
