I'm Off To New England! (well Almost)

[wheatonFJR]

This time tommorrow I will have been on the road 7 hours already.

Never been to New England; this is my itinerary...camping most of the time

9/10 DAY 1 - IL TO WESTERN NY

9/11 DAY 2 - NY TO NY (ADIRONDACKS)

9/12 DAY 3 - NY TO VT (WHITE RVR JXN)

9/13 DAY 4 - VT TO ME (INLAND)

9/14 DAY 5 - ME TO ME (ALONG COAST)

9/15 DAY 6 - ME TO MA (CAPE COD)

9/16 DAY 7 - MA TO VT (SOUTHERN)

9/17 DAY 8 - VT TO NH (TIRE CHANGE - MEET SNIKR?)

9/18 DAY 9 - NH TO NY (SCHENECTADY)

9/19 DAY 10 - NY TO GETTYSBURG, PA

9/20 DAY 11 - GETTYSBURG TO ANTIETAM & HARPERS FERRY, WV

9/21 DAY 12 - HARPERS FERRY TO MANASSAS & FREDERICKSBURG, VA

9/22 DAY 13 - VA TO WV (FAYETTEVILLE)

9/23 DAY 14 - WV TO SHANKSVILLE, PA MEMORIAL

9/24 DAY 15 - PA TO COLUMBUS, OH (VIA WV & SOUTHERN OH )

9/25 DAY 16 - OH TO WHEATON

Wish me luck...

and if you see an FJR with a big yellow duffle on it - that's ME.

Have fun while I'm gone....and BEHAVE!!

 

[Tim05fjr]

Wheaton,

sounds like a great plan.

Good luck and God speed.

Tim

 

[TejasFJR]

Wheaton,

Have a great trip, sounds like a great itinerary. Be sure and snap lots of pictures to share.

Take care.

 

[Getsum]

Awesome trip man. Good luck and be safe.

 

[gypsy]

Wheaton,

Don't know if you are planning to take this route to the coast but, but Rt 1A from Bangor to Ellsworth, ME was all torn up for construction. Maybe someone closer could give an update?

gypsy

 

[radman]

Man, sounds like it'll be a blast. Doing my own thing mid October, heading Virginia way, and looking forward to it. Too bad our plan earlier didn't work out, just think of all the great arguments we coulda had! Ride safe bro

 

[jmarran]

I live in Pittsfield, MA (western MA bordering NY) - let me know if you need or want anything in your travels if in the neighborhood.

 

[Pending]

Wheaton, I live about 100mi. south of you & did that NE area a couple years ago. When in Vt. check out 6,200 ft. Mt. Washington. Some times they let bikes ride up. Ride in the shuttle van. The mountain boasts some of the planet's most severe weather, and retains the world record for wind speed, 231 MPH. I was there on a hot summer day & they said no bikes. Have a great trip.

 

[snikr]

Looking forward to meeting you Sept. 17. If you need anything I'm sure you'll let me know and I'll see what I can do. For the record, Mt. Washington is in NH. Mt. Mansfield is our high mountain and riding through Smugglers Notch is a REAL treat. Stay safe.

 

[FJReady]

Wheaton,

Sounds like a great trip. I'm on the Massachusetts coast, north of Boston if you happen to be needing anything at that point. (Day 6 it seems) 978-657-1552. Its a great time of year to ride in New England. Congrats to you for putting a plan into action. You're sure to enjoy. Ride Safe.

FJReady

 

[Pending]

Mt. Washington is in the "Live Free Or Die" state of New Hampshire. It's been a couple of years & you do start going throught states pretty quickly up in the NE. I did like Vt. & NH.

 

[NoCage]

Wheaton... sounds great, watch out for the cages.

Think of all the great arguments we coulda had!

That conjured up an image for me... Rad & Wheaton riding down the road, arguing whatever over the intercom... then after about a 100 miles you hear a "**** this!" and a "gosh darn this!" as 2 headsets go flying into the ditch.

 

[zorkler]

looks like a nice set up weather sould be very nice in the day cooll at night . in gettsburg check out drummerboy camp grounds which is maybe 1 mile out of town ans 2 miles from the battlefeilds its well worth it to check them out

 

[escapefjrtist]

Good luck Wheaton! Will be thinking of you on what sounds like a great road trip. Wish I coulda joined ya. Ride safe bro...see you at the next OSR.

--G

 

[wheatonFJR]

Here I sit in front of the computer...

Bike is all gassed up, tire pressure checked, both bags loaded, duffle loaded and mounted, tank bag ready, camel back ready to be filled...

...just chillin down from all the business from work and packing up.

Ready to get up early to get through the I80/94 mess before it gets too bad...

Thanks for all the well wishes guys! It's nice to know that there are people out there rootin' for ya.

I'm not good with a camera, but I will try to get atleast a couple of meaningful shots as a record of the trip...

adios...

 

[fjrchooser]

Wheaton, missed your thread until after you were on your way. Wished you goodspeed and safety on your journey.

Let me be the first to say welcome back and looking forward to the report !

 

[yamaholic]

Wheaton-

Hope your trip is successful. Sorry I couldn't hook up with you in Ohio this time around!

 

[snikr]

I saw Wheaton yesterday (Tuesday Sept 13) and chatted with him for a while (it was nice talking with you Mark). He is making better time than expected and is now heading home. He is doing well and already looking forward to his next trip New England way. I hope the rest of his trip is safe and enjoyable.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Well, I just got back from my abbreviated tour yesterday.

I will post the few pictures I took on monday or tuesday.

I ended up visiting NY, VT, NH mainly with PA, OH and IN on the way home.

I had a great time but decided not to do Maine without a riding partner, and decided to do the battlefield tours on a separate trip.

A few thoughts -

New York is beautiful, uncongested, and plenty of twisty curvy.

Vermont is beautiful but congested (or atleast it was when I was there)

Northern New hampshire is very nice.

I will consider this a recon mission for some future day when I can get my wife on the back of a bike.

Thanks to Tom (snikr) for stopping by the motel, giving restaurant recommendations, and setting me up with the local dealer. BTW Tom, I did decide to have them install the Avons even though there was probably enough tread left to get home.

The Yamaha dealer near Rutland, VT (Dan Turco and Sons) did a standup job fitting me into their schedule with my change of plans. Thanks!

Since I have another week of vacation left, I may be able to do the OHIO Ramble if I can get a suspension replacement. With 16k on the bike - the suspension doesn't seem to have what it takes for the Ramble.

I say may: because spending money right now after this trip may go over like a lead balloon.

Will post pictures next week.