Mother Nature Owed Me One

[ionbeam]

Great travel report! In your latest posting, if you had continued on south past the Science Center (with the 6" shells) the road hugs the coast and is a very pretty ~15 mile ride down to Salisbury.

This guy is a lobster man at work. The lobster traps a.k.a. lobsterpots are the the modern wire traps which have replaced the old wooden pots. The arm that is near the helm is the winch used to haul up the traps.

All the buoys are floats attached to the lobsterpots. Every waterman has different shape/color/pattern floats that uniquely identifies his pots. If a person with no moral standards were to pull up a pot that didn't belong to him, the next thing he would hear would be a large caliber gun being fired

The following boat is more typical of a commercial fisherman's lobster boat. The tail of this boat is loaded with modern wire traps. The wire pots are not quaint like the older wood traps.

 

[BikerGeek99]

Hi, Alan!

Great travel report! In your latest posting, if you had continued on south past the Science Center (with the 6" shells) the road hugs the coast and is a very pretty ~15 mile ride down to Salisbury.

Thanks! Yes, we went further down the coast to Rye Harbor. You're right - it was a very pretty ride. I would have liked to have continued, but time didn't permit.

This guy is a lobster man at work. The lobster traps a.k.a. lobsterpots are the the modern wire traps which have replaced the old wooden pots. The arm that is near the helm is the winch used to haul up the traps.

Yeah, we watched him for a little bit. He was going to town, hoisting his pots and jammin' to some tunes!

 

[BikerGeek99]

Today we’re headed for Maine. Maine is a state I’ve heard SO much about, I’ve been wanting to go there for years and years. And today is The Day. Yesterday was a great day, so can today be better?

We were on the road at a good time in the morning, so the weather was cool and there wasn’t much traffic.

Portsmouth, NH, isn’t very far from Maine. This bridge is on the way…

Crossing the bridge…

And it’s Welcome To Maine. WOO-HOO!!!

Maine is definitely a scenic state.

Dad wanted to stop in a Harley dealer in Portland. Eventually we found it. Their t-shirts have some of the coolest designs!

While we were in Big Moose HD, I saw some mesh and textile armored riding jackets. I hope the average HD rider sees the value of riding while wearing one of these. I doubt they catch on soon, but I hope they eventually catch on in the HD community.

We got back on the bikes and back on the road…

Somewhere in Maine.

Riding along the water.

I’m loving this!

Riding along more water.

We went through some small towns.

Along the road, there are all kinds of little shacks and places to eat right on the water. Next time through, I want to eat at one of these places.

 

[BikerGeek99]

Our route for the day is to go north on I-295 to around Brunswick and then take Route 1 along the coast.

That route took us through some cool little towns.

I love this stuff.

At one of the stoplights, Dad suggested that we find a café or small restaurant to grab some lunch. Mrs. BG and I had already been talking about this and were looking for a spot along the water to eat.

We ventured off along a harbor and found a restaurant. Excellent! Thing is, when we pulled in, a couple was walking basically smack in the center of the road, not paying any damn attention. We pulled up, and she threw her hands up over her ears and gave the most “AGAST!!!” look. She pissed me off. WTF, ya old hag?? REALLY?!?!? The FJR is stock (re: QUIET!), and neither Dad’s nor Steve’s bikes are obnoxiously loud, but when she threw her hands over her ears and gave us that look… I wish the rain at SFO hadn’t killed my air horns, ‘cause I woulda given that old had something to throw her hands over her ears… Thinking back on it, she still pisses me off. Friggin’ old bat…

Anyway.

As I mentioned, this place was right on the harbor, complete with some real feesh’n boats.

We were eating at The Landings on the Waterfront in Rockland, ME.

The skies were clear, and sun warm. We sat outside on the deck.

FOOD ****!!

I had bacon-wrapped scallops and a Caesar salad. Mmm…

Mrs. BG had the coconut shrimps and a salad. I can’t stand coconut (friggin’ nassssssty stuff; if I ever get marooned on a desert island where coconut is all there is to eat, I’m a goner) but she liked it.

Our rides, patiently awaiting our return.

Buncha heck razors.

After lunch, I suggested we pull the bikes around for a photo op.

I love the tank in the background. It’s silly.

These were on display in a little park adjacent to the restaurant. I think stuff like this is cool.

After wrapping up our pitcher taking, we saddled up and continued on our trip, passing this guy along the way.

 

[BikerGeek99]

After our tasty lunch in Rockland, we mounted up and continued towards Bar Harbor.

Rockland is a very neat little town.

The riding today was just the way I like it – uneventful. The roads were terrific, and scenery unlike the scenery at home, and the weather was gorgeous.

At the top of the tower, you can make out an observation deck. We didn’t stop this time through – maybe next time.

Water crossing, FJR-style.

Eventually we were close – Acadia National Park sign.

I wanted to go to the top of Cadillac Mountain, which is in Acadia National Park. We stopped at an information area thing. When I went inside to inquire how to get to Cadillac Mountain, there was a sign saying it costs something like $10 per vehicle. Hadn’t planned on that, but OK. The Ranger working there told me that his register was closed and we could just go to the information area thing upon entering the pahk. Uh, OK, so off we went.

Heading towards the pahk…

 

[BikerGeek99]

We followed the signs to the entrance of the park, and found the information area thingy. We hopped off the bikes and, as we were approaching the steps to the Ranger station, a Ranger came down telling us not to go up – their office closes at 4:30 and by the time we get up there, it’ll be closed.

I was bummed.

Then the Ranger added, “The pahk is still open, though. You can go on in.”

I was less bummed, so I asked, “Oh, really? So we can still go up to Cadillac Mountain?”

The Ranger responded, “Sure!”

Now I’m kinda confused. WTF was that $10 per vehicle crap at the other place all about??

The hell with it. Off we go to Cadillac Mountain.

The ride up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain was AWESOME!! Road crews were putting down fresh asphalt, so the road was in excellent condition, but there were still those little fresh asphalt boogers in the road at times, but that was OK.

There is plenty of room on the road for 2 trucks to pass, but there aren’t any guard rails. Our pace was sedate.

We made it to the summit of Cadillac Mountain without incident, other than almost wrecking every other turn because I was ogling the scenery.

I was glad I was in full gear. It was not exactly warm up there, and there was a stiff breeze.

The scenery was like this everywhere we looked.

Steve just kinda hung out, taking in the views, and Dad was on the phone.

Cool tidbit about Cadillac Mountain – this is the first place to see the sun rise on the east coast of the U.S. And we were there!

Mrs. BG and I wandered over to the gift shop for some trash & trinkets.

There were several people there when we got there. A good bit of them had cycled through by the time we were getting ready to leave.

Getting ready to roll out for Bar Harbor.

I can’t tell you how many times I just said, “Wow!” on our trip up and down Cadillac Mountain.

Like I said – no guard rails. More like guard boulders.

You can see evidence of the road repaving – orange cones.

 

[BikerGeek99]

After Cadillac Mountain, it was off to Bar Harbor to see what the big deal is there.

These pictures pretty much sum it up.

A bit of a tourist trap, but very scenic. We got some ice cream, more trash & trinkets, and since the time was not standing still, we headed for Bangor for the night.

Gotta love the play on words. We saw lots of signs like this.

Remember back where there was the bridge that had the tower with the observation deck? Right after we crossed that bridge, I remembered seeing a restaurant right on the water. I thought that’d be a cool place to eat dinner and I thought it wasn’t very far.

That’s what I get for thinkin’.

We were riding and riding and riding… Every town we came into I was looking and looking… ****. I completely mis-judged this one. Oops.

The day was getting later, we were all getting hungry, and none of us really relished riding at night in Maine.

Eventually I said the hell with my ‘plan’ and we found a place that looked to be halfway decent.

Let me just say that I had THE BEST PRIME RIB EVER at MacLeod’s. I mean it literally melted in my mouth. It’s makin’ me hungry just thinking about it!

To wrap up the day, we rode to Bangor in the dark. I will vouch for the fact that oncoming drivers were not fans of Hella FF50’s – not to mention the aux lights on Dad’s bike and on Steve’s bike – at night.

Road-weary and our heads swimming on the sights and experiences of the day, we rolled in to our hotel and called it a night. We all slept like rocks!

And from here on out, we’re all west-bound. We’ve gone as far east as we’re going this trip. Kind of a bummer, but no complaints!

Coming up, North Conway, NH.

 

[BikerGeek99]

After a brief discussion last night, we decided that today we would make our way from Bangor, Maine, to North Conway, New Hampshire. We had a couple of sights we wanted to see on our way, and we had all day. We all decided that if at all possible, we did not want to ride at night again. No problem – I learned my lesson yesterday.

Today makes day 6 or 7 or so that we have been on the road. We’ve seen some great roads through West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland, saw the battle fields in Gettysburg, had one hell of an experience riding into New York City, saw Jordan’s bridge in Sag Harbor, got a kick-butt guided tour of the Hamptons thanks to Chris, had a fun ferry ride to Connecticut, rode to the top of Cadillac Mountain, experienced Bar Harbor… Jeez – and we’re not done yet!!

Remember all the really exciting trash and trinkets Mrs. BG and I have purchased? Well, there really wasn’t room on the FJR to cart all that around, so first thing to do today is find a Post Office and mail our stuff to ourselves! Now let me just say that if you want to do some REALLY good people-watching, go to the Post Office in Bangor, Maine. Holy crap – where do these people COME from?! No pictures, but … wow there were some damn ‘interesting’ people around there. Eesh. They make Scab and Odot seem ‘normal.’

Anyway.

After mailing our stuff to ourselves, we hit the road. We were once again treated to some spectacular weather that was perfect for riding. We slabbed it to get out of Bangor over to the Newport area, then hopped on Route 2 continuing westward.

There was construction on Route 2. And logging trucks.

-Yawn- Another boring, quaint Maine town.

At one of our stops, Charlie Hoss called me. Being a doofus, I forgot that my cell phone was still connected to my Zumo via BlueTooth. So when I answered, I couldn’t hear a damn thing. Oops. Sorry, Charlie. I powered down the Zumo and had a chat with Charlie.

We continued our way west. One of our places we wanted to stop was in the vicinity of Weld, Maine. The roads were scenic, the weather beautiful.

 

[BikerGeek99]

If you haven’t been to Weld, Maine, well … there ain’t much there. But there is a general store-type of place that’s been there forever.

Now you may be wondering why our band of merry heck razors were purposely going through Weld. Here’s why: there is a camp a little south of town. Mrs. BG’s dad went to this camp when he was a little boy, and later in life he went there as a counselor. (Think Meatballs and you’re pretty close.) When he went there as a counselor, he took the whole fam-damly, including Mrs. BG when she was a little girl. I’ve heard about this place ever since I met Mrs. BG. And how often are we gonna be in the vicinity, so we were off to find the camp.

A little ways down the road, we found it.

When we pulled in, the road back to the camp was dirt. For some reason, Dad and Steve didn’t follow us in. Harumph.

We pulled in and walked around. Camp hadn’t started yet, so there were just a few counselors milling about preparing for the summer activities. This place is very scenic.

We sauntered around for a little bit. The counselors didn’t give us any flak about just walking up and wandering around taking pictures.

The camp kinda reminded me of something out of a horror movie. Say, Friday The 13th.

According to Mrs. BG, the place hadn’t changed in years. For some reason, I’m not surprised. It was a very nice trip down Memory Lane for Mrs. BG, and I’m glad that I was finally able to see the place that provided so many memories for Mrs. BG and all of her family. After our time taking pictures and wandering around, we hopped back on the bike and went back out and met up with Dad and Steve. We had ‘em take this picture for Mrs. BG’s Dad.

After seeing the camp, we headed back south.

It was getting to be lunch time so I was on the lookout for a place to eat. Down the road a little ways, we found this place. They’ve got it all – gas station, grocery store, pizzeria, and a little café in the back. It’s right across the street from the local high school.

I had a … uh … well, I don’t remember what I had, but it was a durn yummy sammich!

See the green truck behind me? He’d just pulled up. He saw the license plate on the FJR and exclaimed, “Ohio?! We’re from Ohio! Moved here a while back.” Musta been a long while back, because he REALLY had the Maine Accent. Turns out their daughter still lives a little ways outside of Columbus and they come here a few times a year. Small damn world, you know??

So with full bellies, we continued on our way…

 

[BikerGeek99]

After our tasty lunch, we continued on our way.

Saw this dude along the way. Kinda reminds me of the dude we saw along Route 66 not too long ago...

Besides the camp, the other destination I wanted to hit along the way is the Maine Sign Post. I had looked it up on the interweb the night before and, when I was creating the route for today, I put in a waypoint where I thought the sign post was.

When we got to the waypoint, well, there wasn't anything there.

****.

Dad pulled up and asked, “Where is this thing, anyway?”

BG: “Hell if I know. I thought it was right here. Oh, well. No big deal. Let's just keep going.”

Dad: “Allrighty.”

And off we went on our merry way.

About 5 miles down the road, what the heck do we see?

Suh-WEET!

I was happy.

The Maine Sign Post is just there on the corner in the middle of nowhere, out at the edge of someone's yard. I think it's kinda cool...

After taking our pictures, we were back on the road.

Zeb's.

Don't see many of these any more. And to think I used to work at what was probably the biggest 5 & 10-cent store, Woolworth's. But that was what seems like a lifetime ago.

We made it to North Conway, New Hampshire, before dark. The ride had been terrific – excellent weather, not too warm, not too cold, we got to see the camp that Mrs. BG went to when she was little, and we took pictures by the Maine Sign Post. Excellent!

Once in North Conway, Dad wanted to stop by the local Harley shop. Eventually we found it. Let me say that has got to be the smallest Harley shop ever. Nice people in there, but dang was that place tiny!

After finishing up there, we went to the hotel and got ourselves checked in.

 

[BikerGeek99]

We got ourselves settled into the hotel and since it was only 3:00 or so, and since I've never been here before, and since it's such a scenic area, Mrs. BG and I decided to go out for a little ride.

All I can say is wow! This area is just gorgeous.

Just down the road, on the right, is Hurricane Mountain Road. But more on that later.

I can only imagine what the skiing is like around here. Mainly because I don't really ski, and snow skiing in Ohio is a contradiction in terms.

We just went out and rode around. No particular destination in mind. But, after seeing the sights and knowing that we were going to leave in the morning, I just felt like there is soooooo much more to see, that I'd like to stay here an extra day. Mrs. BG and I discussed it and she was game. The downside is that we'll have to make it home in two days instead of three. Bah – we can handle it!!

On our way back into town, Mrs. BG said, “Holy crap! I Just saw a bear cub!'

BG: “Really? Where?”

Mrs. BG: “Right back there – it was running up the embankment heading into the woods.”

BG: “Cool. We're not turning around. Where there's a bear cub, there's a momma bear and BG don't want to be around no mamma bear who thinks her cub is being threatened.”

Mrs. BG: “Good idea.”

It was still cool, though, seeing a bear. I wish I would have seen it. Oh, well.

North Conway is a quaint little town. Kind of touristy, but not like Bar Harbor. North Conway even has it's own scenic railway. We were there too early in the season for it to be running, though. Here's the terminal.

Our accommodations for the night. This hotel is basically brand new. And it has it's own indoor water park. Keep that in mind if you're thinking of staying here, because water park = kids. More on that later.

For dinner tonight, we went just up the road to the Muddy Moose.

Over dinner we told Dad and Steve that we decided to stay another night so we could explore the area tomorrow. I think Dad may have been a little bummed, but he was OK with it. Steve didn't like the homemade pickle that came with his dinner. Oh, well.

The sun set after a terrific day on this trip. The decision for tomorrow – ride the FJR up Mount Washington or not...

 

[BikerGeek99]

Today we would spend exploring the North Conway area. This decision will turn out to be the best decision we have made.

First thing in the morning, Dad and Steve were up and departed.

See you later, Steve.

See you, Dad. Thanks for riding along with us and you guys have a safe trip home!

After their departure, we had a bite of breakfast at the hotel and headed out.

Based on some recommendations, our first must-see of the day was Hurricane Mountain Road.

These signs should give you an idea of what this road is like.

15% grade on one side of the mountain, 17% on the other.

HMR was an interesting road. Very tight, kinda bumpy, very hilly, but very scenic.

After that little jaunt, we were off for Mt. Washington.

Along the way, we saw something that made staying the extra day completely worthwhile.

Route 16 from North Conway to the Mt. Washington Auto Road entrance is an excellent road. Freshly paved, smooth sweepers, and the scenery was amazing.

As we were rolling along, all of a sudden Mrs. BG starts hollering: “HOLY SH!T LOOK! OH MY GOD LOOK IT'S A MOOSE!!”

I said, “A moose? Really? Where is it... HOLY CRAP THAT THING'S HUGE!!”

On on the right side of the road this joker was just wandering along.

After passing it, I turned the bike around and came back to where it was walking along. So when Mrs. BG was taking pictures of it, we were on the side of the road on the other side. This is my first live moose sighting and DAMN that thing was BIG!

We were both completely jacked up seeing this moose. Mrs. BG's Dad had never seen a bear or a moose in the years he spent in the area, and within 24 hours, Mrs. BG saw the bear cub and now we saw the moose along the road.

Sweet!!

The whole time we were sitting there, I kept the bike in gear just in case the moose decided it wanted to make us a moose hood ornament. Some other people, though, pulled the SUV over and got out of their vehicle and walked to within maybe 50 feet of it. I was plenty close enough. Luckily, the moose just kept sauntering along, eating some vegetation here and there, and occasionally looking at the silly humans on the motorcycle.

After our moose sighting, I turned the bike around and we resumed our way, heading to Mt. Washington.

 

[BikerGeek99]

Seeing that moose was … well, for this Ohio boy, it was TOTALLY F'N AWESOME!! Mrs. BG and I talked about how TOTALLY F'N AWESOME that was the rest of the way to the Mt. Washington auto road.

Once we decided to stay this extra (and see a damn MOOSE in the process; WOO-HOO!!), and put Mt. Washington on the agenda, the debate began:

Ride up?

Take the cog train?

Take the guided tour thingy and be a suck-hole tourist?

I honestly couldn't decide...

In a fit of self-preservation decision-making, I decided to take the guided tour thingy and be a suck-hole tourist.

Bite me.

I'll ride up next time.

We parked at the shop thingy place for the Auto Road. There were 3 Harleys there. We got to talking to them – 3 authentic Canadians down from Canadia to do some riding and to go to Laconia Bike Week. We chit-chatted with them for a few minutes. Nice guys.

Inside, we paid our fee to take the guided tour. There's also some nostalgic stuff inside.

Across the street is the entrance for the Auto Road.

All that the guided tour means is you get a ride up the Auto Road in a van, and the driver tells you about the sights going up the road and some history. What the hell.. We're tourists. The Auto Road doesn't have guard rails and is fairly narrow. We start up the road – the narrow, light-colored area in the middle of this picture is where we parked.

The main reason why I didn't really relish riding the FJR up the road? Gravel. I wasn't too worried about the gravel going up, but was concerned about the trip down. The gravel looked really loose...

We were in the back of the van, and the van was kicking up some dust.

The views going up were awesome!

The squigglies in this picture are ski runs.

As we progressed up the mountain, the flora changed. We had thick trees at the bottom which gave way to scrub type flora towards the top.

Yes, there was snow.

Eventually we made it safely to the top of Mt. Washington.

HEY! What's the sign up there say?

The coolest lookin' dude in the world has made it!

Whattaya know – Mrs. BG made it too!

OK – we both made it.

Actually we were there together! As the timer was ticking down to take this picture, a herd – and I do mean a HERD – of French Canadian students clamoring up to OUR SUMMIT! Go away!!

Yes, they were a herd, but they were pretty funny. The chirren were excited to have hiked all the way up. The chaperones were excited to be there as well. One of the chaperones who was the group paparazzi asked if I'd use her camera to take their picture, so she could be in their group pictures. The nice geek that I am, I graciously accepted the challenge. She got her DSLR properly focused and I took several pictures of their group, prolly 50 of them crammed on that rocky summit.

I was hoping that Mrs. BG would take my picture as I was taking their picture.

I think she was distracted by a bright shiny thing or maybe suffering from oxygen deprivation due to the altitude, 'cause she didn't think to take a picture of this momentous event sure to go down in the annals of international diplomacy between the United States and Canadia. Ah, well. There's a herd of Canadian chirren somewhere in the Great White Nort, eh?, who are wondering who the doofus was that took their pictures.

Rock on, eh? Say hey to Geddy Lee for me!!

Mrs. BG and I ambled about a bit snapping various pitchers.

These guys had been doing some work on the tracks for the cog train.

Being a geek, I think it's kinda cool how the cog train works. I was able to stand fairly close to the tracks and watch the worker train come up, 'cause there was a passenger one coming up behind them.

Even though I wussed out and took the guided tour, there were several motorcycles who were less wussier than me. These guys rode their (matching) ST's up.

We watched as others rode up, some in gear, some not. This guy was not liking maneuvering his bike in the loose gravel in the parking area.

Note one interesting feature about the building – the DAMN THING IS CHAINED TO THE GROUND!

Why is it chained to the ground, you ask? Here's why! EEK!!

Luckily, while we were at the summit, the temperature was in the 40's, wind about 11 MpH, for a wind chill in the upper 30's. I was glad we had our riding jackets on.

Our time at the summit winding down, I setup the tripod and took one more pitcher of us.

And one dorky one.

AHHH!! I'M FALLING!!!!

And we hop back in the van and Vance, our tour guide / driver and head back down the mountain.

One kind of interesting little bit of info about the auto road:

There have only been 2 deaths on the auto road. One back in the horse & buggy days. The other back in the 80's – a guy in a Corvette lost his brakes during the descent and went off the road, killing his wife. He lost it on the very last turn at the bottom of the road.

Another kind of interesting little bit of info about the auto road:

If someone drives their car to the top and chickens out, there is a service where a driver will be sent to the summit to drive their car down for them. This is not uncommon.

OK – one more kind of interesting little bit of info about the auto road:

That service is not available for motorcycles.

 

[BikerGeek99]

After our Mt. Washington 'sperience, we didn't really have a set plan or route. I kinda held up my thumb to the wind, gauged the remaining daylight based on the angle of the sun in the sky relative to the shadow length the New England White Ashe tree and, countering the side of the tree the moss was growing on, I looked at a little map thingy to choose which road to turn on next.

We wandered around for a while taking in the sights.

It was Friday. The roads we were on didn't have much traffic, and the scenery was terrific.

Yep, there are mooseseses in the area, but we didn't see any more. Beh, once you've seen one moose.... IT WAS STILL TOTALLY F'N AWESOME!!!

Yeah – the scenery, and the roads, around here rocked.

One of the attractions on the little map thingy I consulted was The Old Man Of The Mountain. Whose face fell off right after the New Hampshire state quarter was released. Go figure. So we were just looking to get into the area. I followed some signs that took us to this place. I have no damn idea where his face was, 'cause the signs just … ended. Weird. We took a few pitchers anyway.

That's me down there in the red jacket with Veejer. I hope it'll help to give some perspective into the size of the mountains in this beautiful area.

What's the one defining force in any trip? Eating, of course. Mrs. BG and I rode along for a while and found this little gem of a spot in Lincoln, NH, to have a tasty late lunch.

After our tasty lunch, we headed along the Kancamagus Highway towards Bear Notch Road. Don't believe me?? Nyah!

Fun, fun road! At one point we got stuck behind several Harleys. OK, no biggie. They were riding within the performance envelope for their bikes (I oughta know – I've owned a Harley for 10 years), but damn that was a slow-*** pace for a FJR. I finally was able to safely pass them and – WTF?!?!? - some bimbo in a Cadavelier pulls out and is going – sllllllowwwwwwerrrrrr – than the Harleys. Luckily, there's only one of her and the FJR has passing power to spare, so after a kinda-sorta-almost-but-but-quite-legal pass, we were on our merry way, enjoying the road, the weather, the bike, and full bellies.

At one point along Bear Notch Road, I pulled over so we could take in the scenery and snap the bain of the those following along with dial-up interweb access – more pictures. HOORAY!!

We pulled off over here...

Mrs. BG took this one of me.

I took this one...

I setup the tripod and took a few more but – DAMN! - the bugs were damn bad! We didn't dilly-dally there, hopped back on the bike and moseyed back to the hotel.

To put a wrap on an incredible day, we walked across the street and had dinner here...

Had a pretty tasty dinner....

Returned to the hotel under mostly-cloudy skies trying to hide a bright moon...

And wrapped up the day with a tasty beverage....

Remember how I mentioned the hotel having a water park?

Weekends at that hotel are VERY kid-heavy. Kids ain't quiet. Especially when parents right across the hall let their 2-year-old run up and down the hall screeching...

WTF?! REALLY??

At one point Mrs. BG just slowly opened the door as said 2-year-old was runnin' and screechin'.... The mother parental unit had their door open, having a something-and-Coke (as in Coke-A-Cola, not the other kind), and responded with a:

<blink>

“Oh”

<blink>

<bigger-deer-in-headlights-blink>

“Oh”

And herded the feller into their room.

Wow.

Oh, well. Pro'lly shoulda known better, and we fer shure do now.

Once the kids quit running up and down the halls and quit jumping on the bed in the room upstairs, the hotel got nice and quiet and we got some good sleep.

Which we're gonna need, cause we've got 2 days to get home, and the plan is to ride 646 miles tomorrow to get close to home and visit some friends.

 

[BikerGeek99]

What a day we had yesterday... Saw a moose, rode Hurricane Mountain Road, went to the top of Mt. Washington...

What's in store today??

Lots of time in the saddle.

We had been in touch with some friends we met at the Ohio Harley Owner's Group rally last year. One couple offered us some grilled grub and a place to sleep for the night. The catch? We have to get to Ashtabula, Ohio, 600+ miles away.

Today will be our highest-mileage, 2-up day we have ever done.

Ever hear the saying, “If you're gonna drink all day, you have to start in the morning”?

For us, it was more like, “If you're gonna ride all day, you have to start in the morning.”

With that in mind, and our sights set on some tasty grilled grub and cold beers, as well as seeing some damn good people we get to call friends, we headed out early in the morning. Well, early for us, anyway.

We headed out of North Conway by 7:30 in the morning.

These jokers were following us already!

Let me tell you something.

Riding a motorcycle across southern New Hampshire and Vermont early on a Saturday morning in June is one of the most awesome things you can do. Why? The scenery is awesome, but the smells...

Oh, wow...

We were riding along, enjoying the road and the scenery...

And at one point, we were totally alone on the road, no traffic in front of us, no traffic behind us, no oncoming traffic, and it was a Zen Moment.

We caught a whiff of … that early morning damp smell you can only find in a forest, intertwined with a pine smell that just cannot be captured in a bottle, and the air was just so fresh...

It was amazing.

We continued, and rode along some bodies of water.

They were pretty sweet.

Mrs. BG took this picture so we'd remember this town. We want to go back there. Meredith, NH.

Yeah – they roads were fantastic.

Old bridge on the left, new bridge on the right.

State #2 for today...

We're heading this way on this road.

A covered bridge in Vermont. Sweet...

We were caught behind this guy for a while. I started to get kinda miffed about it, but then I said to myself, “SELF!” don't be a big dummy. This the best scenery you're gonna have for a while, so shut the hell up and enjoy it! So I just chilled and enjoyed the scenery at a snail's pace.

Ahhh.... This portion of today's ride rocked.

We made our way in to Bennington, Vermont. We started seeing these things all over the place. Turns out they were preparing for Bennington Moosefest 2009.

Don't worry – there were lots of moose statue thingamabobs painted in many, many different themes.

A couple more here...

A few more here...

Just passing through, Bennington seemed like a cool place. We'd like to go back and spend some time there and explore the area.

After Bennington, we crossed into New York (and not another Welcome To New York sign; what the hell??), and we hit the New York Thruway.

For miles and miles and miles...

 

[BikerGeek99]

The temperature had gotten a little warmer, the sun was out, and we were slabbing it across New York.

I just set the cruise, and we jammed to some tunes on Sirius.

Not many pictures here because … well, it was insanely boring. Besides, if you've made it this far into our journey, you've already seen the really good pictures.

We stopped every couple of hours to alleviate boredom, stretch, hydrate, and fuel up.

At one of our stops, I had a moronic twit moment.

When I fuel up the FJR, I swing the tank bag off the tank (it's magnetic but has a strap around the steering head) and kind of hang it off the right grip.

I fueled up while Mrs. BG went inside to sample to local facilities. When I went to fire up the FJR, I turned on the ignition, guages cycle, hit the starter and … nothing.

SON of a …

What the hell??

While my heart skipped a few beats – here we are, halfway across New York, no help anywhere near – I tried to keep calm.

Hmm...

After a minute I just roll the bike off the center stand and pushed it away from the gas pump.

I stood there for a minute, going through my options...

I start checking some odds and ends. Bike's in neutral, right? Check – neutral light's on and all. Battery shouldn't have gone south THAT quick. Sidestand switch perhaps? Hmm... That's a possibility. Wonder who I can call to walk me through bypassing that...

Wait – what's that? I put my Sirius receiver in the cell phone pouch thingy on my tank bag, and the antenna is on the front brake reservoir via Velcro. The antenna was hanging off the reservoir. I reattached that and … damn I'm an *****.

In case you haven't guessed already, the tank bag had moved the ignition kill switch to the 'Off' position.

I'm such a twit sometimes.

Bike running, we continue on our way.

Time to chalk up another state for the day – state #4 for the day.

And, a while later, state #5 for the day.

And so, 646 miles and about 13 hours later, we made it to our friend's house.

We were really excited to see Stan and Margie again. Stan is a retired electrician. He was an electrician at a nuclear power plant. No, he doesn't glow in the dark. Margie is still working, but we'd been worried about her.

Before we met, she had battled some serious health issues. Serious enough that she and Stan decided that they should make the most of the time they had together, so they rode Route 66, beginning to end, on Stan's '03 HD Ultra Classic. That was a dream ride for them, and that Ultra has over 100K miles on it. These guys like to ride.

We were worried about her because her health issues had come back. We were relieved to see that she looked terrific, and her attitude – battling a potentially life-ending disease for a second time – was inspiring and humbling.

Remember that we were promised both a place to bunk for the night and some yummy grilled food?

Stan had read on the 'net that when you're grilling chicken, if you toss some bacon on top of the chicken it'll add some really good flavor.

They didn't say how much bacon.

He must've put on a pound of bacon on top of that chicken.

Stan and I were sitting outside, drinking some tasty beers and talking about motorcycles, food, and life in general.

Then his eyes widened and he moved quicker than I thought he could ever move.

God, I wish I had a camera with me right then – the flames coming out of the grill were at least 4 feet high, and the smoke rolling off was as black as fresh asphalt and thick as moles *****.

Stan ran over and for some reason he opened the grill hood... Let me just say that I am still amazed that he had any facial hair left – the flames SHOT outta that grill and I started laughing my *** off.

Stan's comment, after closing the grill and turning off the burners: “I think the grill's hot.”

Classic.

When Margie came out to put some asparagus on the grill.. And Stan fessed up... We laughed our ***** off for 5 minutes.

The aftermath:

BG and Stan, laughing our ***** off.

Plan B: pizza. Mrs. BG and I rode with Stan in his truck, picked up some pizza, and chowed down.

After sharing some pictures of this excellent adventure with our friends, and a few more tasty beverages, we hit the sack, exhausted, and happy to see our friends again.

 

[BikerGeek99]

After the Great Chicken Grilling Incident last night, Margie cooked us a tasty breakfast in the morning – gotta love biscuits and gravy.

Mmm...

While we were getting ready that morning, a brief rain shower moved through. After 9 days on the road, and only one little bit of rain in Massachusetts, I figured we were due for some rain.

By the time we packed up and geared up, the rain had passed, and we headed out.

Stan took us on a quick local ride to the longest covered bridge in America. Yes, in Ashtabula, Ohio.

It's a long bridge.

While we were chit-chatting, an Amish feller came down in his buggy. Shouldn't he have been in church or something? It was a Sunday morning after all.

He unhitched his horse and took it off a way. It was kind of funny, though – at one point he walked by the bikes and checked 'em out.

Veejer with the bridge in the background...

Stan's 104,000 mile HD Ultra Classic with the bridge in the background...

And a group shot.

We said our farewells to Stan, and on our way out of the area, he took us across the bridge.

We headed out of the area, headed for home.

This is the 10th day we have been on the road. What an incredible 10 days it has been.

On our way home, the skies cleared and it got damn warm.

The ride back to Columbus was warm but otherwise uneventful.

Once we were close to home, we decided to stop at one of our favorite taverns for a celebratory tasty beverage...

And we arrived at Casa de BikerGeeks.

After 646 miles yesterday, 205 miles today was nothing.

2728 miles for the trip...

I didn't clean my windshield the whole trip (to my Dad's consternation at times), so we had a few critters that had been with us for a while.

Veejer's nose had collected a few critters as well.

And so, our trip is complete.

Trip summary:

Days on the road = 10.

Miles ridden = 2728.

Motorcycle mechanical issues = 0.

Moronic twit moments = 1.

Moose sightings = 1.

Bear cub sightings = 1.

Chicken breasts burned due to massive amounts of bacon = several.

Number of amazing experiences = too many to count.

Thanks for following along with us to the end of this journey. It was truly incredible.

Be safe, and ride careful.

And as for Mother Nature and I?

We'll call it even.

BG, signing off...