New York to Ohio to Home

After a busy day being tourists yesterday, we probably weren't going to make many stops today.  We did stop at the Buffalo Harley-Davidson store though.  I loved how they actually had a buffalo in the store.  It was a life-sized statue covered with signatures from people who all stopped in during the Harley 100th Anniversary celebration.  Maybe some of them were on their way to Milwaukee. 

I could think of a few places to see in this town like the Buffalo Bills' stadium, however we were getting tired and were ready to head home.  The only other stop we made was in Sandusky, Ohio where we met the most amazing people.  I learned that Sandusky is the home of the world's best amusement park.  The views of Lake Erie were gorgeous.  It was the kind of town I could stay in for a day or two just to hang out. 

 

Our last day of travel was hot but enjoyable until we hit the Chicago traffic/construction.  It gets a little stressful getting through there even though we expected it.  We were very happy to have an iPass to make the tools easier to deal with.  We pulled into our own driveway before 2 pm, unpacked and laid around the rest of the day.  It felt good to be off the bike and home safe and sound. 

 

 

These are two of my favorite photos of us from the trip.

Vermont and New York



As we headed back towards Milwaukee, we knew there were many places we wanted to stop along the way.  The first on the list was Quechee Gorge in Vermont.  The views here are incredible and with all the pine trees, the smells were heavenly.  It was like being surrounded by Christmas trees. After we gazed and wandered the area we prepped for some serious riding towards New York State.  

Quechee Gorge

The ride through New York took us to Cooperstown, the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  I think Jeff was in heaven.  All the plaques of his favorite players, the larger-than-life displays, the baseball art, even the old lockers and memorabilia from each team in the league were all on display.  There was so much to see we spent the whole afternoon there. 



National Baseball Hall of Fame

I was surprised by the location itself.  The building is tucked away in a little strip of shops and restaurants.  It was not a building that stood out at all.  And Cooperstown itself embraced the baseball theme with a amusement park and baseball complex for Little Leaguers and the like to play in tournaments.  This was a city geared for kids and their love of all things baseball.  It was a great place to hang out on a beautiful day. 

The trip would not be complete without a photo of Jeff in his umpire pose.  It was so fun to be here!

National Baseball Hall of Fame Courtyard

New Hampshire and Maine

Laconia

Today is touristy day for us. We are ignoring the rally and heading out to see it sights.  It is very hilly and so lush and green here. The air is so fresh. We took a ride through the hills and headed towards the east coast.
There are lots of little organic farms in the area.  I love how old some of the buildings are. It's amazing that some have been standing for centuries. Some you can tell have been updated but some look like they stood the test of time. Unfortunately, we didn't stop to get any photos of them.  If I did that, we wouldn't have gotten very far, there are too many cool old buildings everywhere you look, it's a nice reminder that we are near the colony states that started it all. 

We passed Lake Winnipesaukee which is the lake where Mitt Romney and his family spend their time in their fancy boat.  That's about all I know about that.

Lake Winnipesaukee

As we rode towards the coast I was amazed at all the quaint little towns.  Some were picture perfect.  Of course the down side of that is that they are also tourist attractions so we rode straight through.  It was a day of solitude away from the crowds so we just took it all in from a distance.


Old Orchard

We stopped at Old Orchard Beach, a small town in Maine right on the Atlantic Ocean.  The people were friendly and the town looked just like you see in movies, big porches on houses with clapboard siding all along the shore. The sign on the post was a reminder of all the bad things we do to ourselves and our world. 
After we walked the beach we rode over to Joseph's by the Sea, a wonderful restaurant in Old Orchard Beach right on the water.  The views were incredible.  Unfortunately it was too windy and as the sun was setting, getting too chilly to sit outside for dinner.  The ocean breeze is a little too strong to enjoy.

As we headed back to Laconia I realized that I just rode all these miles on a motorcycle and stepped in the Atlantic Ocean, a far cry from Milwaukee. What an incredible journey!



Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

New Hampshire - Day 2

We had breakfast at the hotel and took our time getting out the door.  We rode to Weirs Beach/Lobster Pound to attend the bike rally.  We parked our bike among the hundreds of other bikes there for the rally.  Since it was still before noon, it wasn't terribly busy.  There were vendor booths lined up along the lake as well as along the road.  We took our time walking from vendor to vendor looking at all the familiar things that were for sale.  After attending a few bike rallies, it seems that the items for sale are all pretty much the same, the only thing that changes is their names. 

We like to collect patches from events like this. One can only own so many t-shirts and the patches are easier to deal with so we bought some Laconia Bike Rally 2012 patches from the first vendor we saw that had them. Usually I will find a piece of costume jewelry to buy but I wasn't much for shopping today so I skipped it, or maybe nothing appealed to me, or maybe a combination of the two. We took our time working through the crowd along the water, then along the main road.  We saved the Harley area for last since Jen would be there.

One of the people who was at the Harley tent was a man who works with fibers. His company created a fiber coating that wicked away water and didn't leave behind the stinky smell that most fabrics like this did (like Under Armour, for example).  He was interesting to talk to.

One of the most fun things to do at the rally was under the Harley tent. They had an area set up where you could take a part off of a motorcycle and if you did it in less than two minutes you got a $15 Harley gift card.  Jen said she did it in a lot less than two minutes and it was a really easy way to get $15. So we watched two people give it a shot. One guy did it in less that two and a woman went over the two minutes so she was disqualified.  Jeff went next and easily took the part off with time to spare.  Both Jen and Jeff were trying to convince me to do it.  I was apprehensive - I didn't want to be embarrassed by getting beat by the clock.  After much debate I determined that we weren't leaving this area until I did it.  So surprisingly, I took the saddle bag off (just three bolts to remove!) in just over 1 minute.  It was pretty entertaining and easy money. 

After that, Jen took her lunch break and we all went over to the Lobster Pound where Jeff got the lobster roll.  It was a little better than average rally food, but nothing we would recommend which was no real surprise.  Like I said, rally food.

New Hampshire - Day 1

The hotel room Jen has is a 2-bedroom suite.  It is basically an apartment with plenty of room for all three of us although none of us plan on spending much time there.  With Jen working all day every day, we are on our own until after 6pm. It's in Gilford, not far from Laconia, yet far enough that the traffic shouldn't be too horrible.

We decided that we would not go to any of the rally events until tomorrow assuming that local people who were attending would be at work so it could possibly be less busy.  So we will explore the area like a tourist should. On our way out of town, we stopped at the Laconia Harley dealer and bought Jeff a souvenir t-shirt. Not surprisingly, the place was packed so we had to park in the overflow lot across the street from the dealer.  Busy or not, we are glad to have that checked off of our to-do list.

Laconia, NH Area

Gilford, Meredith, Franklin, Alton are all towns around Laconia. Then there's Lake Winnipesaukee, Lake Winnisquam, Paugus Bay and Opechee Bay.  The city is surrounded by water and is full of rolling hills as a result of the White Mountains.  It is pretty here and all the little towns are quaint and the buildings are aged but well kept.  It reminds me of our visits to Door County, Galena and Cedarburg.  In order to make the most of this trip, as always, a stop at a quilt shop was on the agenda.  Amazingly, Keepsake Quilting which is considered a quilter's mecca is located in Center Harbor, just 20 miles away.  KQ is a world renown catalog with a retail store as well.  This is where I like to spend my tourism money. Lucky for me, Jen has a suitcase that is only half-full and I can fill up the other half with my souvenirs so I bought a fat quarter sampler with 80 different fabrics! (as well as a few other things). Which is something I could never do if I had to take it back on the bike.

Keepsake Quilting Center Harbor, NH

After shopping we asked the sales clerks if they could recommend a place to get lunch.  They suggested we head to Canoe.  It was about a block and a half away so we chose to walk.  With close to 1,200 miles under our belts this trip, a walk would do us some good. The place was perfect.  We ordered a selection of white wines and enjoyed a fantastic variety of seafood dishes.  Jeff had a seafood chowder and I had a fish sandwich then we shared a dish of vanilla ice cream made by a local shop that used local, organic milk.  It was all delicious.  We enjoyed the walk back to the bike to work off some of the great lunch. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon riding to Portsmouth, NH.  It is a costal town where we assumed we could step into the Atlantic Ocean. We rode Highway 1 into town and took a turn on Market Street.  It was definitely a tourist spot loaded with restaurants and shops. As it turned out, the town is really located on the Piscataqua River which opens into the Atlantic Ocean.  From this vantage point, we could see the Naval Shipyard across the river and the Atlantic Ocean behind it, but we weren't going to get close enough to walk in the water.  

Naval Shipyard

We took a walk through the area. There was so much history here. We stumbled upon a building that was constructed in 1716. 

Before heading back towards Laconia, we thought we would stop and have a cocktail somewhere.  We walked into a brewpub appropriately named Portsmouth Brewery.  It was there that we talked with a local man who had a lot to say about the area.  We learned all about the Smuttynose Ale we were drinking as well as the city.  We got back on the bike to be back at the hotel just in time to meet up with Jen and her Harley co-workers for a really nice dinner at the Lyons Den in Golford. 

By the end of the evening, I felt like I had accomplished an entire vacation full of experiences. I left Jeff outside of the hotel where a bunch of Harley employees were enjoying old fashioneds.  He and Jen joined in and hung out quite late after I went to bed.

Road to Laconia - Day 2

 We got up feeling ready to get back on the road.  We were happy about having an iPass and were glad we could use it all along the way.  We went through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania and used it.  Sometimes we did have to stop because it wasn't working the automated system but the toll booth operators could still take the money out of the iPass account to pay the tolls.  It was much easier than digging coins out of my pocket every time we stopped.  

Holiday Inn Express - Erie, PA

We ate our 'complimentary' hotel breakfast, packed up the bike and got back on the road.  Our original plan was to stay overnight in Cleveland the first night, Syracuse the second night, then get to Laconia on day three. We were ahead of plans so I mentioned that maybe we should stop for another 3pm lunch like yesterday only this time, make it some fast food as to not waste time. 



After two gas stops in the state of New York, we realized how really big the state was.  It was beautiful, there were rolling hills filled with vineyards. The lush green was offset by the gorgeous blue sky.  As it got later in the day and was time to stop, we found ourselves sitting in a little Mexican restaurant in Liverpool, NY.  I don't know how it happened but I was pretty sure we were not going all the way to Laconia tonight. 

There was one more gas stop in New York before we found ourselves in Vermont.  It's amazing how the landscape has changed so much.  The rolling hills have now become full blown mountains and there's a lot of zigging and zagging to be done on these roads.  No wonder the speed limit is slower and there is no interstate here. But the state highways are nice enough for us.  We decided to continue on all the way to Laconia.  This meant skipping dinner and just riding through.  Little did we know that the rest of the trip to Laconia meant these winding, steep roads. Too bad it's too dark out to see the views by the time we get through New Hampshire.  One last gas stop and we are 25 miles from Jen's hotel.  It's too dark and we are too tired to care. 

We pull in around 10pm.
600 miles completed = 1150 miles in two days.

Road to Laconia - Day 1

We packed until the late hours last night and then unpacked all the things that were not necessary.  That always happens on a bike trip no matter how experienced we get.  We always want to take more than we can but in the end must scale back to just what we need.  Even that is a tall order.  Between the iPad, GPS, cell phones, camera and all the chargers that go along. we've packed an entire bag. Plus the new iPass can be thrown into the mix. Then there's the mandatory rain suits and helmets. Where will my shoes go?

The bike is ready and we are ready.  We head out later than anticipated but still early enough to get through Chicago without incident.  It's always good when the traffic keeps moving and amazingly enough, we don't have to stop until we get to the Indiana tollway.  The iPass is a blessing and I wonder how we've lived without it all this time.

Our first stop is in South Bend.  We got off the highway to get gas and some breakfast.  We were still feeling pretty fresh but hungry. We had breakfast at a little local place called Top Notch.  It was amazingly cheap. We both had a full breakfast and coffee and our bill was $10.59.  Since we were in the area, we decided to take a ride up the road to see Notre Dame. It's just a half-mile away and we are in no hurry. It's nice to vacation like this.

As we rode what turned out to be more like a mile, we were surprised by how poor the area looked.  That is, until we got to the campus.  The neighborhood seemed to turn from aging, closed up buildings with cracked sidewalks and roads to brand new beautiful brick ones with perfectly manicured lawns and roads.  It was such a striking contrast.  We rode around the campus until we came across the practice field, where there were football players walking from the field to their dorms right across the street. The football field had to be nearby so we pulled over and parked.  This is a walking campus and there is no room for vehicles and no roads, only sidewalks. 

We walked over to the football field to take photos of the statues out front when a greeter handed us a poster outlining the day's events.  We were welcome to go walk out onto the field.  There was a fantasy football game going on.  A bunch of very old (for football players, anyway) men were coming out of the locker room, some so out of shape I feared injury if they actually ran or took a hit out on that field.  So here we were, expecting to jump off the bike, take a few photos, and get right back on.  Instead we were standing on the grass where the Notre Dame football team played their games.  We chatted with a few people, particularly a man wearing a GB Packers sweatshirt.  He was a photographer who graciously offered to take our picture. We rarely have vacation photos taken together so this was a great opportunity. 

Notre Dame Football Field

After our photo op we got back on the bike feeling like we walked off breakfast and were ready to continue on.  Amazingly enough, we didn't stop again until we needed gas at 3pm. We went to the Panera across from the gas station to get off the bike, grab a salad and review our maps.  We were outside of Toledo thinking that we could press past our original plan of stopping for the night in Cleveland. We stopped at the local Harley dealer hoping to buy some patches for our jackets.  They didn't have any so I bought a shirt I didn't need and we headed out before rush hour got too bad.

We drove all the way through Cleveland and stopped for gas in Madison, OH.  We knew we could make it to Erie so we got out the GPS to route us to the best exit with many hotels.  We pulled into a Holiday Inn Express where we got the last room available. The town was crawling with kids and parents who where there for a soccer tournament. Luckily our room had a whirlpool tub in it so we didn't have to deal with kids in a public pool.  It would be much nicer to relax in a tub in our own room.  We unpacked the things we needed, and walked through the parking lot to the closest sports bar.  We both ordered a local ale and enjoyed some appetizers while we let the day fade away. 

550 miles completed.

Back in the Saddle Again

Things are starting to come together.  After a scare that resulted in a cardiac cath, Jeff gets a clean bill of health (as clean as it can be, all things considered).  We picked up an iPass and set it up and now we can seriously plan our vacation to Laconia.  Luckily, Baliee will be at the house for the ten days we are gone so I don't have to worry about feeding the cat or watering the garden.  She can take care of those little chores that cannot be neglected when we are gone. I am looking forward to a nice long trip on the bike, let's hope my back can handle it. I am crossing my fingers for good weather.