Retired and Trippin

The management at the Hampton Inn in Watertown, NY sure treated us well.  Yesterday, when we were just hanging out killing time waiting for a fuel pump, the manager offered us a ride to a local restaurant for lunch.  It was raining outside and we were down one motorcycle so we took him up on the offer.  We had a LARRAPIN good lunch at the Fairgrounds Family Restaurant.  Chris and I really enjoyed the stuffed green peppers.  The guest clothes dryer was on the fritz and some of our crew had to do laundry.  They did their wash in the guest’s washing machine and then the desk clerk arranged to have them dried and folded.  The warm cookies and snack mix in the evening were good too!  Also in the evening we played some cards in the large lobby area.  We had a very good experience at the Hampton Inn. The fuel pump arrived via UPS at about 9:30 this morning.  Gary got it installed and his Goldwing fired right up.  He was one happy camper....

Gary did some reading and diagnostic work on his Goldwing last night.  He is convinced the fuel pump is the culprit.  His current fuel pump lasted 140,000 miles so that isn’t too bad.  He called two Honda dealers in the area and neither had one in stock.  Evidently, due to their cost and how seldom one is needed, they don’t keep them on hand.  Gary called Honda Direct Line and spoke to a gentleman who gave him the name of two dealers in other parts of the country who have the needed fuel pump in stock.  Gary called one and it will be shipped overnight to our hotel.  It should be here by 10:00 tomorrow morning. So . . . . . we are in Watertown, NY for the day and another night.  Some are getting laundry done and we’ll swim, play cards, eat and relax.  Doesn’t sound bad at all. No pictures from today.

Mom always said to start your day with a good breakfast.  We walked to the Littleton Diner for breakfast this morning and enjoyed a good breakfast.  Mom would have approved.  Bill was the only one disappointed – his oatmeal was dry.  Chris really loved her home made corned beef hash. We were on the road at 8:30 and it was 50 degrees.  Larry led the way.  We rode west into Vermont and through the state capital, Montpelier.  I was able to get a pic of the capital building. From there we rode to near Charlotte, VT (Cedar Beach?), where we hopped on a ferry that took us across Lake Champlain to Essex, NY. It was around noon so we had lunch in Essex.  Chris and I had soup at the Pink Pig while the others had sandwiches and hotdogs at a place one block away.  Then most of us had ice cream for dessert. Our next stop was Lake Placid, NY in the Adirondack Mountains.  This was the location of the 1932 and the 1980 winter Olympics.  As w...

We enjoyed some homemade muffins at the motel office before taking off westbound – to begin our journey home.  It was 8:00, 48 degrees, and clear.  Gary was leading the herd. We rode to Bangor, Maine and much of the route was very lightly populated and heavily forested.  The speed limit was a blistering 55 mph despite the wide well-maintained highway. On the way to Bangor I was able to get pictures of Larry and Gary riding down the highway.  The picture of Bill and Jamie was blurry so I did not save it. You can’t ride through Bangor, ME without stopping at the home of Stephen King, the author.  The wrought iron fence in front of his house is decorated with bats and a three headed dragon. Jamie talked to a gentleman walking his dog and found out that the big white house next to the house pictured above was also owned by Stephen King. After burgers at the Ground Round in Bangor we rode west into New Hampshire and at Gorham we turned south, to experience the ...

Normally we eat breakfast at our motel but this one did not provide it.  We started our day at 8:15, riding a little over a mile to downtown Bar Harbor for a LARRAPIN good breakfast at Café This Way.  It was 50 degrees under blue clear skies. We rode north up Hwy 1 and as we went we saw decreased traffic congestion, fewer towns, and an increased speed limit (clear up to 55 mph).  We continued to see a lot of crab apple trees, old churches, seagulls and Dunkin Donuts. We arrived at Quoddy Head State Park shortly after noon.  This is the site of the eastern most point in the USA and the Quoddy Head lighthouse. We took some pictures, climbed to the top of the lighthouse, and walked down to the shore.  Well, some of us walked down to the shore. We had a very late and disappointing seafood lunch at Uncle Kippy's Restaurant in Lubec, ME before checking into our rooms at the Eastland Motel (the easternmost motel in the USA). After a couple games of golf (Jamie an...

We took off from Wiscasset at 8:25 with Larry leading the pack.  Our destination was Acadia National Park to the north. Along the way Larry took us to see some rare Belted Galloway cows.  I’ll have to admit that I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before.  You can see where they get the name, “belted”. We also stopped at Laite Beach in Camden, ME to enjoy a view of the bay. An unexpected pleasure was finding the Penobscot Narrows Bridge near Bucksport.  One of the towers used to support the bridge had an observation deck at the top so we made the trip up.  It provided us great views of the surrounding country. We found ourselves in Ellsworth, ME at lunch time so Larry stopped at the Flex It Café and Bakery.  Food was good and the coffee was better. I realized today that, in this part of the country, there are a boat load of Dunkin Donuts.  You can’t throw a rock in any direction without hitting a Dunkin Donuts. Finally we arrived at Acadia Nat...

We departed our motel in Hampton, NH at 8:25.  It was 63 degrees and we had clear blue skies.  Another beautiful day!  Gary was leading the tour. Today we rode Hwy 1 north up the coast.  Just before reaching Maine we came to a draw bridge that was up to let two ships pass underneath.  Since we had to wait a bit I took the opportunity to take a few pictures. After crossing into Maine we rode to a place along the shore where we could climb around on the rocks.  It was very pretty. Further north up the coast we found the Nubble Light House on Cape Neddick in York, ME.  It appeared to be a working light house and it was surrounded by water so there was no way tourists could get to it. We continued north through Portland and found a Honda motorcycle dealer where Larry bought a replacement cord for his helmet headset.  He’d damaged the pins earlier in the trip by trying to connect it on the move.  In the parking lot Bill dumped his wing – n...

Chris and I led the tour today.  After some of the crew did some grocery shopping we departed Torrington, CT at 8;25.  It was 52 degrees under blue clear skies. Highways 202 and 44 took us east across Connecticut.  I took a picture of the state capital in Hartford as we drove by but it was into the sun so it wasn’t great. Hwy 44 continued east into Rhode Island and then Interstate 295 took us around Providence into Massachusetts and Interstate 95 and then Hwy 128 took us around Boston.  We stopped for lunch at Mario’s Italian Restaurant in Lexington, MA and it was very good food.  You could even say LARRAPIN good!  We stayed on 128 out onto the peninsula where Gloucester is located.  At the end of that peninsula we stopped at the Halibut Point State Park and walked down to the ocean.  It was a fun place and we enjoyed watching the surf break on the rocks. From the parking lot of Halibut Point we made reservations for lodging at a Best Western...

Gary led the Goldwing parade today.  After gassing up the beasts we departed Quakertown, PA at 8:25.  It was cloudy and 59 degrees.  Chris was loving the heated jacket liner again! We rode north on I-476 through the Lehigh Tunnel to the exit for Lehighton and Jim Thorpe.  Our destination was Jim Thorpe, PA in the Poconos. A lady at our motel this morning recommended it.  We parked and walked around town taking in the history.  A local lady named Pauline was very eager and happy to share her knowledge of the town. This town was called Mauch Chunk (a native American name) until 1954, when they decided to rename it.  Jim Thorpe’s 3rd wife proposed naming the town after her late husband and the town accepted.  Jim Thorpe’s remains were then interred there and the town created a memorial for him.  Thorpe never was in Mauch Chunk in his lifetime. Hwy 209 took us north and east through Stroudsburg, PA and through the Delaware Water Gap Nationa...

When we left the lodge this morning it was 50 degrees and raining lightly.  A beautiful morning for a ride?  Chris and I put on our new heated jacket liners with rain gear over that.  Chris actually turned her heat on and was quite toasty.  I was toasty without plugging mine in. We rode north to the end of Skyline Drive at Front Royal, VA.  From there we took off for Washington D.C. and our fearless leader, Bill, actually took us on a route through D.C. that provided us views of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial. By this time the rain had stopped and it had warmed up into the high 60’s and low 70’s, but it was still cloudy.  We stopped at a gas station in D.C. for fuel and we shed our rain gear. From D.C. we crossed the Chesapeake Bay into Maryland on Hwy 50 . . . . . . . and we had lunch at the Ram’s Head Shore House in Stevensville, MD.  Chris, Jamie and I all had a small bowl of their lobster bisque soup...

We departed our motel in Independence, VA at 7:55.  It was a brisk 61 degrees.  We rode to Galax, VA and then Hwy 89 took us to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The point where we got on the parkway was the southern most access point in Virginia. We took off northeast on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is 45 mph or less all the way.  The scenery was beautiful and there were few other vehicles we had to deal with. We met an interesting couple at one of the scenic overlooks.  It was an elderly couple and two of their grown daughters.  The mother was sitting in the car while her husband and daughters were checking out the scenery.  Chris approached her and struck up a conversation.  At the same time Larry started talking to the husband, who was wearing a WWII veteran cap.  He was indeed a WWII veteran.  Chris learned the following: Ulysses and Lorraine Dawson (the old couple) met in the 5th grade.  They married when they were 17 and 19 and h...

It was a beautiful morning in Cumberland Falls Resort State Park; clear skies and low 60’s.  We started the morning with a very short drive to Cumberland Falls. At 8:45 we were motoring east on Hwy 90 and it was 63 degrees.  We rode through Williamsburg, KY on our way to Hwy 92 eastbound and we stopped near Timsley, KY (I think) for gas at a gnarly rural gas station.  It had the nastiest most stinky men’s bathroom of any I’ve seen in my life.  Viewer beware when viewing the day’s pictures. From Pineville we continued south and east on Hwy 25E, which included a long tunnel . . . . Somewhere in the transition from 25E to eastbound Hwy 58 we crossed very briefly into Tennessee and then into Virginia and we rode through the Cumberland Gap National Historic Park, a very scenic area. The rest of our day was riding on 58 eastbound in southwest Virginia.  We had lunch at a roadside BBQ stand in Weber City.  The food was good but the portions were small. Alo...

We departed Sikeston, MO at 8:00 under blue clear skies.  It was 72 degrees.  We rode 359 miles today and the high was 88 -  it was sunny all day long. We rode in four states; Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee.  We crossed three rivers; Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee. Our route took us through Cairo (Illinois), Paducah (Kentucky), almost to Clarksville (Tennessee), and through Russellville, Bowling Green, Columbia, Burnside, and Parker’s Lake (all in Kentucky) before landing in the Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. We saw fields of tobacco and tobacco drying in barns along the highway. The ride on Hwy 90 to the park was beautiful. Our lodging for the night was a cabin we rented in the Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. Another great day of riding . . . . . . with more to come.  Life is very good! For pictures from today click on the following link: https://goo.gl/photos/PQYqZ9PZBETb61tBA

On the road again, and I am ready!  Our friends, Bill & Jamie, contacted us some time ago and told us they were going to ride to the New England states and wanted to know if we wanted to tag along.  Chris and I jumped on the opportunity because this was one of our bucket list rides.  Below is Chris all togged up and ready to roll. We met Bill & Jamie plus Gary and Larry, who were riding single, at a Quick Trip at I-435 and Wornall in Kansas City, MO at 8:00.  Then we were off eastbound through Lee’s Summit, and Sedalia to Tipton, MO, where we stopped for gas and a butt break.  We continued eastbound to California, MO where we picked up Hwy 87 southbound almost to Eldon.  Bill led us eastbound on Hwy 54 and southbound on Hwy 17 to I-44.  Below is where Hwy 17 crossed the Gasconade River. We rode east on I-44 to exit 169 (I think).  Along this stretch of highway we saw a sign for a business called “Uranus Fudge”.  Now that sounds ta...