Tag: Motorcycle

I’ve been repeatedly reminded that I didn’t “finish” my trip …. so here it is:

DAY 29 – We got home to our place in NH on Wednesday. Total counts: 5456 miles on the motorcycle, 24 nights in the tent, 1 night in a cabin, 3 nights crashing with friends, 5 new states, and 3 major league baseball games.

Dedicated Friday to the dreaded tasks at the DMV. The whole thing took less time than it would have taken just to wait in line in California. One trip to the town hall, and one trip to the DMV and we got the Jeep, the motorcycle and the trailer registered, along with getting both driver’s licenses transferred. It only took a couple hours and under $400 (take that Todd Lilly… you need to move to the “Live Free or Die” state).

Kevin Dixon and Faye Harwell came up Friday night and hung out with us on Saturday. We did the HOA meetings and they did the brewery tour at the Woodstock Inn. I think someone got the better end of that deal. Today, we finally got out to enjoy some of the spectacular beauty of NH at the Flume Gorge in Franconia Notch.

Day 27 – Dropped in to visit my older son, Mike and his lovely bride, Christine in Phoenixville PA. Crashed in their spare room, ate their food, drank their beer and did our laundry. What a great role reversal!

Day 28 – Rode into Connecticut the long way around, trying to avoid pulling the trailer in NYC traffic. It didn’t help since Connecticut is always a parking lot. Spent the afternoon exploring the Connecticut shore. Grabbed a site at Hammonasset Beach State Park for the night.

Day 26 – Learned that a longtime friend (we affectionately call Mark #2) and his family were camping at Raystown Lake, which was right along our route. Stopped in to join the fun. He took us out jet skiing which was our very first time. I just rode as a passenger and let my motorcycle guy do the steering. We were spoiled with great food and great hospitality.

Day 25 – Made it to Pittsburgh. I had driven through before on the Interstate, but I gotta say, this city is far more beautiful than I ever imagined. I guess I was envisioning burnt out factory buildings and coal-polluted skies. Downtown is beautiful and vibrant. People everywhere and boats up and down the three rivers. We took a ride up the Duquesne Heights Incline, a funicular that scales the side of Pittsburgh’s Mt. Washington. It offers spectacular views of downtown. There are a few cute restaurants at the top where we ate a late lunch. Then, off to the Pirates game (baseball stadium #16) where they beat the Reds 6-2. Three home runs celebrated with fireworks plus the end of the game celebration. Someone forgot to tell them we are bad luck for the home team.

Camping on a hilltop somewhere northeast of Pittsburgh. Seeing fireflies for the first time in a very long time.

Day 24 – After a good night’s rest and a hearty breakfast at Ed’s, we rode into Cleveland to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Lots of great music and memorabilia. Took advantage of the free motorcycle parking lot. They probably weren’t expecting a setup like ours when they decided to offer this benefit. After a few days respite with friends, we are back to the campgrounds tonight.

Day 23 – Rode on to Detroit where we met up with Ed Lanigan for a great tour of the area, dinner, and drinks. Lots more stories and reminiscing. Pictures with the Spirit of Detroit statue.

Day 21 – Hoped to take the high-speed ferry across Lake Michigan from Milwaukee but the motorcycle section was full. Had to ride 100 miles north to Manitowoc WI to take the low-speed ferry, the SS Badger, to Ludington MI. Four hours instead of 2.5, but it was fun. They kept us entertained with BINGO and trivia along the way. Since we arrived much further north than we planned, we pushed on to Elk Lake to visit Wendy & Doug Warner. Arrived late and then stayed up even later telling stories and reminiscing.

Day 22 – The Warners are the best hosts ever! They took us on a beautiful hike, an amazing bike ride (with a stop for some craft beer), and a pontoon boat ride to dinner. What a great day and the weather decided to cooperate.

Day 20 – A busy day. Rode into Madison to meet up with our niece Carly for brunch. Saw the wiener mobile and some majestic sand cranes hanging out in her neighborhood. Rode on to Milwaukee to the Harley Davidson museum and I scored a new t-shirt. Mark tested out his next Harley. Now, at the Brewers game (MLB Park #15) and the Brewers are leading the Cubs at the 7th inning stretch.

Day 19 – Rode into Wisconsin. Found a campsite in Wisconsin Dells, an area full of rivers and natural beauty, as well as one of the tackiest tourist areas I’ve ever seen (Ripley’s Believe it or Not, magicians, amusement parks, arcades, t-shirt stores, etc). It claims to be the Waterpark Capital of the World. I took my son, Kevin, and my niece Carly to a waterpark here about 10 years ago when my sister lived in a Wisconsin. I’ll be seeing Carly tomorrow as she still lives in the area, all grown up and working as a nurse. Today, we avoided all the tourist traps and spent the afternoon biking around, although we may have wandered into a few souvenir shops 😀

Day 18 – Woke up to an overcast gloomy day. The rain started just as we drove into Minneapolis. Only one thing to do…. drop the trailer at the campground and head to the Mall of America. The place is a mall/amusement park/eatery/hotel complex/aquarium/train station with more than you could imagine. Was also a location from a favorite family film, Jingle All the Way. Took the train to Target field to watch the Twins play the A’s (our 14th ball park together). Had to wait out a FOUR HOUR rain delay and the Twins lost, but we had a great time anyway and conquered another ball park.