The vacation dates were locked in. It was to be the week following the July 4th weekend. The players were signed up: Me, my better half (Joann), my son (Freddie) and his girlfriend (Amy). The itinerary was wide open, with the general idea being to get out and ride for as much of the week as possible, in the general direction of the fine roads I experienced last year at EOM. Joann and I would ride on the luxo-sport touring FJR machine while the "kids" would ride our VFR800 outfitted with hard bags and a trunk.
Prior to our departure I checked the long range forecasts and was kind'a glad we all had rain gear. Thunderstorms in the future here, there and everywhere. But the loose schedule, and lack of any sort of reservations anywhere along the route meant we could ride as much as we wanted aon any given day and if the weather got poopy, we'd just pull over and wait it out in style at some hostelry.
Sunday we rose and packed up the bikes, heading west in the general direction of Albany. I wanted to make the first day relatively easy to let the gals get used to longer times in the saddle, especially Amy on the back of the Viffer. Even with the upgraded Sargent seat, that pillion post is no Barca-lounger, I gotta to tell ya'. We took some familiar roads and stopped for a kick-off breakfast feed at Parker's Maple Barn in Mason, NH. If you're in the area, ad have never been, it's well worth a visit.
After stuffing our bellies with pancakes, fresh maple syrup, cheesy omelets, deep fried french toast, corn beef hash, bacon and sausages (yeah, it's all good health food) we set out westward in earnest. Rode across Rt 119 thru NH and then shot north into southern Vermont for a little diversion. Then we dropped back down into the north of Massachusetts again to run the Mohawk Trail (Rt 2) across into New York state.
The pillions made busy with the cameras as we drove along:
Views from the Rte 2 overlook of the town of North Adams in Western Mass:
Me and my best friend, and passenger, Joann:
Our son, Freddie and his girlfriend Amy. They make a cute couple, don't you think?:
We finished the day, riding down thru the Berkshires and into New York (state, certainly not the city) and through the town of Troy, to shack up in Freddie and Amy's apartment in Albany. It was intentionally a short day to let everyone get used to their saddles, and to give us a good launching point to the south for Monday AM. We had dinner and good beer at Browns Brewpub over in Troy overlooking the Hudson river. Having experienced the highly rated "Albany Pump Station" in the past, I can say without reserve that Browns is a far better place to go when in the capitol area and in search of craft beer. Food was damn good too. Sorry, no pictures as we forgot cameras in haste to gorge out.
~~~~~
Monday we headed south toward the Catskills. It is pretty amazing how quickly you go from the urban sprawl of Albany to pastural farmland in upstate New York
See those mountains in the back round of that last picture? That was our immediate objective...
Getting closer...
Just as we were leaving the Catskill village of Windham we spied a likely spot to stop and grab another big breakfast. Are you sensing a theme here yet? I forget the name of the place, but it is a country store looking place with a small greenhouse along side and a sign for breakfast and lunch. It was good chow, but somewhat over priced. Probably catering to the NYC traffic from "downstate".
After a good feeding, we rode the sweepers through the Cats' and down to the (in)famous Rt 30.
Those who have made ZOOM and HERFJR's Cats rides in the past will know that Rte 30 skirts along the Papacton reservoir. It's quite pretty and natural looking considering it's in in NY.
Gradually, we passed though the pretty NY farmland and villages, on down into North Central Pennsylvania.
Somewhere along the way here, we took a little back-road short-cut down some dirt lanes.
What better way is there to get the true feel of the country?:
And then back on the county roads.
It's amazing the amount of traffic one encounters on a weekday...
By the time we pulled into to the town of Lewisburg, PA there were stomachs growling and butts were beginning to burn, so we holed up at the Best Western on Rte 15. A nice little place with reasonable rates, a swimming pool and hot tub. Lots of food ops all around. We opted for the Applebees in the adjacent parking lot so we could walk over and drink a few brewskies. I'm sure there is better dining available, but those beers sure did taste fine.
(to be continued)
Prior to our departure I checked the long range forecasts and was kind'a glad we all had rain gear. Thunderstorms in the future here, there and everywhere. But the loose schedule, and lack of any sort of reservations anywhere along the route meant we could ride as much as we wanted aon any given day and if the weather got poopy, we'd just pull over and wait it out in style at some hostelry.
Sunday we rose and packed up the bikes, heading west in the general direction of Albany. I wanted to make the first day relatively easy to let the gals get used to longer times in the saddle, especially Amy on the back of the Viffer. Even with the upgraded Sargent seat, that pillion post is no Barca-lounger, I gotta to tell ya'. We took some familiar roads and stopped for a kick-off breakfast feed at Parker's Maple Barn in Mason, NH. If you're in the area, ad have never been, it's well worth a visit.
After stuffing our bellies with pancakes, fresh maple syrup, cheesy omelets, deep fried french toast, corn beef hash, bacon and sausages (yeah, it's all good health food) we set out westward in earnest. Rode across Rt 119 thru NH and then shot north into southern Vermont for a little diversion. Then we dropped back down into the north of Massachusetts again to run the Mohawk Trail (Rt 2) across into New York state.
The pillions made busy with the cameras as we drove along:
Views from the Rte 2 overlook of the town of North Adams in Western Mass:
Me and my best friend, and passenger, Joann:
Our son, Freddie and his girlfriend Amy. They make a cute couple, don't you think?:
We finished the day, riding down thru the Berkshires and into New York (state, certainly not the city) and through the town of Troy, to shack up in Freddie and Amy's apartment in Albany. It was intentionally a short day to let everyone get used to their saddles, and to give us a good launching point to the south for Monday AM. We had dinner and good beer at Browns Brewpub over in Troy overlooking the Hudson river. Having experienced the highly rated "Albany Pump Station" in the past, I can say without reserve that Browns is a far better place to go when in the capitol area and in search of craft beer. Food was damn good too. Sorry, no pictures as we forgot cameras in haste to gorge out.
~~~~~
Monday we headed south toward the Catskills. It is pretty amazing how quickly you go from the urban sprawl of Albany to pastural farmland in upstate New York
See those mountains in the back round of that last picture? That was our immediate objective...
Getting closer...
Just as we were leaving the Catskill village of Windham we spied a likely spot to stop and grab another big breakfast. Are you sensing a theme here yet? I forget the name of the place, but it is a country store looking place with a small greenhouse along side and a sign for breakfast and lunch. It was good chow, but somewhat over priced. Probably catering to the NYC traffic from "downstate".
After a good feeding, we rode the sweepers through the Cats' and down to the (in)famous Rt 30.
Those who have made ZOOM and HERFJR's Cats rides in the past will know that Rte 30 skirts along the Papacton reservoir. It's quite pretty and natural looking considering it's in in NY.
Gradually, we passed though the pretty NY farmland and villages, on down into North Central Pennsylvania.
Somewhere along the way here, we took a little back-road short-cut down some dirt lanes.
What better way is there to get the true feel of the country?:
And then back on the county roads.
It's amazing the amount of traffic one encounters on a weekday...
By the time we pulled into to the town of Lewisburg, PA there were stomachs growling and butts were beginning to burn, so we holed up at the Best Western on Rte 15. A nice little place with reasonable rates, a swimming pool and hot tub. Lots of food ops all around. We opted for the Applebees in the adjacent parking lot so we could walk over and drink a few brewskies. I'm sure there is better dining available, but those beers sure did taste fine.
(to be continued)
