| Author | Message | ||
     Iamike |
I didn't want to step on Alex's account of his trip since it will be more epic and different than mine. This whole thing started at last summer's unofficial Homecoming to East Troy. Bill Simms (Newfie) had ridden down from his home of Newfoundland. In a moment of too many beers I made the comment "Hey, since you came down to visit us this year, we should come up and visit you next year!" Hence the 2004 trip to Newfieland was started. | ||
| Iamike |
Man, that's what I get for trying to conduct business on the phone and type at the same time. Anyway, to continue. Since my son Drew, just graduated from high school we were thinking about doing something special before he heads off for college. I had been talking about doing this trip to visit Newfie and thought that this would be the way to do it. He has been riding my CBR1100 and wanted to ride along. Since he has been mostly playing squid I was worried about that type of mileage for him to ride. We ran over to the Homecoming in June to give him a taste of what miles in a day on a bike was like. Since then I got the ferry tickets lined up, bikes re-shod and oil changed, we should be ready to go. I made arrangements with McDermott Cycle in St.Ann NY to leave the van and trailer since I didn't want to spend so many Interstate miles on the bikes. That way we can hit the New England roads fresh and ready to go. I am going to keep a daily account of the trip and will post it when we get back. | ||
| Iamike |
Day 3- Thu. 7/29/04 Well we’re on the road. We left the van & trailer at McDermott’s HD in Ft.Ann, NY. I appreciated that they let us leave them there during our trip. It was a beautiful ride across VT & NH. It’s not as majestic as Colorado but is still quite scenic. The lush green hills reminded me of Southwestern Wisconsin, just bigger. Drew did well on his first day’s 324mi. to Bangor, since it was his longest 1-day ride. My bike had a little oil leak but I think that it was just the overflow. The ride around the Killington, VT area was the most scenic. We stopped to take some pictures but decided to save most for Newfoundland and use up any left on the way home. I called Brad (BluzM2) to check on Alex since he was being our go-between. (I also wanted to rub it in a little since Brad wanted to go with us real bad.) We moteled it in Palmyra, ME, just east of Bangor.   | ||
| Iamike |
Day 4, Friday July 30, 2004 I woke up at 5:30 this morning, even though it’s vacation I’m too pumped to sleep in. I looked the bike over and figure the oil is just coming from the overflow tube. There were two couples from Ontario at the same motel that were on Harleys. They have only been riding about 150 miles per day. I guess if you have time that would be fine, us, we are on a mission. It took forever to get out of the Bangor area. We stopped at the Buell dealer and talked to them for awhile. They had a pretty nice shop, I told them we’d stop by on the way back. There were so many little towns on the way out that slowed us down, but finally we were on the open road again. Hiway 6 from Lincoln to Lambert Lake was great, very little traffic, good curves and lots of nice scenery. The cross over into Canada was pretty uneventful. I had expected to be interrogated, searched and even Eh’d a couple of times. Instead the lady just asked us the basic questions and went back inside. We took about five minutes more talking about our next step when another car came along, so we took off. In McAdam there was a really neat old railroad terminal that we were going to visit when a train came along and parked in front blocking our entrance. We moved on and figured to stop at Frederichton for lunch. It was getting hot and the traffic on the road was picking up. We stopped at Wal-Mart to eat and get some Canadian cash from an ATM. A lot of the people were talking French. It was 4-lane all the way to Nova Scotia. We got bored about half-way there and cut off on an old road that paralleled the freeway. There was hardly any traffic so we picked up the speed but still stopped for a picture or two. As we got close to the Cumberland Bay between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia the wind picked up. We could see how much the tides had gone up and down by the brown mud lining the sides. The tides have a large change in this are that makes it quite an attraction. By the time we had crossed into N.S. the temperature had dropped 15degrees F. We cashed it in for the day in a little town called Oxford. The motel was across from a nice little lake that kids were swimming in. I watched the sun set, lighting up the sky with brilliant red, across the lake while sitting on the porch enjoying the evening. We rode 374 miles this day.     (Message edited by Iamike on August 11, 2004) | ||
| Iamike |
Day 5 – Saturday July 31, 2004 I woke up at 4:00 this morning, I must be excited about something. I usually get up a little after 5 and take the dog for a walk before heading off to work, but 4? One of the things that I noticed so far was the lack of wildlife up here. I haven’t seen any rabbits or squirrels or even raccoons along the road. At home you are either dodging the live ones or the ones that didn’t make it across the road the night before. We are expecting a full moon tonight, that should make the ferry trip even more enjoyable. The weather so far has been pretty good, not too hot and no rain. It has been a little different getting used to the highway signs. Not that I’m complaining since most are understandable, just different. The $1 & $2 coins are different too. Of course we have the $1 coin but no one uses it. And hearing French being spoken so much is a change from the Spanish & Bosnians around our area. Another thing I noticed was the smells, it was a little skunky. I wonder if it because there seems to be a lot of bogs around. While eating last night I saw in the paper that there was a Tall ships get together going on in Halifax. I wished I would have realized that, we could have gone down there and spent the night then headed up to N.Sydney. After a walk around the pond to let Drew catch a little extra shut eye and a hearty breakfast we hit the road for N.Sydney and the ferry ride. The ride through Nova Scotia was fairly scenic. There was a mix of pine & shrubs, I guess not the best soil. The terrain was hilly but not mountainous. Drew got really sleepy after an hour or so, we stopped off in a small town that had a church with a nice soft grassy yard that was shaded by so good sized trees. With the gentle breeze I just about dozed off too. We arrived at the ferry launch in the early afternoon. I still hadn’t heard any from Alex and was hoping he’d show up soon. Don (OZ666) rode in from Buffalo on his ’98 S3T. I knew he was talking of coming but didn’t know he was coming on this ferry. We went out to find a bar & grill to get a couple of beers and a burger. It was great talking to him, he is such a quiet and mild mannered guy (ha!). The ferry was three hours late getting there. It wasn’t too bad though, Alex still wasn’t here but we talked to all the other bikers there and some of the locals who come over for the entertainment the ferry company provides. I was amazed at how many semis, motor homes and such that they could load on the boat. Strapping down the bikes was interesting. They just gave us these 4”wide straps with big hooks on each end. I wish I would have brought the soft straps with me so that I didn’t have to hook these on bare paint. The ferry ride was great, we grabbed a couple of the airplane style seats to stay in. They had sleeper rooms and bunks. I was only able to get a couple of hours sleep before I got up and started walking around the boat. I never saw Alex and wasn’t sure if Don got on either. Since he was on standby he had to wait until everyone else was loaded. I ran into Don topsides laying on one of the plastic benches around the boat. It was so warm that I didn’t even need my jacket to be outside. The water was quite calm so the ride was smooth but it had clouded up so we didn’t get to enjoy the full moon. We rode 225 miles today. A nice overlook right before North Sydney  The quaint town  Not exactly a john boat  I wonder if they'll all fit  I found Don!  | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
this is cool stuff, Mike, sure appreciate you taking the time to write your thoughts and post your pix. Ferris | ||
| Newfie_buell |
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| Wyckedflesh |
Agreed, I am sooo trying to figure out when the next trip will be... | ||
| Mikej |
How long of a boat ride it is, timewise? Car or bike, that trip is in my future. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Mike, Great report! Keep it coming... Now I really hate not going! Even if it couldn't be helped... | ||
| Iamike |
I'll keep trying to post a new report every day until I got home. Brad-I don't have anything going on this saturday, otherwise my brother & I may be coming up to Park Rapids the 27th. You can watch the video if you come down. The ferry to Port AuxBasques is about 6hrs. to Argentia is about 14. If you go to the http://www.marineatlantic.com site they have all the information. I'm ready to back right now! 2 weeks wasn't enough. I told my wife that she really missed out not going, but then...... | ||
| Iamike |
Day 6 – Sunday 8/1/04 As the ferry was coming into dock it had to turn around and back in. I am not sure how you turn a big boat around that quick, it must have had side thrusters or something since it basically just pivoted around. The beast just shook as those diesels growled and it completed the maneuver. Since Drew & I with the rest of the bikes were the first ones on, we were also the first ones off. The dock just dumped us right out onto the highway. Drew & I pulled over to the side to wait for Don, he was last on so it may be awhile. Don finally came off and we took off out of Port AuxBasques. It was a quaint little town, and dead quiet, everyone that came off the boat must have high-tailed it out of there. When the first road sign said that the next town was 140km we realized that there may not be too many gas stations so we turned back to gas up. I knew Bill was waiting for us up at Corner Brook. He and Innes had actually driven about 500mi. over to meet us. The terrain was quite similar to Maui in Hawaii. Lush green vegetation, the hills looked like the volcanic peaks and there were more moose crossing signs to heed. Then it stated to rain. After an hour Drew was getting tired and breakfast was sounding pretty good. We loaded up on the typical pancakes, bacon and french toast then headed back out. At times the rain was quite hard. Drew pulled up next to me and said that he was still tired, Corner Brook was just ahead and our host was waiting for us. After gassing up we called Bill and they were just up the road at Marble Mountain, a ski area. We blasted up there to meet up. Bill and Innes were there and Mark and Debbie two other locals came along for the ride. We stood around and talked for awhile in front of a Tim Hortons coffee shop. T.H. is a lot like Starbucks, there’s one everywhere. Mark mentioned that Bill had ridden his DR650 to the top of the mountain a few weeks ago. I could see him doing that. Drew was beat so he climbed into the back of Newfie’s Saab and Mark rode his CBR. It started raining pretty hard at times and after an hour it was catching up to me too. I pulled over and climbed into the back seat and Bill rode my bike. What a surprise that both those guys brought their riding gear with them. They planned on stopping in Gander where Bill had left his S1. Well the ride was pretty uneventful after that. Debbie was taking some pictures of the guys (or boys, in Newfie speak). As we rounded a right had corner in the passing lane pulling up to Mark’s side to get a picture I looked over across the road and there was an RCMP car. I looked at the dash and the speedo registered 130kph. The lights on top turned on and he waved us over. The Mountie came up to us and asked for the papers, right away he mentions that Drew & I in the back seat didn’t have our seatbelts on. We were all thinking-here we are two Americans in the back seat without seatbelts, a crazy Frenchman with an English accent and drivers license driving 30k over the limit, and a local girl in the passenger seat, all in a car registered to someone else. To make matters worse we couldn’t find the registration and Bill had a radar detector in the glove box. The mountie was great he called us in and then came back with just a warning. About that time Bill realized that he had the registration so he came back and talked to the Mountie. The he asked if the officer would do him a favor, next thing we knew the office had Innes’ hands out the window like he was being handcuffed and Bill was standing out in the middle of the highway taking a picture. Boy, were we pushing our luck. After stopping at Gander to pick up Bill’s bike Drew got out on his. Mark switched to my S3 and Debbie (his girlfriend) rode along with him. It had quit raining so the ride was much better. Innes & I spent the rest of the drive talking about France, England & the US. We rode 600mi. that day. Did I see something move down there?  Darn, it's raining  We made it to St.John  Bill, I couldn't find the infamous handcuffing picture, maybe you can repost it. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
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| Oz666 |
Hi, Mike! Hi, Drew! Great stuff Mike, I knew that your journal would be handy. Can't wait to see the rest. I will post my "stuff" as time permits - I have two weeks of poop to catch up...  Oz | ||
| Unibear12r |
Great ride, story & pics. Thanks for sharing. | ||
| Blake |
Very nice. Cold up there eh?... 
| ||
| Iamike |
Day 7 – August 2, 2004 We slept in today. It felt pretty good considering how little sleep we’d had this past week. I still haven’t heard anything from Alex and am a bit worried. We all went down to the wharf and hung out downtown. Ate lunch at a place called Greensleeves. I had a club sandwich that Innes had never seen before so I swapped him one quarter of it for part of his crab cakes. After Bill got off work we took off on a ride around the north shore to Conception Bay and to meet up with the guys coming in from the evening ferry from Argentia. I couldn’t believe the pictures I was passing up while on the ride. There was one scene of a freighter down in the bay with the sun rays shining through the clouds and reflecting off the water. That probably would have been the best one. We stopped at a man made tunnel and also got a shot of me at Thunderboldt Lane. After a quick stop at a Tim Hortons for coffee and to show off our bikes to a group of local bikers we headed out to meet the other group. When we got to the truck stop at the intersection we all went in for some chow. I ordered an English muffin that got a rise out of Innes and Bill. After I finished the muffin I went out to my bike to get Brad’s (BluzM2) phone number to call and see if he’d heard anything from Alex yet. It was getting dark and I was kind of surprised that it didn’t stay light any later than at home. After I’d talked to Brad with no word about Alex I went back out to put my book back. There was a commotion out on the highway so I grabbed my flashlight to see what was going on. A car came over to the entrance to the truck stop and its whole roof was smashed down to the top of the seats. I realized that he’d just nailed a moose so I ran back in to tell Innes and the guys about it since they had wanted to see one. The driver was really lucky that all he got was some glass cuts on his face. The moose didn’t make it. The Mountie that came said that he was a small one, only about 600-800 pounds. Roger (Grndskpr) and Dana showed up not to long after. The way Roger was loaded down you’d think he was riding to Alaska or something. We headed back to St.Johns after all the excitement. Miles today - 162 At the wharf  More boats  Nice view  Bill's place  2 months to build  They knew I was coming  Ouch!  Poor guy  | ||
| Iamike |
Day 8 – August 3, 2004 None of us did much riding today, Don needed to get his spedo fixed and Innes was going to pick up his wallet that was left at the gas station yesterday. We were still waiting for the other guys to make it. We had heard from Tom (Dullorb) that his engine had seized in Frederichton, N.B. We weren’t much help being so far away. My van and trailer were back in N.Y. so he couldn’t get to them either. It’s too bad that ruined his trip, I would prefer if to have trouble, have it on the way home so that it doesn’t spoil the whole trip. I went for a walk along a stream behind the motel. It was hard to believe that this brook was in town, it was just like a mountain stream. I was gurgling over rocks, a little water fall and even a pool that kids had been swimming in. There was a crushed rock trail along it with wood walkways too. I could have spent a long time just sitting there listening to the water. The trees were thick enough that I couldn’t see any houses either. Not too long after my walk Alex and Bill (WRuffus) of Detroit showed up. They were ready for a break after their long journey. Alex’s ride from San Diego was nearly complete. His M2 was in pretty good shape with a bunch of signatures on the tank that he’d collected along the way. All that was left was to make it up to Cape Spear for the formal ending. We all headed over to Bill’s that evening for a barbeque. He had pepperoni dogs, steak and pork loins and of course, Screech. When the food was done we all walked down to St.Johns for the George Street festival. There was live music, fun and for the elegible guys, lots of girls. I think Drew, Alex & Dana were in heaven, we older guys just had to wish. The best part was that since we left the bikes back at the motel none of us had to take a chance getting back, there were lots of cabs available. Miles today - 0     Alex & Bill show up  Miles of signatures  Look who gets the trunk  | ||
| Iamike |
Day 9 – Wed. Aug. 4, 2004 This is going to be a hard day, we are going to have to head out sometime this afternoon to make the ferry out of Argentia in the morning. I already switched from Port AuxBasques to Argentia to save the long ride across Newfoundland and giving us another day here in St.Johns. Four days is just way to short for all this area has to offer. It has been great talking Buells and motorcycling in general with all the guys. Everyone here has a different perspective on things, Roger was trying to get me to argue about the design. I kept telling him that I’m not and engineer, I just like to ride bikes an the tube frame Buell fits my style quite well. I woke up fairly early today, like usual. Headed over to Bill’s to get my cameras that I had left last night when we went downtown. The St.Johns Regatta was going on and I wanted to get some pictures of it and of Signal Hill. That is an old outlook that was built to warn the town of approaching enemies. Bill was a little under the weather from the night before so I couldn’t pick up the cameras. I went ahead and took a look at the regatta but wasn’t allowed to go up to Signal Hill on the cycle. They had it blocked off the vehicles today due to the activities going on. The weather was a little dreary so I rode around town for awhile before heading back to the motel. I ran into Roger & Bill R. looking for some breakfast so I hitched up with them. We talked about, what else, Buells and cycles over some good chow and then headed out. It had rained a little while we were eating and I was thinking that I’m glad we didn’t take off on a 600mi. ride if it is going to rain. Bill came over after awhile and after a lunch of fish & chips we headed out for a ride out to Cape Spear so Alex could complete his mission. We went through a scenic fishing village called Petty Cove. The fog was rolling through which made for an authentic feel to the location. I tried to get some riding video of the guys but between Innes shooting from the car and mine on the ground it didn’t amount to a whole lot. I’ve got to figure out a way to mount the camera on the bike. The fog at Cape Spear was heavy enough to turn on the fog horn but not enough to completely obscure the sites. Alex pulled his M2 up to the sign explaining that Cape Spear was the furthest point east in North America. St.Johns could be seen off in the distance through the opening of the hills leading into the bay. The tower at Signal Hill was keeping watch with the layers of fog rolling by. We checked out two old gun emplacements left over from WWII. This was the last ride together as a group before Drew, Bill R. & I had to take off for the ferry. I really hated to leave but knew that it was time to go. We all said our goodbyes and then headed out on Route 1 for Argentia. On the way to the ferry we passed the spot where the car had his fateful encounter with the moose. We had some light rain so we stopped to put on the gear. Unfortunately the rain turned to fog as the sun was going down. We rode the last 20 miles in varying degrees of fog, some so dense I had to slow way down for fear of hitting something. We got into the ferry terminal fairly early but with the fog we decided not to venture back out. We had met a rider from British Columbia named Ting at Cape Spear. He was riding by himself on a VFR. He had overheard me talking about taking the Argentia boat back and decided that was a good idea. He walked into town for a drink but said it was a mistake due to the long walk back. The boat came in at about 10:30pm and unloaded but we couldn’t load back in until morning. It was time to stretch out on the chairs for some sleep. The parking lot was full of motor-homes and camping trailers. I’m sure they got a better sleep than we will. Miles today – 120 Petty Cove     He made it!  WWII Retractable Gun  Fog horn & lighthouse  | ||
| Newfie_buell |
That place looks awful familiar. If anyone out there can rent a movie called "Rare Birds" it was filmed at this spot. Very funny too. | ||
| Iamike |
Day 10 – Thursday 8/5/04 We loaded up on the ferry at 6:30am. This is the long one, estimated to be about 14hrs. There was another guy with a new VFR that was pretty cool looking that also had saddle bags. I helped him strap down his bike and then we went upstairs. His name was Benoit and was from Quebec City. He kept apologizing because his English wasn’t too good, I told him “don’t apologize, I don’t know any French”. He just bought the VFR and decided to take it on a road trip. It was his first road bike after putting 17,000mi. on a DR650, mostly gravel. The ferry ride was pretty boring, I sat through three movies, took three naps and wandered around the boat a lot. Ting, Benoit & I spent a lot of time comparing notes. The Purser let about five of us go up on the bridge for a tour. Being a techie it was cool seeing the instruments and stuff they use for navigation. We were running at 18 knots which was just way too slow for me. After we landed at North Sydney we stopped at a fish & chips place. A Honda sportbike flew by at a high rate of speed with several cops in pursuit. After we were done eating one of the cops came in and asked if we’d seen him come back. He didn’t say why they were chasing him but commented that he’d almost killed himself running a red light. We took off down the road but since it was getting dark we found a campground about 20mi. away. Miles today - 22      | ||
| Iamike |
Day 11 – Friday August 6, 2004 We spent the night at the Whycocomaugh park in Nova Scotia. It was a beautiful park with high lush green bluffs surrounding most of the area. Since we had come in after 11:00 last night we didn’t get to see what it looked like until morning. It was a perfect night for camping, calm mild and best of all, no mosquitoes. I wanted to stay up and enjoy the evening but I knew I needed to get to bed. After calling home to update my wife on the past few days we hit the sack. I was awakened by the sound of light rain on the tent. Normally I would have just laid there and enjoyed it but I knew we had some miles to cover today and that we should get going. The shower felt pretty good since I hadn’t had one in two days and felt pretty grungy after the boat ride. I got Drew out of bed and Bill had already run into town. The rain let up for awhile so that we could get packed up and on the road without getting too wet. I was unhappy on the way out here that we had to pay the same toll ($4) as cars on the tollway in N.S. so we talked about going a different route back. Highway 6 followed the north shore and looked like the ticket. Boy was that a good choice. It gave us a great view of Northumberland Strait as it snaked through small seaside town after another. I don’t think that we ever saw Prince Edward Island but knew that it was out there. That was another thing that will have to wait for another trip. After we left Cape Breton it started raining again, not too hard, just enough to be annoying. I really didn’t want to ride all the way back in the rain. As we were coming into Antigonish a car stopped suddenly in front of me to turn into a coffee shop. I didn’t come close to hitting him but after we took off again my front brake didn’t release. I pulled over to see what was happening and promptly burned the tops of two fingers when I touched the rotor to check its temperature. I thought “Oh great, stuck in Nova Scotia”. After a quick roadside fix we were on the road again, I could only figure that a little pebble had dropped in behind a pad that prevented the brake from releasing. As we were coming into Moncton Drew pulled up and indicated that he was getting tired. We pulled into where else, Tim Horton’s, to let him catch a nap and we could have some coffee. While sipping on T.H’s. delectable brew Bill noticed his rear tire looked pretty thin. I told him that he probably didn’t have 200mi. left on it and since it was 2:30 on a Friday that we’d better start looking for a shop. I got out my handy-dandy BRAG atlas and lo and behold, there was a Harley dealer in Moncton. Bill called and they basically blew him off. St.John was about 100mi. down the road and had a Buell dealer. They said that they could help us but that we may not be able to get there in time so they suggested we call a metric shop in town. The manager of the convenience store was a biker and suggested a Yamaha dealer just down the road. They said sure they could get him a new tire, just come on down. Drew and I enjoyed looking at the Yamahas & BMWs at Atlantic Yamaha while Bill was getting his tire replaced. While looking over the map at the shop we decided to go through the FUNDY national park to see where the tides vary so much. It was getting late in the day so we needed to get going. We stopped at the Rocks Provential Park that had some neat rock formations but decided to give it a pass due to the time of day. At Alma where the FUNDY Park begins we looked for a motel but they were all booked. So we took off through the park before darkness set in. The ride through the park was nice but not real scenic. We rode up to Sussex and called it a day. I still am spitting oil out and would sure like to know where it is coming from. Miles ridden – 330 I didn't take any pictures today, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow. | ||
| Iamike |
Day 12 – Saturday Aug. 7, 2004 Well, we are down to just a couple of days left on our trip. If I could turn around and go right back I’d do it in a flash. It is amazing how close you can come with a group of friends in such a short time. This trip will definitely go down as one of the best. We had all talked about getting together and ride the Cabot Trail as a group. Since they were going to be two days behind and that we were already calling in to say that we’d miss Monday I knew that we needed to move on. On most vacations I am ready to go home at the end, not this one. We left Sussex, N.B. in the rain, of course. The stop at the St.John Buell dealer was quick. Bill wanted to buy a Buell t-shirt and they didn’t have any, I told him that the Buell shop in Bangor, ME had some nice ones. As we were leaving some people saw our Iowa license plates and asked where in Ontario that was, not noticing the U.S. flag right above it. They must have taken geography in the U.S. As we rolled into St.Peter to cross into the U.S. there must have been some sort of celebration going on. People were everywhere (I’m sure not to greet us) and we just missed a parade. We decided to stop and eat at a nice grill before coming back over I had a lobster roll that was pretty darn good. Bill snarfed down a seafood sampler. By the time we finished the line back into the States had dwindled down to where we just had to wait about 10-15 minutes. At least the gas was cheaper back home too. We blasted across Maine and into New Hampshire until darkness and rain got the best of us. I just wasn’t too motivated to ride in those conditions. We got one of the last rooms in a resort town in the mountains. There were quite a few other bikers there too. It was a nice cool evening to take a walk a few blocks back for supper. I can see why the city people hop in their cars and run up to these resort areas for the weekends. Miles today - 333 | ||
| Iamike |
Day 13 – Sunday August 8, 2004 Well this is the last riding day of the trip. All we have to do is a quick jaunt across New Hampshire, Vermont and into New York. It has been a good trip, not as many miles as I predicted but we all had a really good time. The N.H. riding was great, not too far down the road we came into a town called Whitefield. There was a Lions Club pancake breakfast so we stopped to have a bite. Being a former Lion member I always like to frequent any of their breakfasts. Whitefield was celebrating their bicentennial. I always enjoy the architecture of these old New England towns. After we filled up we headed out again. It was kind of anti-climactic these last 200 miles today and we tried to enjoy them as much as we could and it wasn’t raining on us either. I could have spent so much more time riding around on these roads. It’s too bad that work keeps getting in the way of having fun. After getting back to McDermott’s HD we loaded the trailer up and took off for home. It took us forever to go through Saratoga Springs, I don’t know if there was something going on that weekend but the traffic was terrible. I was real interested in the drive on I86 from Cobbleskill to Binghamton. On the drive in I was positive that we drove uphill forever but since it was at night it was hard to tell. Sure enough, for 80mi. we mostly went downhill with just a few short flat or slightly uphill sections. It was pretty amazing to see that long of an incline. Bill finally had to drop off in western New York. We needed to get home for my daughter’s birthday so we kept going. I drove from western Ohio to the middle of Illinois before I gave up. Remind me that the next time I plan on doing a long drive to bring a sidekick that doesn’t sleep so much. We got home around noon Monday and settled back into regular life. I would like to thank Bill & Colleen Simms for their hospitality to all of us. Crusty for the t-shirts and Innes for the hats. I’m sorry that John & Terri couldn’t make the trip but maybe they’ll be able to later. Miles today – 200 (cycle) Umm, Lions Club Pancakes  Nice View   Road warriors  | ||
| Newfie_buell |
I was only too glad to have you up here. You need to come back for a bit longer next time, a bunch of you fly here, rent a van and tour the island. | ||
| Unibear12r |
Looks like you had a great time! Proly the only way I'll see or hear much of that area. Thanks for taking the time to share. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Mike, Great narative, thanks for being the eyes and "scribe" for the rest of us that couldn't make the trip. Brad | ||
| Iamike |
Now that I am mostly through with another trip I am beginning to realize how important it was to be able to do the Newfoundland trip with my son. I think that it will go down as one of the most memorable vacations that I've had. I am hoping that we will be able to continue to travel together far into the future. I didn't keep a journal on this trip to Phoenix, it is just going to be one of those 'other vacations'. | ||
| Newfie_buell |
Mike, Your always welcome as is anyone. Tell Drew if he ever wants to come over for a visit, I have an extra bike and when he isn't riding I'll point him in the right direction of George Street. |
