Travelling Tales - Part 19, the final chapter

Monday 26 July - week 13

Ride, ride, ride - Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York - 5 states, not much to talk about as it was mostly interstates. Overnight in Killfish, Chinese buffet recommend for dinner, a trip to Walmart for storage bags, then we did a trial pack, not sure how we were going to get everything home.  So wished we could send everything back with the bike and trailer.

Tuesday 27 July - RAIN





The route we chose would have been great on a fine day but it was just miserable, so miserable that we had to stop at a Cheesecake Factory for some consolation!! We popped along to Mike's Famous Harley again for some last bits for the bike, then decided to call it a day due to the weather.  It rained so much we had to wait till it stopped before we could unload the bike.

Last day on the bike.  Dull, humid - we weren't taking any chances so suited up again.  I hate waterproofs with a passion.  No real alternative route to Baltimore other than the interstate in bad weather so we stuck with that. More consolation needed in the form of coffee and Cinnabons.  Also a box purchased to take home for Rachel



Arrived in Baltimore around 1:30. Unloaded the bike and put our stuff into storage as our room wasn't ready, then went to clean off the bike ready for her trip home. Then the mammoth task of packing, the room looked like a bomb had hit it but we finally had everything packed.  Jumped on the 6pm hotel shuttle to the harbour for our last evening. More shopping, as if we needed to try and get anything else in the bags!!  Just noticed the date on these pics is out again, must change over during the evening.









We were both feeling very emotional today. We didn't want the trip to end in some respects.  I was looking forward to my own bed, no packing and unpacking, no restaurant meals, but other than that.....  the thought of work and not seeing Peter all day every day made me sad.  We had got on so well considering we had been in one another company 24/7 for 13 weeks.  Yes, we had the odd argument, who wouldn't, but nothing major, I think mostly it was over my bad map reading skills!!

Thursday 29 July - Go home day - we take just a few pictures of the bike from various angles to make sure we had proof of how we hand it back to the shippers.  Headed over to the docks.  Meet with the customs guy, remember him?  Well he couldn't have been nicer, wanted to hear all about our trip told us to come back and visit again.  What a change from the surly man who greeted us 3 months previously. The bike was handed over to the shippers, again everyone wanted to know how we got on and where we went.  Peter was feeling sad about handing it back.  We won't see it again until August 28th when it arrives in  Southampton. Taxi back to the hotel, checked our packing, then got the shuttle downtown, we decided we needed a new shirt each to go home in as we looked too scruffy in our t-shirts.



Typically the weather today is beautiful, such a shame that the previous few days had been so awful.  Feeling extremely emotional and tears come easily.  Lunch in the Hard Rock Cafe.  Last walk round, picked up a last piece of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory then back to the hotel.  Its funny as soon as we walked back into the hotel it was "right, that's it, its over lets just get home".  No more tears just want to go now. Taxi picked us up at 4:30.  Airport hassle free, though Peter's boots set off the detectors. Uneventful wait for flight.  Managed some sleep on the flight home which makes a change for me.  No one on duty at customs when we arrive back in the UK, so no hassle over all our luggage.  Rachel was there to meet us with a banner and flowers, it was great to see her again.  Home by midday, everywhere looked great, the garden needed some work but all things considered she did a good job at coping the our large garden for a non-gardener.

My hairdresser arrived at 2:30 for a much needed cut and colour. Then the major task of unpacking, laundry and tackling 3 months worth of post.

The weekend was spent trying to get over the jet lag and just getting back into the swing of being home, catching up with family and friends. Life goes on!

So that my friends, was our trip.  Would I do it again?  Yes, in a heart beat.  I'm not sure I could do it again on the bike.  8 years on, my back and hip play up more.  To have experienced this beautiful country was a privilege.  We never did work out what the trip cost.  Not cheap I know, but we can dine out on the memories for years to come, through the photographs, diaries and now this blog.  We met some wonderful people, met with kindness and advise.  At no point did we feel uneasy (apart from Council Bluff when Peter wasn't happy where he left the bike overnight) or meet with anyone we felt uncomfortable with.  So if you have ever sat there and thought 'when I retire I'm going to do this, that or the other'. Don't wait, do it now before its too late or you are too old to appreciate it.  

Thanks for coming along for the ride - remember if you want to read all the installments again just go to the Travelling Tales link  from here or from the Places we have traveled page


The End ........ until the next time 

Travelling Tales- Part 18

Next stop on the journey - New York state.  Another dealership who parted us from our cash.  In fairness I did get my purchases on sale and Peter got more bits for the bike.  Its amazing how many shiny bits you can put on a Harley! It was mainly riding all day on the 22nd, overnight in Binghamton.



Woke to pouring rain on 23rd, the first time for the entire trip.  I hate wet starts, but it cleared to give us a dull and humid day, waterproofs on. As usual, every time we stopped someone would come over for a chat, give us advice on a route etc.  Today was no exception. We were given a route that took us via Lake Champlain and by 3pm we decided to ditch the waterproofs as we were getting warm.  Big mistake, by 4:15 we were so soaked we looked like we had been under a shower, soaked to the skin.  We ended the day in Essex, cold, wet and miserable.  Luckily for us the Essex Inn had a room. We were able to dry off all our things and once warm and dry we headed down for a lovely dinner. We spent the evening chatting with a French couple from Montreal and the waitress who was very entertaining.  We had stayed at the Essex Inn previously when we had been on a New England Bike Tour, and the owner remembered us.  The only problem with this quaint inn, is that the bathrooms are across the landing, and whilst getting ready for bed we were joined by a lady from the adjoining room (Peter hadn't locked the door!) not sure who got the bigger surprise as he was completely naked, gave us all a good laugh though!

Breakfast on the verandah

Trying to dry the gloves still

On the ferry to Vermont

Lake Champlain

Maple Syrup farm shop

Nightmare trying to find somewhere to stay as the Nascar Racing was on, we ended up in a smoking room which they gave us a discount for and a can of air freshner!!, but it was awful, even with all the windows opened.  To cheer ourselves up we went out for a Lobster dinner at Browns in Seabrook, to say we were in lobster heaven was an understatement - 2 x 1.5lb lobsters, small order of fried clams, onion rings and fries, washed down we a coke each  - $53.  It was a great place, very informal, everyone was coming in with coolers of wine and beer as they don't serve alcohol.  Great atmosphere, highly recommend it. (Not sure why the pics say 25th)





We had a rotten night due to the smell of cigarettes in the room, awake very early and very grumpy. We took some more ABC pics for Harley - thats what we were doing if you wondered why our state line pics all had a copy of Hog Tales in them.  Posed for some photos with a group of very excited Harley riders who were on a scavenger hunt, we gave them one of our flags and a pin.  Another coastal route given to us, nice ride along the New Hampshire coast into Maine, lunch in Kennebunkport - clam chowder and a BLT.  We ended the day in Kittery. Peter still grumpy so I left him putting bits on his bike and went shopping in an outlet mall.  We finished the day friends again after a huge seafood dinner, I just love seafood and when its that fresh why eat anything else.

grumpy

still grumpy

Smiling again

Travelling Tales - Part 17

Benge Gap was where we left the last installment.  So quiet, I woke in the night wondering where I was.

18 July - odd sort of day weatherwise in and out of low cloud, not a day for taking photographs as you couldn't see anything, several encounters with deer, some a bit close for comfort.  Ended the day in Roanoke, luckily we got to an hotel just before a massive thunderstorm. Dinner out on the bike was abandoned, so we had to make a mad dash for the nearest eating place - pizza, the waitress was a real pain in the neck, very pushy and unpleasant.  The storm lasted 3 hours just bouncing off and around the surrounding mountains.  I don't think I have ever seen so much lightening.

19 July - Misty start but cleared later and much cooler.  Problem with the bike, turned out to be water in the starter from last nights storm. We stopped for picnic lunch overlooking a lake at the Peaks of Otter.  Not sure why I didn't take more photos, I think I was just photo'd out.  We completed the Parkway and headed into the Shenandoah National Park. Lots more twisty roads and at times scary riding on my husbands behalf!  We stopped overnight at the Skyland Resort.  We had a canyon view room - but this was obscured by cloud and mist!!  Another storm was rolling around and the midges OMG.  The walk to the dining room was through the woods uphill!  (at least the return journey was easy). I thought I was having a heart attack by the time we got there, I couldn't believe how unfit I felt.  We had a pleasant meal and there was a girl singing in the bar which was good.  Thoughts of the impending end of our trip had started crowding in.  In some respects I was ready to go home, in others I didn't want the trip to end.



20 July - Managed the rest of the park with no mishaps but still lots of deer about. Stopped for brunch in Front Royal - pancakes, eggs and scrapple, if you've not tried it do, its a bit like White Pudding, don't be put off by the description.  Our destination today was Intercourse, Pennsylvania so we went through 3 states in quick succession with just a couple of wrong turns. The weather had improved nice and warm again, we stopped at a farm shop for apple juice and a dealership in Gettysburg, we had now completed the loop as we passed the Harley factory in York which we visited on a first stop on 4 May.  It felt strange seeing Baltimore on the road signs again and realising how close to going home we were.

 




So what can I tell you about Intercourse?  Everything closes early, its very quaint, lots of quilt shops (more on that later) and they have strange food.  Dinner at the hotel as we left it too late to go out,  Peter had stuffed pigs stomach!!  I went for beef stew thought that would be the safer option followed by shoo-fly pie. We spent a quiet evening watching Witness on TV which gave us an insight to Amish life

21 July - quilt shopping day - who would of thought this could be so hard. So many to choose from.  We looked round several shops in town then decided to get on the bike and do a farm tour. We called in at the Bird in Hand Farmers Market and Quilt Shop - lots to see but still not anything that really took my fancy. Next stop Riehls Farm - I found a Heart and 9 Patch quilt similar to one I'd seen in town ($900) for $585 made by the same quilter, so I was happy.  Carrying it on the bike was fun.  We then headed for Lititz where Peter made a new friend!  It was great to ride around the quiet countryside looking at how 2 different cultures co-exist it was like being in a time warp.



Dinner was a Millers Smorgasbord - we ate far too much!!

22 July - our last week - Called the shippers to check everything was in place for the bikes' trip home then hit the road

Not sure how this lot is getting home!!

Travelling Tales - Part 16

We practically rode across Iowa today, but firstly popped into Nebraska just so we could take a state line photo.  We followed the Mormon Trail through miles and miles of maize and corn - what do you do with it all?




Arrived at Winterset for the Bridges of Madison County - we did the self guided tour. Most of the bridges are situated down miles of dusty gravel tracks.

John Wayne was born here

We popped into Ottumwa - its where Radar O'Reilly of MASH fame comes from, I went shopping, got yarn and patchwork fabric.  The yarn is long gone but the fabric I am ashamed to say is still in the drawer.  We over-nighted at Burlington  just 2 miles short of the Iowa border.

11 July - we rode clear across Illinois into Indiana, nothing to see but CORN, bottom hurting, bored, ran into a major rainstorm. Now on Eastern Time so another hour lost.



12 July (My Dad's birthday) - Week 11- another long day on the bike. Left Indiana, into Ohio, back into Indiana, then into Kentucky all within 15 minutes!!





13 July - took a Kentucky scenic route, through lots of small towns, at least it was more interesting than the interstate.  We arrived in Tennessee, helmets back on.  Decided to head for Pigeon Forge - we had stayed there in a lovely cabin a few years previous and thought that maybe they would have room for us.  The  Country Pines Resort was where we had stayed and I am happy to report they did daily bookings and we were able to book 3 nights just chill out.  It was more expensive than hotels but oh so good to be on our own, quiet and able to cook for ourselves.  We did nothing but read, watch the fire flies, sit in the hot tub



16th July - Back on the road our route took us firstly through the Foothills Parkway, which was great no lorries.  Lots of twists and turns, knee brakes in use again.  Following this Peter took us through Deals Gap, North Carolina or as its known locally, The Dragons Back - 318 bends in 11 miles.  It was permanent knee brakes for me but oh the smile on his face.



Late lunch then we drove until we reached the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway - 460 miles and no commercial traffic. Just popping off now and again for fuel or lodging. Lots of twists, turns and tunnels. Over night in Asheville at the Best Western, we stumbled on a free live music festival in town which was great lots of food concessions and beer, the music was good too

17 July - Grey day, wet day - stopped at Blowing Rock and looked round an Arts fayre, lots of lovely things but I think Peter was happy we had no room. Back on the parkway the visibility was so bad we were actually riding through the clouds they were that low. We ended the day at a little motel in Benge Gap, the only place we could get to with the weather as it was. Food was very basic, no alcohol, the waitress was also the receptionist and drove up and down the drive when anyone checked in!  She had not been any further than a 35 mile radius of the motel.  The motel was very basic, the TV had one of those V aerials on top of it and it had bits of tin foil stuck on the ends!!!! The waitress was amazed that we had come all the way from the UK. We had a good chat as we were the only people in the diner, other than a couple who were just finishing as we arrived. I actually wonder how people can stay so close to home, aren't they curious about whats out there?

Travelling Tales - Part 15

Next stop on our trip was Sturgis, the mecca for Harley owners every year in the first week of August.  In reality its a little nondescript place the rest of the year.  It has a good dealership with plenty of bargains!

After Sturgis we headed along to Deadwood, the ride in was a bit sad, a large deer shot across the road in front of us straight into a van coming in the opposite direction, it went up and over the roof, clipped the crash barrier.  The van stopped but we weren't sure the deer survived. This really upset us, but actually if we had been a few seconds earlier we may not be here to tell the tale. Deadwood -was awful full of casinos and not much else, a quick look and we were on our way.



Next stop Custer State Park - having first negotiated the Iron Mountain Road, known locally as the pigs tail, twists upon twists, luckily for me there were lots of cars so it slowed Peter down.  Lots of buffalo, prong horned deer, and prairie dogs.  We had planned to visit Crazy Horse Monument but decided not to bother as they charged to go in and you could actually see it from the road - cheap I know! We also didn't bother to go back to see Mount Rushmore as we had seen that before.  Back in the park we took the Needles Highway - lots more twists and turns, road going through rocks - Peter had a grin from ear to ear, I had my knee brakes on - we ended the day in Rapid City.



July 8th - more buffalo, more prong horns - our destination was Mitchell via the Badlands National Park, and Wall Drug - an amazing place, lots of things to look at and poke around in, food too. It was a lovely ride through the park, its a bit like Canyonlands and the Painted Desert, lots of hills and plains. Mitchell was a long drive but it was warm and sunny.



















A misty start in Mitchell but we checked out the Corn Palace - its basically a building covered in heads of maize, corn and rye.  The theme changes each year its very interesting, well worth the visit and its free..







Dealership stop at Sioux Falls - neat Harley cover!  More bits for the bike purchased.



Over night in Council Bluff, really nothing to say other than its not somewhere I'd stay again.  Tomorrow the Bridges of Madison County