Day 7, Wednesday June 12....Amsterdam,NY to Stowe, Vermont....finally, a DRY day

We had a great day with many highlights...one was that we rode through DRY weather all day. 

We rode through the very scenic Adirondack Trail through the Adirondack Mountains 

 and stopped at the Adirondack Museum which we recommend to all.

a view from the cafe at the Museum

 We rode to the top of Whiteface Mt., climbing for 7 miles up Whiteface Mountain on the Veterans Memorial Highway to over 4600 ft. What an impressive view. Evan had been on the same drive years ago with his Dad.

We enjoyed a  wonderful lunch in Saranac, NY at the Blue Moon Cafe, which we would recommend to anyone driving in the area. 

Since the driving conditions were so great, we were reluctant to spend time in Lake Placid. So, we made a plan to come back in the fall and spend a couple of days in the area. 

Tonight, we are staying in a beautiful setting on the outskirts of Stowe.

--- the entrance to the hotel's hiking trails

2218 cum km...

Regards,

Anne

Day 6, Tues Jun 11...Honesdale, Pa to Amsterdam, NY.....more great roads plus rain

 Leaving the historic Hotel Wayne ---

We started the day with a stop at "Rusty Palmer's" in Honesdale, which is by far the largest and most amazing bike shop Evan has ever seen:

--- just a part of the Rusty Palmer building

--- so large, the ceiling fan is a helicopter blade

--- with an amazing customer lounge and inside pond area!

From there we rode north into New York State through more small towns with stately older homes such as this one:

--- by way of more scenic biker roads. 

We started the day without our rain gear as we thought the rain gods must have been satisfied by now, but not so as we ran into more rain by noon.  So by mid afternoon, we decided to snuggle up in a motel room for the rest of the day in order to enjoy our ride to the Lake Placid area tomorrow up 30 through the Adirondack Park and mountains, hopefully on dry roads. 

I was glued to CNN and its coverage of the protest in Taksim Square as I was in the Square several times about 5 weeks ago.

Parked out of the rain for the evening

Finally, at a country diner, which also had great food!

1781 cum km

Regards to all from New York State

Anne

Day 5, Monday June 10, Coudersport, Pa to Honesdale, Pa. .......Singing and Dancing the Rain

I thought today of Gene Kelly singing and dancing in the rain while we were riding most of the day in  the rain. Nevertheless, we biked on.....staying surprisingly dry with our Frogg Toggs (rain gear).

Despite the rain, we enjoyed more fabulous roads and scenery along route 6 through northern Pennsylvania. Our major  highlight of the day was stopping to see the Pennslyvania Grand Canyon. The pictures do not adequately portray the dramatic beauty of the setting and the canyon.

Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon - a beautiful site!

Tonight, we are  staying  at the Hotel Wayne in Honesdale. It is a unique and historic hotel, dating back to 1827. We showed up with rain dripping from our helmets. We were in luck. The hotel manager  was a biker, who took pity on us and gave us a price break. 

2nd floor balcony at historic Hotel Wayne

End of a wet day at the Hotel Wayne

It is also a friendly place...we were treated to drinks in the bar by a local couple whom we enjoyed meeting. He may make his way to our cottage area for some ice fishing. 

Disappointment of the day...losing one of my pearl earrings.

1516 cum km ... All the kms today were wet ones....

Regards,

Anne & Evan

Day 4 Sunday June 9...Oberlin, Ohio to Coudersport, Pa.....finally, heading east

After meeting our Venture rider friends for breakfast in Oberlin, and with goodbyes and hugs, we were finally on our way east. 

Breakfast with some Venture Riders

For those who might be interested in our route, after we got past the Cleveland area we took 322 through western Ohio to connect with 6 through Pennsylvania.

We drove in sun today, which was a delight after Thursday's rain. We were truly impressed with the brilliant green landscape interspersed with large and small blotches of mostly pink rhododendrons which seemed to grow even wild and as large as trees. We rode for over an hour  with the Allegheny River on our left and the Allegheny  National Forest on our right before riding the "Grand Army of the Republic" portion of Highway 6 with big turns and hills all along the way. Near Oil City, where oil was first discovered in the US (after it's discovery in Oil Springs Ontario), there was also the smell of oil in the air.

Driving along the Allegheny ....

Seen along the way...one side of this building was completely painted.

We've never seen rhodoes this large...

We started our practice again of finding a picnic stop for our lunch break, this time along the Allegheny River. 

BTW, Coudersport is on Hwy 6. We are staying at a motel that offered 3 kinds of cookies in the lobby plus wifi... It doesn't get much better.

1184 cum km logged and my bum is feeling a bit sore after today's long ride....

Regards to all,

Anne

Day 3 Sat June 9 Oberlin OH ...Yamaha Venture Maintenance Day

The day started without electricity in town...hopefully not an omen for our trip.

We spent a relaxing day with 160 other Venture riders at the lovely country property of Freebird (Don, the creator of the Venture Rider group) and his gracious wife, Eileen.  The focus of the event is the repair and maintenance for these bikes combined with the making and renewals of friendships among fellow Venture Riders throughout Canada and the US. The sun appeared throughout the day which made for a fabulous event. 

Motorcycles and friends

Our bike...an older Venture

A beautiful setting for Maintenance Day

Regards,

Anne

Day 2 Friday June 8....Cleveland to Oberlin, Ohio .....Rockin' and Rollin' today

We spent the day at the Rock and Roll Museum, which we highly recommend. Memories of our younger years came back to life as we watched videos of Elvis, Motown performers,Jerry Lee Lewis, Michael Jackson at 10 years old plus many other performers. I learned that Mick Jagger was preparing to go to the London School of Business...wow,  he did well, although not sitting at a desk. The museum deserves a very full day as we ran short of time.

Rock and Roll Museum...modern architecture...

Mick's jumpsuit....he sure was thin for this suit

Entrance to Rolling Stones Exhibit

The downtown area of Cleveland has eye catching architecture, a renewed waterfront and 3 big sports stadiums.

We were back on the road by mid afternoon to head to Oberlin, our destination for the night.  We  enjoyed dinner and the evening with about 100 other riders of Yamaha Venture bikes at a restaurant on the waterway at Vermillion.

Storm Andrea has now become part of our planning...stay tuned for routing changes.

600 cum km .. 

Regards

Evan and Anne

Day 1, Thursday June 7, Toronto to Cleveland OH, On the Road Again

After a great send off from our Yorkshire friends, Margaret and Mick, who is a passionate Moto Guzzi rider, we're on the road again.

Unlike our 35 day 'dry' Venture West trip (no rain), we drove through rain from Niagara to Cleveland. Happily, I can report that our frogg togg rain suits and boots are working for us as we stayed quite dry through all that rain.

Leaving home 

Lunch and rain break

450 km...

Regards

Evan and Anne