The Maine Course

The call came from the kitchen, "Bob, what do you want for dinner?",
Jokingly, I replied "Lobster!". "Very funny! Where do you think I'll get
a lobster from?" she demanded. "Maine, of course", I joked. Soon after
that conversation, I ate hot dogs, but I also called T-Bone to get his
thoughts about riding out to Maine. Without hesitation, he agreed and the
planning started.

Soon enough, June was here and off we went on a 9-day tour. Digger
(Christine) and I took the Venture while T-Bone and Michelle rode two-up
the Suzuki Marauder 800 (He couldn't bring himself to put saddle bags on
his V-Rod).

Day one was all freeway through Canada and a stop in Niagara Falls before
we stopped around Rochester, NY to camp for the night. We met some
interesting folks that helped us build the fire using Liquid Nails® glue as
a fire starter. It was a nice fire but I'm sure that we will all develop
some yet-to-be discovered illness as a result. Worse yet, due to poor
planning on my part, my tent was down wind of the fire pit - last time I do
that!

Day two, we rode east through NY on US 20 thanks to advise from the NY
-Finger Lakes chapter coordinator, John Smyder (CODE RIDER) - thanks John.
The views were great and the ride was uneventful except for the death of a
small chipmunk. Despite common beliefs, you really do not feel much when a
900-pound motorcycle crushes a small animal to death!

Day three we rode north on VT100 for a patch. Great road! Tony's clutch
was acting a little weak, but a little field-dress-engineering and a bungee
cord corrected the problem quickly.

Heading ever east, we stopped in a small town in New Hampshire for lunch
and found the pub with "the town's coldest beer". The Pub owner, who
rides a Drifter told us about a 'great' road about an hour out of the way -
the Kancamagus Highway (NH 112 between Lincoln, NH & Conway, NH). Of
course we had to ride it. The Kancamagus was a pretty road and might have
been a good motorcycle road if it were not so bumpy. Repair crews on the
road suggest that it might be getting a face-lift and may have some
potential in the future.

Day four started early at Mt. Washington's Auto Road - New Hampshire's
highest point @ 6288 feet. The road is 6 miles long and ascends into the
clouds (literally) at an average slope of 12%. At the bottom it was 80o
and clear. At the top it was zero visibility (in the clouds), 40o, and 23
MPH cross winds. The road twists & climbs with stretches of loose gravel,
and no guardrails next to huge cliff drops. A challenge if there ever was
one! I made the mistake of stopping, ten feet from the Summit to look for
a parking spot. OOPS! So much for the new paint job! At the top, Digger
was so scared that she did not want to get back on the bike for ride
down…She did!

After Mt. Washington, we continued east into Maine. Stopping for lunch, I
noticed that my bike was making strange noises form the rear drive shaft.
It seems my little mishap on Mt. Washington did more damage then I thought.
While I looked for a dealer to fix it, Digger found a dog to play with…well
it actually just pee-ed on her leg.

I found a dealer 100 miles later and they had three technicians working on
it in no-time-flat. They fixed it in 30 minutes! Thanks to Manter
Recreational Unlimited in Oakland, Maine. One and a half-hours later, we
rode into Bar Harbor, Maine (the final destination) where we would camp two
nights and do some sightseeing. In Bar Harbor, we went whale watching,
visited Aacadia National Park, and OH YES, WE ATE LOBSTER!!!!!

Day six, we started back. We had already seen this route so we rode hard
back to Burlington, VT and took in a fireworks show that night (July 3rd).

Day seven started with a ferry ride across Lake Champlain and an
extraordinary ride through the Adirondack across New York on HWY 2 (highly
recommended). Of course we had to stop at Santa's Workshop in the North
Pole!

Day eight started with a sightseeing boat tour of the Thousand Islands
Area. Afterwards, we rode on the north side of Lake Ontario for a few
hundred miles (some rain) to Toronto, where we spent an old fashioned
Canadian Holiday with some friends.

Day nine - after 2,200+ miles - HOME!!!!!!!!!!!

What's for dinner next year????????????

Dr. LC