On the Road Diary

Queen and I on Tour

On Tour Diary

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Day 1 - Leaving Maine

Day one on the Road – July 7, 2006 240 miles

A beautiful sunny day in Gardiner, Maine. We had hoped to be on the road by 7:00 am but it ended up closer to 8:00 am with a stop in Farmingdale to say good-by to Ike’s mom. On to west Gardiner for breakfast at the Litchfield Corner Café. Then on into Norway and found a New Balance huge tent sale and just had to stop and purchase a new pair of x-trainers. Great price – good fit. Pretty uneventful so far on thru New Hampshire and on to Vermont. That’s when we blow a back tire. We were in the middle of bug-fuck and no where. But with today’s technologies, GPS and cell phone and several very nice people we find ourselves spending our first night in Monkton, VT in the backyard of a weekend auto body shop. We have all the amenities anyone could want; a hose with a the cold water we need, a potter-potty down across the fie d and in the back of the local waste cycle plant. The local variety store just up the road, Thanks to Honda Rider’s Association, Honda Roadside service will be here in the morning to trailer the bike and the camper to Essex, VT. We’re thinking that this will probably be the most event 24 hours we’ll have on the trip. We’ll just have to wait and see. Check out the pictures of our campsite. Dinner was a tub of ham salad w/crackers and a rack of beer.

The picture doesn't do justice to the beauty of these falls. We spent about 4 hours walking around

Tupper Lake at Niagara Falls

Day 2 - Saturday, July 8^th – 151 miles

Awoke to the sounds of summer , bird singing and flies thicker than heck but all in all after a couple of beers to unwind from yesterdays event and a trip to the towns outhouse things started to look better .Waited most of the morning for the wrecker which at 11 a m never show I opted to head for the local Honda shop for a new tire ,what the heck the tire on the bike only had 4 plugs in it and it was only 30 miles away so off I went leaving my love to fend for herself until the wrecker came. Arrived at the Honda shop and they were ready for me and they took the bike right in, so I started looking at the goodies and found a great price on the highway pegs I had been looking for so added that to the list and seeing how I didn’t get the oil change before I left I had that done as well and when all was said and done we were out $500 and on our way. At this rate we should be home next week for we will be out of money. Ha! this is our trip of a life time and I will mortgage the farm if I have to. But here we are at yesterdays destination being around Tupper lake, N Y and we are all bathe and smelling good and it’s only 7 p m . So time for a cold one and just relax. Day 2 down and looking forward to tomorrow.

IKE - Pam

Day three – 300 Miles (A visitor in the night)

We left Eaton Lake around 8:00 am heading for Rochester, NY. A beautiful day. The ride across was perfect. We took 28 to 69 across the finger lakes and then over to 104 to Rochester. Stopped at a Pep Boys so Ike could pick-up a set of Allen wrenches. Got to get those new highway pegs on. Found a nice campground not to far a ride to Niagara. On the way back to the campground we stopped at the local library and hooked-up the wireless and check our e-mail. Got back to the camp site about 8:30, took showers and settled down. We had been in bed about 2 hours when we head this scratching noise!!! Ike jumped out of bed armed with nothing but a flashlight, and his riding boots on (any of you that know Ike well, know what he sleeps in!!!) up – nothing. Hooked to the screen on our screen room was a raccoon. Ike whacked him with the flashlight on top of his head and he dropped to the ground and then all hell broke lose. The raccoon started to come at Ike – Ike dropped kicked him out the door and the raccoon persisted in getting revenge. No way – Ike dropped kicked him again and sent him about four trees down from our site. I heard the unbelievable noise for about 8 seconds. At this point I wasn’t sure who had won. In comes my man – flashlight in hand and still wearing his riding boots.!!!! What a guy.

Powells' B&B - Long Grove, Iowa

Day 7-9

A beautiful day of riding through the corn fields of Indiana Illinois and Iowa. I have never seen so much corn in my life. Arrived at Mark and Roxanne Powells (Powells B&B) around 4 in the afternoon to a heartfelt welcoming. And after two days of riding in the rain we are both looking forward to some down time. We spend 3 fabulous days in and around Davenport, Iowa exploring the Mississippi River. We hated to leave the Powells but the road is calling. The night of July 16 we find ourselves in Sioux City, SD looking forward to seeing the Bad Lands of SD and Mt Rushmore. We rode 397 today in 100 degree temps. Talk about being fried!

Crazy Horse Mt. Rushmore

July 17, 18, 19, 20th - South Dakota & WY

We did it all in SD. Visited the Badlands and they are spectular. A very hot day 106 degrees. Spent a day in Deadwood learning all about the wild west and how rugged one had to be to even survive. Tour the stone craving of (still progress) Crazy Horse and experienced the true history of the north American Indian. Mt Rushmore was all we expected it to be and then some. We were fortunate even to visit for the evening light show. Traveling through Custer State Park we were greeted by a herd of wild buffalo coming down out of the mountain for their morning drink and the river. Friday, July 21 we're heading to Yellowstone National Park and have made reservation at Canyon Camp Ground for two nights. The weather had been very hot and have ridden through a couple of heavy down pours, but for the most part things are great and we're loving every day out on the rode. You're messages are great and we really appreciate reading them. Thanks.

Our Stay in Yellowstone National Park:

We entered the Park at the East Entrance over the Fishing Bridge Junction and had camp reservation at Cayon Village, North Rim. We experiences wilderness camping at it's finest. Some of the places we visited: Norrris Junction to Mammoth Hot Springs; We took in the grand view of Lower Falls; and of course a trip to the park is not complete with view Old Faithful. We walked the boardwalk through the geyser basin at West Thumb, a shallow thermal basin. Spectular color and heat. A quick bath in Yellowstone Lake, North America's largest mountain lake. the lake is 20 miles long and 14 miles wide and 430 deep. We encountered buffalo and elk. The Park Rangers stressed repeatedly that all campers needed to use the Bear Boxes to store all our food.