Monday, 12 September

Short distance, much seen.  Began with Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. Tour was more about social change than ice cream, but it was okay. Got a tasting.  The have a “graveyard” of discontinued flavors. The production room we viewed had about 6 employees, but the process is so automated I don’t know what they did.  One danced for us.

Vermont’s state house in Montpelier is generally considered to be one of the best. I can agree. Blends into the hillside nicely and isn’t outlandishly large. It’s pretty much wide open to visitors too. I kept thinking I had walked too far into the building. At one point of walking around I remembered that I’d actually met a governor of Vermont (Hoff). I’d even gotten his autograph.  I asked a guide about him and she showed me his portrait. She was impressed by my recollection and therefore gave me a personal tour. It was well worth the visit. (Vermont’s museum is unfortunately closed on Monday.)

Barre, VT is a pretty little town, but limited parking.  A really nice statue.  There is another somewhere in town that’s a little famous, but I didn’t find it.

Route 302 is a very pretty drive. Unfortunately, I set a waypoint for Bath, NH, and Honda’s stupid GPS somehow thought the town’s center was five miles down a dirt road.  Wasted 20 minutes. However, taking the road caused me to drive through a covered bridge, so it was worth it.

The White Mountains National Forest is a fun and majestic ride. It’ll be prettier when leaves change colors.  Had thoughts of driving up Mt. Washington, but a mile of gravel and 25 MPH winds discouraged me. Besides, at 6,244 feet, it’s well below the highest elevation I’ve driven. Amazingly, the first car to reach the top was a Stanley Steamer in 1899.

Not a lot of miles driven, but the movement was mostly eastward.

Ben’s, or Jerry’s, Tesla.

The factory and gift store are filled with left leaning testaments.

Vermont’s very pretty state house.

Governor Hoff, 1963-69. first Democrat elected since 1853. Met him late one night as a child. I think I was in pajamas!

War Memorial in Barre. Created in 1927. Looks new. Barre is the self-proclaimed capital of granite.

War Memorial in Bath.

The first covered bridge. Couldn’t drive across.

The second covered bridge, which I did cross. The fine is less for driving “your team” faster than a person can walk.

Just a fountain on the side of the road in Bartlett. No explanation.

Scary stuff.

Hotel and mountain.

The White Mountain roadway.

Haverton War Memorial.

Sunday, 11 September.

Some riding but with little forward progress.  Visited some of the roads familiar to my childhood.  Old Forge was a traditional stop after camping.  Ice cream or late dinner.  Had Mountain Dew for the first time.  It’s now a much bigger town with an odd hardware store.  There’s a “Front Door” cafe with a “Back Door” Bar.  The amusement park Enchanted Forest, which once had a large statue of Paul Bunyan, is now a waterpark.  But in spite of it’s improvements, it’s still the start of potentially hundreds of miles of canoe trails.  1st through 8th Lakes, Forked Lake, Long Lake, etc.  A pretty ride.

There are a lot of lakes.  Windy day.  Slow cars.  Curvy roads.  Drove through Lake Placid with its legacy of two Olympics.  Drove over Ausable Chasm, which I (still) have not visited.  Took ferry across Lake Champlain with four GS BMW motorcycles traveling from Michigan.

Saturday, 10 September.  No Adventure.  Quiet day.

Friday, 9 September.  Staying with Curt.  He has a really great drone.  Got plans to do local documentaries with it.  Should be interesting.

Thursday, 8 September.

My high school is gone!  Torn down.  It was a pretty building.

A museum attraction called Erie Canal Village was created decades ago.  My parents contributed an old building to the cause.  Moving it across town was a big event.  The Village grew to be truly village-sized, but now, sadly, it’s a ghost town.  What makes it especially disappointing is that the Erie Canal was begun in 1817 in Rome.  In 1967 the town had a large sesquicentennial celebration, without any Canal Village. Now that the bicentennial is just around the corner, I’d assumed there would be an even larger event.  But with the Village in total decay, I guess not.

Also in my hometown is the grave of Francis Bellamy, author if the Pledge of Allegiance.  It’s nicely maintained in the city cemetery, which is a pretty nice one, as cemeteries go.  I’d never noticed before.

Lastly, in the 1960’s, largely thanks to Senator Robert Kennedy, a recreation of a revolutionary-era fort was built: Fort Stanwix.  I’ve visited about a dozen forts this year, so I can speak with some knowledge that this one is a winner.  People are dressed in period clothing, there is an education center with multiple movies, and the fort itself is excellent.  Anyone interested in the era should make plans to visit.

The drive to Chestertown to see my brother was fun, but not extraordinary. Some of the road curves that once excited the nerves are hoo hum on a bike.  Along the way I noticed that the only establishment I ever worked at that didn’t begin with “U.S. Navy” is gone.  No great loss.

This is a post office, far from any water. I don’t know why it has a light house.

The white house was donated by my parents to the Canal Village. Falling apart. Sad.

The Canal barge also falling apart.

Fort Bull was used the French and Indian War. It was just a piece of land with a gulley (moat) around it. Could find rifle balls there when I was young.

It’s interesting to me that Bellamy was a minister, yet he didn’t put “under God” in the Pledge. Congress did.

The view of Fort Stanwix as it would have been seen from the swamp.

My first childhood house. It’s much prettier today, though it’s 66(?) years old.

My second childhood house. When we went by it on the school bus everyone considered it haunted. Then my dad bought it! Built around 1872. Museums in the west brag about their buildings being built in 1880s. I yawn.

Before California became the place to go, people in New York City went north.

The wind would really make these dinky little things sway.

Wednesday, 7 September.  No pics.

Enjoyable country roads.  Small towns. Stopped by Hamilton, NY. Saw grandfather and step grandmother’s gravesite. Cleaned it up.  Was there only once before, so finding it was impressive. The Colgate University campus is so large now.  New and old buildings mixed together. For the first time on this journey (4,500 miles?) I saw a Clinton sign on a front lawn. There was a woman sweeping the front porch (how cool is that?), so I stopped and told her.  Funny.

If there is one location in Rome that holds nothing but happy memories it is The Savoy restaurant. The adjoining bar was always a mysterious darkness in my youth.  Today I sat there. Had my eternal spaghetti and meat balls. They still have a picture of my dad on the wall, which isn’t saying that much.  Lots of pictures.

Staying in a hotel. After three days in a tent, I needed some luxury.

Tuesday, 6 September.  Stayed in place.  Drove around Seneca Lake, famous for wine.

First took a morning walk along the upper reaches of Glen Creek.  Nature is much better without a press of people.  The work done to build walkways that blended with the gorge is excellent.  It helped that the rock is soft.  Overall, Watkins Glen is worth a visit.  It isn’t the Grand Canyon, but few things are.

The tour around the lake was pleasant. Most of it is done well above and inland of the shoreline, but there are spots that give a nice view.  The wineries are mostly one-hit wonders; Riesling.  The few reds I tasted ranged from bad to okay.  Prices are lower than California, so I won’t complain.  But I had several fun conversations.

Not an unforgettable day.  But it was worth the gas money.

Sunshine, filtered through leaves, hitting the creek.

A few vineyards.

My best side.

Geneva, NY, has beautiful homes!! Incredible. This is just one example.

Wineshop is an old service station.

Not a proud thing, but the monument is still up.

Have not seen a horse and carriage yet, but seen plenty of these signs.

Memorials in the east are obviously older than the west.

203 years of Sunday School!

Hector Falls. It actually continues under the road. Water out of rocks.

Monday, 5 September.

The drive from Millersburg to Watkins Glen was mostly uneventful. Elmira has an old park, was well known 120 years ago, that the city is reviving.  Nice effort to date.  The merry-go-round is reputably the fastest one in the world, though there is no proof.  It does go ’round very rapidly.  It’s one of a number of carousels that has the ring grabbing device, which is where the phrase “to grab the brass ring” gets its origins.

In Danbury, PA I got my closest near-death experience of the entire year.  As a pedestrian, in a legal crosswalk, with the “Walk” sign on.  Driver turning left not only nearly hit me, but took umbrage at my impeding his movement.  “I’m driving here!” he yelled.

Watkins Glen had an Indycar race on Sunday.  The town is all about race cars.  nice paintings and a walking history lesson along the street, which has its own Walk of Fame for racers worldwide.

I got a campsite and then toured most of the gorge cut out of the hillside by Glen Creek.  It’s a really impressive sight with various walkways either right along the creek above it.  The are stone bridges and tunnels cut in to the walls.  It’s really quite a view.  Of course, being Labor Day, it was pretty crowded.  I’ll do more of it tomorrow.

I walked two miles from the campsite into town to do some wine tasting, only to learn that the only one in town is closed Mondays.  Even Labor Day.  Very disappointed.

I’ve mostly included this to show the background. I went from clear view to deep fog and back for about an hour.

Not much of a claim to fame. But you promote what you can.

I include the car. It sounded just like you’d expect.

Who knew?

Pretty, but none of the horses are originals. The rebuilders searched the country for used ones.

Sunday, 4 September.  Brilliantly split the distance between DC and Baltimore.  Didn’t have to get on either beltway.  Visited Mt. Airy, Littlestown, Gettysburg, Carlisle and Millersburg.  Gettysburg cannot be seen in less than a full day, so I essentially skipped it.  Visited one battlefield/cemetery.  Carlisle was good.  I went because I knew Jim Thorpe (famous athlete) had gone to school there.  Turns out it also had some involvement with the Gettysburg engagement.  Millersburg is a tiny little town on the east bank of the Susquehanna River with a 3-car ferry to the west bank, which has a campground.  Took the ferry to the campground.  It was a slow, restful day.  A lot of bikes on the road.

Gettysburg was a very fluid engagement. As this sign illustrates.

Those are 8″ floppy disks. Even before my time!

One of hundreds of monuments at Gettysburg. Most of them identify brigades, regiments, battalions and companies. Really confusing if you’re trying to keep track

Entrance to Cemetery Hill. It was there during the battle.

I was deliberate in showing the artillery in the background.

To clarify: The battle of Monmouth was during the Revolutionary War.

Molly “Pitcher”. She would carry water to the wounded in a pitcher. Hence the nickname. Her husband worked with cannon.  When he was wounded, she pitched in.  George Washington personally thanked her.

I’m a Presbyterian.

Very nice looking firestation in Carlisle.

The car ferry. It’s a sternwheeler houseboat with a barge attached. 16″ draft. The water can’t be more than 3′ deep. People wade across the mile wide river.

When the Harleys start their engines, I have to look at my gages to make sure my engine is running.

Friday and Saturday, 2-3 September.  Attended 40th reunion with the Annapolis class of 1976.  No pictures.  I didn’t consider these two days to be part of the Adventure.

It was a good time and I’m glad I came.  But now, on with the Adventure.  I believe I’ll slow my speed of advance.  I’ll head back to New York tomorrow, seeking a new route through Pennsylvania.