EastCoast tour 2017, Part 1

East coast tour 2017

 

Part one;

Burlington, Ont to Franconia, VT

I have been looking forward to having the time to do a real road trip. My semi-retirement was going just as planned. I still had about 100 hours of work to complete each month and with some shrewd scheduling I could get it done in two weeks. That left two whole weeks for road trips each month. And now  that Roz had a large touring trike, there was nothing to stop us from completing that longer tour. The trip to Drummondville (see ‘Spyder Homecoming’) had been a test ride of sorts. Now for the real thing; Cape Breton.

At 10am on July 19 we were all set and ready to roll. Even though it was sunny and warm, a quick check of the weather showed that a front was moving in and rain was expected by noon. This rain would last only for an hour or so then the sun would come out for most of the afternoon. So off we went.

At about 11:30am as we got close to Bownanville, we noticed the black cloud chasing us. Seemed like a good time to stop for lunch. The Toasted Walnut on King Street was the perfect spot. The rain started just as we got off the bikes and walked across the street. We had arrived just ahead of the lunch crowd and settled at a tiny table near the door. The Toasted Walnut is a small bakery-café with seating for perhaps 20 patrons. By 12 noon the line-up was out the door. Most were grabbing sandwiches and returning to their offices, some waited to get a table. We each ordered the soup, a hearty vegetable with ginger along with a chef salad. Absolutely delicious.When we had finished our lunch it was still raining quite heavily and we don’t usually have dessert at lunch time. We explained to the waitress that we were riding bikes and were in no hurry to get out until the rain stopped. ‘No problem, you can stay as long as you want’. We ordered another coffee each and a butter tart to share. The rain finally stopped just before 2pm and off we went.

Our first scheduled stop on this trip was to visit a longtime friend, Dimitri who had moved from Toronto 2 years ago into an old farm house near Warkworth. The roads in that area are well worth the ride with lots of rolling hills, sweeping turns and beautiful farm lands. Dimitri’s farmhouse is an old, fieldstone structure that he has renovated to suit their needs. The renos included an art studio, a performance space and recording studio. In addition to being an architect, Dimitri is an artist (painter) and a musician. He has created an absolutely amazing place. And I loved the 20 meter by 3 meter inground pool hidden behind the house, perfect for doing lengths. After an hour or so of witty conversation, a house tour and a great cup of fresh ground coffee we were ready to leave. I asked Dimitri where the nearest gas station was located, my tank was nearing empty. The nearest station was about 25kms away. I should be OK, but Dimitri insisted I take some gas from his lawn mower’s supply. I took about a litre and off we went. It was after 4pm and we had to get to Cornwall for the night, about 300kms away. After a quick stop at the Shell station, it was onto that boring 401.

As with previous visits to the Cornwall area, I booked a room at the Best Western. We have been here enough times to get to know some of the staff, our favourite is Tanya, the waitress most evenings in the dining lounge. Tanya brought us each a local craft beer and made dinner suggestions. Tonight’s special was fish and chips which Roz ordered, I decided on the house burger with salad. There is something very comforting about being made to feel at home when you are away from home. About 10:30 we headed back to our room with a beer in hand as a nightcap. This certainly was a great start to our adventure.

This particular Best Western serves a very good hot buffet breakfast that is included in the room rate. At check-in they give you a voucher that is good for the buffet, but if you don’t see what you want there, you can order from the menu and take $5 off the price. Perhaps it is because we have been there a few times, or perhaps they do this for any guest, Roz always orders from the menu and they never charge us any extra. Like I said, the staff is special here and they know the meaning of service and make you feel special as their guest.

As part of my regular morning routine, I always check over the bikes and give them each a quick cleaning. I always take my own micro-fibre towels and a can of lemon Pledge. I wet one of the towels at the sink before I leave the room to blot down the worst smudges. The Pledge does a fantastic job on removing bug guts from the windshield and giving an acceptable shine to the metal parts. The can takes up very little space and replacement is available anywhere along the route.

As happens quite often lately, while I am cleaning the bikes and loading the luggage, someone stops to admire them. Then they ask about the Spyder. Most of the admirers are seniors and I can see the gleam in their eyes, they would love to just jump onboard and take off on an adventure. The attraction of the Spyder is obvious, it has 3 wheels, it just looks a lot safer and easier for a novice to ride. The fascination of a large touring motorcycle is equally obvious; dreams.

The plan for today was directly across the bridge at Cornwall into the states and secondary hiways all the way to our pre-booked hotel, the White Mountains Inn in Franconia, NH. I had booked 2 nights there to give us an opportunity to explore the area. The rest of our vacation would be more ad hoc, making plans no more than a day in advance depending on weather and what we found.

As soon as you cross the bridge into the USA route 37 ends at Hwy 11, we turned left and followed the meandering roadway for a few hours. We stopped in the town of Mooers for fuel and at Sandi’s Kountry Kitchen for lunch. The diner was old and was decorated in cheesy Adirondach antiques, including a ‘Muskoka’ chair, a butter churn, a set of broken skis on the wall and an old toboggan. There was only one other patron in the room and our waitress was eager to chat. She was a local, born only a few miles away. She had worked at the state prison about 20 miles down the hiway for 10 years. It was a well paid job but she preferred the restaurant. We ordered the burger and fries that she recommended. The fries were fresh cut and properly cooked, the burger pretty ordinary.

We continued along hwy 11 past Hiway 87, turning right onto Hwy 2 at Rouses Point. Hwy 2 travels down the Grand Island peninsula thru North and South Hero. In places the water of Lake Champlain is visible on both sides of the roadway. We decided to stay on hwy 2 and travel into Burlington. I made a quick stop at a park entrance to take a selfie of the sign over the entranceway, City of Burlington. Unfortunately hwy 2 winds its way thru the downtown core; it was 4:30pm, rush hour hit. We had intended to stop and wander around but could not find a parking space so continued on, settling for a McDonalds on the eastern edge of the city.

We decided that it was too late to stop by the Ben and Jerry factory if we were going to make it to our hotel at a reasonable hour. Hwy 2 parallels Hwy 87 until it gets to Montpleier where 87 dives south. The road meanders around the Green Mountains thru some fascinating scenery, but it is not a quick ride if you intend to get somewhere soon. We turned on Hiway 93 at St Johnsbury for the last leg of our trip today.

We arrived at the Best Western in Franconia about 6pm.