The Long Way Home: TAT

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

TLWH - Day 7 - Catskills

Today brought us from New Paltz, NY to Matamoras, PA. The weather report called for rain but I didn't believe it. Hank was a bit wiser and donned his rain gear. It was only a 70-mile day taking us through the Catskills and then through a 10-mile section called the Delaware & Hudson Canal Linear Park.

On the way out of New Paltz, we swung through and took the five-minute tour of Huguenot Street. This is a historic area founded in 1678 by French refugees.

The Catskills were beautiful and we could really see how amazing they would be in the fall. From the top of the mountains, the forests spread out in all directions with lots of oaks, maples, and birch.

We were disappointed to find that the trail that was advertised as open on the official site was actually not open to motorcycles.

We didn't let it get us down. We just squeezed through the bars and gassed it! :)

-not really, we went back to the road and routed around it :(. It turned out to be a good thing that we saved some time here. Remember I mentioned that Hank was smart enough to put on his rain gear? Well, about 10 miles out of town it started to rain a little. I figured it was only another 10 miles so I passed on the chance to put on mine. At about the five mile out mark, the rain had turned to a downpour. The streets were flooded and I was soaked. To top it off, we couldn't check in until 3:00 so I was stuck in soaked clothes. I learned another lesson.

We took the time to shop for a few items we needed and change the oil on the bikes.

Tomorrow's track takes us to Jonestown, PA. Total distance is close to 200 miles and if I remember right, there will be some fun stuff. Unfortunately, there are thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow!

Where are they now?

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Maine - The beginning of our journey

The Long Way Home – Day One

Start the Riding! …. Breakdown! Today started out great: The pouring rain from the yesterday had completely cleared and we had clear sunny skies. Great day for riding and we were excited to get going but it was not to be. We hopped on our bikes, started 'em up and I rode out to the stop sign ready to make the left turn... where's Hank? I looked back and he's still sitting on his bike at the hotel. I ride back and discover that Hank’s bike wouldn’t start! After looking at the obvious possibilities, we had to dig deeper.

This looks just like the picture from yesterday only unfortunately, it's today!

We finally found a connector under the tank that had slipped out – not related to our modifications but must have gotten bumped. With that fixed we were on the road – maybe two hours later.

The rest of the day was fantastic. We took the highway up to Quoddy Head Lighthouse to make up time (not officially part of Long Way Home so it was not breaking the rules).

I have to say that I got chills as we cleared the last hill to see the Atlantic Ocean. I was raised on Long Island but the coast of Maine represents everything Atlantic Ocean to me. What a fantastic place (in the summer!) Wow, this is as far away from home that we can get. The land mass over my left shoulder below is Canada! We spent some time on the beach, took some pictures and got ready for The Long Way Home.

The trip down the coast was absolutely beautiful. Mostly paved back roads but a large portion on the Down East Sunrise Trail. This is a repurposed railroad track so you can imagine that is was not at all challenging, but it did pass through some great ocean front and bays.

We stopped at this beautiful inland bay and laid down for a minute. It was so quiet and peaceful. Pretty soon, we were waking up from an hour nap. Hank was loving it - saying it was the best nap of his life. Tip: Helmets make a great pillow!

Arriving at our hotel in Machias, we were greeted by two Bald Eagles flying over the river and diving after some Ospreys to chase them out. We were in awe and I didn’t think to take out my camera until they were clearing out.

‘looking forward to day two