Day 30- July 21

Day 30: July 21st 36,064 on my odometer

Before hitting the road for the day we eat breakfast at the motel restaurant. Not too bad. We also have a brief conversation with a slightly insane cyclist from England that is riding his own hand built big wheel bicycle all over the world. He has covered 20,000 miles so far in 20 different countries. Makes our “epic” journey seem pitiful by comparison.
Northern Pennsylvania is beautiful and the roads are mostly nice. Not particularly twisty, but plenty of turns, sweepers and elevation changes on mostly smooth pavement. We enjoy the ride all the way into Watkins Glen. While fueling up we have a conversation with some other bikers that tell us about a great road called “The Tail of the Dragon” and ask if we plan on riding it. I’ll have to look into that as I work on our itinerary. I haven’t done much planning at all for the route from New York to Georgia yet. We also manage to piss off a local cager who doesn’t think we are filling the bikes fast enough, can’t get around us, and apparently doesn’t know how to use reverse to leave the station.
We are treated to lunch at a restaurant with a fantastic view of Seneca Lake by Brandi Holloway, one of Ceci’s coworkers who is up here because of her husband’s job. The scenery is beautiful, but still not as nice as the Adirondacks where we plan on staying a week. New York is the most beautiful state I have ever been to; I just wish it was an affordable place to live.
Today’s planned destination is Texas. It is another place we had on our list of possible relocation places. A way for Ceci to still live in Texas without me actually having to live in Texas. It starts to rain as we leave the restaurant, and we get a steady but light rain for the next hour. Fortunately it is light enough rain that our gear keeps us dry and the Bandit keeps running. Unfortunately, the town of Texas doesn’t really seem to exist. There’s a sign, a marina, and a bait store but not much else. Nothing much to visit. I had planned on setting up camp at Selkirk Shores State Park, but as there isn’t much to visit and the park isn’t worth staying in so we change plans. There is still plenty of daylight left so we spend a few minutes sightseeing on the shore of Lake Huron and get back on the road.
We are now hustling to see how far we can get before dark. As we get to Adirondack State Park there are scattered thunderstorms all around us. The scenery is great as are the roads. Smooth pavement and lots of fast easy turns. As the sunlight starts to fade we are dodging the rain and trying to find a place to stay. There is another group of motorcyclists doing the same thing so we play a form of leapfrog for a little while. Finally we pull into the first motel in Tupper – the Faust motel. I am glad we beat the other group here as it is now dark and not so safe for us to be riding. It is a terribly selfish thing for me to think that way but if there’s only one room I intend to have it. The other group of mostly Concours riders pulls in behind us. Fortunately, there is plenty of room for us all, and the pleasant old lady running the place is definitely biker friendly.
She puts down blocks of wood for our kickstands so they won’t sink into the soft wet ground. She won’t let us check in because the only place in town to eat is about to close. As we hurry to run to the restaurant, she tells us not to worry, and actually calls ahead to make sure they don’t close until we get a chance to eat. After a pretty good meal we go back and check into our cabins. The price is very reasonable. It is old but clean and comfortable. A charming place.
At the restaurant and back at the motel we get a chance to meet the Concours riders we were leapfrogging- Jerald Hampshire from the St. Louis area and friends. They also mention something about the Dragon so I will definitely look into it. We exchange e-mail addresses so we can stay in touch. I have promised to send him the photos and blog of the trip. Least I can do to atone for my selfish attitude when we pulled in. If I ever get this published he’ll get a free copy.
We cover 318 scenic if occasionally wet miles, and are very near our destination at the center of the park.