Ridin'Ard (The h is silent)

Miles today: 241 Soundtrack: Mad Max: Fury Road, Metallica Today we did a longer day for the trade-off of spending 2 nights in one place. We had a leisurely morning packing up camp and hit the road at about noon. I started the day listening to the Mad Max: Fury Road soundtrack. It was glorious. It was a beautiful day and the route unexpectedly included a ferry. The final turns approaching the ferry were glorious. The ferry pulled up just as we got there. Perfect! I had cash ready. Then the attendant went down the line to let everyone know the ferry was now done for the day. Oookay. Not feeling so glorious anymore, so I changed my music to Metallica and we found a bridge to cross in to NY at Ticonderoga. This added some time to our day, so we kept all of our stops short which also kinda wears on you. There was hardly anyone on the roads in the Adirondacks this time, which meant that Julie didn't have anyone in front of her for most of the time and could get totally in the zone. It w...

Miles today: 131 Soundtrack: Apocalyptica, Halestorm Today we went camping at Branbury State Park in Vermont. Julie read about how lean-to's are a thing so we decided to try it. Our lunch spot was flying a Maryland flag and had Maryland crab cakes and cream of crab soup on the menu. The chef's wife grew up in Annapolis! We got to camp and started setting up. Our lean-to faces a wall of rocks, which was perfect. The site next to us was hosting a couple with a baby. I will have to add the video(s) when I get home. It could have been a lot worse. They seem like very kind and attentive parents. Booking last minute, all the good sites are gone. There were 3 of us pretty close together, but everyone was quiet. It's a big lean-to, but we do have a small tent. Jaron did 3 firewood runs. A bundle of firewood fit in his topcase. Julie set up the tent and bedding. We sat for a while in the serenity punctuated by baby sounds. When it started cooling down, Julie figured she'd better...

Miles today: 136 Soundtrack: Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga We left camp and headed towards Concord, NH for laundry day in a generica hotel. Big day. We had a nice ride and lunch at a seafood place. Jaron got an ahi tuna burger and Julie got a clam roll. In two of the small towns we went thru, there were septuagenarians out protesting. We got to our hotel and had a very cheerful and chatty receptionist who told us how many quarters to allow for each load of laundry. Julie brought down a ten dollar bill for quarters and he said it was easier to just give me an entire roll of quarters. Sweet! I never get them in regular life and sometimes campground showers require them. Jaron got his laundry going while Julie took her turn in the shower. Julie went thru the bag of quarters and pulled out all of the nickels & dimes. Jaron didn't want to give them as part of our tip for dinner, so Julie bought 10 more quarters. We went to dinner at the Chinese restaurant across the street while Julie...

Miles today: 80 Today was the last day of the rally. We had a sponsored BBQ lunch at a Harley Davidson dealership. Julie was really hoping to replace her Butler map, but they didn't even know what those were! For the first time ever, I had to wait in line for the bathroom at a motorcycle dealership. We walked around admiring bikes painted all kinds of pretty colors. Harley also does a great job with women's shirts. Why can't the other brands put some effort in to their women's merch?? Well, that is the point of the WRWR app, to do industry studies on women motorcyclists so that manufacturers can't say they don't know what we want. Afterwards, we went to check out the flagship LL Bean that was open 24 hrs since it's near the Appalachain Trail. It was a campus of 3 buildings, with a map and everything. It was a little overwhelming. We didn't find anything we couldn't live without, but used the opportunity for cell service to sit on their couch and figu...

Miles today: 149 Soundtrack: Boyz II Men, Sarah Brightman This morning Julie was being indecisive about what to do today while overwhelmed by options. As she was walking back to our cabin, a woman from Germany who I'd spoken with yesterday asked if I wanted to go for a ride. I said sure! And that spurred me to get my shit together.  We attempted the long route again. We had a nice ride this morning and found a spot for lunch at a burger butcher place. After using Google Translate and translating the menu online in to German, we ordered. Katharina wanted a reasonably sized portion and so ordered from the kids' menu, and received a pretty full sized portion of chicken tenders. Jaron got chicken & waffles made in to a burger with 2 waffles as buns, the chicken, an egg fried over easy, and maple syrup. Katharina started in on her chicken & waffles with a knife & fork. Jaron started on his hot mess with predictable results. They were sitting across from each other and th...

Miles today: 190 Soundtrack: Vanilla Ice, Beastie Boys, C&C Music Factory We finally made it on a long ride! We went up to Rangeley, ME in the mountains on a loop and it was really beautiful. We found a cute place for lunch. Julie was going to get another lobster roll, but they had this salmon power bowl. It was amazeballs. Those are jalapenos on top! Jaron got a cheeseburger. We made it back in time for an author talk on her book, Stoic Rider. https://a.co/d/gDXh7v7 It's landed, hard. I'm doing my first read thru sans highlighter or notes bc it would just take forever. Julie has found her soul sister! An author who is philosophical about motorcycle riding AND is a powerlifter! What are the odds!? We both just stood there laughing. Argh, I didn't get a picture with her.