Where people go by names like Smitty, Pugsley and Shep

We arrived in Laconia Wednesday night and ever since the day of crappy weather it’s  been gorgeous so today we took a day trip to White Mountain National Park. We decided to go check out Mt. Washington after hearing that the view was the best in all New Hampshire. Here’s our friend, Andy’s Facebook commentary, which pretty much sums up this little adventure!  “Just took the scariest ride of my life and the best... up Mt. Washington NH. 6000 ft, 50-60 mile winds, 38 degrees at the top and zero visibility for the last mile on a dirt road. It was exhilarating to say the least! Time for a beverage.”  We paid $26 to travel up the mountain. I can’t believe these people allowed us to go on this drive, much less that we paid them to do it! The ranger told us to be careful of the wind gusts, that they were pretty bad today but not bad enough to close the road. So off we went! This is the first sign we saw!

We started out climbing the mountain and with every mile the temperature dropped and the clouds rolled in and visibility dropped to about five feet! Forget the best view in New Hampshire!  By the time we got to the top we were all scared half to death! And we realized we have to turn around now and head back down this mountain now. About every half mile there were signs posted telling us to stay in first gear and take frequent parking breaks to allow our brakes to cool off!!! I kept smelling burning rubber. I’m not sure if it was real or imagined but I plastered myself right next to Doug so I could “help” him navigate us back to base.

This is what it looked like at the top and it was freezing!

Here we are “cooling our brakes”.

Lisa and I hiked off some nervous energy. This felt like a totally different planet.

Here's my view as we head back down the mountain.

And this was our reward, a sticker for our helmets!

Crazy Is As Crazy Does!

Day four, we departed Rochester, New York on an unexpectedly cold morning. Temperature on the bike said 54 degrees which made it about 40 degrees on the bike!  Thank God I packed a neck warmer and wool tights! We broke out the heavy jackets, bundled up and hit the road for the Adirondacks. We made several stops to chug hot cups of coffee and espresso. We kept hoping it’d warm up a bit or the sun would come out, but it wound up being a miserably cold ride through gorgeous countryside.  Therefore we cut the ride time back today and decided to kick back in an old tavern that was built in the late 1800’s at Raquette Lake. We’d heard they had an old hotel above the tavern for rent for $50 a night??

Cell service and internet is super sparse but we’ll post more pix from the beautiful countryas theough the Adirondacks next time.

Second day found us leaving Troy, Ohio and heading to our friend’s house at Lake Avon for a divine homecooked meal and overnight accommodations at Janet and Vince Valentino’s! Best food we’ve had in a really long time! It’s so nice to have great friends all over the country.

We got up and headed to Canada to visit Niagara Falls. This is Greg and Lisa with the edge of the Falls behind them while we’re waiting in line at Customs.  Despite the new tariffs imposed by President Trump the Canadians were all very gracious and accommodating.

Here are a few of our favorite pix from Niagara Falls.

My crazy journey with my Super Sexy Secret Squirrel

Hey ya’ll! Our long awaited and much anticipated 1,300 mile trip to Laconia began yesterday when my husband, Doug, and our three friends, Greg, Lisa and Andy, departed from our Ste. Genevieve, Missouri home. Our initial plan was to ride four or five hours, taking our time on old back highways and byways with frequent stops to allow our newly retired bodies to “take it easy”.  You know? Like Easy Rider... (Ha!). We also planned to pick up more friends along the way.

We stopped to stretch our legs and grab a cold one at a little roadside pub called “On the Rox” in Altamont, Illinois, where we happened upon one of our grandson’s most beloved movie characters!

From there we rode all the way to Covington, Ohio! Holy sore buns!! We stopped for dinner there at Buffalo Jack’s and had our first all you can eat Walleye dinner!  (Met these lovelies outside the restroom!)

We crossed three states today; Illinois, Indiana and Ohio! So anybody know what’s up with the quilt patches being displayed on homes and barns throughout Indiana? Inquiring minds need to know...

We landed in Troy, Ohio for some much needed R&R. Peace out till tomorrow!