Sunday, October 5, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Land of Landis
Today we rode around the Amish countryside. Floyd definately got his climbing legs somewhere else, it's pretty flat around here. Once you get out of Lancaster the countryside is beautiful, lots of dairy and agricultural farms with horses pulling the farm equipment instead of tractors.
The roads were is great shape, very smooth and no potholes but because the locals ride around in horse drawn carriages there's a lot of manure in the roads to dodge.
Intercourse is the tourist trap of the area, a busy little village with lots of shops and restaurants and of course the town sign that everybody gets photographed with.
The roads were is great shape, very smooth and no potholes but because the locals ride around in horse drawn carriages there's a lot of manure in the roads to dodge.
Intercourse is the tourist trap of the area, a busy little village with lots of shops and restaurants and of course the town sign that everybody gets photographed with.
Winter Comes Early to PA
We parked at the Cracker Barrel across from Cabella's for the night. There's a nice loop I'd planned on riding in the morning.
Thursday morning arrived and we were awaken by a 25 mph wind that was rocking our camper. I stuck my head out the door and it didn't take long for the wind and the temperature to convince me to bag the bike ride.
We drove to Reading, found a Panera's and spent the day listing items on eBay and blogging. We stayed there until they closed. We spent the night at the Reading Walmart. There was some construction going on but it was quiet enough to sleep.
Friday morning was still cold but not as windy. It wasn't a great day for cycling but I'd been off the bike for 2 days so I decided to suck it up and ride. We drove back to Cabella's and I did a loop ride through the farm country.
Lisa discovered the restaurant in the Microtel Motel had wi-fi so she spent the day listing items on eBay. I joined her after the ride and we stayed the into the evening surfing, eating and listening to the band.
We left around 10 PM and drove to Lancaster so we could ride in the Amish country Saturday.
We found that ideal combination of a Walmart and a Panera Bread in the same plaza and parked for the night.
Thursday morning arrived and we were awaken by a 25 mph wind that was rocking our camper. I stuck my head out the door and it didn't take long for the wind and the temperature to convince me to bag the bike ride.
We drove to Reading, found a Panera's and spent the day listing items on eBay and blogging. We stayed there until they closed. We spent the night at the Reading Walmart. There was some construction going on but it was quiet enough to sleep.
Friday morning was still cold but not as windy. It wasn't a great day for cycling but I'd been off the bike for 2 days so I decided to suck it up and ride. We drove back to Cabella's and I did a loop ride through the farm country.
Lisa discovered the restaurant in the Microtel Motel had wi-fi so she spent the day listing items on eBay. I joined her after the ride and we stayed the into the evening surfing, eating and listening to the band.
We left around 10 PM and drove to Lancaster so we could ride in the Amish country Saturday.
We found that ideal combination of a Walmart and a Panera Bread in the same plaza and parked for the night.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Florida Migration
Our Massachusetts departure was a day behind schedule because the alternator in our truck decided to die on Saturday afternoon. The AAA guy suggested that we go to Sears and it turned out to be a good recommendation because we got there at 3 PM and we were out by 5:30 Kudos to Sears.
The batteries were both dead from running with the bad alternator so Sunday morning we went to Costco in Nashua for warranty replacements. The price of the batteries was $10 higher since I purchased mine in Jan but they did a direct replacement at no charge. I love Costco. Given a choice I would rather shop there than anywhere else.
We finally left Lunenburg at 3 PM Sunday Sept 28 and drove to Hartford in driving rain to see a Peter Paul & Mary concert. (Yes, they are still alive)
The rain had stopped when we left the concert we headed toward New York on I-84, stopping for a snack at the Blue Colony Diner in Newtown, CT. We've been known to spend the night in their parking lot during our migration but I was still wired so we drove on to Fishkill, NY and pulled of at Walmart and parked there for the night.
There was a Panera Bread in the same plaza so we went there in the morning for breakfast and some Free Wi-Fi.
Monday began with rain but soon cleared so I opened Map My Ride, created a route and uploaded it to my trusty Garmin 705 cycle computer. What a wonderful piece of technology it is! I love exploring new places on my bike and being able to create a route in advance is such a blessing.
Lisa rode with me for a while and then turned back to drive the truck to our meeting point, a bike shop on Elm St. in Oakland, NJ about 50 miles away. I rode south past West Point and then headed west just south of Stony Point. The cycling was not as good from there, not horrible but no comparison to what I had experienced earlier.
About 5:30 we found each other in Oakland, the bike shop was a bust but there was a dollar store that had some cool stuff and a good restaurant. We had a turkey dinner and it was delicious.
After dinner I walked around the plaza with my Ipod Touch looking for some open wi-fi. There was a strong signal coming from a bagel shop. They were closed so we backed the truck to their door and were able to surf the net from inside the camper.
About 9 PM we headed west on I-78 into PA. I started getting tired around Allentown so we pulled into Whitehall where we found that perfect combination of free camping ( Walmart) and free wi-fi (Panera)
Tuesday morning I logged on to Map My Ride to find a loop ride in the area. I found a 50 mile loop that the creator described as a "religious experience." How could I pass that up? It was a very nice loop and there was one hill up to Blue Mountain Ski Area that was high enough that seeing God should have been possible, but it was cloudy and raining a bit at the top so I didn't wait around for him. The weather cleared as I descended the other side of the mountain so I finished the loop dry.
Rain was in the forecast for Wed morning so we decided to spend another night in Whitehall.
The plan was to spend the morning at Panera while the rain moved through and the drive to Hamburg, PA in the afternoon to do a loop ride. It was gray in the morning but it never rained in Whitehall so we drove to Cabella's in Hamburg to ride. As it turned out this is where the front had stalled and it was pouring. Not a problem, Cabella's is always a fun visit.
The batteries were both dead from running with the bad alternator so Sunday morning we went to Costco in Nashua for warranty replacements. The price of the batteries was $10 higher since I purchased mine in Jan but they did a direct replacement at no charge. I love Costco. Given a choice I would rather shop there than anywhere else.
We finally left Lunenburg at 3 PM Sunday Sept 28 and drove to Hartford in driving rain to see a Peter Paul & Mary concert. (Yes, they are still alive)
The rain had stopped when we left the concert we headed toward New York on I-84, stopping for a snack at the Blue Colony Diner in Newtown, CT. We've been known to spend the night in their parking lot during our migration but I was still wired so we drove on to Fishkill, NY and pulled of at Walmart and parked there for the night.
There was a Panera Bread in the same plaza so we went there in the morning for breakfast and some Free Wi-Fi.
Monday began with rain but soon cleared so I opened Map My Ride, created a route and uploaded it to my trusty Garmin 705 cycle computer. What a wonderful piece of technology it is! I love exploring new places on my bike and being able to create a route in advance is such a blessing.
Lisa rode with me for a while and then turned back to drive the truck to our meeting point, a bike shop on Elm St. in Oakland, NJ about 50 miles away. I rode south past West Point and then headed west just south of Stony Point. The cycling was not as good from there, not horrible but no comparison to what I had experienced earlier.
About 5:30 we found each other in Oakland, the bike shop was a bust but there was a dollar store that had some cool stuff and a good restaurant. We had a turkey dinner and it was delicious.
After dinner I walked around the plaza with my Ipod Touch looking for some open wi-fi. There was a strong signal coming from a bagel shop. They were closed so we backed the truck to their door and were able to surf the net from inside the camper.
About 9 PM we headed west on I-78 into PA. I started getting tired around Allentown so we pulled into Whitehall where we found that perfect combination of free camping ( Walmart) and free wi-fi (Panera)
Tuesday morning I logged on to Map My Ride to find a loop ride in the area. I found a 50 mile loop that the creator described as a "religious experience." How could I pass that up? It was a very nice loop and there was one hill up to Blue Mountain Ski Area that was high enough that seeing God should have been possible, but it was cloudy and raining a bit at the top so I didn't wait around for him. The weather cleared as I descended the other side of the mountain so I finished the loop dry.
Rain was in the forecast for Wed morning so we decided to spend another night in Whitehall.
The plan was to spend the morning at Panera while the rain moved through and the drive to Hamburg, PA in the afternoon to do a loop ride. It was gray in the morning but it never rained in Whitehall so we drove to Cabella's in Hamburg to ride. As it turned out this is where the front had stalled and it was pouring. Not a problem, Cabella's is always a fun visit.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Flying Fish
Charlie and I went fishing again and this time nothing was biting except for this creature.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Stripers Are Running!
Got invited to go striped bass fishing in Marblehead, MA. by my cycling buddy Charlie Schnare. I hadn't fished for about 20 years so I wasn't expecting to catch anything. As it turned out we had a great day, we both caught 2 nice fish. Skill for him, beginner's luck for me.
I was surprised when another fisherman asked if we were brothers. Hmmmm....... I never noticed what a good looking guy he is.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Friday, February 1, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
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