(Day 64) On spiders and rain and more rain...

I knew I shouldn't have killed that spider that I found in the hotel laundry room last night!  My dad told me that Bruce's never kill spiders as legend has it that a spider was inspiration for Robert the Bruce to go into battle one last time against the English... and in that one last batte he persevered and the English were defeated and Scotland was recognized as an independent country...

Well, I killed the spider and Clan Bruce and Clan Wallace persevered through the clouds in Pennsylvania, showers in New Jersey, the showers, and heavy rain in New York, the rain in Vermont and the rain in New Hampshire.

We were on the road about 7AM and while the ceiling was low, the roads were dry and being optimists we hoped for the best...  we were dry until we hit the New York border.  It started with a light mist then turned into a shower and just before Albany we were driving in a downpour.

We stopped for gas just before  Albany - saw it wasn't going to get any better so we set out again.  Al was still able to notice the beautiful architecture of the state capital buildings!  Seems like the government buildings are the ones that are kept in better repair!

We made it through Albany on Interstate 287 and then jumped on Hwy #7 going east.  On a dry day this would have been a wonderful trip.  Heading toward the Green Mountains passing through small New England villages... wonderful!

Through Hoosick, Old Bennington and in Bennington (new Bennington I guess) we stopped for coffee at a little restaurant just to get out of the rain!  The place was so full we simply stood in middle of the entrance and left a puddle as we sipped our coffee... luke warm coffee - but coffee nonetheless!

Back on the road the rain had eased some... and that lasted for about 10 minutes!  The scenery was beautiful - what you could see of it through the raindrops on the windscreen!

Just outside of Brattleboro we had to stop again.  It was really coming down!!  We stopped at a little chainsaw shop and had a great little chat with the owner who offered us coffee (Green Mountain Coffee - is it ever good!) and as chatted and he learned where we were headed he informed us that he lived in Halifax - West Halifax, NH just southwest of Brattleboro.  We had a good laugh over that and then we headed back out into the rain.

Through Brattleboro and on into Concord... again, quaint New England towns that really do invite one to stop and browse through the shops and wander the streets!  Sounds like a nice fall getaway!!

Through Concord and onto I-93.  I-93.  This was Al's idea.  He said the views were spectacular.  The road passing through valley after valley and slowly rising into the While Mountains... what I saw through the rain and mist from the passing cars makes me want to come again!

For the first time in my motorcycling life I was counting down miles to a destination.  We had planned to stop in Twin Mountains as Al had stayed here before and it seemed a reasonable distance from Allentown and home... reasonable and quite doable when it is fine!  The last 20 miles were the hardest miles I have ever driven on a bike.  I was wet to the core and cold.

Must come back when the weather is like this!!
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The first motel we came to... wouldn't you know it... they had rooms... but there was only one bed in each room.  I was cold but not so cold that I wanted to share a bed!  The owner recommended the next place the road: The Profile Deluxe Motel.  It's a mom and pop establishment that is a little dated but the service more than makes up for it!!  The owner took our wet clothes and dried them in his dryer and gave us two big umbrellas to use so we could walk up to the restaurant for supper and not have to get on the bikes again!  Thanks so much.

We walked back to the restaurant and had a great meal - seafood - we are getting close to the east coast!

We will be on the road early in the morning and its looking like that spider will be haunting the rest of the way through New Hampshire, Maine and into New Brunswick!

...on the Sabbath Road...