Harley2004's Travel Blog

Lake George, New York, Wednesday, June 9th, 2004 - Lake George, New York

 This place was Amazing visited Jun 9, 2004

Another nice day today. Out of the motel early again and into Roar Brooke Ranch to attend two more seminars we wanted to attend today. First one at 9:00AM was "Living on the Road" by Christian Neuhauser, Editor-in-Chief, Roadrunner Magazine. The speaker, an Austrian by birth, had a accent, of course, and spoke very softly and even though I sat close to the front, I could hardly make out what he was saying. Most of what he covered was information about trips he and others, that work for Roadrunner Magazine, take on various bikes to write reviews on the touring aspects of the bikes. The second seminar, "Motorcycle Oils vs. Car Oils" by John Dunne, of Spectro Oils, was very informative and even though it was conducted by an representative of Spectro Oils, the speaker did not use his time pushing his products. Gained enough information on why motorcycle oils are different than regular automotive oils, an excellent seminar and well worth the time. The third seminar was "Planning for a Long Distance Ride" by Ed Brouilet & Robert Laford, Red Knights Motorcycle Club, was a good seminar. Peggy wanted to sit in on it to see how other people may differ from what we do and I wanted to attend also to see is I could pick up anything new. It was a pretty good seminar but we didn’t pick up anything new and really don’t agree with some of the things that they do, but then they usually tour in groups and we always go it alone. Nice seminar though and the two individuals who gave it were well traveled. Back to the motel to relax and get ready for the big party at the "Flying Fish" on Canada street in Lake George. Tonight was the meeting of the "Cybercaders" and Peggy didn’t want to miss it. This is the special meeting of a lot of the people who we both interact with on the Americade’s Tour Expo message board and it is nice to meet them and be able to put faces on the individuals we have been chatting with. Nice to meet the new members and really nice to meet the ones we hadn’t seen for two years. They are really a great group. We wanted to go in early so we could eat supper before the meeting. At 6:00PM thurderstorms started coming through the area and several severe weather warnings we put on on the television. Outside it was windy and the dark clouds were gathering. We decided it would not be wise to go since I might have to ride the 10 miles back to the motel late at night in the rain. We walked over to a nice restaurant behind the motel and it was closed. Seems they only serve breakfast and lunch. I decided we might as well go for it as we only get to meet with our Americade cyber friends once a year. Got a few sprinkles of rain just as we pulled into Lake George and since the threatening rain had drove many of the bikers back to their motel we were able to get a parking spot right across the street from the "Flying Fish". Just as we walked upstairs in the restaurant it started raining real hard, we just make it in time. Got there in plenty of time for Peggy to get her lobster supper before most of the other Cybercaders arrived. Glad we took the risk of getting wet, what a great bunch of bikers, saw many of the ones we new before and met many of the newer ones. A great evening spent with great people. And by the time we left the restaurant at 11:00PM, the rain had stopped, the streets were dry, and the road not too crowded for the ride home. Into the motel at 11:30PM after a great day after only 31 miles traveled, 14,064 miles this trip, 135,724 total miles.

posted Apr 18, 2005 | Comments (0)

Lake George, New York, Tuesday, June 8th, 2004 - Lake George, New York

 This place was Amazing visited Jun 8, 2004

Great weather again today and finally plenty of sun, but unfortunately we spent most of the day inside. Called McDermott’s Harley Davidson first about getting the leak stopped on the derby cover for the primary case. He swears they didn’t strip the threads, but the oil was last changed in Kalispell, Montana at the Harley Davidson dealer and didn’t leak all the way across the United States. Got another appointment with them at 8:00AM on Thursday to get it fixed. It’s still leaking and I have to get it fixed before we head out of Lake George. It is a rare occasion that only one trip to a Harley Davidson shop takes care of a problem. It usually takes at least two trips . Out later than usual today, but first I put my newly reconstructed license plate with the new frame and backing piece back on the bike. Fits OK, but I now need to do a little touch up paint and add the missing letters and numbers to the backing piece. Maybe that will get me by until I get back to Florida. On the way out of Glens Falls to Lake George, saw a motorcycle down in the middle of the road with the biker on a stretcher and the EMT’s putting a collar on him. Don’t really know what happened, Police were there directing traffic, so couldn’t stop, but looks like a "cage" might have turned in front of him to get into a gasoline station. I hate sights like that, but they happen far too often. First stop today was at the Harley Davidson area in downtown Lake George to pick up our HOG Americade pin. The HOG hospitality tent is always located by the "Demo Ride" and I went by the area where we were supposed to turn in, so I just turned into the lane that is used by people returning "Demo" bikes to the "Demo Ride" area. I know all these couple of hundred people who were lined up and waiting for a "Demo Ride" wondered what we were doing riding two up on a bike! Peggy waved at everyone and most waved back and the "Demo" workers waved me on through and out the back. Got our HOG Americade pin and headed back out on Canada Street again to go to the Outside Tour Expo Area. Went in the wrong way again and found that the parking for that area was in a large grassed field a long, long way from Tour Expo. No way I was walking that far. Since Lake George has a new inside area up the road, with a paved parking lot and a free Trolley that runs between the locations, we decided to go to the inside area first and then ride the trolley to the other area. We took one look at the Trolley and decided we didn’t want to ride that trolley. Slow, very, very overcrowded, people packed in like sardines. The inside Tour Expo area was nice, plenty of vendors, several whom we knew. Bought several Americade T-Shirts and even a new helmet for my new image for next year. Will start wearing it when we pull out of Lake George on Sunday morning. Ran out of time and left Lake George around 1:00PM and headed out to Roaring Brook Ranch for coffee and a light lunch and then had time to check out the some of the bikes in the bike show. Saw "Whitebeard’s" (AKA Santa) new sled and PJ’s bike. (They are both fellow "Cybercaders". At 3:00PM attended a Seminar entitled "Roadside MacGyver – Ingenious Solutions to Impossible Repairs". Was informative, but more of a sales pitch by Ron Janek, PRS Technologies, Inc. What I was looking for in this seminar was knowledge that can only be gained by years of touring experience, but I keep looking. That wound it up for us, at 4:00PM headed back to Glens Falls for a light supper at Wendy’s and then back into the motel around 5:30PM after a nice day, but not enough riding time. Only 20 miles today, 14,033 this trip, 135,643 total miles.

posted Apr 18, 2005 | Comments (0)

Lake George, New York, Monday, June 7th, 2004 - Lake George, New York

 This place was Amazing visited Jun 7, 2004

First official day of Americade. Great weather today even if we had plenty of clouds, even got a little warm and I had to ditch my heavy leather coat. Out of the motel too early since I wanted visit the post office and mail a birthday card before we picked up our Americade rally packet at the Holiday Inn in Lake George. Packets were to be picked up after 11:00AM for individual’s who had pre-registered. As we passed the Holiday Inn at 9:20AM, the line was already around the motel, with hundreds of people already in line waiting already. We continued on into Lake George and got the letter mailed and decided to stay on Canada Street and watch the traffic while we waited for the registration area to be opened at 11:00AM. Met several other "Cybercader’s" on main street and then took my broken license plate off the bike and had it repaired with a backing piece. Hopefully it will hold together for the rest of this year. Got to put it back on the bike tomorrow morning. Headed back to the Holiday Inn around 12:45AM and found the line still around the motel, so we parked and waited our turn. Spend about an hour in line and finally got our packet and headed for Roaring Brook Ranch, the Activities Center and registered for the award of Longest Distance Traveled and Oldest Couple (non-AMA). We’ll see how we do on Friday night when the awards are announced. Total distance of the trip until we arrived at Lake George was 14,007 miles. Ought to be a winner, but we’ll see. In any case, we had the fun of making such a long trip, and we aren’t done yet. Had a light lunch at Roaring Brook Ranch and attended a new comers orientation (this is our third Americade but we’d never attend the new comers orientation). After the orientation we returned to our motel after a quick supper at a Chinese Buffet. Into the motel around 6:30PM after a nice day but only 18 miles today, 14,013 miles this trip, 135,673 total miles.

posted Apr 18, 2005 | Comments (0)

Glens Falls, New York, Sunday, June 6th, 2004 - Glens Falls, New York

 This place was Amazing visited Jun 6, 2004

Rain again, not bad though, we’ve had rain with us all year so why should it be different at Americade. Out early this morning but just to pick up our continental breakfast and then catch up on internet news. Peggy wasn’t ready to get up, so I took a little nap and we finally got out of the motel around 10:00AM. Took a little spin up Interstate 87 towards Canada, but quickly found some light rain. Didn’t bother to put on rain gear, since it was only light and Peggy already had her rain jacket on. Not much to see or to do today, since Americade really starts tomorrow, at least Pre-registeration starts tomorrow, actually everything starts on Tuesday. Took several trips into Lake George and back and forth on Canada Street. Town wasn’t too crowded, I guess most other biker’s did not like the cool rain either. There is a slight leak in oil in the transmission. The "derby cover" that McDermott’s removed and stripped a screw when they changed the oil is leading slightly. Going to have to go back over there and make them fix it. Will call them on Monday and see if they can fit in a time that I can make. Back into the motel around 2:00PM after a nice cool, slightly wet ride of 77 miles today, 13,995 this trip, 135.995 total miles.

posted Apr 18, 2005 | Comments (0)

Glens Falls, New York, Saturday, June 5th, 2004 - Glens Falls, New York

 This place was Amazing visited Jun 5, 2004

Another beautiful day in Upstate New York. Started early since today was laundry day. Out of the motel and at the Laundromat before 7:30AM. Nice facility with plenty of new washing machines and dryers, so it didn’t take long and I was back into the motel room before 9:30. Took a ride this afternoon along the West side of Lake George almost all the way to Ticonderoga and then turned West on Highway 8 to Chestertown and then South again on Interstate 87 to Lake George. Beautiful mountain scenery along the lake with plenty of hills and curves with a number of scenic overlooks. Back in Lake George we parked on Canada Street, the main street in Lake George and watched the arriving motorcycle traffic come through town. More Harley Davidson motorcycles are arriving early this year. Met with about 20 Cybercaders (members of an Americade chat group) and had dinner with them at the Mountaineer Restaurant in Lake George. Cubbear lived up to her name again today at the end of dunner and that’s all I’m going to say about it. A great day today, with great people, back into the motel at 9:00PM after a nice ride through the mountains of 103 miles today, 13,918 miles this trip, 135,578 total miles.

posted Apr 18, 2005 | Comments (0)