The countdown has begun to the next trip, this time in October, and this time to New England. The miles will be about 400 fewer, and the time will be one day shorter. Once again, I'll be stopping off to see friends and co-workers at branches (both current and former) for the company where I work, as well as seeing some old friends who relocated to Long Island four years ago.
The details are still a little fluid, but I should be leaving on a Friday morning, and staying in Martinsburg, WV, that night. A branch manager there has two guest rooms, and I plan to take the non-pink one :) The next day, I'm heading up to Long Island, where I will spend Saturday and Sunday. Monday morning, head through Lakeville, MA, to see folks from work, and end that day in Manchester, NH.
Tuesday, I head up to Waterville, ME, and see more work friends, before finishing the day in Mariaville, ME, at a 'cabin' on an acre with 200 feet of river frontage. A two story, three bedroom, screened in porch 'cabin.' This will be courtesy of good old Charlie (good morning, Charlie!) at the branch, who has the property for sale, and if it's still on the market in October, I'll be able to bunk there gratis. Depending on the route, I'd like to end up at the coast at some point. Bar Harbor is less than an hour from the cabin, which puts Acadia National Park in close reach, too.
The next morning, Wednesday, I'll make my way over to Montpelier, VT, and have my second hotel night (the first being Manchester on Monday). Thursday I'll be winding across upstate New York and ending near Rochester to stay with a former co-worker, her husband, and the pet mouse. Not a tame mouse, actually, but protected, nonetheless.
Friday may find me swinging up to Niagara Falls, since I'm that close, perhaps dropping in to Canada, depending on my mood. End of the day should find me in Solon, OH, with yet another pair of accommodating friends from work. Saturday morning I will leave from there to head back home, for a rather long day...about 600 miles. The first day of the trip will be just under 500 miles, and the other days average in the 250 mile range, with one as long as 340 miles. Comparing the day by day miles to the last trip, this one is much more balanced, and should allow for some good leaf watching, picture taking and lollygagging, if I so choose.
Preparations to be done will very possibly include the purchase of heated gloves, and another rain suit. Now is the time to find good deals on high tech long underwear. The weather is extremely variable up there...I highly doubt I'll see any snow, but I could see some pretty chilly temps. However, I could also see some nice 60s and 70s with an Indian Summer. The bike still needs to the odometer cluster replaced, but I may have that shortly rectified. I've been toying with the idea of upgrading the bike, but I'm not sold on that yet. Test rode a couple different options last week, but neither floated my boat. An upgrade would take some pretty serious machinations, some of which are not even in place yet, so I'll hold off on saying too much there.
That's about all of an update for now. I'm still in the middle of waiting to get the chain issue resolved from Kansas City, although I made some good progress last week. I think it'll end up working out, but it's just going slowly.
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