Americade 2K9 Continued Part 3

We woke up after staying at the Super 8 Motel to a great breakfast! We ate in a small room and provided entertainment for the other hotel guests that were dining in. We met a really nice woman Iris who ran the breakfast room. We talked to her for over an hour. Her parents emigrated to the United States from Germany after World War II. We said good bye to Iris and the Super 8 and set off for Stephen King's House. This of course was Erskine's idea. WOW! Stephen King's House is beautiful!

After leaving the 3 minute exterior tour of Stephen King's home, we departed for a remedial tour of Bangor, ME. This is Erskine's specialty, Erskine will go a certain route get lost, do a u-turn and retrace his route. Thus the remedial tour is born.

Once we got out of Bangor, ME we drove to Bar Harbor, ME. It was beautiful. We went to the top of Mt. Cadillac, which is located in Arcadia National Park. It was really beautiful at the top of the Mt. Cadillac.

For those who have not been there, Mt. Cadillac is a great place to ride a motorcycle. You have a 360 degree view of the coastline of Maine and beautiful views of the Atlantic Ocean. You can see a picture of Phil, Erskine and I at the top of the mountain. The added bonus is the ride to the top of the mountain. It was a good, challenging ride. From Arcadia National Park we rode to Lewiston, ME.

Americade 2K9 Continued

We said good bye to Battleboro and Ron Milon on Monday morning. Unfortunately, Ron had to go home (Detroit) early so that he can go back to work. Erskine, Phil and I continued our journey through Vermont into New Hampshire. We stopped and had lunch in Concord, NH. Did you know that the State House of New Hampshire is the oldest in the country in which the State Legislature has continuously used since 1819? After lunch we crossed into Maine and ended up in Freeport, ME. Freeport is a very quaint New England town. All of the buildings appear to be from the middle 1800's. Even the newer buildings appear to be from circa 1880s. However, the town is an outlet shopper's mecca. See the picture of Phil and me at the L.L. Bean outlet store. L.L. Bean has a campus of stores there in Freeport. Unfortunately, we only stayed in Freeport for about an hour. We had to drive another one and half hours north to our destination for the night of Bangor, ME. That entire area is so beautiful and desolate. I have never seen so many MOOSE CROSSING signs on highway. Thank God we did not see any Moose or car versus Moose accidents. We stayed at Super 8 Hotel in Bangor that evening.

Americade 2K9

NOB's Americade 2K9 trip went well this year. There was only four of us on this trip this year. Unfortunately, Ron Milon (BMW K 1200 GT) was only able to go as far as Vermont with us. The rest of the group comprised of Erskine Clinton (ZZR 1400), Phil Williams (Honda GL 1800)and your truly with a GL 1800. Our trip was awesome this year. A great deal of miles very low drama. We met in Olean, NY the first night. Phil had started his journey from Opelika, AL. I believe that Opelika, AL is where Sheriff Taylor's (Andy Griffith) grandfather was born. Phil rode to Erskine's home in Lexington, KY. They rode out from Lexington, KY to Olean, NY. I started my journey from Barrington, IL. I met Ron Milon in Toledo, OH. The two of us rode to Olean, NY. We had a great dinner at World Famous Beef 'n Barrel in Olean, NY. Phil ordered Halibut which was to die for. I say that because with the amount of salt that was on the Halibut a person would OD on salt.

The next day we left beautiful Olean for Syracuse, NY. Anyone that rides with us knows this is one of our few traditions to eat at this Motorcyle Friendly BBQ Joint. Of course Phil and Erskine lived in Syracuse for a long time and they called a few of their friends and we had a nice little reunion. We left Syracuse right after lunch and drove the backroads to Vermont. Erskine found some really nice back roads. Our journey ended day 2 in Battleboro, VT.