Out of the Eerie and into the spectacular!

Yesterday had a 1% chance of rain ... you already know where this is going!  We got up an hour earlier so we could get the heck out of dodge and get to the resort ASAP.  So we happily left our massive room with nothing in it but a bed and headed down to the creepy underground parking garage; and saw the rain just a fallin'.  :(  David checked the radar and we watched it as we waited for our window.  After about a 20 minute delay, we pulled out onto the soaking wet roads and managed to find our favorite breakfast spot; Cracker Barrel.

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast since we were waiting for a 2nd cell to pass over, and then hit the wet roads again for the drive south to Roanoke, WV.  The ride really isn't a whole heck of a lot to document.  We pretty much wove back and forth from the interstate to Hwy 19 all the way there.  We started out on 19, and even though I was actually enjoying the ride, David was getting antsy b/c the speed limit not only kept dropping down to 45 and below, but we also kept getting behind some big trucks.

The ride was not really fun if I'm being honest!  It was hot as heck; I was drowning in my own sweat.  We drove down through Pittsburgh, and I was not that much of a fan.  There was this really awesome park we saw pictures of that we wanted to go to, but parking was $13.  Seriously?  $10 to park at Niagra Falls, and you want $13?  Nah.  We went back and forth over a few bridges.  David's GPS was giving him some trouble and we had to do some turning around a few times.  My bike was whining and blowing hot air all over my leg, so I was beginning to feel cranky.  We parked just outside of PNC Park, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and enjoyed walking around for a few minutes.  Again ... hot as heck. We mounted back up and hit the interstate.

TONS of road construction, lots of grooved pavement, lots of pot holes, and boring, straight riding.  Lol, like I said, not that much fun!  The interesting thing about this vacation is the fact that I'm actually driving.  When we go on vacation, I do not drive, pretty much ever.  So the fact that I'm staying right up with David and tackling all these crazy city interstate interchanges is pretty cool.  We did our last stretch of 19 after waiting out another pop up shower at a gas station; it sucked.  We got stuck not only in school traffic, but also behind a bus.  As SOON as humanly possible, we jumped back on the expressway for a final book it to the resort.  Finally, we arrived!

This place is magnificent.  We checked in, jumped in the pool, soaked in the hot tub, enjoyed a gourmet meal at the on site restaurant, and enjoyed a drink outside by the fire.  Pure heaven!  Turned into bed around 11:30, anxious to see what the next day would bring.

HIghways and Skyways

2nd Saturday began the same time as yesterday; 6:48 am.  I was ready to get up because I fell asleep somewhere around 7:00 pm last night.  Sadly, I woke up with a rip roaring headache; I think a little bit of dehydration had set in.  We checked out our hotel's pathetic excuse for breakfast, then decided to go ahead and layer up and hit the road.

As we pulled a U turn at a steep hilly road to go back to the cool restaurant we spotted, I realized I was pretty overdressed.  I ordered a Sweet Potato pancake with a side of bacon.  Oh my heaven, that was SO good.  I couldn't finish it all, it was soooo huge.  After shedding my 1/4 zip pullover, we hit the road towards New York.  Today's ride became a game of "Dodge the potholes".  The road was seriously BAD.  And then once we hit the state line, it was a chewed up grooved highway.  Fun, not fun.

We veered over as close to Lake Erie as we could get and really enjoyed riding along the edge.  The ride reminded us greatly of the California coast, just without the breathtaking mountains.  Lake Erie does have some cliffs, just none too dramatic.  Traffic was non existent and we enjoyed just riding at our own pace.  Still feeling great!  No sore booties or aching backs.  We REALLY enjoyed riding through Buffalo.  It's a quaint, beautiful little city.  Luckily, David was doing some filming through the city, so I should have some fun still shots captured from the GoPro.

As we followed the GPS, we did manage to find the 'hood of Buffalo; it's like any other city ... just keep on movin' through!  Hwy 5 turned into the Skyway, but it was closed!  We had to take a long, drawn out detour around.  Before we knew it, we were at the entrance to the park.  Amazingly enough, the park is free to enter.  It simply cost us $10 to park.  After locking down the helmets and I changed into my walking shoes, we waded through the mist and the throngs of people to get to the edge.  Niagra is just awe inspiring.  A perfect example of God's handy work.  We took it all in and savored the moment, fought through the crowds in the gift shop NOT to find any stickers, and as we mounted back up, we shed down to minimum layers.  NO rain at all, even for a second, but it was pretty warm.  We both sweated today.

SO thankful I always hit my skin with sunscreen before getting on the bike.  I sprayed all my exposed skin and coated my face with the stuff.  Love riding in a jacket too.  My mesh jacket was a little warm today, but it kept the sun off me, and with the long, straight stretches of high speed interstate just a T shirt will beat me to death.  The mesh jacket doesn't flap around or irritate my skin one little bit.

Haven't had one of these since CA

On the way home, we continued to dodge the awful holes.  I found that consistently the best spot to ride was smack dab in the center of the lane.  I tell ya, the weirdest thing for David and I to get used to is people riding with no helmets.  We always ride in TN/NC and sometimes GA, and those are all helmet states.  No worries, you will ALWAYS see David and I with our brain buckets on.  I believe that the day we're born,  we have a set end date, but what happens in between is up to us.  I don't want to spend my days drooling in a wheelchair.  I choose to protect myself because if  it's not my time to leave this earth and I have an accident, I want to recover fully.  Wearing protective gear gives me the best chance of surviving intact.  So, our helmets have not left our heads unless we're going in somewhere!

Happy to get out of Erie tomorrow.  No desire to ever stay in this city again.  We'd rather stay in Buffalo next time.  Heading down to Roanoke, WV the long way.  Hopefully just a short stint on the interstate; seriously missing our curves!

I love this man!

930 miles so far

First Saturday, take 2!

277 Miles today, mostly in Ohio.  We've never touched tires to Ohio, so definitely a different experience today!  We enjoyed a generous breakfast at our hotel, then rolled north on Interstate roads.  I'm telling y'all; you'd better keep your eyes open.  The interstate has way too many killer pot holes.  Some of them, I feel a motorcycle would very probably suffer some real damage, possibly even wrecking.

277 miles today

All was just fine, and the first 100 miles clicked on by.  Then we saw the Indian dealership!  We darted off the interstate, circled around to the store, and enjoyed our little break browsing bikes.  We even got to lay eyes on a Jack Daniel's edition bobber.  Just like the Elite, that bike is much more beautiful in person.  The attention to detail is really spot on.  I hate the black/gold color combo, but if presented with the opportunity, I'd definitely own one!  We picked up a pair of dealer shirts, then began the task of skirting/dodging the light rain in the area.

David kept one eye on his map and one eye on the radar, and we managed to miss all but the very lightest of drops.  Our legs got a little wet from the wet roads, but overall we stayed dry.

Light rain didn't affect us, but got Khaleesi FILTHY :(

Ohio is flat with a hand full of rolling mountains.  The rain dodging adventure allowed us to take in the local towns.  Such beauty!  Many neighborhoods of picture perfect vintage homes all lined up along a tree lined street; like something out of a storybook.

A much needed pick me up!

The Scout performed beautifully.  If anyone is wondering whether a Scout Sixty can handle all terrain, I'm here to tell you it CAN.  Yesterday was 90% mountain roads, both up and down.  I was easily able to maintain speeds of around 70 mph with no issues.  Being passed by semi trucks was no big deal, and we cruised in comfort now for 2 days.  They key is to set up your bike to fit YOU.  I've changed the seat, windshield, and the handle bars.  I've gone through 2 sets of tires now, and currently am on my 3rd front one (the front tire seems to wear more quickly).  This Michelin tire makes a WORLD of handling difference.  148% better than the stock Kendas AND the Dunlop I replaced the stocks with.  She turns smooth as butter and glides through the curves simply by you thinking about them!  Very happy with my current set up.  Stock pipes/exhaust system.  Pipes will be the LAST thing I go with, after floorboards.

688 miles ridden thus far in 2 days.  No, we're not iron butting it, but we're pulling some pretty serious miles for us.  Currently in Erie; I am NOT impressed with this city.  We walked a little bit and we both felt very uncomfortable.  The hotel is worth exactly what we've paid for it.  It's not nasty, but it's not half as nice as the one we stayed in last night.  We'll be here tomorrow night as well.  Looking forward to skirting the lake tomorrow up to Niagra; hoping for a safe and smooth ride.   Praising God for the smooth, easy ride to date.  Again, traffic was non existent.  No complaints at all!