A route, a route, my kingdom for a route

In laying out my proposed route most of the country was pretty easy. The one glaring exception was New England. Maine New Hamphire and Vermont (and upstate New York for that matter) are lacking in east/west routes in their northern extremities. Highway 2 was my choice but it did not appear to continue at points, and dipped decidedly south in others. So as I sat in my motel room in Gorham I mulled over my options.

Only 7 miles south was Mt. Washington. I thought that might be a solid idea when the brochure told of a once per year event where the public can drive/ride to the top before sunrise to see said sunrise. The only day of the year was July 31, and yesterday was the 30th! .... of june :(

I have already driven to the top of Mt.Washington, during our family vacation in '87. So what else do we have. A short trip west was the Conway Aerial Tram, not only something I had not yet done but also a form of transportation! 

By the time I had breakfast at McDonalds (so I could use their Wi-Fi, the motel gets a 0 rating and should not be allowed to claim they have Wi-Fi) and turned west on highway 2 I had forgotten all about the Tram and rode right on by. So much for planning.

The Girls were up early today and did a great job helping me across New Hampshire and Vermont.

   

I found this incredible art work, but don't ask me where

 Not only did the route work but it took me north again and found my way to Burlington, Vermont where I headed even further north and onto "The Islands", bodies of land connected by bridges, sitting in the middle of Lake Champlain between Vermont and upstate New York. On one of the causeways I found this

 Eventually I came within a mile of the Canadian border and crossed into New York. That was where things unraveled a bit. 

I had planned to take highway 11 from that point but I spotted a sign for the "Lakes to Locks Scenic By-Way". Hmmm, let me see. Highway 11 through the middle of upstate New York or Scenic By-Way? The choice was easy, but getting out of the parking lot wasn't. 

I had told Tim, when in D.C. that they told us in motorcycle safety school to always back into a parking place, the bike facing the direction of egress. At this point Tim asked "why"?

Because you never know when her husband will come home. (Rim shot)

The reason is because you can not back out into traffic safely. In this case I was between the curb and a delivery truck. I needed to turn around so I could pull out. Looking to both sides as I back pedaled I backed into a pole that was directly behind me, putting the first kink in my rear fender :(  :(  :(

The Girls seemed to know where the Lakes to Locks Parkway was so, instead of following highway 11 out of town I headed south as directed by The Girls. Unfortunately, about 10 miles south of town they sent me into a 6 mile loop and the street signs disappeared. Seeing few options I hopped on the Interstate and headed south. Luckily for me there was a Welcome to New York visitor's center shortly south of where I merged into Friday afternoon Holiday traffic. 

Their map showed an ideal route that had not appeared to me on any of the previous maps I had seen.   So now I know exactly where I'm headed tomorrow and tonight I'm staying just down the road from the same upstate New York prison that was the scene of the biggest manhunt in U.S. history only a year ago, when to dangerous criminals broke out of the previously escape proof prison by befriending a guard. They got her to believe that, in exchange for tools they needed for their escape they would kill her husband. I know Brian never heard about it, maybe some of you did.