The New Ride - Our 2012 Dream Wing

After the accident on I-10 in August of 2015 Billie found us a beautiful replacement in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (see Earlier post "Our 2008 Gold Wing's Last Ride" for details)

This 2012 bike had a lot of the packages I really wanted on our next bike, including a Navigation/Serious XM radio package and most importantly ABS brakes.

The great part though was that this bike only had just over 5,000 miles on it and still had factory warranty. The seller was a very nice guy and included a lot of extras with the bike that was already at a good price.

After securing the financing, I booked a flight to Albuquerque on Southwest Airlines one way. My brother picked me up at the airport and drove me to the sellers house who actually lived north of Albuquerque a ways. I gave him his check and he gave me the keys and a bunch of goodies with the bike.
I spent a couple of nights with my brother and installed the highway pegs on the bike before heading back to Houston.

The ride home was one of the favorite rides I had made several times.  The Windmill farms north of Sweetwater, Texas are always a nice ride for me.  A long 15 hour day with nothing but the wind in my face and a lot of great tunes on the XM radio in my ears. There's just something about the open road and riding a motorcycle that will never be unseated in my heart or memories.

Once I got home then the personalization of the new toy began. I ordered a trailer hitch, a CB radio and luggage rack for the trunk. I had help from some great friends getting them all installed.

I purchased light kits at the Kansas District GWRRA Rally and put them on along with some lights in the saddle bags, trunk and pockets. Also had some ground effect lights added with plans to add more at a later date. Never too many lights on a Gold Wing for me.

More lights! It is nice have the saddle bags, trunk and front storage pockets lit at night. The lights were connected to a switch that turned them on when I lifted the trunk lid. Sure make it a lot easier to find things. I also added LED lighting inside the trailer.

These are the friends that helped with the installation of the trailer hitch and the CB radio. Many hands make for a light load but the camaraderie of friends makes for lasting memories.

Randy Rainwater

Steve Seligman

I loved the results of all of the things we added to the Wing.  I was a very comfortable ride and we got it all done in time for a big adventure to finish up our goal of riding in all 48 Continental States.

Next up will be our longest trip on our motorcycle. Over 5,000 miles covering much the Western United States. Stay tuned...

New England Trip 2015 Pt 7 Vermont to Niagara Falls, Canada

Leaving Wells, Maine we traveled across New Hampshire into Vermont and into upstate New York to go through Lake George. We wanted to see the location for the Americade Motorcycle Rally which usually takes place in early June every year. The ride across the Green Mountains in Vermont was beautiful.

After the ride through Lake George we went to Utica to spend the night. We did not stop in Lake George; we only wanted to see it since we plan to come back to Americade and we needed to get on to the hotel before dark.

The next day we were up early and rode to Lockport, NY to take a ride on the Erie Canal and go through the only double locks on the canal.

The double locks raise or lower boats 49 feet depending on which way they are going. Heading West our boat was raised; the return trip we were heading East and the boat was lowered. 

The locks do not have any pumping stations. All water flow is handled by gravity and a series of valves and gates. 

The canal was built 80 feet wide in its narrowest places. Our boat was 77 feet long and had a split paddle wheel which could be controlled independently for propulsion.  Our Captain took us to a place that was 80 feet wide and turned us around to head back,  He only had 3 feet of clearance so he had to be precise in his navigation. He did it flawlessly and never came close to hitting either side of the canal.

The Erie Canal allowed merchant traffic to make a trip from Buffalo, New York all the way to New Your City by way of the Hudson River where the canal ended.

You can see how big the gates are in the pictures above. It really is an amazing feat of engineering considering the era in which the canal was built.  I'm not sure if you can traverse the whole canal now because I am not sure the other locks are still operational. It would be interesting to make that trip if it is still navigable. Sure is a lot of history along the canal.

There were a lot of Canada Geese and Mallards that were nesting along the canal in Lockport. Most cities have pidgeons; Lockport has geese and ducks. Well at least in June when we were there.

We left Lockport for the short ride to Buffalo and the Rainbow Bridge to Canada.

There was a long line to get across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada and while we were stopped, we were bumped by the man in a van behind us. We were probably on the Canadian side and he had Ontario plates so I was glad that there was no actual damage. Just not paying attention.

We had a room at the Embassy Suites on the 22nd floor overlooking the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls too. Great view. We had a Prime Rib dinner in the hotel dining room on the 9th floor which also had a great view of the falls. The food was excellent and modestly priced.

Great views from our suite.

After dinner we went down to the Horseshoe falls and walked around taking pictures.

The Horn Blower was making its run up the river getting excursion takers all wet in the mist created by the falls.

At night the American Falls are lit up in colors but I could not get a decent picture of it.

The next day we started making our way back home. We went across Canada to get to the Flint, Michigan Port of Entry. We were advised by friends to avoid the Detroit entry point as it is always a long wait. Coming back into Flint was relatively quick. I don't think it took us an hour to get across.

Once back in the country we made our way to Eldorado, Kansas to see friends and then on back to Texas. It was a wonderful trip on the motorcycle and we sure had a lot of fun seeing a lot of this beautiful country. I could not possible post all of the pictures I took on this trip. You have only seen less than 1% in these posts I'm sure. 

Stay tuned for more adventures. We did a big West Coast trip in 2016 to complete our goal of riding our motorcycle in all 48 contiguous states.

New England Trip 2015 Pt 6 Maine

After our ride up the coast from Boston and Gloucester we made our way into Ogunquit, Maine. I took Billie to see a little Restaurant the I had visited on a birthday trip in 1999 called Huckleberry's. I had bragged about how good their clam chowder was and the bacon cheddar potato skins and the coffee. We only found an empty place by the water. It burned down the month before we got there. What timing.

This picture is from my 1999 visit. I think they are going to rebuild it so maybe I'll get a chance to take Billie there sometime in the future.

We continued on up the coast a little ways to Wells, Maine to our hotel, the Majestic Regency. It is the perfect motorcycle motor lodge for us. Park in front of your room. It was in the off season so we got fantastic rates. Their continental breakfast consisted of  wonderful fresh pastries from a local bakery along with cereal along with hard boiled eggs and yogurt.

We went to Mike's Clam Shack for dinner. Guess what I had? 

We stayed 2 nights in Wells and did a day of exploring the area. We went first to the Nubble Light house pictured below. This is one of the most photographed lighthouses in America. It was a cloudy day as you can see so the picture is not the best.

Then we rode up the coast to Kennebunkport and along the coast we happened into a vantage point to see George H. W. Bush's summer home and a memorial gift across the lagoon from the compound.

It is still a limited access place with Secret Service details on site.  Below is the Memorial.

We had lunch at Arundel Wharf in Kennebunkport with a great view of the harbor. I also found out that I do not like full-belly clams. Nasty creatures that do not taste anything like my favorite fried clam strips. 

We walked to dinner at another seafood restaurant called Spinnaker's Seafood in Wells that evening.

 After returning to our hotel we settled in for a good night's sleep before heading over to Vermont and upstate New York for the next leg of this adventure. Pt 7 coming...

New England Trip 2015 Pt 5 Hyannis Port to Plymouth

It was another pretty ride from Newport over to the Cape Cod area. We made Hyannis Port our base for day trips to Cape Cod and Plymouth for a Whale Watching tour. Province Town was not what I had expected but it was nice. The National Seashore was very pretty.

Made a trip to the harbor for some seafood. Yep you guessed it, I had some fried clams. Very good but not as good as Anthony's in Newport. We did a little stroll down the dock after dinner and I watched a fisherman preparing to unload his catch of the day, squid but the bushels!

He had container after container packed on ice and there was a truck waiting to take his load. He told me he had been out since 4:30 am and said he was getting to old for this. It is hard work and he didn't have a deck hand to help.

We rode out Cape Cod the next day and went through Province Town on the point. That was an experience. We also went to the National Seashore on the Atlantic side of the Cape. The beach is beautiful.

There are signs posted warning about Great White Sharks in the area due to the Grey Seal population. They are a favorite prey of the Great White sharks. Jaws came to mind when I saw it. Don't recall seeing anyone in the water. Go figure.

After the visit we found another seafood shack on the way back to the hotel. Imagine that.We had reservations in Plymouth the next day for a Whale watching tour. WOW is all I can say about it. Just WOW. Being this close to these magnificent creatures was awesome. Look at there pictures.

Yes, I was less than 10 feet from this whale when it came out from beneath our boat to catch a breath before going back under. It was something to see!

And then it was gone... but we saw a lot of whales that trip. Our guides knew the names of the Whales if they got to see their Flukes because they had named all of the whales that normally inhabit the area. Every Fluke is different like our fingerprints. The guides gave us a lot of information about whales and their habits. Worth every penny.

On our way back in the Captain slowed the boat and came to a halt to call our attention to this Grey Seal bobbing on the surface just looking around and watching us. I'm glad there were no hungry sharks beneath it. 

It was an exciting day. We saw a lot of whales in Hawaii on our first anniversary cruise but nothing this close. I had mentioned to Billie that I would like to do a Whale Watching tour if we ever got back. She surprised me with this tour when we were planning our trip. I was so excited to do this but it far exceeded my expectations. I'm married to the very best travel agent a man could ask for. 

Upon our arrival back to the dock, we took a stroll through the park and went to see Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II. 

There is also a Pilgrim Village in the area but again, time did not allow us to go and visit it. Just another reason to go back, right?

We had dinner back in Hyannis Port that evening and went back to the hotel very tired but so satisfied with the tour we had taken. I would do it again without hesitation.

The next day we were off with a ride through Boston and a ride down Constitution Avenue to see the Brownstones. We went up the coast with a detour out to Gloucester to Maine. We did not stop there just rode through and also went through Salem and by the Witch Museum but again, did not stop so we could make our hotel in Wells, Maine in time to check in. More to come in Pt 6. Stay tuned.