Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Bike Trip to Cleveland

Bike Trip 2009

Why, you ask, would anyone ever want to go to Cleveland?  It was a place on the map, a place we had never been to, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was there and so that's all it took to become our destination. And as you know, the destination is only a small part of any road trip.  Most of the fun is getting there, and this was a fun trip.  Lots of variety and lots of riding.  We planned this trip well in advance and knew where all our stops were going to be.  Trip events included visiting the HD plant in York, PA, seeing some of the historical sites around Gettysburg, watching a Pittsburgh Pirates ball game, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Finger Lakes and a brief stop at Americade in Lake George, NY.  And of course, these were only some of the stops along the way.  We also got to see some specatular scenery in places that we had also never been to, such as Pennsylvannia, Ohio and western New York.  Here are a few pictures that we took the time to take!


We love Maine ... The Way Life Should Be!!!!!!

Massachusetts is pretty nice too...

Bad timing.  We're two weeks ahead of the race cars.

We're in Hershey already and toured the Hershey Chocolate factory and museum.
http://www.hersheypa.com/

The Harley-Davidson plant in York, PA.  The birthplace of our Ultra-Classic.  No pictures allowed on the factory floor but an awesome tour and one well worth the ride to York alone.
"Established as an assembly facility in 1973, Harley-Davidson Vehicle Operations in York, PA. is the largest Harley-Davidson manufacturing facility. The York facility covers more than 230 acres and has over 1.5 million square feet under roof.
Employees assemble the Touring and Softail® models, as well as limited production, factory-custom motorcycles. They perform a variety of manufacturing operations – from machining, polishing and chrome plating, to forming, welding and painting."


Visitor parking

Huge HD logo at the entrance

a familiar site to those who have visited the Gettysburg HD shop

same spot, same Shop

made it to Pittsburgh as the game started.  hotel shuttle bus got us to the PNC Park by the start of the second inning.  perfect night to sit outside and watch a ball game, eat some ball park food and enjoy the atmosphere

downtown Pittsburgh is really, really nice

love the blue sky..(we went thru a 20 minute thundershower from hell earlier in the afternoon that was pretty scary.  lesson learned though - if it looks like rain ahead, put on your rain gear before it's too late, or better yet, get off the road until it passes)

nice car Paulette

PNC Park on the bank of the Allegheny River.  Photo taken from the Roberto Clemente Bridge.
Checking out of Pittsburgh ... Ohio next ......

Time to go (love the blue sky)

Awesome State!

First time to Ohio

oh oh, tolls already

Cleveland's Harley-Davidson Sales Company

brief stop

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
http://rockhall.com/

a number of huge guitars created by various artists adourn the entranceway.  I kind of liked this one!

and Paulette liked this one

entrance

she'd rather be with Jon Bon Jovi ............

we lucked in an got to see a special exibit on Bruce Springsteen during our visit

sorry, not Jon Bon Jovi

back through PA via the back roads (rts 27, 6, 15) on our way to Horseheads, NY.

after visiting the Corning factory in Elmira, NY the evening before and a night at Horseheads, we're on our way to see Seneca Lake, the largest of the Finger Lakes.  Notice the rain gear...

always time for some good American Diner eats... and home made root beer!
http://www.macsdrivein.net/

Mac's Drive in is in Waterloo, NY on Rts US 20 & NY5.  It's half way between the north end of Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake

after finishing the day before riding through the Adirondack Park, we spent the night in Lake George, home of Americade.  Thousands of bikes all over.  During our first visit here in 2003, there wer not too many HDs, however, in 2010 there were more HD touring bikes than any other.  Lots of trikes of all makes too

outside the Tour Expo, on the south shore of Lake George

extra parking

200 + vendors and really good atmosphere

bike parked on Canada Street the night before (one of thousands that line the main road throughout Americade)

cool plate, however, I never got the chance to meet the owner to find out what 'RFTW1' meant.  Pretty close to RITFW.  The guys a marine though and from California

on our way home.  Vermont is a beautiful state for riding

home was via New Hampshire's Atlantic coast.  Love Hampton Beach area

we like travelling up Highway 1 thru New Hamspire and Maine.  We had read about Flo's steamed Hot Dogs somehwere along Highway 1 a few years ago in a travel magazine but had been unsuccessful in finding it until our trip to NYC with Kayla in Jul 2008.  Now we stop whenever we can.  Don't blink or you'll miss it. Oh and they only serve steamed hot dogs with Flo's special sauce along with your choice of potato chips and soft drinks

Flo's is right on Highway 1 just abit north of York, ME

"Florence Stacy bought the business in 1959 and operated it for 14 years, then sold it to her son and daughter-in-law, John and Gail Stacy, who have operated it ever since. The famous relish works well with many condiments such as mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup."
http://www.floshotdogs.com/

one last stop before crossing the bridge to Canada in Calais, ME/St. Stephen, NB