Amy and I took 10 days off work to take a road trip from June 28th to July 7th 2008. The plan was basically to go from Hamilton, Ontario, where we live, to Robinsville NC and Helen GA then back again via the Blue Ridge Parkway and some various backroads in between.
This is the recap of the first day.
We left around 8:30AM. Early start for us as we seem to have a real difficulty getting out the door on time. The weather forecast wasn't looking too promising so we threw on the raingear. I opted to just put on the rainpants and rainboots. We took off down the Red Hill Valley Parkway to the QEW. Took the QEW out to Niagara Falls. In around Grimsby we encountered some pretty hard rain. Luckily there was a distinct line in the sky where the stormclouds ended and we were heading right at it. I think the rain lasted about 5- 10 minutes. We crossed into the US at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls.
At the border I took my passport out of my jacket's breast pocket. I carry it in a ziplock bag so it doesn't get wet on the road. Having only 2 hands and being on a motorcycle, I held the passport with my teeth as I rode up to the border guard. He asks me some questions about where and how long I am going to be in the US and asks for the passport. I hand it to him and he proceeds to hold it like it is a diseased thing, all the while having a discusted look on his face. He asks me if I am travelling with the party in front of me (Amy), I say yes, then he says "She said you were going to South Carolina". Holy crap, I had to pick Hitler the border guard. I explain that SC is ONE of the places we are going, then he tells me to go ahead. Phew. Usually I don't have any problems crossing the border. Irony is that I was just telling a friend how we never have any trouble with border crossings. The way this guard was acting and talking, I was getting mentally prepared for the cavity search....
After the border crossing we headed down the Robert Moses Parkway to i190 south. Cross over the bridge to Grand Island. Hit the toll gates. EZ Pass time! I go through, Red light, "Call EZ Pass". ugh. Stupid EZ passes. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to when they will or will not work. Amy's works fine. Head across Grand Island and down i90 west. Hit the toll gates onto i90. EZ PASS time again! Brrrt. "Call EZ PASS" again. WTF. Oh well. I guess they take a picture of your plate and track you down for payment. Never got a bill once when it failed to register. Get heading down i90 to Pennsylvania and we hit some more rain just before we get to the PA border. Hard rain again with a distinct line where the stormclouds end. Crazy. Seems like it was directly below where the storm was in Grimsby. This one lasted about 10 minutes as well. Raingear was still on from this morning so we were high and dry. We stopped in at the Quaker Steak & Lube in Erie PA. I had an order of Buckeye BBQ sauced wings with Magna Fries! Whoo Wee. Tasty. This was quite possibly the perfect wing sauce. Thick and hot and sweet. The magna fries kicked ass too. Amy had a chicken salad thing that didn't look nearly deep fried enough for my tastes. If you have never been to a QS&L, it is something that you need to do, especially if you are a Nascar fan, motorcycle fan, cars in general fan. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures. They have an old Elliot Sadler car out front of the restaurant.
We headed out from Erie down i79. From i90 down to around i70, this has got to be one of the most monotonous stretches of interstate in PA. I was wearing some dollar store special earplugs, which werent doing that great of a job, so I was trying to tuck under the windshield, tilt my head so it was taking the wind differently, anything to lessen the wind noise. As I am doing this, Amy keeps honking at me. We pulled over at a rest area for a break and I asked her what she was honking at and she tells me "I was worried you were falling asleep". I assured her I wasn't, then we notice this old guy in a Buick. Engine running, he is totally reclined in the driver's seat with his head tilted back and mouth hanging wide open. We contemplated how long this guy had been here for, whether he was still alive, how little he cared for the environment etc etc. Amy decided she was going to see if he was ok when she came out of the restroom. She walks up and taps the window, he wakes up and assures her he is ok. Just napping. He then drives off like nothing happened. Better to do it at a rest area than do it on the road I suppose, but damn, turn your engine off. By this time it was clear and sunny and blazing hot. We take off the raingear and hit the road again. About 10 minutes later we see the old guys car ahead. I ride past him with my head tilted back, mouth agape :) We rode all the way down to Morgantown West Virginia. Stopped to gas about 20KM from town and we hear thunder. Uh oh. On with the raingear again. Get into Morgantown and find a hotel. Best Western Mountaineer Inn. Not too bad. We check in and clean up. Headed across the street to the Texas Roadhouse restaurant across the street. Had a great meal (Steaks! Woot) and some drinks. Head back to the hotel and it is pouring rain. Go back in for another drink :) Once it eased up we headed back to the hotel.
Total of about 580kms for the first day with a border crossing. Not too bad. A little rain but all in all a pretty good start to the trip. Usually we only get about 400kms in on the first day.
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