A "I Is Smart" Moment

I am up and about at 5am this morning. Brought the remaining locations I had saved into Google Maps into MapSource, between Scranton PA and Poughkeepsie NY for GLMC USA Grand Tour. Started to review the May trip and decided there was not enough time to concentrate on the remaining segments of the trip, so I decided to Waymark some additional places we had visited. I am up to June 26, 2011.

Waymarking is a fun way to document where you have been, get some merit badges and see how many categories you can cover. Among the categories, I stop at are Vermont Historical Markers. You find these all over Vermont on the side of the roads. They are the green signs with gold trim and offer tidbits of history of what occurred at that spot.

In Putney, VT on Kimball Hill Rd sits one these signs titled Family Home of John Humphrey Noyes. Part of the requirements for this waymark category, one must include the marker text in the long description. I blow up the photo and begin typing the text into Notepad.


Marker reads:

Family Home of John Humphrey Noyes
Eldest son of a Putney family, John Noyes (1811-1886) became deeply religious after a revival meeting in 1831. Convinced that Christ's Second Coming had occurred in 70 A.D. and that all people could now be free of sin, he became a "Perfectionist".

Under Noyes' leadership a small group of followers came together as the Putney Perfectionists. They lived communally, practiced "Bible Communisim", ran a press, and published a paper call the "The Witness".

When they extended the sharing of their financial resources and labor to the sharing of themselves in "Complex Marriage", villagers pressured them to leave. Fearing legal action they left Putney for Oneida, NY in 1848. There in the Oneida Community they practiced their beliefs for the next 32 years.

Vermont Division For Historic Preservation - 2002


I get to the section of Perfectionist and think to myself there is a National Landmark in NY and a society that existed with the same dogma. I get to the Complex Marriage part and I think to myself, I wonder if these 2 sects are related. I finally get to the Oneida Community and realize this spot in Vermont were the same people as the National Landmark I visited in August of 2009 in New York.

For that brief moment I was smart. As I was typing the text of the sign I knew exactly what the sign meant. How kewl is that. Also, I connected two seemingly unrelated dots of visited places in my life to one another, completing a circle. Sends chills up ones spine. (well that might be an over statement)


The Vermont Historic Marker in Putney.
Located on Kimball Hill Rd at N42° 58.6248', W072° 31.5806'
My Waymark as posted.






Oneida Community Mansion House - Oneida NY
Located at N43° 3.6259', W075° 36.1772'
My Waymark



Now I bet all of you have a relationship with this posting. Ever eat using Oneida silverware ??

Leaving George on the Lake

With the temps turning very fall like, there was no rush to get up early and head for home, so we slept in til 8:30 again. Down to breakfast we said our good byes to the NERds. I figured if we got out of there by 10:30 we would get home at a respectable time and have plenty of time for some visits along the way. First stop was the Petrified Sea Gardens. We had passed these once before, but I noticed the sign had said they were closed. We rode up and down the street and did not see any sign of the gardens, however I did notice some road side signs that looked like information boards you see in the parks so we turned around and stopped for a look see.





Turns out the above was Lester's park and the Landmark is Ritchie's Park, however they are essentially right next to one another. The Landmark place has been closed for quite awhile and any signs of the entrance is long gone.

Next stop was the Canfield Casino and Congress Park in Saratoga Springs. We grabbed the Casino and I started to walk around. There was this statue by Daniel Chester French, who did the Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial sculpture. After all this time I must be learning something because some of these artist’s works are becoming familiar. Fred Olmstead had his touch on the design of the park. He did Central Park. We left the park and headed out. I knew I was leaving without a picture of Spit and Spat, so I turned around and went back for these guys. Also walked over to this sundial for some pictures.

The Casino and Spa


Daniel French Sculpture


Spit and Spat Fountain




The Sundial


Not too far away is Saratoga Spa State Park. A ride down the Avenue of the Pines lead us to Saratoga Spa State Park. The park became an attraction due to the mineral springs in the area and the medical benefits from drinking and bathing in the water. We grabbed some pictures of the mineral bath places







From here we headed south on 9. We had essentially grabbed all the places for the day I had scheduled. MeAsWe said she was hungry and we happened to pass this Fedoro Diner. A quick brake and turn we were in the parking lot. We were told there were only 3 Fodero Diners remaining and I thought this was not correct, but didn’t think it was worth arguing the point. I looked it up and there are more than 3 left, with the Agawam Diner in Rowley, MA one of them. We had a great breakfast accompanied by a classical guitar player, not your typical diner fare.







Back on the road I decided we would not head across Vermont, but slab it home before the temps and sunlight ran out. All in all it was a great weekend. It was more about being with the NERds than the riding this weekend, even thou we got to see some neat sights along the way.

Lake George on my Mind - Day One

Today we headed for Lake George to spend the weekend with the NERds (New England Riders). EasyEd has put together a great weekend. Not only did he seek out accommodations for over 60 of us, but put together riding routes for multiple days.

We headed out about 8:30am and within 10 minutes of leaving home; we discovered our mesh gear was out of season. The temps were hovering around 50 degrees. As we headed up RT 146 to the Mass Pike the Laminar Lip on the FJR felt the effects of the cold weather and decided to take it owns course to the Adirondacks. Off it flew soaring like a kite, up up and away. We circled back on the highway 2 times but to no avail it will stay hidden on the sidelines on RT 146 between exit 5 and 6. Nice way to start the weekend.

First thing I noticed was I was not going to be able to leave my visor up. Too much air on the eyes. Second thing I noticed was the wind noise with the visor down. MeAsWe also noticed an increase in wind noise and she rides with her visor down all the time. Only consolation is, it is fall and this is the time of the year I usually do ride with the visor down because of the temps.

We blasted out of MA and headed for Kinderhook, NY to visit Martin Van Buren Historic Site, Lindenwald. This became our 8th president retirement home. By the standards of the Vanderbilts located further south on RT 9, it is pretty plain in comparison. We spoke with the park ranger for awhile, who remembered me from last year when I told him about the IBA National Park Tour. Good memory or great customer service. Either way I smiled.





We continued up 9H (which turns into 9) to the East Greenbush Diner. Lunch was OK, not great, but not bad nothing special. Even the building had nothing special about it, typical Greek diner.



From there we headed into Troy to capture a couple of National Landmarks. First was the Gurley Building, erected in 1862. This building was put up in less than 8 months as a result of the Great Troy Fire. Since the late 1800’s the name W. & L. E. Gurley has been synonymous worldwide with the design and manufacture of precision mathematical and engineering instruments.



One neat thing I found in the Nuvi was it's ability to store photos and display them in addition to its GPS abilities. I copied a bunch of the landmark photos from the web to help me identify some of the building we were looking for. Previously it was a wing and a prayer the address was right. Sometimes I printed pictures of the buildings before we left. This actually worked out quite good because it is quick and efficient.

Next stop was the Kate Mullaney House. Kate’s House is nationally significant as the residence of one of America's leading female labor leaders, the young Irish immigrant laundry worker who organized and led the all-female Collar Laundry Union in Troy, New York, in the 1860s. The neighborhood was not one to just hang around for a long period of time, so we grabbed a couple of pics and scooted.



Harmony Mills was a complete industrial complex built at the height of cotton mills between 1860 and 1880. What makes these sites neat is one gets to visit and then research the history behind the building. It gives you some insight what made this country great.



From Troy to Lake George is only around 55 miles if you go the fast way. We tend to not go the fast way and decided to visit Saratoga National Historic Park. This was to grab the stamp for the NP tour. The Battles of Saratoga was the first significant win over the British that lead France to recognize the US as a independent country.





One last stop before we finished for the day was Owl’s Nest, home to Edward Eggleston. Ed wrote Queer Stories for Boys and Girls. His house is a National Landmark. I still don’t really have a clue who he is, but being there and taking a picture accomplish my treasure hunt for National Landmarks. Plus the ride there was great.

Go West Part Deux - Planning Stage

This morning I finished the routing for our trip out west. We will be riding 16 days and cover right around 4300 miles. We have done more miles in the same amount of days, but I did promise we would be in before dark. We will let the forest rats own the night. Our trip will cover UT, ID, WY, MT, WA, OR, CA, and NV.

Our planned National Parks parks will be:
Golden Spike
City of Rocks
Craters of the Moon
Nez Perce
Grand Tetons
Yellowstone
Glacier
Fort Vancouver
Mount Ranier
Whitman Mission
Crater Lake
Lassen Volcanic
Lava Beds
Whiskeytown
Tulelake
Great Basin
Timpanogos Caves

These will cover Washington and California for our Silver National Park Tour certificate from the IBA. Next spring we will head south for Florida and pick up Maine during the summer or even this fall to cover the four corner states. READ HERE

We will also pick up one barbecue joint in each state for Smoke Chasing 2011 so that we end up BBQ Pit Masters (1 joint, 15 states). We are at the Smoker level (3 joints, 5 states) right now.

I haven't counted the number of towns that will be covered for An Affair with Water, but as a guess it is probably over 40. We are not going to go way out of our way for the Water Towns, but when close we will go seeking the Post Office. Some of the towns that come to mind are; Great Falls, Idaho Falls, Columbia Falls, Salt Lake City, Bear River City......

We are also grabbing a bunch of National Historic Landmarks. On the agenda is Bonneville Dam, Experimental Breeder Reactor 1, Two Medicine Chalet, Temple Square, Timberline Lodge, and many many more....

We will attempt to see the infamous Shoe Tree and the new sprouting one in Nevada along the Loneliest Road (US 50). This 70' cottonwood tree was adorned with 1000's of shoes in the middle of Nevada. It was cut down by some vandals in 2010. I hear there is another one sprouting from the shoes that lie on the ground next to the original one.

We will cover the Northwest Passage, Volcanic Legacy, Historic Columbia River Highway, Chinook Scenic Byway and White Pass Scenic Highway all of which are America's Byways. Last year we covered Beartooth Highway, Chief Joseph, Flaming Gorge and Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway. CHECK THEM OUT

This weekend will be the final preparation of the FJR before shipping. This time we will pack as much on the bike as possible. Less we have to carry thru the airports. I might even wash the FJR before it leaves, well at least the windshield and Laminar Lip. We deliver the bike to Allied Van Lines in Franklin, MA on Aug 1.

On Aug 11th we board our plane to Salt Lake City to begin this journey. We will ride right past the spot where we were taken out last year. Maybe we will stop in the Antler Bar and buy a round for some of the folks. They sure deserved it in the help they provided during the night we will never forget. It was the 175# buck last thought. I am hoping we get to ride the whole Going to the Sun road this year. I heya thars snow in dem hills. Ranier and Mount St Helen may have snow as well. Tulelake was a Japanese intermnet camp during WWII and probably the worst of them to boot. This was a black spot on our history in the US. We might even watch Old Faithful again. There is so much to see, that one trip just doesn't cut it, but ya gotta start somewhere. Better to have done, than dreaming about doing it.

Up to Our Old Tricks - The Chase is On

This past weekend was an awesome time to be out on the bike. Saturday I spent the morning over at Giff’s taking advantage of his kindness by using his drill and dremel. First thing was to drill out the rear pegs for the floor boards that were mounted on the 07 FJR. Next was to grind a small spot out of the left front compartment, so that I can close the lid down on the GPS wire. I really should make a permanent wire, but this works, so what the heck.

With these tasks complete and a working GPS, I decided to head out for some Water locations and a couple of tags.

First stop was the border of RI/CT in Coventry RI. This was a CT tag. Then off to numerous water locations. At around 6 I found myself at Dunkin Donuts in Rehoboth, calling MeAsWe to see if I could find more info on the MA Tag. I left DD defeated and traveled to Attleboro Falls for the last stop of the day. There was something missing during these travels.





On Sunday, MeAsWe is going out for the first time since her affair with the Montana Buck. Today it would be an affair with water. First stop is Valley Falls Fire District house, then off to Central Falls. This was mainly urban riding as we meandered our way thru Pawtucket and finally off to some country roads. Next destination was the failed capture of the MA Tag yesterday. As we traveled some background, I dropped my left hand and gave MeAsWe a squeeze on the leg, and that missing something from yesterday was here today.





Our turnaround point was Green Harbor MA; however a stop at America’s First Couple, John and Priscilla Alden, house for a photo op of a National Historic Landmark was in order. From Green Harbor we had 4 additional stops at water and headed home.



It was a good first run for MeAsWe, and me, as well, with the new knees. Almost like we never got off the bike last September.

Escape from Livingston, MT

We spent four days cooped up in the Best Western in Livingston MT. MeAsWe needed at least 72 hours with her leg pointed to the sky and I spent a fair amount of time on the phone on insurance issues and figuring out what we were gonna do. On Monday, I rented a car and went to Clyde Park to see the bike, pics posted in the last post. We decided to continue our journey, at least partially, so we rented a car for a week, pointed the car toward the west and headed to Spokane to visit some relatives of MeAsWe. After that we are going to Glacier (the major reason for the trip), closing this portion with a ride down US 89 back to Bozeman. From there we will take a bus to SLC and fly home. Not the way it was planned in MapSource but it is something. The cost to change our travel plans, was greater than the cost of the 2 way tickets out here.

Enterprise picked us up precisely at 10 am and we headed for Bozeman. The kid that picked us up. left Texas and moved to Montana to ski. First question I asked was how does someone from Texas get involved with skiing. I forgot the answer, but I thought it was kewl the kid was doing what he wanted. So many of us, me included, did what was expected of us. If I only thought to buy a bike back then, hmmm the possiblies. We were out of the Enterprise office and on the road heading west around 11:30. MeAsWe in her new pillion seat



I thought this was kewl. As we made our way up to Spokane we saw other mountains with letters as well. They must mean something



Since we had the time, I stopped of at a couple places along the way. Stopped here to get a tall shot glass to add to my collection





We stopped at Three River Fork a National Landmark. This is where the Gallatin, Jefferson and Madison Rivers come together to form the Missouri River.







MeAsWe moved to the back seat. This was more like riding the FJR.



Arriving in Butte, I went looking for Burton Wheeler House, another National Landmark. Pulled into this hood and found a person to ask if they knew which house it was, which they didn't. They suggested I try the guy across the street, knocked on his door, he came. I asked if this was the Wheeler House, he said no and slammed the door. Friendly place Butte was. We drove around Butte because the town itself is a National Landmark. Both MeAsWe and I made the observation that the people in this town were some of the hardest looking people we had every seen. Weathered, looking down and out, western tough, disheartened and as declined as Butte looked. At one time Butte boasted the most Ho Houses and Saloons in one location in the US. It looks like they never left. Butte was a turn of the century mineral wonderland, mining gold, silver and the mother lode of copper.







Next stop was Grant- Kohrs Ranch, a National Park commemorating the western cattle industry. All I could think about while I walked around was Hoss, Ben, Little Joe and Adam walking. This ranch at one time reached 10,000,000 acres and had 50,000 head mozin and grazin about. Grabbed INK and got out of town before sundown. Yee Haw







MeAsWe was grumbling from the pain radiating from her leg, but her stomach started to chime in as well. She had never been to Hooters. They had a ton of neon inside so I grabbed some for Waymarking.







I just couldn't resist



This girl, who is the daughter of a police officer in town was one of the best waitresses I have ever had.



Most photographers use their thumb to line up a shot.



We put the pedal to the medal and drove the distance to Spokane. All in all, we had a good day. After dinner the sun dropped quickly and my eyes kept darting back and forth looking for FRs that want revenge for their brother in Clyde Park. You talkin to me?? Ya wanna piece of me. Come on I will F+&K you up real bad. Oh Oh you want to live in peace and harmony. I can live with that.

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