Well after having another great sleep, I wake up and wonder why I didn't get up for last nights events. Well what's done is done, so now I'm off down to have some breakfast. Little did I know that the organizers would put on breakfast instead of the lovely hotel grub. Two huge vats of Starbucks are awaiting me. But wait, I can't have any, because I don't have my wrist band on. It's really not the time to pull this shit, not at least until I have my first coffee. Cause, ya, I pay $150 a night for the room only to screw the organizers out of $60. Anyway back to my room to get said wrist band and guess what, the fool isn't bothering me for the band, even though I didn't put it on, go figure. So after having breakfast, which was better than the hotel food by a mile, and start catching up with everyone about last night. Here are some morning pics I took when waking up.
Of course there's another ride, which I won't be doing again and one of the reasons was the loss of a few scooters from yesterdays ride due to bad roads/ or winning the pothole lottery. Poor Rob won this lovely lottery, he hit a pothole and the scoot refused to restart. Not good as Rob knows his shit. So it wasn't anything easy.
So for me it's off to downtown and back on the tour. As I've said before, Boston is a friendly tourist town. So back on the T and off I go. First is to head to the big downtown market. I kind of remember where it is from the tour yesterday so I get off at Haymarket. As I find out when I get outside, I'm not quite at the market, but the walk is a few blocks away, thanks to "Google maps". The first place I come to is the stretch of really old taverns.
Makes you wonder if these are fun places to visit or are tourist traps like "Cheers". I never did get around to asking the Boston guys about it. Honestly I looked in at "the oldest tavern in America" and it looked like every other sports bar you've ever been to. So over to the next block and there's a rather big outdoor market.
It rather reminded me of Kensington Market back in Toronto.
I've finally found the market I was looking for.
I liked these, but really didn't want to pay full pop either. So I took a pic and one of these days I might buy one.
Time for lunch, and the oldest market building is now the food court. So what to have. That's when I find the Boston chowder shop. They have Lobster bisque. Which when done right, is one of my favorite things. This was done right. It's been more than a few years that I've had a proper bisque. If I'm ever in Boston this is one of the things that I will get again, and again.
The Market is just around where I can catch the tour trolley. So off I go to hop back on for that second day pass. No problems there and time to stop off at some of the places that I didn't have time for yesterday.
A bit of the "Freedom trail" a self guided trail, as you follow the bricks lined out in the sidewalk.
First stop was "Paul Revere's house.
Not quite as big as I thought it would be.
Paul doing the lantern gig.
The church that Paul hung the lantern for the "One by land, two by sea. It's kind of cool seeing where this actually happened.
At this point I made a decision that would affect this poor blog and cost me a few $$. I've been having problems with the phone and with the camera loading. So I decided to update the ROM. Actually it went well and everything seemed to run better. Little did I know that I needed to reset everything including the camera backups. So if you've not guessed yet there are really no more pics.There is one on the backup phone which I will load later.
So from here I did more of the freedom trail and down to where the Boston Bruins play. As the ride was over and I wanted to hang out with everyone else, it was time to head back to the hotel. Boston is a city where you could spend a long weekend exploring, or even a week to get everything.
At the hotel everyone was hanging about. Sam brought out her tablet to watch the world cup final. Which we really didn't watch as everyone was having a good time, that and everyone figured that the Germans would win anyway. It was a good afternoon.
Now it was time to get ready for tonight's dinner and the awards and raffle draw. I end up meeting everyone at the front of the hotel, and Sam hits up the front desk to order taxi's. The first one arrives and then leaves as he doesn't like the tattoos and I would assume the skinhead look of one of the girls. I've known her for years and she's a sweetheart, dumb cabbies. I finally get into a cab with an older couple that I don't know, but got too, nice people. I did save the address on my phone and used Google maps to get us there. Cabbies in Boston are really not that nice and have no clue where they are going. Having said that, he was way nicer than the cabbie that we got coming back, but I'll save that for later.
Anyway $15 later we found the do, an American legion right on the river. The Boston crew really found a place that was great. I found a seat with the usual suspects and enjoyed the night. The dinner put on by the Boston crew was by far the best ever put on at a scooterist do that I've been to. All the lobster that you could more or less eat. Little did I know that Andrea was a lobster fiend. She couldn't get enough. Though I have to give it to Karm for eating 3 of the buggers himself.
The band playing for tonight was "All Mod Cons", which if you haven't guessed is a Jam cover band. They played Las Vegas a few years ago and are worth seeing. To bad the phone died as I video'ed one of their songs to add to the blog. It's still there if I ever figure out how to save the phone.
Personally I think they left the awards and the raffle a bit to late. But that's just my opinion. Either way it still was a great night and everyone enjoyed themselves. Now the fun of getting back to the hotel. It's something not a lot of people thought out, myself included. I've got the "Helo" app so I should be ok. Well I was wrong on that. Unlike Toronto where it has worked out ok for me, in Boston there is not a cab to be found, Saturday night, go figure, who would have thought ;-). That and the stupid "Helo" app would say a cab is on the way when it wasn't. It kind of made me look bad in front of everyone when it didn't show up after 20 min. Rob used Uber, and they got a car way before us. So after waiting 20 more minutes I was able to flag down a cab. So me, Sam and Larry piled in. We did make it back to our hotel but it costed more as this guy wanted to take the long way. He even tried to drive us around the block at the hotel to make even more.
So time to pass out and get ready for that long drive back home. Every trip must come to a end. Mine is not quite over but it's getting there. I wake up way to early and pack up. Grab a coffee and check out. It's only 9 am and no ones about. Most are still paying for last nights drinking. I check the weather and there's some not so good news, as there is a big band of Thunderstorms between me and either Buffalo or Rochester, where I'm planning on staying for the night. It really depends on how far I get as to where I'll be staying. The other thing that I want to knock off are the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Map of days travel's
Of course, getting out of Boston was just as much of a hassle as getting in, that's because I let the GPS guide me again, doh!. The only bonus was that it was Sunday morning and not many people about. Once on I-95 south it's easy and the weather was good. About an hour later I'm off at the I-295 and into Rhode Island. That's one state down. I get off at Route 44, which is a 2 lane, 55 mph secondary road. Nice and relaxing with tons of room to pass if need be. Finally I arrive in Connecticut. Here's the only pic I took with the backup phone. Actually, I thought I took more, but I guess I was wrong. The other thing is I've got a lot of miles to cover today, so no real stopping. As you can see I took this while on the bike.
Connecticut is more the same as the rest of the states around here. Not really interesting to drive, but they are easy and relaxing. From here I join up at the I-395 and back up to I-90 for that long drive west. No sooner than I get on the I-90 then I'm stuck in traffic. Which is off and on all the way to I-84. I wonder why it's so busy, then I see the sign for NYC 162 miles. I'm stuck in the weekend traffic returning to NYC. I'm this far out and it's this bad, I'd hate to think how bad it's going to be closer. Lucky for me the traffic is taking I-84 down to NYC and not the Albany or Buffalo way. As I get closer to Albany I hit a few rain storms but nothing worth changing my gear for. Before I get to Albany I get passed by Rob's truck, which is really easy to spot due to the scooters in the back. No problem keeping up with the truck with the BMW, so we play cat and mouse till we pass Albany. Now I'm starting to run on fumes and I've not eaten since Boston. So the first gas stop outside of Albany I pull in. Of course, just as I get there the rain starts as well. So first I fill up the bike and head inside for some lunch and check the weather. It's also one of the few times my butt hurts a bit. It's one of the few times I've actually done a tank full to tank empty run. Now I know the limit of my seat. Not bad.
Well it's easy to find Rob and Andy devouring a Quiznos sub. We catch up, they left a few hours after me, etc. We say our goodbyes and they are on their way. So now I have to make some decisions on where I'm staying tonight. Since it's already past 3 pm, I decide on Rochester. I don't need to be in Niagara Falls early to pick up my stuff at my mailbox. Plus I'll miss all the Canadians heading back home. As I've said before, Sundays is my favorite night to get a cheap room. The weekend travelers are going home and the business travelers are still at home. It makes for some cheap rooms. $57 for the night, that works for me. As I get ready to leave I notice another truck loaded with scooters. Looks like the Rovers from Detroit heading back as well.
Now for the not so fun part. I've got to dig out some of my rain gear. I end up going for the Full face, the waterproof mesh gloves ( ya, I know but they work!) and the waterproof boots (first time this trip the boots come out. The mesh jacket with the water resistant lining, I won't call it waterproof, but it works well enough. So back on the bike and I've got 2 fun filled hours of riding in the rain. Actually they were on and off, and really not so bad. so just outside of Rochester they finally stopped and so did I to take some of the rain gear off. Everything worked well. I left the boots on, as they are just to much of a hassle to change as the hotel is coming up soon and I can do it there. Thanks to the EZ- pass, there is no digging out of change. I like them so much I got a smaller one for the bike. It really has come in handy this trip as the only time I've had to dig money out is for the ferry.
Thanks to the old internet I can at least download a few more pics for ya. This is where I stayed in Rochester, NY. Good enough and a view of the bike is always good. So I unload and now what to do for dinner.
It is my last night, so I might as well treat myself. I do feel like a plate of nacho's, and there's a TGIF's right next to the motel. But I decide on the Italian steak house (well I do want to treat myself).
All as I can say is, wow, what a great steak, I think I made the right decision going here. Plus with the doggie box I was all set for snacks for the night. Snooze time, as I did a lot of mileage today.
Day 8 and 9
Daily Mileage 440 miles/708 km
Total miles 2146 miles/3454 km
================================================================================================================================================
The Last day
With an easy drive back to Toronto (175 miles) there was no hurry to get back home :-( , so I get up late, well late for this trip, and head down for my last motel breakfast (ya!). I head out at 9:30 am, with the weather looking good, well until the afternoon thunderstorms get in. The drive to Niagara Falls, NY was noting special or challenging, which after this 2000 mile adventure isn't bad thing. I've got some extra time so I decide to see a movie. I was really wanting to see the new X-men movie. Funny as I write this a few weeks later, I can't remember what I watched, and had to go back the the weeb and see what was playing.
Well I can't delay the end of the trip, as they say "All good things must come to an end" So off to the Border I go. Not much of a line going into Canada, but coming into the US, it was backed up all the way over the Bridge (Queenston, Lewston) . Of course just after I go through, I remember that I was suppose to go to my US mailbox and pick up parts for the MP3. Damn, I'll have to go and pick it up this weekend.
Now I'm on the QEW trying to beat rush hour traffic, which I'm winning. Then I hit Oakville and the black sky and the wall of water. Since I just went past one exit, I'm in it for all the fun. I get off at the next exit. It was bad. I hit the nearest McD's for a snack. The coffee crisp Mcfurry looks good. Nope, the machine is down. No problem I'll take a Latte, nope no Latte machine. I hit the only McD's that isn't a McCafe. Funny thing is that this is the McD's across from the Oakville Go station (intercity transit). Usually I'll hit the Starbucks just down the street, but ya, the rain was that bad that I hit the first dry place.
10 minutes later the thunderstorm passes and I'm on my way. Considering the construction, traffic was light and I was home before the worse of the rush hour traffic. Now I'm home and done. Wow, what a trip and it went well.
Day 10
Daily Mileage 175 miles/281 km
Final totals 2321 miles/ 3735 km
Of course there's another ride, which I won't be doing again and one of the reasons was the loss of a few scooters from yesterdays ride due to bad roads/ or winning the pothole lottery. Poor Rob won this lovely lottery, he hit a pothole and the scoot refused to restart. Not good as Rob knows his shit. So it wasn't anything easy.
So for me it's off to downtown and back on the tour. As I've said before, Boston is a friendly tourist town. So back on the T and off I go. First is to head to the big downtown market. I kind of remember where it is from the tour yesterday so I get off at Haymarket. As I find out when I get outside, I'm not quite at the market, but the walk is a few blocks away, thanks to "Google maps". The first place I come to is the stretch of really old taverns.
Makes you wonder if these are fun places to visit or are tourist traps like "Cheers". I never did get around to asking the Boston guys about it. Honestly I looked in at "the oldest tavern in America" and it looked like every other sports bar you've ever been to. So over to the next block and there's a rather big outdoor market.
It rather reminded me of Kensington Market back in Toronto.
I liked these, but really didn't want to pay full pop either. So I took a pic and one of these days I might buy one.
Time for lunch, and the oldest market building is now the food court. So what to have. That's when I find the Boston chowder shop. They have Lobster bisque. Which when done right, is one of my favorite things. This was done right. It's been more than a few years that I've had a proper bisque. If I'm ever in Boston this is one of the things that I will get again, and again.
The Market is just around where I can catch the tour trolley. So off I go to hop back on for that second day pass. No problems there and time to stop off at some of the places that I didn't have time for yesterday.
A bit of the "Freedom trail" a self guided trail, as you follow the bricks lined out in the sidewalk.
First stop was "Paul Revere's house.
Not quite as big as I thought it would be.
Paul doing the lantern gig.
The church that Paul hung the lantern for the "One by land, two by sea. It's kind of cool seeing where this actually happened.
At this point I made a decision that would affect this poor blog and cost me a few $$. I've been having problems with the phone and with the camera loading. So I decided to update the ROM. Actually it went well and everything seemed to run better. Little did I know that I needed to reset everything including the camera backups. So if you've not guessed yet there are really no more pics.There is one on the backup phone which I will load later.
So from here I did more of the freedom trail and down to where the Boston Bruins play. As the ride was over and I wanted to hang out with everyone else, it was time to head back to the hotel. Boston is a city where you could spend a long weekend exploring, or even a week to get everything.
At the hotel everyone was hanging about. Sam brought out her tablet to watch the world cup final. Which we really didn't watch as everyone was having a good time, that and everyone figured that the Germans would win anyway. It was a good afternoon.
Now it was time to get ready for tonight's dinner and the awards and raffle draw. I end up meeting everyone at the front of the hotel, and Sam hits up the front desk to order taxi's. The first one arrives and then leaves as he doesn't like the tattoos and I would assume the skinhead look of one of the girls. I've known her for years and she's a sweetheart, dumb cabbies. I finally get into a cab with an older couple that I don't know, but got too, nice people. I did save the address on my phone and used Google maps to get us there. Cabbies in Boston are really not that nice and have no clue where they are going. Having said that, he was way nicer than the cabbie that we got coming back, but I'll save that for later.
Anyway $15 later we found the do, an American legion right on the river. The Boston crew really found a place that was great. I found a seat with the usual suspects and enjoyed the night. The dinner put on by the Boston crew was by far the best ever put on at a scooterist do that I've been to. All the lobster that you could more or less eat. Little did I know that Andrea was a lobster fiend. She couldn't get enough. Though I have to give it to Karm for eating 3 of the buggers himself.
The band playing for tonight was "All Mod Cons", which if you haven't guessed is a Jam cover band. They played Las Vegas a few years ago and are worth seeing. To bad the phone died as I video'ed one of their songs to add to the blog. It's still there if I ever figure out how to save the phone.
Personally I think they left the awards and the raffle a bit to late. But that's just my opinion. Either way it still was a great night and everyone enjoyed themselves. Now the fun of getting back to the hotel. It's something not a lot of people thought out, myself included. I've got the "Helo" app so I should be ok. Well I was wrong on that. Unlike Toronto where it has worked out ok for me, in Boston there is not a cab to be found, Saturday night, go figure, who would have thought ;-). That and the stupid "Helo" app would say a cab is on the way when it wasn't. It kind of made me look bad in front of everyone when it didn't show up after 20 min. Rob used Uber, and they got a car way before us. So after waiting 20 more minutes I was able to flag down a cab. So me, Sam and Larry piled in. We did make it back to our hotel but it costed more as this guy wanted to take the long way. He even tried to drive us around the block at the hotel to make even more.
So time to pass out and get ready for that long drive back home. Every trip must come to a end. Mine is not quite over but it's getting there. I wake up way to early and pack up. Grab a coffee and check out. It's only 9 am and no ones about. Most are still paying for last nights drinking. I check the weather and there's some not so good news, as there is a big band of Thunderstorms between me and either Buffalo or Rochester, where I'm planning on staying for the night. It really depends on how far I get as to where I'll be staying. The other thing that I want to knock off are the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Map of days travel's
Of course, getting out of Boston was just as much of a hassle as getting in, that's because I let the GPS guide me again, doh!. The only bonus was that it was Sunday morning and not many people about. Once on I-95 south it's easy and the weather was good. About an hour later I'm off at the I-295 and into Rhode Island. That's one state down. I get off at Route 44, which is a 2 lane, 55 mph secondary road. Nice and relaxing with tons of room to pass if need be. Finally I arrive in Connecticut. Here's the only pic I took with the backup phone. Actually, I thought I took more, but I guess I was wrong. The other thing is I've got a lot of miles to cover today, so no real stopping. As you can see I took this while on the bike.
Connecticut is more the same as the rest of the states around here. Not really interesting to drive, but they are easy and relaxing. From here I join up at the I-395 and back up to I-90 for that long drive west. No sooner than I get on the I-90 then I'm stuck in traffic. Which is off and on all the way to I-84. I wonder why it's so busy, then I see the sign for NYC 162 miles. I'm stuck in the weekend traffic returning to NYC. I'm this far out and it's this bad, I'd hate to think how bad it's going to be closer. Lucky for me the traffic is taking I-84 down to NYC and not the Albany or Buffalo way. As I get closer to Albany I hit a few rain storms but nothing worth changing my gear for. Before I get to Albany I get passed by Rob's truck, which is really easy to spot due to the scooters in the back. No problem keeping up with the truck with the BMW, so we play cat and mouse till we pass Albany. Now I'm starting to run on fumes and I've not eaten since Boston. So the first gas stop outside of Albany I pull in. Of course, just as I get there the rain starts as well. So first I fill up the bike and head inside for some lunch and check the weather. It's also one of the few times my butt hurts a bit. It's one of the few times I've actually done a tank full to tank empty run. Now I know the limit of my seat. Not bad.
Well it's easy to find Rob and Andy devouring a Quiznos sub. We catch up, they left a few hours after me, etc. We say our goodbyes and they are on their way. So now I have to make some decisions on where I'm staying tonight. Since it's already past 3 pm, I decide on Rochester. I don't need to be in Niagara Falls early to pick up my stuff at my mailbox. Plus I'll miss all the Canadians heading back home. As I've said before, Sundays is my favorite night to get a cheap room. The weekend travelers are going home and the business travelers are still at home. It makes for some cheap rooms. $57 for the night, that works for me. As I get ready to leave I notice another truck loaded with scooters. Looks like the Rovers from Detroit heading back as well.
Now for the not so fun part. I've got to dig out some of my rain gear. I end up going for the Full face, the waterproof mesh gloves ( ya, I know but they work!) and the waterproof boots (first time this trip the boots come out. The mesh jacket with the water resistant lining, I won't call it waterproof, but it works well enough. So back on the bike and I've got 2 fun filled hours of riding in the rain. Actually they were on and off, and really not so bad. so just outside of Rochester they finally stopped and so did I to take some of the rain gear off. Everything worked well. I left the boots on, as they are just to much of a hassle to change as the hotel is coming up soon and I can do it there. Thanks to the EZ- pass, there is no digging out of change. I like them so much I got a smaller one for the bike. It really has come in handy this trip as the only time I've had to dig money out is for the ferry.
Thanks to the old internet I can at least download a few more pics for ya. This is where I stayed in Rochester, NY. Good enough and a view of the bike is always good. So I unload and now what to do for dinner.
It is my last night, so I might as well treat myself. I do feel like a plate of nacho's, and there's a TGIF's right next to the motel. But I decide on the Italian steak house (well I do want to treat myself).
All as I can say is, wow, what a great steak, I think I made the right decision going here. Plus with the doggie box I was all set for snacks for the night. Snooze time, as I did a lot of mileage today.
Day 8 and 9
Daily Mileage 440 miles/708 km
Total miles 2146 miles/3454 km
================================================================================================================================================
The Last day
With an easy drive back to Toronto (175 miles) there was no hurry to get back home :-( , so I get up late, well late for this trip, and head down for my last motel breakfast (ya!). I head out at 9:30 am, with the weather looking good, well until the afternoon thunderstorms get in. The drive to Niagara Falls, NY was noting special or challenging, which after this 2000 mile adventure isn't bad thing. I've got some extra time so I decide to see a movie. I was really wanting to see the new X-men movie. Funny as I write this a few weeks later, I can't remember what I watched, and had to go back the the weeb and see what was playing.
Well I can't delay the end of the trip, as they say "All good things must come to an end" So off to the Border I go. Not much of a line going into Canada, but coming into the US, it was backed up all the way over the Bridge (Queenston, Lewston) . Of course just after I go through, I remember that I was suppose to go to my US mailbox and pick up parts for the MP3. Damn, I'll have to go and pick it up this weekend.
Now I'm on the QEW trying to beat rush hour traffic, which I'm winning. Then I hit Oakville and the black sky and the wall of water. Since I just went past one exit, I'm in it for all the fun. I get off at the next exit. It was bad. I hit the nearest McD's for a snack. The coffee crisp Mcfurry looks good. Nope, the machine is down. No problem I'll take a Latte, nope no Latte machine. I hit the only McD's that isn't a McCafe. Funny thing is that this is the McD's across from the Oakville Go station (intercity transit). Usually I'll hit the Starbucks just down the street, but ya, the rain was that bad that I hit the first dry place.
10 minutes later the thunderstorm passes and I'm on my way. Considering the construction, traffic was light and I was home before the worse of the rush hour traffic. Now I'm home and done. Wow, what a trip and it went well.
Day 10
Daily Mileage 175 miles/281 km
Final totals 2321 miles/ 3735 km
No comments:
Post a Comment