Return trip Day 1: Albany, NY

We left New Hampshire mid-morning this gray dismal day. It had rained during the night but had stopped before we were ready to leave. We took a slightly different route that Amanda suggested and it was a much better road but a bit slower speed limit. We went thru Concord (pronounced con-curd; not con-cord) and eventually ended up in the "moose town" - Bennington, VT - that we had observed on the way to NH. The picture I've added is one of those moose in this town.

Unfortunately, it began raining on us here so we decided to scoot on down the road in hopes of getting thru the storm pretty quickly. It rained on us - off & on - for nearly 30 miles. We had almost gotten to Troy, NY when the thunder & lightening started. We found a small diner fairly quickly & decided it was time for our dinner. We found there were severe t-storms throughout the area once inside. We ate a slow meal - enjoying the food and each other.

The rain & wind had died down by the time we were done but we decided to find a motel to hold up for the night to let this thing blow itself out. By the time we arrived in Albany it was a virtual downpour and we were getting wet due to the slow moving traffic (now rush hour). We took a wrong turn and ended up in a not so hot neighborhood. We did stumble upon a Hilton but decided we needed to be a little more frugal than that so we could afford another night or two of hotels before we arrive home.

It took us several miles - heading straight for the lightening at times - and lots of traffic to finally find a Super 8. We only racked up just under 200 miles - so we're going to try to make up some time over the next few days. Wish us luck & keep us in your prayers.

Return Trip

We are leaving the very rainy state of New Hampshire in the morning. I will blog each night after we stop to let you know how our day was and how far we travelled that day. We are not making reservations clear across so we don't have to get to a certain location each night. That definitely takes the pressure off - especially with all of the road construction we ran into along the way. And it allows us to stop a bit more and really absorb some of the local ambiance.

Keep us in your prayers and thoughts and in return we promise not to drive faster than our guardian angels can fly. Our love to everyone!

Day 5: Rochester, NH

We have arrived! What an amazing trip out here. We had nearly perfect weather until we crossed into New Hampshire - it then proceeded to rain like there was no tomorrow! We eventually got a bit wet after driving thru the rain for an hour or more. But it wasn't like we are made of sugar or anything.

We had the most amazing day of the trip today. We decided to trust the GPS unit and it toojk us off the beaten path. We ended up on U.S 7 from Albany, NY thru Vermont. I can't easily explain how phenomenal the route was. It took over mountains and thru towns that we would never had driven thru otherwise. Old houses with a ton of character, old schoolhouses still in use, and scenery off of postcards. I had written this blog in my head as we drove thru the area and of course, I cannot think of a handful of sentences I used to describe it at the time. I wish I could do it justice. The picutre here doesn't do this part of the country justice either.

So this is probably the last blog entry until we start back around the first. I may post another entry between now & then but no promises. God bless!

Day 4: Batavia, NY

I am not able to upload photo today but will add it when I get a decent internet connection.

We drove over 700 miles today through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and into New York. We spent We had another beautiful - although a bit too humid for my liking - day. The temp hovered around 90 degrees with the humidity between 70 and 80 percent (guessing).

It's late and we are pretty tired so I'm cutting this short. We arrive in New Hampshire tomorrow so I'll try to blog when we arrive but no promises. Enjoy.

Day 3: Rockford, IL

A little over 700 miles today - about 12 hrs on the bike. We are hold up in a hotel w/a pizza being delivered and a jacuzzi in the rm. So forgive me if I don't write a short novel tonite. Very tired and a bit sore but the weather has been beautiful for us so far - blue sky, sunshine and only a few high clouds.

Today we finished up South Dakota, blew thru Minnesota (including the county some of my grandmother's family came from), and Wisconsin. We are about 13 miles inside of Illinois. The smartest thing we did was to buy an ez-pass for the toll roads....awesome just blowing thru the toll plazas!

We saw miles and miles of family farms and dairies and more dairies! There were a few pig farms also...didn't see them...didn't have to...PU!! It is beautiful, green, and busy. This is the heart of America...didn't hear anything political just nice, interesting people talking with us about our bike. No whining and no evidence so far of these poor economic times. We are so thankful that we live in this awesome country.

BTW, the photo was a silo in Wisconsin w/a pumpkin/jack o'lantern on top. it was cool.

Enjoy and we'll talk again tomorrow.

Day 2: Murdo, SD

Wow...850 miles and tons of road construction but we made it to Murdo, SD as planned. We saw the fabulous continental divide at about 5600 ft. and such a spectacular view of God's handiwork. But if you've never gone over the divide (or any mountain range for that matter) on a bike you have really missed out. The sights are so close you can touch them and the smells--oh my! They are out of this world!

We saw, smelled, and interacted with so much....mountains, plains, hills, cattle (yep, we even saw a herd of Longhorns along the way), sheep, buffalo, and some assorted deer. We also smelled the occassional skunk, noxious weed, and feedlot!

This trip is turning out to be far more than I imagined. I am so thankful to be able to go on this journey with my best friend - my husband.

Day 1: Photos

Day 1: Missoula, MT

We left early this morning and arrived in Missoula around 2:00 pm local time. We had an awesome, enjoyable journey over 4th of July pass - a bit on the cool side but no problem for us. We met up with Deakin, Randi, and kids for a couple of hours. They are wonderful and looking forward to the arrival of Brenton in September. Not much else to say...keep us in your prayers and we'll talk tomorrow.

Tomorrow

It's finally time.....we're fixin' to start our adventure in the morning. We spent most of the evening packing the bike and taking care of the last minute stuff around here. We're going to be washing clothes several times while we're away but you can't overpack on a bike! More tomorrow night - after only a few hundred miles. Later....

10 days & counting

We are just 10 days from actually leaving on our trip to the East Coast. Wow...it is down to the wire. Yesterday, our parish priest blessed our motorcycle (picture on left) - so all we have left to do now is get new tires & an oil change, send a box of clothes back east, and pack our clothes for the trip. Doesn't sound like much! LOL...

At least we know that God will be watching over us & we promise not to drive faster than our Guardian Angel can fly!

Keep us in your prayers & watch for updates beginning on Day 1.

Until then.....remember, love is that important!