Finally back to Blogging...

Well, first let me apologize for not having this blog updated like I wanted...we have had a REAL adventure and now I will try to update for the past 3 days.

On Saturday we left home about 10 am after waiting for storms to roll thru. Then outside Cincinnati we hit the worst thunder storm I have ever seen and rode in the downpour all the way to Columbus, OH. Well in Grove City, OH Kelvin broke the clamps he fixed the muffler bracket with, oh yeah he broke the bolt again on his way to my house. So we stopped in the rain at Auto Zone and he put on a couple more hose clamps. They only lasted about 2 hours and BAM, they must have broke because his bike just died in the middle of I-71. We pulled over and found that the exhaust had dropped and caused the front header pipe to crack and the bike died. Luckily we were only about 2 miles past the exit for Delaware where there was a Harley dealer. Kelvin was very frustrated and stated, "The trip is over" and thought we would have to have someone come get us with a trailer. I rode back to the Harley dealer who was still open, thank God. I talked with the service manager, Kelly Melvin, who then talked to Kelvin on the phone and then suggested that if we could start the bike and drive it a short distance he would weld the head pipe. Well, Kelvin patched the crack with a piece of aluminum and a couple of hose clamps, (I think he went to McGiver University), then we went to Kelly's home and he welded the crack as well as the other joints in the muffler which were causing the vibration. He also extracted the broken bolt and replaced it. This all took approximately 5 hours. We met his entire family, Tina (wife), kids and his father-in-law, Joe, who lived next door. Joes' wife sent over some Rum Cake which was fantastic and then Joe drove us to Tim Horton's for coffee. Turns out Joe is the uncle of Gary, the lead singer of Rascal Flatts. Kelly and Joe were some of the finest people we have ever met, we really owe them A LOT!!! So then we got a motel at midnight after some food at the local Waffle House. Kelly Melvin was a Godsend...if not for him we would be home right now.
So we headed north again on Sunday morning and after a beautiful morning ride we encountered a downpour just minutes before we landed in Erie, PA. We put on rain gear and rode a short bit to Erie where we ate at the Quaker Steak and Lube. It was a neat place full of racing cars, bikes and stuff. Well it rained so hard that my cell phone got wet and died. It didn't start working again until this morning (Mon). After the rain we continued on to Niagara Falls where we spent the night. We went to the falls and saw the light show and the fireworks show.
Monday we left Niagra about 9am and rode highway 18 along Lake Erie. We stopped at a small diner and had some coffee and saw an old lighthouse looking out at Lake Erie. We then rode through Rochester NY, had lunch in Oswego NY and stopped for a breather outside of Watertown NY along Lake Ontario. This was a gorgeous ride, NO RAIN TODAY...We then took Rt 3 from Watertown through part of the Adirondack Mountains and stopped for the nite in Tupper Lake NY. We are staying in a cabin called "Faust Motel". There is no A/C and no internet. I am doing this through my cellphone connection...the miracles of modern technology.
Tomorrow we are riding to Plattsburgh NY and taking a ferry across to Vermont. Then its thru the Vermont and New Hampshire mountains and up to Mt. Washington. You should Google Mt. Washington and look at how cool it is. Ok enough for tonite. I will add more tomorrow and try to post some photos. Good night.