August 23 to 25 PA Trip

We went for a trip to Pennsylvania last weekend. We left after work and made our way to Allegany State park in NY. It was a 250km ride and a border crossing (that went surprisingly fast), but we still arrived after dark. Initially we were told that the camp ground is full, but they found one open site and was able to fit us in.

We had wine, crackers & mussels with us, so need to go look for food. Although it is still officially summer, we spend a cold night in the tent.
The next morning we had to go back to the main administration building to pay for our camp site. They let us in the previous night without paying (such trusting people). They also had a great breakfast restaurant that we made use of.

Beautiful administration building. And Denise has a field day taking pictures with her new DSLR.

 The plan for today was to make our way to Rickets Glen State Park in PA. It was about 550km away on some nice Pennsylvania twisties. The first 100km was not as exciting as we expected, but it was still a lot better that riding the Ontario grid. We had a stop for Denise to take some pictures, and for me to have a siggie. And then the road got a lot better, actually GREAT. This was real Pennsylvania twisting roads. Real foot peg dragging turns, if you know what I mean. The bottom and sides of my riding boots are carrying the scars of being scrapped on the road on the tight turns. Motorcycle heaven.

We took turns riding in front, and had a ball of a time. Denise saw a sign for a lookout point, and slammed on the breaks. Man, that woke me up.
Here are some pics at the lookout point.

We didn't stick to our original plan when we realized that we will get to our intended destination to late (after dark) We cut the last 100km of our route and started to look for a place to camp. We saw signs for Bald Eagle State Park and decided to check it out. The minute I saw it, I loved it. The landscape was dry, the grass was scorched brown and it was hot as hell. It reminded me of Africa, and I loved it.
We set up camp, and rode to a nearby town to get food. That night we feasted on tinned spaghetti and meat balls.

That night was cold again, but Denise used the space blanket from her first aid kit to keep her warm. The next morning we woke up to find the whole are covered in a beautiful mist. We went for a short hike round the park.

Here is a short video clip.

The plan for today was to take the Fastest route home. We have to be back at work tomorrow (I have not won the lottery yet). Set the GPS to take us home on the fastest route, and off we go. It was still misty and the scenery was breathtaking. We also had some nice twisty roads. Next the GPS tells us to make a right hand turn onto a dirt road. No problem, our bikes are made for this kind of terrain, and since we are following the FASTEST route this dirt road will just be a short section. WRONG.
The dirt road was in good condition and we had a blast.

After about 12km we stopped to take some pictures and have a look at how long we are going to stay on this road. The GPS said the next turn off is in 6km. After the 6km we got to the turn off, but the road was still dirt. We decided to continue, since we did not want to waist time turning around and retracing our steps. The road, if you can still call it a road, became worse and worse. Up hill and down hill at 30 degree angle. Tight switchbacks with big rocks. The road was covered in baby head size rock. Sheer cliff on the one side, and sheer drop off on the other side. Our speed dropped considerably and it became very technical riding. I guess that's why it's called adventure riding.
Denise, you can add a comment if you feel like it.
After being on this road (looked more like a goat track) for an hour, we reached asphalt again. Now my GPS started acting up. It showed us roads to turn on to, that did not exist. I reset the route to take us home, but at this point the GPS routing was completely fucked up. I had to reset (reboot) the GPS multiple times to get it working again.

From that point on home it was smooth sailing. Apart from sitting in line at the border for over an hour, the rest of the ride home was uneventful.