Denise on Day 3

When I woke up this morning, Herman was away. I was having visions of movies where the spuse just disappears and is never again found. I was just about ready to look up the number of the local police, when Herman arrived at the motel room, dripping with sweat. Apparently, he went for a short walk, in an attempt to avoid waking me, and ended up lost in Gananoque...(I don't know who she is) but I was relieved that we could get going. Off we went to cross the US border. It was probably the most enjoyable crossing I have ever made, due to the chatty hunk of a customs officer, which made me thank my lucky stars that my friend Lesley wasn't there to embarass me with obvious drooling at the site of a man in a uniform.

Herman and I both enjoy riding in the States because the roads are truly well maintained and after mentally converting the miles per hour into our km dials, we were enjoying every minute of the wonderful scenery of upstate New York. Herman's GPS was a little wonky, and took us on a little trail which was marked as "not travelled often" and "not maintained in winter" and we had a short stint on a two-track one-way "highway" through the most beautiful scenery you can imagine, with trees overhaning the road on both sides. Luckily we have dual purpose bikes and they both handled beautifully on this picturesque road. We took a few picturs of some horses in a stable and found Highway 3 East once again.

As you can see I was Queen of the Trail Riders...


We entered Adirondack Park and had probably the most enjoyable ride of our lives (thus far). You can actually smell the pines when you ride! The road and scenery were fantastic and you can maintain a speed of 55 miles per hour (the speed limit) in all the turns - and there are only turns. Despite travelling ina misty rain all morning, it was still a great ride with the roads drying and the rain easing off into barely a drizzle. We stopped for gas at a small gas station along the way, and the people filling up next to us, on their Gold Wing, were from Waterloo and travelling on their second honeymoon - forty years after the real thing when they also travelled in the park. Small World.







Our next stop was a small store called the Leather Artisan and this is a unique store that has been in business for 38 years where they sell imaculate leather wares. Their purses are especially excellent (Lisa my friend with a purse fetish - their site is www.leatherartisan.com). There was this one appalling purple leather hat with netting to protect against the bugs, which both Herman and I knew, would have been the one Dominique would have wanted. Luckily we don't have room on our bikes for gifts (giggle).



Lunch was once again McDonald's (being budget conscious) and in a town called Tupper Lake. Not the most eye pleasing town on the way. Clouds were building up again, and just as we rushed out to the bikes to grab our helmets to see if we could outrun the rain, the sky cleared up and we saw the sun for the first time in a few days. Lake Placid arrived out of nowhere and was a giant disappointment, since it's just one store after another. Tourist Trap to the power of three! We had our first little disagreement and after agreeing that neither of us really wanted to walk around in teh sun in our riding gear with a bunch of tourists, we were on our way.






We took a short break in a park only to realize it was actually a graveyard, but the view was still pretty.







The picture of the horses in their barn after our trip on the two-track 'highway'...



The rest of the ride was even better and we stopped at a provincial camp site called Wilmington Notch. Camping prices in the States are obviously much more economical than in Canada and the sites are all well kept, clean and all the toilets are of the flush variety (a big plus in my book). There was a trail leading down to the falls with some wonderful views. Here is a view from the side of the ravine:

H

Herman standing at the top of the falls.

We stopped along the road to watch a fly fisherman.

Wilmington is a reall cute town where we bought some subs for dinner at the local store, which were freshly made.

All in all a purely fun filled day of riding and the exact reason why so many people love the open road on two wheels. Konstanz, today was one of those days that you were storely missed, because these are the roads you love to ride...