I slept in again this morning. I can’t tell you how many Sundays in a row I missed Church. It’s been a lot.

I finished the blog early. Went down and got a cup of coffee. Loaded up the bike. And went back downstairs to see if the boys were up yet. They were not. I got into a conversation with a couple from Connecticut. We probably talked for about 30 to 45 minutes. They were also motorcycling in the area where we were at. He trailer-ed his bike from Connecticut and is doing day trips for the weekend. The good news is, after speaking with him we now have a plan! After 3 days we have a plan.

We decided to head east into New Jersey. Then head north along the Delaware River Valley up to New York. Then we’re going to head east to Connecticut. From there, we’ll head north to the Adirondacks, up to Berkshires in Massachusetts to Burlington Vermont. That should put us there about Tuesday night. Then we can meander home through upstate NY.  We could of cut through Canada and save a half day travel, but one of us didn’t bring their passport.  (I do have mine)

We had a very easy trip today, very nice. We didn’t get on the road till almost 11 this morning. Obviously, a lot different than previous trips we’ve been on. We headed out of Mansfield Pennsylvania on US-6. This was the recommended route by the couple with whom I spent so much time with this morning. Absolutely beautiful. Not much in the way of pics. No real place to turn off and take any. Much of the same from before. Tight valleys winding roads up and down on Hills. Two lanes. Small towns every 15-20 miles. We stopped for fuel a couple times.

The only bad part, was going through Scranton, PA. What a mess. Nice town. But the inter changes to stay on us 6 was like a Chinese puzzle. We must have gone through three or four different on ramps and off ramps in the interstate exchange within four or five miles. Even with the Garmin GPS booted up, I was getting lost a couple times had to pull over and pull up Google Maps to figure out where the heck we were. Not exactly crisis situation but just frustrating. Entertaining for the boys…  ‘Nice work Dad..  Lost again Dad?..’  You get the drill, right..

Eventually, we crossed over the Delaware River into New Jersey. Headed north for 20 or 30 miles into New York. Fueled up, and did the Google thing to see if there were any motels along US 97 on the way up to the Catskills. We didn’t come across much. So decided to backtrack a bit into Pennsylvania where we are tonight. Port Jervis, NY did not necessary appeal to us. There was a Hampton Inn just across the river in PA.

Found it, parked the bikes and unloaded.  I had just drop my bags and I am already getting texts from my sons ‘Lets go Paul’.  We walked across the parking lot to a Best Western that had a bar. Dinner was even more than mediocre. Alex and I were going to order the fish and chips but decided not to because we knew we would be disappointed. So the three of us ordered the Thai noodles. OMG. It was nothing more than ramen noodles with soy sauce and sugar with some onions and celery cooked in there. Yeah, true story. When the waitress asked how everything was, we just kinda looked at her.  She hesitated and just said, ‘Oh’.  Nice young lady. Shoulda gone w the fish and chips.

That’s okay. Sitting on the Best Western patio having another cigar, and and in the distance is a beautiful Memorial lit up over in Sussex, New Jersey it just stands above everything and it’s really quite pretty to see.  The boys are still at the bar.  I will go back in and join them in a minute.

I’ve been texting the my good friend Tom who lives in Hartford Connecticut to see if possibly he could meet us. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s going to work out. Too bad.

Tomorrow we will head over the Catskills to Connecticut and spend the night there. We’ve only been averaging about 250 – 300 miles a day. This is the most laid-back trip I’ve taken. It actually feels good. Sitting with the boys having more than a few drinks and feeling completely relaxed.

We were the only patrons left when they began shutting the establishment down.  We migrated across the parking lots and field to our hotel and called it a night.  I am sure when the leadership of the citizens of this fair city envisioned a mecca for tourists, there was a different thought in mind..What else is there?   Tomorrow we continue to wander…

Life is good