Sunday, August 9, 2009

White River Junction, VT to Frackville, PA

Our final day of mountains started with cool, cloudy weather. A good day for the Bumblebee! We got on the road and rode in the mountains of Vermont, just enjoying the roads and scenery. With it being Sunday morning, traffic was light.

Our goal for the day was to get into southern Pennsylvania for the night.

The first few hours of the day were spent heading south and west towards I 81, the road to make good time home.

The ride went as planned, not making a lot of time; we were enjoying the roads and the ride. Eventually, we got on I 81 and started riding at some speed.

We rolled into Bennington, VT and noted fiberglass moose, decopauged in various motifs. So, we decided to stop and look around the town a bit. We walked several streets, noting the moose, sometimes one alone, sometimes several, and some with calves. All done in bright colors and very nice. The town was celebrating Moose Fest, an all-summer event to attract tourists. It worked!

Gary found a brew-pub, so we had lunch while in town. It was a nice stop on the road.

Shortly, the rain started. Light at first, and then more seriously later. It would rain hard, then light, then hard again. Not a frog-strangler, but a serious rain at times. The Bumblebee was the right thing for a day like today.

After several hours making good time, we came to a traffic slowdown. It was backed up as far as we could see. Having no other options, we went with the flow (a very slow flow). We were moving about 2/3 of the time, but sitting still a lot. After several miles of stop and go when we saw a sign that we hoped explained the problem. It did. It read "Lanes merge in two miles". Two more miles of stop and go!

Finally, we got to the merge spot, went through it (a bridge with one lane under construction) and took off again. About a mile later, the same thing repeated. Again, we took off, trying to make some time. About a mile later, another repeat! Damn, we were getting pretty frustrated.

So, we detoured at the next exit, running several miles to the east, then several miles to the south, then several miles back to I 81. The detour was successful!

We had lost at least an hour of travel time in the slow downed areas, bu tthe rain had stopped. Blue skies were showing out in the west.

So, we headed south again. There was one more slowdown, but it was not bad.

About dark, we found a motel and stopped for the night.

Across the parking lot from the motel was the Dutch Treat restaurant. We decided to try it for dinner, and were glad when we did. I had some Blueberry Crumb Pie and coffee, an excellent dinner.

Miles for the day--about 450.

We made about 450 miles for the day.

No comments:

Post a Comment