Ireland: the next adventure

We were home for three full days after our trip to the BMW Rally in Sedalia, MO and yesterday boarded a plane in Boston for Dublin, Ireland. We had a blast riding 3146 miles from Vermont to Missouri and back, met new friends and experienced beautiful scenery. We're looking forward to more adventure in Ireland.

Arlington Hotel, our base in Dublin

Our plane landed at 5:10am Dublin time, which translated to just after midnight at home. Neither one of us could sleep on the plane, yet a brisk walk around the center city of Dublin gave us renewed energy - and a great-tasting Irish breakfast added a bit extra oomph. 

Our hotel is right on the River Liffey, which flows through the energetic center of Dublin. Baskets of bright-colored flowers brighten the area, and there are several bridges that cross the river making walking back and forth easy. The Ha'Penny Bridge, named because originally the toll to cross was a half-penny, is a short walk from our hotel.

Ha'penny pedestrian bridge

We took the advice of the guys from Celtic Rider and bought a 2-day ticket for the Dublin City Sightseeing bus tour that has 25 stops and allows unlimited hop-on, hop-off opportunities. We made only two stops today to sample the most famous Dublin beverages:  Guinness and Jameson. Both tours gave an interesting historical perspective on these iconic beverages, and both ended with opportunities for tasting.

water from the Wicklow Mountains used to make Guinness

enjoying Guinness in their 7th floor tasting room

triple distilling process gives Jameson's whiskey it's smooth taste

Every person we've met today has been exceptionally friendly and helpful. The bus driver from the airport to the hotel at 5:30am fave us tips on how to spend our time so early in the morning and dropped us off as close as possible to our hotel. Carmen, in charge of the hotel breakfast dining room, explained the breakfast options in detail, made sure we had everything we needed, and suggested favorite breakfast foods. The man selling tickets for the Red Line city bus tours had more enthusiasm and joy at 7:30am than I ever expect to see. Freddie, who poured our half-pint of Guinness after their factory tour took our picture and spent time talking about our trip. The waiter at dinner greeted us like old friends.

With no sleep in over 24 hours and plans for a busy day in Dublin tomorrow, we called it an early night.We pick up the motorcycle Tuesday morning, and are looking forward to getting out of busy Dublin and into the Irish countryside.

3146 miles on the motorcycle!

It's official:  we put 3146 miles on the BMW motorcycle on our trip to Sedalia, MO. We finished with just under 12 hours today, following winding, twisting, up-and-down-rollercoaster hilly roads from Oil City, PA in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, through the Finger Lakes region of New York, and finally into the Mohawk River-Erie Canal - Saratoga Springs area and across the border back home into Vermont.

Pennsylvania Route 62

We like to get on the road by 7am, when there is very little traffic and Mike can zoom around the twists and turns. This part of the Alleghenies is densely wooded, and we caught glimpses of the Allegheny River along the way.

Allegheny River

Allegheny means 'most beautiful stream' in the Delaware Indian language, and it remains a lovely area for a motorcycle ride. After we crossed into New York state, we somehow veered off our planned route, but thanks to our Garmin GPS system we weren't truly lost. We traveled farther north than we originally planned, which was a lucky mistake since we rode through the Finger Lakes region.

Canandaigua Lake

This area, home to eleven lakes that run north/south like the fingers on your hand, was originally formed two million years ago by the glaciers. The lakes fill deep gorges, which are surrounded by high ridge lines. All of this glacier activity makes for a roller coaster motorycle ride as we speed down a steep incline only to immediately head back up the other side of the hill. The ridge lines seem to be a perfect location for wind turbines, since we saw at least three different wind farms during today's ride.



The cloudy skies turned dark, so we stopped and put on our raingear. We only rode through a few sprinkles, and off came the raingear when we stopped for lunch at a small diner in Waterloo, NY. According to several signs in the town center, a local druggist came up with the original idea for Memorial Day to honor the casulaties from the Civil War in 1866.

I was thrilled to find a fresh fruit and vegetable stand next to the diner. Most restaurants have salads on their menu, but I haven't had a piece of fresh fruit since we left home last Tuesday. The farmer was kind enough to sell me just one juicy-ripe peach that was the perfect dessert.

We've often talked about spending a weekend on the bike in the Finger Lakes area, and as we rode through small villages, larger tourist towns, past vineyards and wineries we decided that this area defiitely needs more time for exploration. Our 'places to go on the motorcycle' list just gets longer.

We kept riding east, finally reaching familiar towns:  Amsterdam, Ballston Spa, Saratoga. The skies grew dark once again, and this time it started raining before Mike could pull over. Pros at getting our raingear on quickly, we suited up and were back on the road, riding through a pelting, cold rain. When the rain stopped, we left the raingear on for warmth, and to avoid stopping since we were close to Vermont.

heading into Vermont

After we unloaded the bike, Mike said it was a great trip, but he was glad to be home. I thought about the unpacking, laundry, and piles of work on my desk and commented that I'd rather be on the road. It's not all work at home:  as I sit at my desk tonight, the cats take turns begging to be petted.

My legs and butt are sore and cramped from hours sitting on the bike, I long for home-cooked meals and clean clothes, and the cats purr their welcome. Yet hearing the wind whistle through my helmet, riding with the rising sun in my face, and meeting friendly people along the road continue to beckon.  Our next motorcycle trip is in one week, and I'm already looking forward to riding on the left side of the road in Ireland.

Thank goodness for rain gear!

We've been traveling for seven days on our BMW motorcycle, and today was the first day we had to break out the rain gear. The Midwest is in the midst of a terrible drought, with record high temperatures, almost dry creek beds, brown fields that are usually green, and deep cracks in the ground from lack of water. We've endured temperatures as high as 105.8 on the bike, and even purchased new mesh motorcycle pants to keep us as cool as possible.

It was cloudy and overcast when we left Valpo at 7am, and by 7:30 it started raining. The sky ahead of us was a solid mass of dark clouds, and we knew this wasn't going to be a short sprinkle. Mike pulled off the road so we could put on our Frogg Togg rain gear, and it was a good call:  a short time later the temperature dropped 15 degrees from 75 to 60 and it started to rain even harder. We rode in and out of rain for the next four hours, but we stayed dry. We've worn the Frogg Toggs in rain before, but this was the first test for our BMW Allround boots. Mike read a review of waterproof boots in Motorcycle Consumer News and these boots were one of the very few that were indeed waterproof according to their test. They met our test as well since our feet stayed completely dry.

We stopped for gas and chatted with a Harley rider on his way from Cleveland, OH to Ft. Wayne, IN. We talked riding in the rain, travel by motorcycle, and attending motorcycle rallies before we headed East and he continued West.

It was raining when we stopped for lunch, but when we came out the skies were blue and the temperatures increasing. We had clear blue skies and hot temperatures in the 90's the rest of the way to our destination:  Oil City, PA. We left flat farmland behind us in Ohio, and ended the day riding through the rolling, wooded foothills of the Allegheny Mountains.

You never know what you might see on the highway, but this was the first time we saw a helicopter. We keep reminding ourselves:  the point of this trip isn't the destination; it's the journey.

Midwest travels

We traveled over 1600 miles on our way to the BMW rally in Sedalia, MO and saw only a handful of motorcycles along the way. Today we passed several BMW riders, and rode for an hour or so with four guys from the Chicago area. It's a small world:  one of the guys has a friend in Vermont, and he's been through Rutland just north of our home in Manchester. Another guy travels through Valpo, IN for business. I grew up in Valpo, and that's where we headed today. We had fun speeding along the flat highway among fields of corn and soy beans and through small towns with the other riders until they pulled off for breakfast, and we continued on our way.

We crossed the Mississippi River in Louisiana, MO riding over a beautiful 2-lane, 5-span truss bridge built in 1928.

Once into Illinois, we rode through more flat farmland, reminding me of my cousins' farm in NW Indiana. It's mesmorizing to watch miles of flat fields that stretch to the horizon pass by, broken periodically by a solitary farmhouse, a row of trees along a creek, or massive grain elevators. It was somewhat shocking to suddenly see hundreds of windmills - technically called  wind turbines - near Bloomington and Normal, IL. This is the largest wind farm project in Illinois, and it produces enough power for 54,000 homes each year.

As we rode closer to Chicago the traffic increased. I grew up in northwest Indiana, close to Chicago, and I always forget just how congested the roads are in this part of the country. It was stop and go the entire way on Route 30 through Chicago Heights, Dyer, and Merrillville; and there was more traffic than I remember as we neared Valpo. Every time I drive here I get confused about where I am; not really lost, but my landmarks are either gone completely or updated so they're not recognizable.

We rode through farmland and cities in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana today on our first day headed East. Four more states and a lot more miles are in front of us before we finish the trip on Tuesday.

Hot day at the BMW rally

We spent the day walking around the BMW rally at the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia. On day five of our trip, the weather remained hot and sunny. The BMW planning committee did an awesome job planning for the weather, with big industrial fans placed outside at key locations, fans with a water mist system along the sidewalk where the outside vendors were located, four airconditioned buildings for the mjaority of the vendors, free water bottles, and the closing ceremonies inside another large, airconditioned stadium.

Mike's goal today was to purchase custom-molded earplugs to cut down on the noise while riding, and we also wanted to look at mesh motorcycle pants. He worked with the helpful guys at Fit-Ear and immediately noticed the lack of wind or engine noise on our ride back to the hotel. If they feel comfortable tomorrow on our 8-9 hour ride to northwest Indiana, he's hooked.

On our search for mesh pants, we ran into the guys from Celtic Rider, who were excited when they realized we have a tour booked with them starting 'Tuesday next' as they put it. The weather in Ireland is going to be a lot different than the heat and humidity we've experienced in the Midwest, and we're looking forward to cooler temperatures, lots of twisty roads, and remembering to ride on the left.

Just as I left the Celtic Rider booth, I ran into David, who rode with us into Sedalia yesterday. He spent last night camping at the Rally and was having a wonderful time meeting people and buying equipment for his extended ride out West. We were hoping to see him again before we left, and look forward to reading his blog about his trip.

Mike. Lynn and David

As we waited for our lunch order at Lefty's Countryside Diner, located in the Fairgrounds, we chatted with the two women working there. Once again we found friendly people as well as satisfying food. They work 12 hour plus days during the Rally, and yet they were happy and interested in hearing about our trip.

We tried on mesh pants from two different companies, and settled on the Recon Mesh pants from Olympia Moto Sports. Hopefully they'll feel as cool tomorrow as they did tonight on the short ride back to the hotel. Plus they have extra pockets, which always come in handy. We shipped our black motorcycle pants home since we have limited luggage space on the bike, and hope they arrive before we leave for Ireland.

We took a break mid-day at the Dairy Queen across the street from the Fairgrounds. I grew up going to the local DQ, and it's fun to stop by when we're in the Midwest. Once again, BMW riders were welcomed.

We ended the day by watching the first act of the evening's entertainment, Sh-Boom, a Missouri-based band that plays music from the '50's, '60's, and '70's. The four-part harmony of the old favorites had everyone smiling, and when one of the band dressed as Elvis for two songs, it made the evening.

This was our first BMW Rally, but it won't be our last. Next time we'll arrive a day earlier, and hopefully the weather won't be as hot and we'll go for some group rides around the local area.