Mr. and Mrs. Pants' New England Adventure Summer 2024

[fontanaman]

My wife and I did a week long leaf peeping New England tour last October. We got lucky with the trees changing colors. I think our favorite part of trip was taking the chairlift to the top of the ski hills where we could get a great view. Plus we had some fantastic lobster along the way.

[Hppants]

September 22, 2024

As soon as we got here, Tammy joined the FB group for Waterville Valley, NH. She loves to walk to town and has gotten to know the merchants and others that work there. Again, that is the wonderment of this place An adventure doesn't require any planning, "drive to", or anything of the like. Out the front door, and pick a direction - that's it.

Some time ago, Tammy learned that today is the Town Pig Roast. The little grocrey host this free dinner for anyone in the town, and they couple it with a fund raiser for the Food Pantry. They ask Townspeople to bring a side dish if they want to, and Tammy thought that bringing something "Cajun" might be a good addition to the feast. So I bought a Baker's Dozen ears of local corn, and made Corn Maque Choux (smothered corn).

Looks delicious!



Getting set up.





Tammy knows which side dish she's "trying"!



Sixty degrees and beautiful on this first day of Fall.



Let's do this!





Some of our neighbors and other town residents that we've met this summer were also there. It was really nice to talk to them about their home. Let me say something about that. At home for my whole life, I've listened to hogwash (if you'll pardon the pun) about how "northerners are cold and not friendly". At times, it still reeks of that Confederacy shit and honestly, I uually have to bite my tongue, lest I say something regretful. First, most of the people preaching that have never been anywhere, except Destin, Florida. It amazes me how these Rhodes Scholars have the ability to have such a worldly view of matters, when in fact, they haven't been anywhere. Here's a novel idea: Why don't you go somewhere? Anywhere, really. Stay long enough to learn their history, culture, and land. Talk to at least one local, preferably someone older than 60. Then come back and tell me your view. I'll be much more inclined to at least think you credible.

The fact of the matter is this: people are people. They are overwhelmingly good no matter where they live. They have an innate desire to be nice and friendly and, where possible, helpful. You will always find a sour grape and unfortunately, that one or two will seem more pronounced than the others. But to be sure, those are the exception. My parents taught me to presume someone is good, and not judge until you know. Admittedly at times, I've failed that instruction but Tammy and I taught it to our kids, and overwhelmingly for them, it has worked. We see it in their adulthood and are in awe of it.

The people of Waterville, New Hampshire are wonderful. They've opened the doors and welcomed us with open arms. We still have 3 more weeks here, but selfishly, we are already getting a bit meloncoly about leaving. This is special place, my friends. There just ain't too many of these places left in our country.

Stay thirsty, my friends....

[blind squirrel]

The people of Waterville, New Hampshire are wonderful. They've opened the doors and welcomed us with open arms. We still have 3 more weeks here, but selfishly, we are already getting a bit meloncoly about leaving. This is special place, my friends. There just ain't too many of these places left in our country.

Are you thinking of returning back there next year?

[Cav47]

September 22, 2024


The people of Waterville, New Hampshire are wonderful. They've opened the doors and welcomed us with open arms. We still have 3 more weeks here, but selfishly, we are already getting a bit meloncoly about leaving. This is special place, my friends. There just ain't too many of these places left in our country.

Stay thirsty, my friends....

Did you just contradict yourself?

I think you have much to do with how others receive you. We have traveled plenty and we both know you are welcoming to anyone. I believe this is a major dose of you get what you give.

There are other places out there, you just haven't had the extended time there to influence them. Just like your shampoo, spread it around, give it time, it always turns out good.

[Festus]

If you've ever driven around NYC and/or NJ around NYC, you'd understand your neighbors at home might be correct

However, I don't think what you have found is rare at all. It's all over the country in every single state. All you have to do is look.

[bungie4]

The world is a book and if you haven't traveled, you've only read one page.

Pardons to Willie Shakespeare.

Also, no matter a person's lot in life, we all want the same thing. We all want to be healthy, happy and for our kids to have the same. The issue arise when somebody takes or denies us that.

[Festus]

Not to hijack your travel thread too much but don't fault your southern neighbors with their opinions. It's not "all" unfounded. There are certainly pockets of civilization that aren't as generous with their friendliness. Years ago, a local friend told me about a guy that contacted him on a forum in reference to some machinery we all used. The guy was having a hard time so he Skyped him and tried to help but wanted me to get involved. I Skyped the guy, spent hours and hours with him online, logged into his computer, setting his system up, making sure he understood the process for how to take a job from start to finish by himself. He'd contact me every few days and ask something and I'd fire up Skype and help him.

My friend and I both had a lot of time with the guy. No big deal. He was a nice guy. The guy told us both "I didn't know people like you two existed. The amount of time you two have helped me and never asked for anything from me is incredible. We don't have people like that around here. I've never actually met anyone like that before and now I've met two of you from the same area".

He was from NJ, just outside of NYC. He was in his 40's when I met him. That was 15 years ago. He still texts me every few weeks to check in. It's pretty scary to think you could be in your 40's and never have experienced anyone helping you with something and asking nothing in return.

[Hppants]

The people of Waterville, New Hampshire are wonderful. They've opened the doors and welcomed us with open arms. We still have 3 more weeks here, but selfishly, we are already getting a bit meloncoly about leaving. This is special place, my friends. There just ain't too many of these places left in our country.

Are you thinking of returning back there next year?

This is the issue right about now. I've seen this movie before.

I'm not telling tales out of school - Tammy would honestly admit to this. My wife likes what she likes, and when she finds something she likes, she's more hesitent to try something else. At home, when we go to restaurant X, you can take it to the bank, she's gonna order ______. I'm not faulting her in any way. After 40 years, I know my spouse (shocker).

Tammy LOVES this place. She wants to come back. I like it too. But here's my thing: it should be abundantly obvious by now that my hobbies are all physical. I like to get out and see it for myself. I turn 59 in November. Nobody knows, but if you play the odds, you'd bet that I've likely got at MOST another 15 years at this pace, maybe another 5-8 slowed down. There's a LOT in the bucket list to see in that time. So - I'm gently encouraging somewhere else.

One thing we are talking about next year is to go for FOUR months, instead of three. Leave early June, come home early October. If we do that, we are considering two months at spot A,two months at spot B. I think packing the crap 3 times instead of 2 is burdensome, but for a 2 month stay, doable.

My wife will freely admit that when she gets wherever we go, she likes it. The "unknown" concerns her.

[Hppants]

First - I thank all of you for reading my report and your thoughtful replies. These discussions are always good and are quite honestly, a big part of why I'm here and why you people are among my closest friends.

I want to clarify 2 things:

1. My comment about WV, NH being a SPECIAL PLACE may have been misconstrued. This place has only 500 people. There is no grocery, no gas station, no walmart, no dollar general. There are only 3 restaurants. What they have is within walking distance of our ABB. This is a ski resort - they hold on during the summer and make their money when the snow flies. But they have no desire to get bigger, if it means turning into Jellystone tourist trap crap.

At the same time, the "playground" exist right out of the front door. They have every incentive to fall into that tourist trap crap, but don't. You don't have to pack the truck, drive the truck, park the truck, only to learn that 250 other people had the same idea as you and the adventure is so crowded, it's hard to enjoy it. Nope - here, you just pack a lunch, and head right out the door. Even on the weekends, there's always plenty of room for everyone 'cause this place is lesser known, it takes some effort to get here, and there aren't many services here to support you.

So - my "special place" comment really didn't have anything to do with the people or the niceness of the people, although that has some place in all of this.

2. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I stand by my comment re: people are people. I've been to NYC three times now in the last 2 years. I've met quite a few locals - guess what? They are nice. I'm not naive about it - it's certainly not the same as where we are now, or where we live. I may not be the most traveled person in the group, but to be clear, I've been places. And no matter where I go, I find people to be overwhelmingly nice, friendly, and if given the chance, willing to help. Josh is right - you get what you give. This is just my opinion, and I understand everyone has one.

[Festus]

I judge the people by the way they use their car horns. Lots of places up in that area of NYC seem to think it's a requirement to use their horn on a daily commute. Heaven forbid you try to put a signal on and change lanes. They will actually speed up to block you from getting 1 car in front of them.

Now, try that outside of places like that. You can sit through and entire green stoplight with cars behind you and most of the time, no one will use the horn. If anything, you might get a very polite blip of the horn. Certainly not the 15 second horn blast with someone looking like they are ready to have a stroke they are so mad.

Try to change lanes. You'll probably get someone slowing down and flashing their lights to let you in.

That's the difference people are talking about. It's how you treat strangers in real life situations when you don't know them that forms the opinion many have. Once you get to know people, on the home front level, I agree, people are a lot alike, all over the world, not just the USA, but laying on your horn and flipping me off when I'm trying to change lanes with my signal on isn't exactly a sign of friendship

Rural New Hampshire certainly isn't NYC, so I understand your point about blanket statements.

[El Toro Joe]

I judge the people by the way they use their car horns. Lots of places up in that area of NYC seem to think it's a requirement to use their horn on a daily commute. Heaven forbid you try to put a signal on and change lanes. They will actually speed up to block you from getting 1 car in front of them.

Now, try that outside of places like that. You can sit through and entire green stoplight with cars behind you and most of the time, no one will use the horn. If anything, you might get a very polite blip of the horn. Certainly not the 15 second horn blast with someone looking like they are ready to have a stroke they are so mad.

Try to change lanes. You'll probably get someone slowing down and flashing their lights to let you in.

That's the difference people are talking about. It's how you treat strangers in real life situations when you don't know them that forms the opinion many have. Once you get to know people, on the home front level, I agree, people are a lot alike, all over the world, not just the USA, but laying on your horn and flipping me off when I'm trying to change lanes with my signal on isn't exactly a sign of friendship

Rural New Hampshire certainly isn't NYC, so I understand your point about blanket statements.

to that...there are assholes everywhere. Now back to Mr. and Mrs. Pants' New England Adventure thread

[gixxerjasen]

I judge the people by the way they use their car horns. Lots of places up in that area of NYC seem to think it's a requirement to use their horn on a daily commute. Heaven forbid you try to put a signal on and change lanes. They will actually speed up to block you from getting 1 car in front of them.

Now, try that outside of places like that. You can sit through and entire green stoplight with cars behind you and most of the time, no one will use the horn. If anything, you might get a very polite blip of the horn. Certainly not the 15 second horn blast with someone looking like they are ready to have a stroke they are so mad.

Not to get too far off topic here, but your idea here has some flaws. You need to look at more than the car horn. Example, I was in an NYC cab, and the driver drove up the empty left turn lane and cut in front of about 20 other cars/cabs to go straight. At least the three cars behind us laid on their horns and cussed us out. But then it was over, and everyone carried on with their day once they got their anger moment out of them.

Try that same move here in Texas and the horn and a little cussing will be the least of your worries.

[bigjohnsd]

I've also traveled just a little -

This is also my experience - worldwide!

And no matter where I go, I find people to be overwhelmingly nice, friendly, and if given the chance, willing to help. Josh is right - you get what you give.

If you find it otherwise you might want to look in the mirror - JSNS!

And now back to our regular programming - Mssr "Pants and his wonderful vacation narrative!

[danh600]

An old man was sitting beside the road. A traveler asked "What are the people like in the next village?" The old man asked "How did you find the people in the last village?" The traveler said they were rude and mean. The old man said you will find that the people in the next village are the same.

A second traveler came by and asked the same question. The old man again asked "How did you find the people in the last village?" The second traveler said he found them wonderful and friendly.
The old man said you will find them the same in the next village.

[Hppants]

September 23, 2024

It's gotten cooler: low 40s in the early morning, and only reaching about 60 during the day. At home, we would call this "winter", or more specifically "Gumbo Weather". Incredible.

But the forecast remains "dry" for a couple of days, and so.... ride on, Pants. I've been communicating with my old Nighthawk friend Dan, who lives just north of Boston. He's got a green light to come back up here for a couple nights, and so after breakfast, I suit up and start heading south.

Might as well see something on the way, so I point my big nose in different directions, and when I smell something interesting, I stop.



This is Franklin Falls Dam, an Army Corp of Engineers (ACOE) control structure on the Pemmegawasset River. The ACOE sites are always first class. This one has a nice day use park, but no campground that I can see.



I get to the meeting location a little early and decided to do something I've been putting off for a while. I marked all of the roads shown on the New Hampshire State Highway map that I've ridden thus far. Of course there are a LOT more roads than this, but this is only the ones shown on the map.

This picture speaks volumes. Now, I know this State very well. I understand the mountain ranges, the watersheds, why the cities exist where they do, .... and a lot more. Learning the land is my favorite thing.



Dan arrived on time and after a few pleasantries, we hit the road.



You may recall that last time Dan visited, he rode his VFR800 in gorgeous red, white, and blue regalia. This trip, he wisely choose the Kawasaki Versys 650, which offers more wind and weather protection, grip heaters, and is overall more suited to touring. I've long had a thing for the Versys (both models) - they are a very good sport touring motorcycle.



I told Dan to pack a lunch and we rode a short distance to a spot I know - Profile Falls on the Smith River. Not too much flow today - it's been dry.



After a nice lunch with good conversation, we geared back up for more adventure. Last night, I perused the map for some ideas and dumped a simple route onto my Garmin XT.

Honestly, it really doesn't matter in these parts which way you go.



There seems to be a town named "Wentworth" in every New England State. Wonder why? I shall endeavor to find out. Anyhoo, in Wentworth, NH, I stopped at the Covered Bridge there over the Baker River. I like the use of Old Glory at this site.



When she waves at us, we get a glimpse of Stinson Mountain. I've walked a good bit of that place.



It sure is nice to have friends to share your life with.



The conversation finally paused, and we pressed onward for more!



I spurred off my route just a few miles to Bath, NH. Come to think about it, there are a lot of towns named "Bath" in New England too. Hmmm...

Dan is a Graphic Artist, and has a good eye for archetecture. I wanted to show Dan this bridge.



This is the longest spanning covered bridge I've ever seen - reaching almost 400 feet across the Ammonoosuc River. It utilizes Burr Arch design, but unique to this bridge (for me anyway) is the fact that it incorporates three (3) seperate arch designs of different radiaii throughout the span.



It is magnificient.



Hydro power (the electric and mechanical variety) has been used in these parts for a LONG time.



Moving on!



Hwy 112 west of Lincoln has been recently re-paved. Like BRAND new ashpault - the stripes were just painted last week. Honestly, I like this part better than the "Kanc" (east of Lincoln). On this Monday afternoon, traffic is virtually non-existent and I ripped that baby proper. Dan's a bit more conservative and was happy to ride his ride behind me.

I stopped at Beaver Pond to let the adreneline wane. Dan says he's passed this up numerous times, but never stopped.

The color is coming a little more every day.



Might as well get my zen on....



I take a right onto Hwy 118. Again, brand new pavement and this section of road is arguably my favorite road to ride the FJR on in the region. I'm feeling it, so I hold the big girl to 3rd gear and put the heat to her. Man that was fun with no traffic in either lane. I stopped at the top to wait for Dan.



If you notice, the pull off is unlevel, angled down the mountain. Dan rides up and is planning to park his bike next to mine. On the low side, he couldn't quite reach enough to flat foot and the bike decided to take a nap. Thankfully, he wasn't hurt. The bike was basically Ok, but the left turn signal stalk fell out and cracked the fairing slightly near the T/S opening. We got the bike back up and I spent 20 minutes re-installing the T/S in a manner in which it would stay put. No harm, no foul, but Dan was pissed off at himself. I told him several times that I could write a book on the stupid I've done (I can). It didn't help - I know. I've been there, done that. You just have to be supportive and give him a little time.

My plan was to double back to Hwy 25 and stop at the Redstone Rocket display in Warren, another thing that Dan has yet to stop at. After the drop and roadside repair, continuing the planned ride just didn't have it's luster. It's getting late, so we just turned around and headed home. For this last stint, I pulled the reigns way back. I've fallen - it's an experience I'm familiar with. Right now, Dan's brain is running 100 mph and he's not thinking totally clear. His bike needs to run a LOT slower than that. He made a itsy bitsy mistake. No need to turn that into a bigger one.



We get back to the ABB, and Tammy has been busy awaiting us.





The pizza place in town also makes a good salad. We walked over there and had dinner. Then I poured Dan and I a "stiff-ish" tottie and we had great conversation at the ABB.

We will see what we can drum up for tomorrow.

Stay thirsty, my friends....

[bungie4]

shh.. don't tell anybody but the ACOE campgrounds are the hot ticket. We'll designed, well maintained.

[Hppants]

shh.. don't tell anybody but the ACOE campgrounds are the hot ticket. We'll designed, well maintained.

Point well taken, but IMO, this issue takes pretty good care of itself. For all of its talent, the ACOE's website is horrible. Very plain, basic - uninteresting. So... those keyboard warriors don't pay much attention to it.

[gixxerjasen]

I've never stayed at an ACOE campground. I always look, and there's never one where I need one. Maybe that's the other secret.

[BkerChuck]

I'm hardly as traveled as our tour guide here in this little adventure but I can never get over how many people where I work and in my home area that have never traveled beyond PA or maybe one neighboring state away. Many of my coworkers go to the same beach town every single year, often staying at the exact same hotel and eating in the same restaurants that they've been going to since childhood. Sadly I feel my own home area is quite close minded and not very warm or receptive to outsiders.

I have found, in what traveling I have been fortunate enough to do, that most people are decent and friendly. While I've found areas that I've loved visiting I still look forward to expanding that horizon and going somewhere I've never been before.

Keep up the good work Pants. At leas while I'm stuck at my desk I can live vicariously through you!

[Hppants]

As of this writing, I've got about 2,500 miles in New England on the FJR, about 800 miles on the DR650. A few observations on the riding here:

1. Most obvious, the speed limits here are ridiculously too low. The curviest roads are either 35 or 40, and the straight 2-lane roads are 50 mph. Even the 40 mph roads should be 55 mph, with yellow reduced speed information for the curves. The police here seem to be quite understanding of this. Several times now, I've picked up a police vehicle running radar and going in my direction (either I'm in front or behind the unit). In each case, we are running at least 7-8 over and in one case, 10 over with no adverse consequences. Of course, exceptions will always be possible, but overwhelmingly, the police here give you 10 over. Everyone here (2 wheels or more) seems to run 10 over everywhere. Maybe the thinking is that they make the S/L low, and then look the other way cause no matter what you set it at, people are gonna run 10-ish over. I dunno - I'll admit, I'm usually running 10-15 over on the curvy roads, and sometimes a bit more keeping a keen eye so as not to ever go 20 over (that's going to jail speed). As with most places, within the towns/cities, you gotta hold the line - less tolerance there for sure, and rightfully so.

2. The people here are good drivers. They are FAR better than at my home, and generally much better than most places farther south of here. I've had ZERO incidences of people pulling out in front of me, squeezing me out of my lane, or any kind of driving that puts me in a precarious position. 2500 miles is enough test to draw some conclusion. There are more motorycles here, both locally owned and tourist. I think the drivers here are trained better to look out for us. When you come upon them from behind, some will pull over or slow down and let you by. Others will not - that is about the same as other areas in the Appalacians.

3. The roads here are in EXCELLENT shape, both the paved and unpaved roads. They are well maintained - I see road crews all over fixing conditions that back home would be ignored for years. The unpaved roads have a bridge for EVERY little water crossing and it's usually NOT just a culvert in the creek with some back fill around it. Even the railroad crossings all seem to be very smooth transitions. New Hampshire has done an excellent job of accomodating bicycles, both on paved and unpaved roads. And this is absolutely the best: there is NO (ZERO) litter anywhere here. That is so cool compared to where I live.

4. Gas Stations here are fewer and farther between than most areas I've been to east of the Missisippi River. In spots, you might have to go 30-ish miles to get gas. It's not THAT big of a deal, just something to be aware of. The price of fuel here is about $0.25 a gallon more than at home, about the same as everywhere else in the Appalacians.

5. Apparently, New Hampshire doesn't allow those ridiculous high billboards on their Interstates. I wish that was the law nationwide - so much nicer without all that crap.

6. The tolls in New England are reasonable to me. Much lower than every other part of the northeast IMO.

7. It would appear that the people here take care of their vehicles pretty well too. I hardly see any drip stains at the intersections (oil leaks and the like). I think that ties into the fact that in New Hampshire, these people make a decent living wage comparatively speaking.

8. For it being a mountainous region, there just isn't much wildlife here. To date, I've seen only ONE deer. You see very little road kill anywhere. Hardly any of the pickup trucks have those brush guards in the front to knock the deer out of the way. I'm still cautious of course, but it doesn't appear to be much of a problem.

9. And perhaps MOST noteworthy: these people like their ice cream. New Hampshire is supposed to be a "Dairy State" but honestly, there are no cows in the mountain region, only a few in the seacoast region, and very few in the Lakes region. They may be in the south or the north, but from what I've seen, I don't think so. Regardless, NH peeps make VERY good ice cream The local creamerys are all very good. Their ice cream is rich and they don't exaggerate the flavoring to mask the taste of the base ice cream. It's fairly easy to find local ice cream at virtually ever little town I run through. I find this especially rewarding because for the most part, NH food is not very good. It's decent - I don't want to sound judgmental. Admittedly, I have high standards for restaurants. But for what you get and definitely for what you pay, the food here is just not that good.