DAY 2 – Rome NY to York PA
Saturday April 15
(~418 miles)
I did some more routing work at my hotel last night, looking at my possible routes to and from the Rock n Ride Rally next week. Doing the math I realized that 10 days would end on the Monday morning following the rally (April 24) so I had to visit all my Merci cars by then to qualify for the combo. This meant my original return route to get the PA car on that Monday wasn’t going to work, and I had to bag it on this trip rather than heading back east along I-90 for some misc other bonuses.
So I planned a mix of some highway and some new (to me) BONE back roads today, down through Pennsylvania to get the Merci car as well as some other bonus stops. This shaped up to be the best riding day of the weekend. This meant I wouldn’t be able to get the boxcar in Rhode Island (museum closed on Easter Sunday) but it’s a skip and a jump from where I live and work, so I figured I’d snag that during a lunch run some day this week.
Grabbed a quick bagel from the hotel breakfast and hit the road at 06:30. The hotel was right next to the regional airport in Rome, and caught a nice view of the sun rising by an big old jet they had on display by the road. I rode a few miles north to Delta Lake State Park for my Americana NY park bonus before heading a bit further west to Oneida lake.
It was V towns galore this morning, as I bagged Verona, Vienna, and Verona Beach within the space of an hour or so!
I finally screwed up my flag juggling and took a picture in from of the Verona Beach State Park sign with the Love & Merci flag, rather than the Americana, but I was blissfully unaware of this until processing my photos after the trip. After crossing over I-90, I passed through Vernon NY, yielding another V town and the VVS High School (for my NY Americana school bonus).
I collected my third Merci car in Whitestown NY (just west of Utica), outside an American Legion hall in the early morning hours. This was the first Merci car I’d really had all to myself, so I took a stretch break off the bike to walk around it and take in some of the detail.
After absorbing the peace, love, and gratitude vibe for a short while, I continued east into Utica to snap a photo of my first Statue of Liberty bonus. 
The Love & Merci tour allows you up to 10 of these statues, which are scattered around the US based on a mold commissioned by the Boy Scouts of America (see http://www.cheyennetroop101.org/liberty/ for more info on this trivia).
I’m assuming the French “Merci” connection here is that the original likeness of Lady Liberty in NYC was gifted to America by France. Either way, this statue was an easy grab at this time of the morning, located in a pocket park in the median strip of a boulevard. It has a nice star-shaped pedestal like the real thing.
Now I jumped on I-90 for a few miles eastward to Herkimer, where I was determined to get breakfast at Crazy Otto’s Empire Diner. It had been listed in a recent article I’d read about the best diners in upstate New York, and I love good breakfast.
I arrived around 09:00 and was very warmly greeted when I walked in, and directed immediately to to a table by a window. The place was a bit overwhelming (i.e. busy) to look at, and I had a hard time taking it all in.
The staff was super friendly and despite wanting one of everything on the menu, I settled for a spinach and bacon omelet. The coconut encrusted french toast sounded SO good however, and I asked the waitress if there was any way to just get one slice along with my omelet. She seemed doubtful and said probably not since a minimum order came with three. Lo and behold when my magnificent morning feast arrived…
Yes, my waitress came through for me! French coconut deliciousness drizzled with some syrup was exactly enough to satisfy my craving and earn her a good tip. That omelet is one of the best I’ve ever had, as well. Great food improves the mood on the road!
I left south out of Herkimer on BONE road NY 51, a wonderful little road winding up and down next to a stream with nice twists for several miles, the first I’d really seen since starting this trip. Still a bit overly conscious of my rear mounted car tire, but gradually allowed myself to trust it more and more in the curves. It still feels just different enough to be in my head.
Going through the little farm town of Edmeston, I noticed the welcome sign and had to stop, even though E towns aren’t really that rare anywhere.
I pushed on south on NY 8, paralleling the Susquehanna River through nice farm countryside, jogged west on I-88 and down to the PA border on NY 79. BONE road PA 92 begins at the border and seems like a great curvy road, though the conditions were a bit choppy for the first several miles into the Jackson PA area or so. After that it was some beautiful riding and sufficient passing zones to get around the slower local traffic when necessary.
As I approached the town of Nicholson, I saw this magnificent structure off to the left, which turned out to be the Tunkhannock Viaduct. Per wikipedia, it was the largest concrete structure in the world when completed in 1915 and is still in active use by the railroad companies.
On the roads in to Tunkhannock, I fell in behind a car doing the speed limit – EXACTLY the speed limit. Which is OK, except that I’d been breezing quickly through the countryside at my own pace, and it felt like I’d come to a sudden stop. There were no usable passing lanes heading in to town, but on the short stretch I joined US 6 (speed limit 30mph as it must have been considered “in town”), there was a long straightaway with no driveways, businesses or other traffic so I safely passed the car.
I should have known better, but I was on automatic and ended up having a conversation with a local town employee before being allowed to continue on my way out of Tunkhannock. He was very nice about it and even commented that I wasn’t being reckless or a jerk, but double yellow is what it is and he said they were out in force across the state for Easter weekend. My first ticket. Ever. Oh well.
Somewhat humbled, I moseyed on, obeying all painted lines and trying to let the experience slide off my shoulders. My next stop was a PA state park, and then I hopped on US 11, still following the Susquehanna and just happened to pass a neat looking diner so I pulled a U-ey to tick that off my Americana list as well.
My next two planned stops were Statues of Liberty in Berwick and Bloomsburg, but in between I looked up and saw…dinosaurs! Probably the most difficult Americana bonus category to map out in many states (so far), I pulled over and snagged a photo of them, in addition to the motorcycle shop right next door (another Americana category)…a twofer.
At the Bloomsburg statue, it was right at the entrance to an elementary school, so ah what the hell took care of my PA Americana school bonus at the same time…another twofer!
I picked up PA 487 in Catawissa and enjoyed some nice riding into the hills. I passed through the aptly named township of Coal with coal veins (?) visible in the rocky hills all around the town. The twists started immediately coming out of that town on PA 125 (another BONE road). I enjoyed the next several miles through the hills, forests and state gamelands of central PA, especially Gold Mine Road coming out of Tower City.
I leapfrogged a bit with another rider on a Ducati who seemed to know the area well. Towards the end of the run we chatted briefly at a stop sign. He was a young guy and wasn’t from the immediate area, but had had been a dirt racer and had ridden the roads there many times before with his friends, which showed. He asked if I had come there from MA for those roads but I said just passing through. We wished each other well and continued on our respective ways.
Shortly thereafter, I found myself at Fort Indiantown Gap, site of the PA Merci train car, my fourth and final one of this trip. It was located at a major intersection within the fort’s boundaries (no checkpoint like the NG museum up in Vermont) under a pavillion roof. This was another one with the brakeman’s house intact.
Across the street were some military helicopter exhibits. I like helos, so I couldn’t resist going over to take a look.
This was my last stop of the day as the shadows were already long and I was looking forward to a longer rest in the hotel room than I’d been able to enjoy the previous night. I-81 down to skirt Harrisburg and south on I-83 to York PA for the night, checking in to the hotel around 18:00. Got a good pizza delivery recommendation (Heart of Sicily) from the desk clerk and relaxed while planning out my route for the following day, Easter Sunday.
DAY 3 – York PA to Southeast MA
Sunday April 16
(~401 miles)
I decided to simplify my route today — get home at a reasonable hour to rest up before work on Monday. There is a specific Love & Merci bonus in downtown Philadelphia that I wanted to get, taking advantage of what I hoped would be an early Sunday morning lull, so it was another early start just after 06:00.
There is a Statue of Liberty right there in York PA, and I cruised the morning streets unimpeded from the hotel to the small park where I spotted the statue sitting out on an island in a reflecting pond in the dim morning light.
Not a good view from the road so… looking around quickly in all directions and seeing no traffic or other signs of life that looked like they would car, I pulled a wide loop across the lanes and rested the front tire directly at the curb, gunned the bike up onto the sidewalk and glided down a brick walkway to the pond side where I killed my lights to avoid attention and quickly set up the photo.
No harm, no foul, and I was on my way within minutes. I struck east on US routes 30 and then 222, crossing the now very wide Susquehanna for the last time this trip, beautiful and touched by mist.
I ran into some pretty thick patches of fog on the highways too, but the sun worked to burn them off and I eventually returned to interstate at I-76. That took me all the way into the heart of Philly, where I paid careful attention to my Garmin GPS to avoid costly wrong turns in the unfamiliar city.
People were already up and moving about, but the city had a welcoming feel at that hour and with the morning sun hitting the empty streets. I located my target, the “City of Brotherly Love” bonus, a sculpture of the Spanish word AMOR, right in what is probably usually a busy intersection. I had no trouble getting the shot.
I missed my exit for the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, but quickly re-routed over the Betsy Ross to cross the Delaware River. From there on out it was strictly slab, mostly on I-95. Pretty smooth sailing on Easter morning, except for a 10 minute backup before the GW Bridge in NYC. Even still, there were a lot of cars on the road and it’s not a route I’ll choose often when there is any other choice.
I felt tired, this being my first longish trip of the year after some unpredictable late winter weather, but glad to have gotten some miles and bonus hunting under my belt prior to running the rally next weekend.
Trip Stats:
Miles: ~1432
States: 8
Merci Cars: 4
Lighthouses: 5
Americana bonuses: 15
Pie: 0 (what a travesty!)
Coconut Crusted French Toast slices: 1 (almost makes up for the pie)
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Begin the 10-10-10 – Days 2 & 3
DAY 2 – Rome NY to York PA
Saturday April 15
(~418 miles)
I did some more routing work at my hotel last night, looking at my possible routes to and from the Rock n Ride Rally next week. Doing the math I realized that 10 days would end on the Monday morning following the rally (April 24) so I had to visit all my Merci cars by then to qualify for the combo. This meant my original return route to get the PA car on that Monday wasn’t going to work, and I had to bag it on this trip rather than heading back east along I-90 for some misc other bonuses.
So I planned a mix of some highway and some new (to me) BONE back roads today, down through Pennsylvania to get the Merci car as well as some other bonus stops. This shaped up to be the best riding day of the weekend. This meant I wouldn’t be able to get the boxcar in Rhode Island (museum closed on Easter Sunday) but it’s a skip and a jump from where I live and work, so I figured I’d snag that during a lunch run some day this week.
Grabbed a quick bagel from the hotel breakfast and hit the road at 06:30. The hotel was right next to the regional airport in Rome, and caught a nice view of the sun rising by an big old jet they had on display by the road. I rode a few miles north to Delta Lake State Park for my Americana NY park bonus before heading a bit further west to Oneida lake.
I finally screwed up my flag juggling and took a picture in from of the Verona Beach State Park sign with the Love & Merci flag, rather than the Americana, but I was blissfully unaware of this until processing my photos after the trip. After crossing over I-90, I passed through Vernon NY, yielding another V town and the VVS High School (for my NY Americana school bonus).
I collected my third Merci car in Whitestown NY (just west of Utica), outside an American Legion hall in the early morning hours. This was the first Merci car I’d really had all to myself, so I took a stretch break off the bike to walk around it and take in some of the detail.
After absorbing the peace, love, and gratitude vibe for a short while, I continued east into Utica to snap a photo of my first Statue of Liberty bonus.
The Love & Merci tour allows you up to 10 of these statues, which are scattered around the US based on a mold commissioned by the Boy Scouts of America (see http://www.cheyennetroop101.org/liberty/ for more info on this trivia).
I’m assuming the French “Merci” connection here is that the original likeness of Lady Liberty in NYC was gifted to America by France. Either way, this statue was an easy grab at this time of the morning, located in a pocket park in the median strip of a boulevard. It has a nice star-shaped pedestal like the real thing.
Now I jumped on I-90 for a few miles eastward to Herkimer, where I was determined to get breakfast at Crazy Otto’s Empire Diner. It had been listed in a recent article I’d read about the best diners in upstate New York, and I love good breakfast.
I arrived around 09:00 and was very warmly greeted when I walked in, and directed immediately to to a table by a window. The place was a bit overwhelming (i.e. busy) to look at, and I had a hard time taking it all in.
The staff was super friendly and despite wanting one of everything on the menu, I settled for a spinach and bacon omelet. The coconut encrusted french toast sounded SO good however, and I asked the waitress if there was any way to just get one slice along with my omelet. She seemed doubtful and said probably not since a minimum order came with three. Lo and behold when my magnificent morning feast arrived…
Yes, my waitress came through for me! French coconut deliciousness drizzled with some syrup was exactly enough to satisfy my craving and earn her a good tip. That omelet is one of the best I’ve ever had, as well. Great food improves the mood on the road!
I left south out of Herkimer on BONE road NY 51, a wonderful little road winding up and down next to a stream with nice twists for several miles, the first I’d really seen since starting this trip. Still a bit overly conscious of my rear mounted car tire, but gradually allowed myself to trust it more and more in the curves. It still feels just different enough to be in my head.
I pushed on south on NY 8, paralleling the Susquehanna River through nice farm countryside, jogged west on I-88 and down to the PA border on NY 79. BONE road PA 92 begins at the border and seems like a great curvy road, though the conditions were a bit choppy for the first several miles into the Jackson PA area or so. After that it was some beautiful riding and sufficient passing zones to get around the slower local traffic when necessary.
As I approached the town of Nicholson, I saw this magnificent structure off to the left, which turned out to be the Tunkhannock Viaduct. Per wikipedia, it was the largest concrete structure in the world when completed in 1915 and is still in active use by the railroad companies.
On the roads in to Tunkhannock, I fell in behind a car doing the speed limit – EXACTLY the speed limit. Which is OK, except that I’d been breezing quickly through the countryside at my own pace, and it felt like I’d come to a sudden stop. There were no usable passing lanes heading in to town, but on the short stretch I joined US 6 (speed limit 30mph as it must have been considered “in town”), there was a long straightaway with no driveways, businesses or other traffic so I safely passed the car.
I should have known better, but I was on automatic and ended up having a conversation with a local town employee before being allowed to continue on my way out of Tunkhannock. He was very nice about it and even commented that I wasn’t being reckless or a jerk, but double yellow is what it is and he said they were out in force across the state for Easter weekend. My first ticket. Ever. Oh well.
Somewhat humbled, I moseyed on, obeying all painted lines and trying to let the experience slide off my shoulders. My next stop was a PA state park, and then I hopped on US 11, still following the Susquehanna and just happened to pass a neat looking diner so I pulled a U-ey to tick that off my Americana list as well.
My next two planned stops were Statues of Liberty in Berwick and Bloomsburg, but in between I looked up and saw…dinosaurs! Probably the most difficult Americana bonus category to map out in many states (so far), I pulled over and snagged a photo of them, in addition to the motorcycle shop right next door (another Americana category)…a twofer.
I picked up PA 487 in Catawissa and enjoyed some nice riding into the hills. I passed through the aptly named township of Coal with coal veins (?) visible in the rocky hills all around the town. The twists started immediately coming out of that town on PA 125 (another BONE road). I enjoyed the next several miles through the hills, forests and state gamelands of central PA, especially Gold Mine Road coming out of Tower City.
I leapfrogged a bit with another rider on a Ducati who seemed to know the area well. Towards the end of the run we chatted briefly at a stop sign. He was a young guy and wasn’t from the immediate area, but had had been a dirt racer and had ridden the roads there many times before with his friends, which showed. He asked if I had come there from MA for those roads but I said just passing through. We wished each other well and continued on our respective ways.
Shortly thereafter, I found myself at Fort Indiantown Gap, site of the PA Merci train car, my fourth and final one of this trip. It was located at a major intersection within the fort’s boundaries (no checkpoint like the NG museum up in Vermont) under a pavillion roof. This was another one with the brakeman’s house intact.
Across the street were some military helicopter exhibits. I like helos, so I couldn’t resist going over to take a look.
This was my last stop of the day as the shadows were already long and I was looking forward to a longer rest in the hotel room than I’d been able to enjoy the previous night. I-81 down to skirt Harrisburg and south on I-83 to York PA for the night, checking in to the hotel around 18:00. Got a good pizza delivery recommendation (Heart of Sicily) from the desk clerk and relaxed while planning out my route for the following day, Easter Sunday.
DAY 3 – York PA to Southeast MA
Sunday April 16
(~401 miles)
I decided to simplify my route today — get home at a reasonable hour to rest up before work on Monday. There is a specific Love & Merci bonus in downtown Philadelphia that I wanted to get, taking advantage of what I hoped would be an early Sunday morning lull, so it was another early start just after 06:00.
Not a good view from the road so… looking around quickly in all directions and seeing no traffic or other signs of life that looked like they would car, I pulled a wide loop across the lanes and rested the front tire directly at the curb, gunned the bike up onto the sidewalk and glided down a brick walkway to the pond side where I killed my lights to avoid attention and quickly set up the photo.
No harm, no foul, and I was on my way within minutes. I struck east on US routes 30 and then 222, crossing the now very wide Susquehanna for the last time this trip, beautiful and touched by mist.
I ran into some pretty thick patches of fog on the highways too, but the sun worked to burn them off and I eventually returned to interstate at I-76. That took me all the way into the heart of Philly, where I paid careful attention to my Garmin GPS to avoid costly wrong turns in the unfamiliar city.
I missed my exit for the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, but quickly re-routed over the Betsy Ross to cross the Delaware River. From there on out it was strictly slab, mostly on I-95. Pretty smooth sailing on Easter morning, except for a 10 minute backup before the GW Bridge in NYC. Even still, there were a lot of cars on the road and it’s not a route I’ll choose often when there is any other choice.
I felt tired, this being my first longish trip of the year after some unpredictable late winter weather, but glad to have gotten some miles and bonus hunting under my belt prior to running the rally next weekend.
Trip Stats:
Miles: ~1432
States: 8
Merci Cars: 4
Lighthouses: 5
Americana bonuses: 15
Pie: 0 (what a travesty!)
Coconut Crusted French Toast slices: 1 (almost makes up for the pie)
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