We're still on our backwards travel sequence where we sightsee in the morning and travel in the afternoon, but that should be straightened out by tomorrow. So we woke up this morning to a bright sunny day, with a forecast for partly cloudy to sunny with temperatures in the upper 80's - perfect traveling weather! After a quick breakfast in the hotel bistro, we packed up the bike and headed out on our 1.5 mile journey to the Thomas Edison Historical Park in West Orange, NJ. While most of Edison's early inventions took place in Menlo Park, NJ, that facility is no longer there. It was bought by Henry Ford, and most of the buildings were dismantled and brought up to Dearborn, MI where they are on display as part of The Ford Museum which we ... read more

It was nice seeing my brother Jerry and his family last night, but that was the last of the family and friends visits for this trip. Today it's just Jody and I facing the world together! We somehow got our travel/ sightseeing sequence out of whack over the last couple of days. We normally travel in the morning and sightsee in the afternoon, but today we are riding over to Newport, RI in the morning and traveling in the afternoon. So after a quick hotel breakfast, we loaded up the bike for the 20 minute ride across the bridge to Newport. Newport is about the last place where about a dozen of the mansions built during the gilded age still exist and are being preserved. There are guided tours & self-guided tours, trolleys, buses, & walking ... read more

Today was an unplanned day of rest - we just didn't really want to be traveling on the 4th of July, so we thought we would spend an extra day in Lowell. Even with the extra day, we still didn't have time to connect with all the friends in the area we would have liked. Maybe next time! So we did sleep in a little late this morning, but it didn't matter as we weren't planning on eating the hotel breakfast anyway. Today we were heading back to Lowell for breakfast at the Owl Diner! I know that technically the Owl Diner is really the Four Sisters Diner, but to me it will always be the Owl Diner. It's been around Lowell forever, one of the old fashioned classic counter diner with a few booths, with ... read more

It rained hard last night. It was if someone knew it was our last day this far north on this trip and we were turning south into the warmth and wanted to make one last point. Breakfast at The Sanctuary was good, we spoke a little with the owner about her hotel and understand that they are offering it as a B&B for now, but the ultimate goal is to set it up as an artist retreat as there are plenty of other spaces available besides sleeping quarters in the building. We wished them luck, loaded up the bike and headed south.. The plan for the day was to stay on US-1S all the way along the coast of Maine until we crossed over the bridge from Kittery, ME to Portsmouth, NH. This is another of ... read more

We woke up this morning to yet another dreary day in New Hampshire. We've done pretty well avoiding the actual rain, mostly we've only been caught in a little drizzle. This time was much the same, it had rained all night and the roads were still wet, but the rain seemed to have subsided, though it was 59 degrees.. Not taking any chances, and as a windbreak to the cold, we went ahead and put on our rainsuits. Our hotel did not have breakfast, but there was a McDonald's just down the street, so we loaded up the bike and headed over for the Big Breakfast. While there, we encountered what we always do in the mornings at McDonald's - the towns senior citizens gathered together for the 99 cent coffee. This time they were mostly ... read more