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Published: April 7th 2012
Apologies from the start for any spelling, gramatical errors, layout, or swearing. It will probably take me all of our six months to get used to this site. Day 01……..01/04/2012 With all the goodbyes to friends done, and the slightly more difficult farewells to family members managed, (with just a few tears), we headed for Heathrow airport,” thanks Lewis”. All checked in, I sat people watching in the departure lounge, while Lynne went shopping. I looked for the rich and famous and at the travellers from all nations, the cabin crew wheeling their overnight bags behind. I thought Katie my daughter had probably passed this way a hundred times with her job. So imagine my surprise, when there she was, gliding passed the shops in her Virgin red livery, looking for us. Her trademark beaming smile bigger than ever at her success in finding us.
We were well taken care of on the flight over to Newark, Katie who was called for a flight to Boston, had made a call to the supervisor on board our plane, champagne on arrival, and G&Ts all the way, (“thanks Katie, and to Liz the supervisor”). It was
raining steadily at Newark, but the forecast was for it to clear over the next few days.
Now for the tricky bit, US customs and immigration. If Carlsberg employed US customs officers, (deep booming voice)” they would probably be the most scariest in the world”. Actually it all went very smoothly, oh apart from when it was Lynne’s turn, and her finger prints did not match the ones on record “gulp”. With a fair amount of shrugging and head shaking from the officer, Lynne was asked to try again, this time with in depth instructions on how to place ones palm on the pad. Success, in all fairness the counter with the pad on it was quite high up!
A quick trip on the Air train, and then a shuttle bus to the hotel, and we were in our room.
Day 2…..02/04/2012 Opening the curtains at 0700 brought in streams of bright sunshine, which was more than welcome. After breakfast, a few phone calls pointed us in the right direction as too the procedure for getting the paperwork signed and stamped by Customs, which would get our bikes released from the docks. The only
thing was to have the department of agriculture approve the cleanliness of both bikes, I kid you not, apparently it’s a dirt thing, to do with bringing in contaminated soil. Dirty, my bike, bloody cheek. A trip to downtown Newark by cab, and we were soon at the counter of a very friendly customs border patrol officer. He praised me for having all the forms needed, all neat and correct, and within fifteen minutes everything was stamped and approved. We were nearly there, and tomorrow we would get them. We had decided that it was a little late in the day to go to the docks, besides I had not yet worked out a way of stopping Lynne shaking at the thought of riding her Trike abroad, let alone by a Baptist of fire in the New York area. She will be fine, if only because of the now immortal words of one of our friends, “she’s only following” (thanks Jackie).
We left the customs building and walked back in the general direction of the airport. We passed through neighbourhoods that maybe we should not have, and so decided to get a cab back. We visited Jersey Gardens, a
huge out of town shopping mall, which was great, all these shops and no room on the bikes for any of Lynne’s purchases, my kind of shopping.
Day 3………..03/04/2012 Well today’s the day we collect the bikes, and put Lynne’s fears to the test. We got a lift to the docks from Ramone, the hotels courtesy bus driver, a colourful New York character who seemed to have an angle on just about everything, and who’s most favourite saying was “ok here’s the deal”.
More paperwork, more waiting, but at least we were nearly there, and the sun was shining brightly. From the dock office, we could see the bikes, but still we waited. Finally we had the release papers, and after a half hour or so of loading the bikes with all the kit, we were rolling out of the docks, and on to the nearest petrol station, which is almost exactly half the price here, so that’s a bonus.
Off we went, and looking in my mirrors I swore I could see little Lynne shaking more than the Harley she was sitting on. Navigating our way out of the
busiest part of America had me a little nervous, and the traffic on highway 95 north did little to help. The first toll booth was interesting, I took my ticket as I passed through, Lynne thought I would get hers too, nooo, you need to get your own, one vehicle one ticket, quite a funny sight, Lynne leaping off and running back, just before a giant truck got there. On we went, out of New Jersey, into New York State. Things were calming down a little now, Lynne seemed settled in behind, the sun was shining, and we were actually riding in America.
Into Connecticut State number three, a stop for coffee in Westport, and a phone call to our friends Reg and Elaine. Reg was going to meet us a bit further up, and guide us to his house where we will stay for a few days, at their beautiful Connecticut home. I had met Reg and Elaine six years ago in Nova Scotia, while touring the US the last time. We met Reg at a Dunkn Doughnut’s, and followed along behind for a few miles, then we stopped in to see Elaine at her work, which just
happened to be at State correctional facility, (a jail) well that’s a first, and we got to meet the governor too. Around 180 miles covered today, and Lynne did very well, considering it was her first time riding on the wrong side of the road, and also the fact that she had not used the trike since July 2011.
Day 04………04/04/2012 Oh no, more sunshine here this morning, which is a lot better than the poor people in the Dallas area of Texas have been through, after a huge tornado ripped through part of their city. Today we are going to ride with our friends to a 17
THcentury recreated village in Massachusetts, (State number four). We passed by some fantastic homes, bordering on mansions, on super smooth winding roads that were nearly empty, oh yes, this what it has all been about, all the agro with the paperwork, forms and red tape, now it’s time for our payback.The village was a great place, staff in period costume were all around and were only to pleased to impart their knowledge of the area we were in.
A great ride back through the
vast Connecticut forests, although it got a little chilly as the sun went down. The 100 mile round trip was finished off with a great meal at a local Italian restaurant.
Day 05……..05/04/2012 Today we will ride to Newport Rhode Island, where we will visit the famous mansions of Newport. The temperature has dropped a little more than it has been over the last few days, but still sunny. We rode passed mansion after mansion, each becoming more opulent than the last. A tour around the Vanderbilt’s summer cottage, well that is a bit of an understatement, really did show how the other half lived. The summer cottage is called Breakers, because of its location on the cliff tops, it makes Downton Abbey look like a shed. Coffee, and soup near the Newport lawn tennis club was the only way to end an afternoon befitting a gentleman of my status, then it was back on the bikes and back to reality.
Day 06…….06/04/2012 A sedate ride to the coast today, through woodlands, and past the new blossoms of spring, Jasmine, Magnolia, and Cherry all
adding their colour to the beautiful countryside. The day was fresh, but crystal clear, the ride to Mystic on the Connecticut coast was superb.Mystic was a small old fishing town, now just a place for he more wealthy Americans to live and play. We took in the local shops, and spent some time at the unusual cantilever bridge that is an attraction here, I had passed through here six years ago on my last travels in the US, so it was good to get the chance to look around now, I even had some Guinness flavoured ice cream, at a local parlour, it was left over from St Patricks day, only in America. On the ride back we stopped off at a seafood store to pick up the evening meal, six fresh lobsters, which when cooked, were amazing, Lynne and I had to be shown the correct etiquette for dealing with the beasts, so as not to eat the wrong bits. Later that evening I was taken to the local fire station where Reg worked part time, they were holding their annual Good friday clam bake. Another fine day.
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Barb Worsley
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welcome to the USA
glad you found the coffee shop.American spelling Mr H. Dunkin' Donuts...SAFE DRIVING..LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE BLOGGING