6-9-17...Today was one of those heaven or hell days.  I got a call about 8:00 AM from Brad Hvolbeck, another Nichols college buddy.  We played football and lacrosse together and also went on the first Nichols College summer European studies tour together.  Anyway we set up a meet in Greenwich for 10:00 AM at the Delamar Hotel restaurant.  It's funny, when you haven't seen your friends for a long time you expect them to show up looking just the way they did so I was expecting to see Brad in his burgundy MGA that very rarely ran without a lot of help and wearing his Catholic Charities overcoat.  So he shows up in his Mercedes, impeccably dressed but he was quick to let me know that his dress and demeanor was not for me.  Later in the day he had an appointment with a Chinese gentleman to sell him a multi-million dollar home.  As soon as we sat down for some coffee he became the same good natured, fun and friendly Brad Hvolbeck that I knew in Conant Hall.  I was expecting that he might have some very smelly cheese that he might attempt to secrete in the radiator of my motorcycle as someone did during my absence from Conant for a holiday many years previously.  We had a great time reminiscing and I got him to promise to attend our 55th reunion.  Brad walked out to check out my bike and we took some pictures.

All to soon it was time for me to hit the road for my next stop which is Barnegat Bay NJ and an old flying buddy, John "SHINDOG" Shinnick.  John and I are not only Marine brothers, we are brother brothers.  We started out in the Marine Corps together and over the years were stationed together.  Our kids knew each other and we are just very close.  But I digress, first I had to get there and it was the ride from hell.  You've all read about my experiences in the rain but today beats all.  I rode from Fairfield to Greenwich CT at 9:00.  Traffic was a little heavy but no problem.  I left Greenwich and traffic was light but then five miles from the George Washington Bridge traffic ground to a halt and it was 1hr, & 45 min to cross the bridge.  Shortly after the bridge there was another 30 minute jam.  Then when I got to the Garden State Parkway there was an accident and we were in bumper-to-bumper for another 45 minutes.
I am adding NJ to the list of states I will never again visit.  Not only the traffic but every toll booth they charge me triple what a car pays.  I've asked numerous times because with the trailer, my bike is not as big as a car but they say they count axels.  The NJ roads are in such bad shape the state ought to be paying you to ride on their roads.  I am sending the NJ Dept. of Transportation my next chiropractic bill.
Good night Gov. Christy.  May your fat body jiggle to little pieces that get expelled from you Governor's limo and fill some of the potholes on your less than adequate roads.
Good night to y'all.

6-8-17...Golly Gee, who'd a thunk there could be two days of sunshine in New England in one week.  I am never going back to NH, VT, or ME.  They have nothing but rain.  As soon as you cross the border into Massachusetts, somebody up there turns off the faucet  But, I leap forward too quickly, Bruce and Carol are the penultimate hosts.  Bruce climbed out of bed early in the morning to cook breakfast.  He had so many suggestions including Russian caviar on toast points or English muffins.  We decided the English wouldn't mesh closely with the Russians and decided on scrambled eggs, toast, juice and coffee.  Too soon it was time to hit the road heading towards my alma mater, Nichols College in Dudley MA and a get together with Bill Pieczynski the VP for Advancement, Molly Thienel director of Alumni & Parent Engagement and Susan Veshi who cracks the whip over us lowly scribes ensuring we get our material in on time and that it be fit to print.  I digress here because I think Bill should recommend me for an Honorary Doctorate.  You tell me smarties, how many people can spell his name correctly?  Not only that but when I met he and Molly I told them I could still pronounce and spell Lake Chug or Webster so here goes....Chargoggagoggmanchauggaggoggchaubunagungamaugg.  That's probably worthy of an Honorable Doctorate in foreign language studies.  It's meaning in American Indian is...you fish on your side, I'll fish on my side and nobody fishes in the middle.  Thank you Bill, Molly and Susan for taking time out of your busy day to show me the new buildings on the campus and for lunch and my Nichols hat.  As I was getting ready to depart we took pictures of Bill and I and Susan and I.  I took my glasses off for the picture and set then on the rear seat of the bike.

After the picture I jumped on the bike and apparently forgot to put the glasses on.  I got down to Henri Davids place in Old Saybrook CT and noticed my glasses were missing.  We looked all over but found nothing.  Luckily Henri had a spare pair of glasses and they worked well so I am now using them.  Henri and I had a beer and he showed me all his beautiful cars in the barn but all too soon I had to climb back on the bike and head out for my evening stop.  Tomorrow will be another interesting day with a drive through New York City on the way to Barnegat Bay and a visit with Shindog, a very great Marine buddy.

6-7-17..Thank you God there is some sun in the Northeast.  Started the ride from Kittery Maine to Chestnut Hill Mass about 0900.  It was a little cool but the sun was out which was amazing to see.  I was riding to chestnut Hill to have lunch with Irv Frankel, an old Marine buddy and a battle hardened leatherneck with many combat missions in the bars of Marble Mountain Vietnam and Iwakuni Japan as well as forays into the "O" club at Naval Air Station Roosevelt Roads Puerto Rico.  He is a fine teller of stories but most of all, a great friend.  Irv took me to a great lunch.

too soon we had to part as I was heading to Falmouth on Cape Cod to visit and old college friend and his wife, Bruce and Carol Haslun.  They have a gorgeous old colonial home right in Falmouth and I arrived just about the cocktail hour so we partook of the same out on the patio in the sun and it was delightful.  Then they took me on a little tour and to dinner at a quaint old pub in downtown Falmouth.

All to soon it's get the blog published and get to bed because tomorrow is another riding day over to our Alma Mater and then down to Old Saybrook CT for a visit with a great college friend, Henri David.

So goodnight all, it was a good day.  Hope for some more of them. 

6-6-17...Had a great time visiting Bill and Nan Stanek.  The forecast for todays ride is supposed to be 85% chance of rain and a high of 48 degrees.  We took some pictures and then it was time to go.

The ride started off cold but no rain.  As I got close to the interstate to head south it started raining.  I got about 10 miles down the interstate when there was a great racket from under the center of the bike.  I stopped but was unable to determine what was causing the noise.  Called AAA and they sent a wrecker and took the bike back to augusta and Northern Country Motorcycles.  They found that of of the four bolts holding the driveshaft in place, two had broken and one was loose causing the drive shaft to make a great racket.   Three hours later I was back on the road in a downpour that lasted the entire 100 miles I had left to go.  I arrived safely and the cocktail was extra good tonight.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a better day.

Good night all.

6-3 to 6-5-17...Got caught up in events and failed to blog for a couple days.  Sat. the third we drove from Orford NH back to White River Junction because Katie's oldest, Owen who is 13 was playing Lacrosse.  So Bry and I went to watch him.  It was overcast but luckily no rain.  After his game was over we said our goodbye's and headed back to Orford.  On the way, Bry took me to this dairy farm.  They have between 450 and 500 Holstein cows and everything is automated.  The amazing thing is that all the cows know where to go and they amble around and wait their turn to go into the stall where their udders are automatically washed and then the milking machines are hooked on.  When the cow has been milked the stall opens, she steps out and another steps in.  Then they go to another station where a machine scratches their backs then they go to another location where they feed and lay down and sometime later back to the milking station.  Their are separate barns for birthing and then a separate barn for the heifers to grow.  It was really amazing.  Went out to a great place for lunch followed by a nap and then Suzie made another gourmet dinner and we watched Stanley cup finals hockey.
Sunday morning turned out to be sunny and nice.  Bry made waffles for breakfast and we said our goodbye's and I was off again to Littleton NH to visit Pete and Millie Smith.  Pete was a friend and classmate from college days.

Millie made a beautiful lunch including a Rhubarb pie which is my favorite.  Pete has been a competitive bike racer and bikes all the time so he showed me his stable of bikes which is very impressive.  Both are doing well and at the time he is getting the camper ready for a trip to Anchorage Alaska to visit their son.  To soon I had to say goodbye and continue on to my destination which is Industry Maine and the home of Bill and Nan Stanek.  Bill is an old Marine Corps compadre from back in the early 70's.  We played football for the Marine Corp Readiness Training Group at Cherry Point and won every game including the Marine Corps Birthday Bowl and then went to Camp Lejeune to play the Champion team from Fleet Marine Forces Atlantic and won that championship.  They were about to fly us to Hawaii to the All Marine championship when there was a fuel crunch so the Marine Corps frowned on sending a transport aircraft for a football game.  Instead, we went to Fort Bragg NC and played the Army's championship team from Fort Bragg and beat them 7 to 6.  At that time we hung up our cleats forever.

6-5-17  Today is overcast and dreary.  We just came back from breakfast at a nice restaurant on the lake.  Bill and Jan's place is on the lake and very secluded.  It's really beautiful.  It will be a slow and peaceful day and then I'll take them out for dinner somewhere this evening.  Tomorrow I'm off to Kittery Maine.  It's forecast to be another rainy day but by now I have webbed feet and can handle any amount of water.  Another nap might be in order this afternoon followed by a pick-me-up cocktail before dinner.  Hope y'all are enjoying the heat in Wilson and at the beach.  Have a great day.

6-2-17....This morning I am departing Katie and Davy's place in White River Junction VT and heading to visit another college friend Bry Beeson and his wife Suzie in Orford NH.  Before I do that though I am taking Liam, Katie's middle son to school on the motorcycle and then we are going to have breakfast at the King Arthur Café and Store and after that Katie is taking me to Davy's folks home to show me how they make maple syrup. 

From there I rode around beautiful Fairlee Lake and through some beautiful countryside to get to the Beeson reservation which is way out in the boondocks but absolutely beautiful.  Bry had some signs up to assure that I wouldn't get lost.

After we chatted for awhile he took me on a John Deere four wheel drive mountain climber and proceeded to give me a tour of his 375 acre estate, all the time telling me  to be aware of bears and snakes and this is the black fly season and limbs fall from trees and they are widow makers and a whole lot of other good information that I really needed to know to make my day.  And we're out there without any guns.  I miss my grenades and at least a good bayonet.  Then we stopped at Mud Turtle Pond and that made the trip most worthwhile.

 The pond has to be eight to ten acres in the middle of nowhere and just so quiet and peaceful.  I wanted to pitch my tent right there and spend the night but it's bad tick season so I gave up on that idea plus I had no tent.  We got back to the homestead where Suzie had a wonderful lunch waiting for us followed by naps and cocktails prior to departing for the Lyme Inn and a wonderful dinner.

It was a really nice day and I thank my host and for that matter all my hosts for putting up with me for as long as they had to.

My latest hosts, Bry and Suzie Beeson.  And with that concludes my reporting for the day.  If you have any problems with this reporters reports please take it up with the editor and you probably think he gives a s__t!!!

Good night all.

6-1-17....Yesterday I left Burlington heading for White River Junction and a visit with Katie and Davy Kitchel and their three boys Owen, Liam and Sebastian.  Would you believe it, the sun was out and it was a beautiful ride through the Vermont countryside.  I stopped in Stowe Vermont at the Alchemist Brewery because Katie had told me that Davy really likes their Heddy Topper beer (8% alcohol) and people come from all over to buy it at $12.50 a four pack.  So I picked up two four packs and naturally I had to sample some of the product.  The bar maid and I struck up a conversation about my travels and I might have still been there today sampling but for the necessity of getting to White River Junction.  Now to say the Kitchels live off the beaten path is a misnomer.  There is no path.  You have to make your own.  It was three miles of dirt roads and steep hills but once you arrive you are rewarded with a most beautiful view of I believe the Green Mountains.  There home is right outside Hanover NH and Norwich VT and the home of Dartmouth college.

Snow on the mountain

This is Stowe on the left & Killington Basin on the right.  Notice there is still snow on the top of the mountain.

This is the Kitchel homestead and what a beautiful home it is including the breathtaking views of the mountains from their deck

Katie and Davy put together a fantastic dinner and then we sat up until midnight solving all the worlds problems.  It was a fun evening.  Let me go back a little.  As I was riding this route to White River Junction I got a call from Lou Stroller wondering how I was doing with all the bad weather we were having.  Thanks so much Lou.  Then I was about three miles from my destination when I received a call from "Batman" Cenci.  Apparently he had been conjuring with the weather gods and they let him in on some secret info that a very bad electrical storm with hail was about to strike our area.  I thanked him but was not concerned because I was so close to my destination.  Katie let me park the motorcycle in the garage and a short time later we left to take her oldest, Owen to lacrosse  practice.  The storm erupted with lightning and hail the size of basketballs, well, maybe small marbles, but very dangerous with a deluge of rain. I was so thankful to be in a car.

"Batman", thanks so much for the heads up.

This morning I surprised Owen and took him to school on the motorcycle.  He thoroughly enjoyed it and as we were approaching the school he was waving to all his friends so it will be interesting to hear how his day went.  Then I met Katie at the King Arthur Café and Store and we had breakfast.  The King Arthur Flour Company has been in Davy's family for hundreds of years and was just recently sold to the employees.  Then I came back to the house and spent a couple hours cleaning up my bike after the many days (7) that I have been riding in the rain.

Now it is cocktail time and then we are going out to the kids favorite hamburger joint.

One note....Davy has a Tesla fully electric car.  Katie took me for a ride in it.  The acceleration was better than a cat shot off the USS Nimitz.  One second I was sitting in the front seat.  the next second the bottom portion of me was sitting in the front seat while my head resided in the back seat.  It was a hoot.

Well good evening all, it's cocktail time.