Adventure

Montana and Wyoming

Melanie de Wet2 Comments

I have been back in London for nearly 2.5 months and conscious that I ever finished writing up my journey. Thought I’d rectify that. So here goes.

With Sturgis under my belt, I was ready for Devils Tower. I was already keen to see the rock formation but I also promised Jeannine and Scott, who I spent two nights with in Michigan, that I’d send them a photo of Devils Tower when I got there as they missed Devils Tower when they were in South Dakota. I fulfilled my promise while completing the 2.3 km walk around the tower.

About 50 million years ago molten magma was forced through sedimentary rock above it and cooled underground. As it cooled it contracted and fractured into columns. Over time the sedimentary rock eroded leaving Devils Tower exposed. Devils Tower is nature at its finest and I was so pleased to have seen it.

I had arranged to speak to Jenny around 5.30pm, so once I’d walked around the tower and enjoyed some time admiring it’s beauty, I rode back to the entrance to wait for Jenny’s call. While I was waiting for Jenny to call a guy came over to talk to me.

‘So you’re riding across the world’, he asked? ‘That’s the plan over the next ten years’, I said. This is how I met Dan ‘Tito’ Davis – a fugitive from the US authorities between 1994 and 2007 for drug dealing, before he was arrested and spend 14 years in prison. While in prison, Dan wrote a book about his life. He gave me a signed copy when we met.

Meet Dan ‘Tito’ Davis. Definitely the most colourful character that I met on my trip.

After my call with Jenny I rode to Gillette where I spent two nights. I was getting increasingly physically uncomfortable and thought a little time off the bike would be good. I stayed in the Home2 Suites by Hilton which cost about $115 (£92) a night and was actually one of my favourite hotels stays of this trip. It was excellent value!

Within the first hour of being at the hotel I met John, a real estate broker from Oregon, who was on a business trip. John and I hit it off immediately and we ended up having breakfast and dinner together for the two days that I was there. What a lovely guy.

Meet John.

On the 1st July I was back on the road heading to Billings. It was a wet ride and I nearly ran out of petrol/gas. Luckily I didn’t!

I was so uncomfortable at this stage that I didn’t leave the B&B that I was staying at and just ate the snacks that I had with me. Walking was starting to become quite painful.

The next morning I was up and ready to tackle Beartooth Highway (Highway 212), which runs from Red Rock into Yellowstone National Park from the east. I was expecting it to be cold so I layered up in anticipation.

At one of the viewing points I hooked up with two couples on Harley’s. They were from Florida and had picked up rental bikes that morning.

As I had started ascending the pass my petrol gauge dropped suddenly to a quarter tank and I was concerned about running out of gas (again). There was also no cell/mobile reception to check where the nearest gas station was.

‘You can ride with us and we’ll get you to the next gas station’, they said. Fantastic! That gave me the courage to push forward and not return to Red Rock to fill my tank.

Beartooth Pass was fantastic! The scale of the mountain range was impressive. The ride itself was pretty easy. The switchbacks (hairpin bends) were gentle, not like those in Europe which are sharp and require concentration.

Below is of photo of me at the top of Beartooth Pass.

I rode in the middle to the two Harley’s. They stopped often for sightseeing and photos but as the day went by it was getting increasingly painful to climb off and onto Trinity. When we got to Cooke City I had to stop. I was in too much pain to continue.

I had lunch in a little restaurant that had WiFi and found a room for the night, which was in the High Country Motel. It wasn’t great (it had a funny smell) but it had to do.

The next morning after breakfast I left for Mammoth Springs, which is in the north-western part of Yellowstone National Park. I was aiming for the walk-in clinic that I knew was there.

It was about a 1.5hr ride from Cooke City to Mammoth Springs. The ride did not disappoint. Outside of the fantastic scenery there were Bison everywhere. I stopped at a viewing point where I could see a crowd of people at the waters edge viewing the Bison on the far side of the river. It was fantastic to see so many Bison grazing in the wild.

I stopped at the viewing point for about 20-30 minutes before heading to Mammoth Springs. I couldn’t stop thinking about my cousin and his family who were with me there in July 2015 when I did my first USA/Canada bike trip.

After lunch I went to the doctor. From start to finish the visit took about 1.5 hours. I was slightly nervous about how much it was going to cost but it wasn’t too bad at $187 including my medicine. The doctor suspected that I had an allergic reaction to washing powder. She said it was the second worst case she had ever seen. I was put on an steroid to reduce the swelling, which I needed to take twice a day for 5 days.

I stayed in Chico Hot Springs that night, which was only an hour north of Mammoth Springs. I had a super sweet little cottage on top of a hill above the main hotel.

Unfortunately, I did not have a good night. Exhausted and in pain, I went to bed early and woke just after midnight with my body oozing a disgusting smelling blood stained discharge. The steroid and other meds had clearly kicked in and my body was expelling whatever it needed to. It smelled like my dying puppy, Hailey, when she was dying from salmonella poisoning. It was a smell I could not forget and it was frightening that it was coming from my body. Man, did I feel vulnerable!

I felt a lot better in the morning but made the decision to stay put somewhere for a couple of days to rest and recover and that place would be Bozeman, Montana. I stayed in Bozeman from 4-7 July. The first thing I did, of course, was go searching for a hypoallergenic laundry powder to wash my clothes in.

During my ‘downtime’ in Bozeman I took Trinity for a wash, I had my hair cut and coloured, I walked around the shops and had Trinity’s chain adjusted. Other than that I watched TV, wrote a blog and spend a lot of time with my loved ones on the phone.

By the time I left Bozeman the swelling in my body had massively reduced and it was far more comfortable to be back on Trinity.

I was really looking forward to enjoying my rides again. My journey on the 7th July would take me to Kalispell, which is on the western side of Glacier National Park. I was dying to ride the Going-to-the-Sun road in the park. I did the ride with my cousins in 2015 but the weather was not great and the fog prevented us from seeing the view. I was keeping my fingers crossed that it wouldn’t rain the next day. As luck would have it, it didn’t.

Glacier National Park is spectacular! Although there are not many glaciers left, most have receded, the scenery is breathtaking! The Going-to-the-Sun road was my favourite ride of my trip. It was everything that I had hoped it would be and then some. I stopped a number of times to take photos, walk to waterfalls and to take photos of the unusual flowers that covered the landscape. It was perfect! I could not have asked for a better day.

Below are photos of Glacier National Park.

Near Canada! 🤩

Michigan to South Dakota

Melanie de Wet1 Comment

After a fantastic few days in Michigan, I caught a ferry from Muskegon to Milwaukee on Tuesday, 24 June headed for the Badlands National Park in South Dakota. While waiting for the ferry I met Doug, a superintendent for the Rapid City school district. Doug was on a Harley and was also headed to the Badlands so we decided to ride together.

Doug was keen to get to Sioux Falls that night – a 530 mile ride from Milwaukee. I had never ridden that far in one day and definitely not after a few pints the night before, so I was not expecting to join Doug the whole way.

Between a nice pace, stops every 1.5-2 hours and a lot of Neil Diamond running through my head, I made it all the way with Doug. I was so chuffed!

Meet Doug.

Once we were out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the ride was beautiful. The farms in Minnesota were particularly gorgeous, primarily because the fields were a deep green after all of the rain. The eastern side of South Dakota was flatter and less interesting but all I can remember was seeing billboards for Wall Drug (there are 313 of them in total – I Googled it, I didn’t count them).

The sun was setting as we drove into Sioux Falls and it was absolutely stunning! The sky was a gorgeous pink and there was not a cloud in the sky. It could not have been a more perfect setting to finish the day.

We found a hotel near a bar and popped over for a beer and a bite to eat before heading off to sleep. Doug was meeting students that were at a Science camp in Custer State Park and he needed to be there by 2pm. This meant an early start.

We got to Wall Drug at about 12pm. Doug popped into Wall Drug and then Harley Davidson with me and then we said our goodbyes. It was such a pleasure to have spent 36 hours with Doug. He had such a laidback nature and warm smile. I will not forget either.

After lunch in Wall Drug I rode to the Badlands National Park and entered via the Pinnacles Entrance. The park is set around one long east-west running road. I first rode west which soon became a dirt road and stopped at Robert Prairie Dog Town where there was a large herd of Bison.

After 10 minutes of watching the Bison, I turned around and rode east through the park, stopping a number of times to look around and take photos. The Badlands National Park is stunning! Due to the rain, the grass was high and flowers were blooming. One of the locals said this was one of the best years to visit the park. I’m glad I timed it so well!

Below are photos of the Badlands.

I booked into the Days Inn, which was reasonably priced. Doing my washing there that night would cost me dearly, as I discovered later that week, but more about that in the next post.

The morning of the 27th June I went to see the Story of Wounded Knee Museum before leaving Wall. How depressing! I didn’t know the history but basically 400 Lakota Indians, mostly women and children, were slaughtered at Wounded Knee. The attack was unprovoked and the tribe was unarmed. It was shocking and incredibly sad.

I left Wall headed for Mt Rushmore. It was a scenic ride and I loved Mt Rushmore. I have always wanted to see it in person.

Growing increasingly conscience that something was not quite right with me, I ate Bison Stew, thinking this would be as close to organic meat as I was going to get in a restaurant. It was good!

Below are photos of Mt Rushmore.

From Mt Rushmore I rode south on Highway 16A towards Custer State Park. The ride was incredible with its twists, turns and tunnels. At one point you could see Mt Rushmore framed by one of the tunnels. It was stunning and the image is engraved in my mind.

I loved Custer State Park eventhough I only saw two buck. There were a number of signs saying, ‘Bison are dangerous, don’t approach them’ but I didn’t see any. That was slightly disappointing but I did manage to do a good stretch of off-road riding, which was great. I definitely need to get more used to riding off-road.

Below are a few photos of Custer State Park.

That night I stayed in Custer and had my first Hog shank, which was absolutely delicious and probably one of my favourite meals on this trip. The town itself was  really cute and quaint. The Painted Bison statues in the main street were delightful and clearly compensation for the lack of Bison the Custer State Park (at least that day).

The 28th June was dedicated to two sights – the Wind Caves National Park and Crazy Horse Monument.

I enjoyed Wind Caves but mostly for the fantastic tour guide, Anthony from Puerto Rico, who’s storytelling brought the place to life. Because the Wind Caves are ‘dry caves’ there are no stalagmites or stalactites, which is what I really love, so I didn’t find them as exciting as other caves that I have been to. The ‘boxes’ in the caves, which looked like massive spiderwebs, where however very unique and beautiful.

Meet Anthony – the lovely Ranger at Wind Caves.

I arrived at Crazy Horse Memorial at about 4pm. Construction of the mountain carving started in 1948 by Korczak Ziolkowski, who was commissioned by Chief Henry Standing Bear, to carve a 172m monument of Crazy Horse into the Black Hills. The monument, once completed, will represent Crazy Horse riding a horse and pointing out to the fields. It is intended to capture the spirit of the Indian people.

The memorial is funded by admissions and donations and is therefore slow in the making. It will take a few more decades to complete but once complete will stand taller than the Washington Monument.

As I turned off to visit the memorial there were two Harley riders in front of me. I stopped to take a photo of the sign outside, which says ‘Never Forget your Dreams’. I heard the rider at the back saying, ‘It’s $7 to get in if that’s what you’re looking for’. ‘Thanks’, I said. ‘I was just taking a photos of the sign’, I explained.

When I arrived up at the parking area I saw the two riders and the same guy called me over to park with them. The parking lot was full so that was very sweet. As I approached he said, ‘Oh, you’re a girl. I just noticed it from your legs’. I giggled and said, ‘Yeah, I am a skinny ass’.

This is how I met Steve and Marvin, two retired truck drivers from Oregon.

I ended up spending the next 2.5 hours with Steve and Marvin. We first took the guided bus tour to see the monument and then attended an exhibition by a couple from the Lakota tribe who performed traditional singing and dancing. They also spoke about the history of their people. It was incredibly interesting and beautiful.

Steve and Marvin were absolute sweethearts. It was so nice to have spent the afternoon with them. Meet my Oregon grandpa’s.

I arrived at Deadwood around 9pm that night. The nearest restaurant was a 15 minute walk away so it was nice to stretch my legs before having a relatively early night.

In the morning I went to see Deadwood’s Historical District. It was what I expect Blackpool in the UK to look like but it was fun. My favourite thing, by far, was however the distillery. It sold all sorts of things made from Moonshine, which reminded me of my time with Amanda and Dustin in Knoxville. It brought back so many fantastic memories!

After about two hours of walking around I left for Sturgis. I was warned that there isn’t much there unless the motorcycle rally is on but I wanted to see it. As it turned out there was a Camaro Rally on so there were Camaro’s on display everywhere. My dad would have loved it!

I spent about an hour walking around looking at the cars and shops before visiting the motorcycle museum. The museum was great, although not as spectacular as The Ride Through Time in Maggie Valley. That remains my all time favourite.

Like Michigan, South Dakota was a fabulous surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed the variety that the State has to offer.

I had planned to go to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota but the mountains were calling me and I had to go.

Michigan

Melanie de Wet1 Comment

I arrived in Michigan and back into the USA on 20 June. Because my passport wasn’t stamped at Miami Airport on the day that I arrived, I was directed to go and speak to an Border Patrol Officer when I arrived at the border crossing at Sault Ste Marie.

Isn’t it funny how you get nervous speaking to Border Patrol Officers even when you haven’t done anything wrong? Or maybe that’s just me.

I wasn’t sure what all they’d need so I took my bag in that has Trinity’s paperwork. I didn’t need them. The officer just wanted to know when and where I arrived into the country and when I would be leaving. She asked whether I’d used a self checkin machine at Miami Airport, which I did, hence no stamp. After about 3 minutes of talking I was good to go. Phew!

I was now heading for Tahquamenon Falls State Park, which Eric told me about at Harper’s Ferry. I drove along Lake Superior on W Lakeside Drive and stopped off at Point Iroquois Lighthouse before proceeding onto the falls on Highway M123 via a town called Paradise. I arrived into Paradise at around 2pm so I had lunch and called Jenny. I had invited Jenny to join me in Alaska and after seeing photos of the Kenai Fjords National Park she was sold! I had made no arrangements for Alaska, so we were now planning our week in Alaska together.

Tahquamenon Falls has a Lower and Upper Falls. I did the Lower Falls first. Here I met Jeannine and Scott from central Michigan at the viewing point. I thought Jeannine was with a group of people so I asked if she wanted me to take the photo so that she could be in it. She had already done the same thing. We shared a giggle over that and once she’d taken the photo we got chatting.

Jeannine asked me where I was staying that night and I said I didn’t know – I still needed to figure that out. They were staying at a Motel in Hubert called the Handshake Motel which is run by a friend of a friend. ‘They don’t advertise but they probably have an extra room’, she said. I instantly took to both her and Scott so I thought it would be fun to join them if the timings worked out.

For a while we went our separate ways exploring the Lower Falls and then moving onto the Upper Falls, which was a few miles west. The Upper Falls were definitely the more spectacular of the two. Due to the tannin in the water, the water is the colour of Coke Cola. The Upper Falls looked like a toffee apple. It was spectacular!

Below are some photos of the falls.

I met Scott again at the lower viewing deck of the Upper Falls and I decided I’d follow them to the Handshake Motel to see if they had a room. There was no mobile/cell signal in the park so I was just going to chance it.

The motel is located on a property that consists of three buildings. The motel rooms are on the right, the owners house on the left and a business property in the centre. They were having a garage sale, so there were chairs, lamps, bookshelves and other items outside the business building fronting the motel rooms. It was very amusing!

It turned out that only two of the rooms were available (we were the only guests) and the two rooms shared an adjoining bathroom. Between us we thought it was fine so we brought our things into the rooms.

Now, where do we eat? At this point Wendy, a neighbour and also a friend of Jeannine’s friend who recommended the motel, arrived in an off-road buggy car. Wendy is a real little live wire. When we mentioned that we wanted to eat she suggested Hubert Happy Hour – a pub in town. I think it may have been the only pub in town, given that the town has a population of 250 people.

Wendy seemed to know everyone in the bar and introduced us. We chatted, laughed, ate and drank before heading back to get some sleep.

The next morning, Jeannine and Scott had coffee ready at 7am and we sat talking and laughing in their room, while drinking coffee and eating the chocolate doughnuts that they had with them. We spoke about what we were going to do for the day and they advised me to take a boat tour at Pictured Rocks, as well as giving me some other tips of what to see while in Michigan.

Jeannine invited me to stay another night with them as it’s not a long ride from where we were staying to Mackinac Island, which is where I wanted to go the next day. So that became the plan.

It took around 25 minutes on the boat before we reached the Painted Rocks but they were worth the wait. They are absolutely fantastic! There are photos below of the Painted Rocks and some videos on my Facebook page.

I arrived in Michigan and back into the USA on 20 June. Because my passport wasn’t stamped at Miami Airport on the day that I arrived, I was directed to go and speak to an Border Patrol Officer when I arrived at the border crossing at Sault Ste Marie.

After the wonderful boat tour I headed east along the lakeshore and stopped at a couple of lookout points. The first looked just like a beach so I sat on the sand for a while before heading off to my next stop, which was a lookout point across the water from a high sand dune. It was spectacular and the best part was that I was there on my own. It was so calm and peaceful. There are photos of my stops below.

It was about 7.30pm when I left the lakeshore to head back to Hubert. When I passed a Pizza Hut I stopped and message Jeannine to see if they had eaten. They hadn’t. ‘Do you want me to grab some pizzas’, I asked her. Her and Scott were utterly bemused at how I was going to bring back the pizzas. ‘Bungee cords’, I replied.

We decided in the end to head back to Hubert Happy Hour. Wendy and her boyfriend joined us for dinner along with some of the townsfolk. It was very entertaining listening to their stories. My favourite being one of the guys smacking a bear on the butt so that it would go back up the tree. It was so far removed from my life that I couldn’t help but smile and listen.

Meet Scott and Jeannine and some of the townsfolk of Hubert, Michigan.

I had laughed so much with Scott and Jeannine that it was difficult to say goodbye the next morning. I was however excited to see Mackinac Island and the Sleeping Bear Dunes.

After a lengthy goodbye and a lot of hugs I hit the road. I had my GoPro on while crossing Mackinac Bridge, the 4th longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere. The weather was perfect so I took the opportunity to walk around Mackinac City a bit before boarding the ferry to Mackinac Island, which is a state park and does not allow any motorised vehicles on it.

The island is very quirky and full of bicycles and horse drawn carts. This does means that it smells a little of horse manure but that’s mostly along the Main Street near the shops. Once you move away from there you don’t notice the smell.

I decided to explore the island on foot rather than by bicycle as I’m on my butt most days. It was great to stretch my legs and wander into different shops in the town and viewpoints along the shoreline. The island is stunning with its rock outcrops and crystal clear water. I thought of Tom and our day on the bicycles on Centre Island in Toronto as I was walking along the shoreline path, which was full of bicycles.

It was a beautiful day and a trip I would happily do again. Below are a few photos of my day on Mackinac Island.

That night I stayed just outside of Charlevoix.

The morning of the 24th June started with a stop at Torch Lake before heading onto Glen Arbor via Sutton Bay. I was getting very excited to see the dunes.

I stopped at a bakery in town for a coffee and bread pudding and asked the owner what I shouldn’t miss while I was there. He gave me some advice and then a lady in the store told me about a trail where she loves to take her dog for a walk. ‘It will be less touristy’, she said. Great, I’m heading there then.

The trail was called the Sleeping Bear Point Trailhead. I took my boots off and put my trainers on ready for a walk. After chatting to a family in the parking area about my trip, I hit the trail. I soon realised this was a sand trail and not a gravel trail. ‘Hmmm…not sure how long I’ll last on this’, I thought.

I decided to just head to the lakeshore and not walk the trail, which was a great decision. I walked up onto one of the dunes which had a great view over the lake and the local topography. I took a video on the sand dune which I posted on Facebook before walking down to the water.

I didn’t stay at the water long because there were a lot of black flies. They are a pest and also bite you, so I was well covered up. I was glad I made the trip though.

From there I went to the Dune Climb, which I thought was just the dune that I could see but turned out to be a much bigger walk. I did not have water with me so I only walked about 30 minutes of the climb before turning back. It is incredibly tiring walk of these sand dunes but so much fun.

After a call with Jenny I headed for the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, which has various lookout points onto the dunes. The best by far, however, was the Dunes Scenic Overlook. I have never seen a sand dune like it. It’s 200m in height and drops down at nearly a 45 degree angle. It takes 5 minutes to go down and anything from 45 minutes to climb back up. I mean climb – you’re on all fours.

I was still contemplating where I wanted to go all the way down the dune when I reached about half way and there was a little boy sitting on the dune crying. It turns out his name was Adam and he was 8 years old. He had climbed down by himself and was struggling to get back up. Well, that made my decision a lot easier.

I sat with Adam for a while asking him questions so that he would stop crying and making sure he wasn’t hurt. I asked him who his favourite superhero was but he didn’t have one, so I started running through the list just to keep his mind off him being tired. We decided we’d be like Spiderman and climb back up the dune. It took us about 20 minutes but we got there, greeted by a bigger brother and very grateful and slightly tearful mother. She said he was very strong willed. I could see that. It’s exactly the type of thing I would have done as a child, so I could relate. I told her maybe one day he’ll be a great explorer. It made her smile and with that we parted ways.

Below are some photos and a video of the dunes.

After a bit of further exploring I was off to Manistee for the night.

When I woke up the next morning the weather wasn’t great. I was also tired so I decided to have an easy day. My guts been struggling with my ‘on the road diet’ and I was feeling it.

I rode to Muskegon where I would be catching the Lake Express Ferry to Milwaukee the next morning and looked for somewhere to stay. As I would be there all afternoon I wanted somewhere a little nicer so I picked the Shoreline Inn and Conference Centre which was on the harbour. I arrived there too early to check in so I had an amazing lunch at the Lake House Waterfront Grille before checking into the hotel.

While I was unpacking Trinity a guy came over and started speaking to me. His name is Lazareth and he has two Harley’s and a BMW. What a lovely guy. We spoke for a while and then I went into the hotel to have a shower. It was nice to actually put on some ‘normal clothes’.

As I was (and still am) behind on my blogs, I sat in the hotel bar writing my blog about New York State. This is were I met Pam – a kindergartener teacher who has a passion for rollercoasters. Pam has ridden 313 rollercoasters and aims to ride 600. I don’t like rollercoasters but that is fantastic!

We were talking and then Lazareth arrived and bought me another drink. It was a good night.

Meet Pam and Lazareth.

I left the hotel around 9am on the 24th June to catch my ferry at 10.15am. It was a 15 minute ride away but I wanted to get there in good time. The ferry cost €171 so I did not want to miss it!

It was a smaller ferry than I had images but it was very nice. As I was waiting to board the ferry I started chatting to a lovely Canadian guy who lived in South Africa for a while, as well as the Harley rider, who was parked next to me. Rich was a retired Civil Engineer who was with his wife from Texas. At the age of 65 she had just completed her 101st marathon. Wow! That’s 2,664 miles just of races. I was slightly in awe of this.

Shortly before we were about to start boarding another Harley pulled up. This is how I met Doug. Doug and I ended up riding together until we hit South Dakota but I’ll leave that story for the next blog.

Ontario

Melanie de WetLeave a comment

The last two weeks, echoed by my trip to date, has been incredible. I’m starting to feel like I’m living in a dream and I’m waiting to wake up.

I left Kevin and Jeanne on 14 June headed for Niagra Falls. I walked around the USA side of the falls which was spectacular, stopping at all the lookouts that I could find. The US side of the falls is made up of the American Falls, best viewed from Prospect Point, and Bridal Veil Falls, best viewed from Caves of the Winds.

The Maid of the Mist boat tour, which I had hoped to take, was closed that day due to the high water level, so I decided to walk to the base of the falls instead. The tour is called the Cave of the Winds. I didn’t understand why until I stood at the base of the falls. The power of the water creates a wind that pushes up against you before the water does. It was an incredible experience but one I would want to do in shorts next time as my jeans were drenched beneath the knee – my poncho only reached my knees.

Below are some photos of Niagra Falls.

I stayed in Niagara-on-the-Lake that night at the Orchid Inn, where I met the delightful Cindy, who I suspect was the owner. I’m slightly sad I did not have an extra day there as I could see all the vineyards as I approached the town and they looked gorgeous!

In the morning I had to be in Toronto at 12:00 to drop Trinity off with Derek from Boxer Cycle Works, who would be servicing Trinity. When he heard what I was up to he offered to do the service for free. How amazing is that! Thank you again Derek!

Meet Derek.

I had a fantastic weekend with my best friend’s family in Toronto. I also have Tom to thank for speaking to Derek about my visit. Thanks Tom!

Tom was an absolute superstar and played tour guide of Toronto. Tom and Karen’s (his wife) home is just east of the city centre near Lake Ontario. After taking Trinity to Derek and having lunch, we headed off for a nice walk along the lake and popped into the Balmy Beach Club, where Tom is a member. There was a beach volleyball competition on so we watched the games from the deck with a beer in hand.

The following day Tom and I headed to Centre Island, which is accessed by ferry front the city centre. Tom hired us bicycles and we had a really good giggle when he was presented with a girly bike and me a mountain bike. This was purely a height thing but it amused me no end and Tom was such a good sport about it.

There has been so much rain in the northeast that many of the paths were closed and there were sandbags in a lot of places to keep the water out off paths and out of the lakeshore houses. I’ve never seen that before.

We explored what we could of the island and also managed to watch a bit of the Dragon Boat racing that was taking place. I’ve participated in two charity Dragon Boat race events before, which were great fun, but these guys were in another league. It was impressive to watch!

Following the visit to the island we walked around the lake front of the city centre. Karen had been taking part in a lawn bowling competition, so she sadly couldn’t join us on our jolly but it was lovely to spend time with her in the evenings.

Below are a few photos of my wonderful time in Toronto.

I left Toronto on Monday, 17 June headed for Tobermory, Ontario. My plan was to catch the ferry over to Manitoulin Island and then head to the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan. I had been advised to visit the UP by Sherry in Blowing Rock and Eric who I met in the house at Harper’s Ferry earlier in my trip. This would take me off my original plan to ride along the southern side of the lakes via Chicago but between the severe weather warnings and local advice, I decided north it would be. It turned out to be a fantastic decision (more about that later though).

Tobermory is small and really cute! I stayed in the Bruce Anchor Motel, which is located at the entrance of the ferry terminal, and a short walk to the locals bars and restaurants.

After checking in I went for a walk to the Big Tub lighthouse, which was a 1.5 mile walk away. The weather was great and it was nice to stretch my legs after 4 hours of riding.

Bruce Anchor Cruises is located across the road from the motel and they were advertising shipwreck cruises. That sounded like fun.

The view from the lighthouse was stunning and I could see how clear the water was. I was getting quite excited to a potential shipwreck cruise.

After an evening of veal steak and the beer tasting menu at the Tobermory distillery, I was ready to go exploring in the morning. I popped over to the ferry terminal and booked the afternoon ferry and then went to see if the shipwreck cruise could accommodate me. They could – wonderful!

While waiting for the shipwreck cruise I started speaking to a lady in the line (you know I can’t resist). Her and her friend had also been at Niagra Falls but they had taken a Jet boat ride from Niagra-on-the-Lake to the falls. They loved the experience. Wonderful, another reason to go back to Niagra-on-the-lake!

The cruise itself was fantastic! The cruise started by heading left, past the Big Tub lighthouse, into a bay. There were the shipwrecks. You could see them so clearly under the water. I could only imagine how spectacular it would be to dive the wrecks.

After 10 minutes or so of looking at the wrecks, the boat headed out to the islands. There are 20 islands in total but most are protected so you cannot visit them. After passing the Flower Plots (sea stacks) the cruise stopped to let people onto one of the islands for a walk. Since I had a ferry to catch I stayed on the boat and headed back to the mainland. This gave me time to walk around Tobermory and also have a leisurely lunch, which was most welcome.

Below are some photos of Tobermory and the ferry to Manitoulin Island.

I rode up Highway 6 on Manitoulin Island and stopped off at a few of the viewing points. I was told by a lady on the ferry, who I had also briefly spoken to in the harbour, that I should visit Ten Mile Point. I therefore headed in search of this point. As I wasn’t sure where it was exactly I followed the signs. I saw a sign saying Ten Mile Point (or something like that) so took the turn. It was not the right turn clearly as I was soon on a rough dirt road and eventually ended up at what looked like a dump. Hmmm! After looking at Google Maps I thought I maybe should have turned right and not left, so I went the other way. Again, this was a dead end leading to a lakeside houses at least this time.

I eventually found a viewing point next the Ten Mile Trading Post which I assumed must have been where I should have been. It was nice but nothing spectacular in my view. I wasn’t feeling Manitoulin Island so I decided to head as far north on the island as possible.

I stayed in Little Current that night. My preferred hotel was full but I got to speak to a lovely female Harley rider who was touring with a large group from Michigan. I eventually found a motel close by which had a room. The room was basic but clean.

The next morning I met the owner, Peter. As I walked out of my room he said, ‘My wife told me about you’. ‘She did’, I said?

‘Yes I told her if I wasn’t married I’d be off on the road with you’. I laughed. Peter also rides a bike and loved the idea of my trip. He’d never taken such a long journey before but he would love to. When I saw that my plan is to head to Asia in 2021 he said, ‘Maybe I’ll see you in India’. Peter is from India so I guess the idea of a ride there appealed to him. That would be cool with me!

It was raining lightly the morning I left Little Current. My plan was to continue on Highway 6 north until I hit the Trans-Canada Highway and then I would head west and see how far I could get.

On my approach to Espanola I saw a sign for Whitefish Falls. Cool, I thought. Let’s see what that looks like. I was so busy looking for the falls when I saw water that I did not pay attention to the fact that the (wet) wooden bridge that I was approaching had a dip in the middle and I was heading straight for it. As I was about to cross the single lane bridge I looked forward and saw the lowered section. Shit! As I tried to adjust my course my front wheel clips the edge of the dip and Trinity starting swinging all over the place. The result we hit the ground, falling over to the right. Luckily I was riding slowly but my shoulder and right hip got slammed into the bridge so I felt that. Ouch!

Other than being a bit achy I was fine. Now I have to get Trinity up. I was shaky and I normally can’t pick her up so this was not a good start. I tried one but it was not happening. Luckily at the point a guy in a truck approached the bridge and jumped out to lend me a hand, which I was very grateful for.

There was water running down the radiator, so I was worried it was coming from the radiator. I rode to the other side of the bridge and pulled over to ‘get my legs back’. There were mosquitoes or flies buzzing about so it wasn’t great to stop.

At that point a guy pulled up and asked me where I was from. ‘The UK’, I said. We chatted for a bit and a told him I was looking for the falls. He told me they were just up ahead and that I could follow him. I wasn’t sure about this guy but I thought I’d follow him for a bit.

He was right, they were only 2 min up the road. ‘Where are you heading to’, he asked? ‘Michigan’, I said. ‘That’s a pity he said. I would have taken you fishing’. Alarm bells were going off in my head at this point but I was polite and kept chatting. I told him my route plans and when I mentioned that I was heading to Montana he said, ‘Oh, I’m not allowed to go there. I was a bad boy when I was younger’.

Right and you want me to go fishing with you, was the thought in my head. At this point I took a photo and said goodbye. At least he was honest about being a bad boy. Thank goodness I sensed that the moment he stopped.

Worried about my radiator and my ride to Michigan I stopped at a gas station to check Trinity out properly. There I met Dave, my hero of the day. I told Dave that I had fallen and that I was worried my radiator may be leaking and he got straight into action, helping me dry Trinity off and placing paper towel under the radiator to see if any fluid was leaking from it.

While we were waiting for Trinity to dry out in the sun, which had now come out, Dave and I got chatting. He was so lovely! He gave me his sister’s telephone number who lives in Sault Ste Marie, which is where I thought I may end up. ‘If you have any problems give her a call’, he said. Awww!

Dave then said that if I had time that I should take the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 17) up the eastern side of Lake Superior to Montreal River Harbour. In his view, after Banff, this was one of the most beautiful parts of Canada.

When Dave heard I lived in London he told me I should look up one of his friends – a guy called Jerry Placken who works at Meyer Sounds Laboratories. I messaged Jerry on Facebook (why not) but I never heard back from him. I’m not really surprised. It was very random! 😂

Meet my hero for the day, Dave.

Following a short stop in Sault Ste Marie, I followed Dave’s advice and headed north on the Trans-Canada Highway. The road did not disappoint. At around 19:30 I stopped to fill up Trinity and noticed the cabins, so I popped in to find out if they had rooms. They did. That was great as the rooms looked right into the lake.

After dinner which consisted of a large salad and a beer, I went for a walk along Lake Superior. It was very pretty and the sunset was beautiful even if I was technically facing the wrong direction at that point.

The link provides photos of Lake Superior.

Even with my rocky start to the day, this had turned out to be a wonderful day. I guess every cloud does have a silver lining!

I will cover the rest of my last two weeks in my blogs to follow.

New York

Melanie de WetLeave a comment

I left Bar Harbor, Maine, on Monday 10th June headed for New York State via New Hampshire and Vermont. I rode until I was tired which that night was Gorham, New Hampshire – a small town to the north of the White Mountains. I stopped for a coffee at Burger King and decided to call it a night. It was a gorgeous ride, particularly through Vermont.

I had a peaceful evening and ordered tyres for Trinity which where being delivered to my bestie’s family in Toronto, where Trinity was going to be serviced.

When I woke up in the morning it was raining. That meant waterproofs. My first stop was Burlington, Vermont – a town on Lake Champlain – south of Montreal.

As I was 5 days behind schedule when I left Maine I made the decision to cut out Quebec City and Montreal – the consequence of ‘going off plan’. I definitely don’t regret my changes. Besides, it now gives me an excuse to go back! 😉

I really liked Burlington. It was a cute and quirky town. I walked down to the harbour and had a meat filled pancake for lunch. What I found interesting was that their hire bikes had a solar panel on the rear where the car payments are make. Cool!

Near Burlington Trinity and I hit our 40,000 mile mark, which included 36 counties and 26 USA States. Woohoo! That definitely put me in am good mood.

From Burlington I went south to Shelburne Farm. Shelburne Farm is a nonprofit education center for sustainability – a 1,400 acres (570 ha) working farm established in 1972. As I arrived there after 3pm they didn’t charge me to enter. Great, as I only had 1.5 hours before I had to hit the road.

I changed into my trainers and hit the trail towards the barn. The Farm was build by the Vanderbilt family who made their money railroads in the late 1800’s. This meant that the barn was no ordinary barn – it was pretty spectacular!

I was planning on seeing as much of the farm as I could in the time I had available but when I got to the barn they were about to milk a cow called Duster. I wanted to see that. I could not believe how much milk (2 gallons) came out of Duster and she is milked twice a day. Go Duster!

Duster’s milk was then used to feed two little calves that were in pens next to her. The staff allowed the public to feed the calves and I could not resist taking that opportunity. They were super cute!

Below is a photo of me feeding one of the calves.

It was around 4.30pm when I left Shelburne Farm, headed to Lake George to meet Becky and Ali. Becky, who I know from London, had dropped me a line to say they were staying at Lake George for a month to visit her family and that I should pop in. I was so chuffed at that. I haven’t seen them in ages!

I spent two wonderful days with Becky, Ali and Dotty (their bundle of joy). They were staying at Becky’s aunt and uncle’s (really life long family friends) lake house on George Lake, so I was gate crashing…again! 😂

Lake George is stunning! Ali and I headed out onto the water on the Wednesday morning. I first tried out the Pedalo (a bicycle on water) and then moved onto the kayak. The weather was perfect so it was a fantastic morning.

Below are some photos of our morning./

After that we popped over to Becky’s sister and then Ali and I went to pick up William and Aunt Sue for a tour around Saratoga Springs.

They took me to Yaddo (an artist sanctuary) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaddo, the horse racetrack (built in 1863 and is the 4th oldest racetrack in the USA), Saratoga Springs State Park, Congress Park and a tour around downtown Saratoga Springs.

William was the perfect tour guide with incredible knowledge of the history of the city. It probably helps that his family have had a key part to play in the history of the city. His great grandfather helped establish the Adirondack Trust (a bank) downtown and his dad (uncle Wally) sits on a number of committees, helping shape the future of the city.

That evening I had the opportunity to have dinner with the whole Allerdice family. What warm and wonderful people!

Uncle Wally told me that he’d read about me in the Saratoga Gazette. What? Really? I never saw the article so I’m still thinking it must have been someone else in the paper but I was highly amused at the thought that a Trinity and I may have made the papers.

Meet the Allerdice family, along with Becky, Ali and Dotty.

There are more photos of my time in New York State on my Facebook Page.

On the morning of my departure we (Becky, Ali, Dotty, William and I) went up Prospect Mountain before heading for a very late breakfasts (it was 11:58 when we got there) to Becky’s parents for breakfast. They were so lovely and hospitable that I felt awful that we had to dash off two hours later.

I left George Lake headed to Syracuse to stay with Kevin and Jeanne who I met in Gettysburg. I left George Lake later than anticipated, given the morning’s adventures, so I only reached Kevin and Jeanne around 7pm.

After a quick shower we popped out for dinner and then the chatting started. Kevin is definitely the chatty one, which made me smile. They remind me of my friends in Florida, Gordon and Gina. Gordon is also the chatty one in the relationship. The ladies are quieter but so strong and fascinating! I love watching the dynamics in the relationships of the people that I meet. We had such a great evening!

I had a slow start to the morning which was most welcome! Jeanne made us breakfast and we chatted before heading out to the bikes to take some photos. Jeanne had a doctors appointment so Kevin and I chatted around the bikes. I had asked him to take me for a ride on his trike, which he did. It was so much fun sitting on the back of the bike taking photos.

When we got about half way on our outing Kevin pulled over and said, ‘Okay, it’s your turn to ride’. I was a little nervous but I took the bull by the horns and rode us back to their home. The trike is far stiffer on your arms than a regular two-wheel bike. It was a lot of fun though!

Kevin and I spoke for a while before we said our good byes. Just as I was about to

leave he said, ‘I’m going to try not to cry’. All I could think was, ‘please don’t do that or you’ll get me started’.

I was feeling so blessed after meeting the Allerdice family – meeting Kevin and Jeanne was like the cherry on the cake! They stole my heart. I can’t wait to see them again.

Meet Kevin and Jeanne.

As amazing as my time was in Syracuse, Niagra Falls was calling and I listened!

Maine

Melanie de WetLeave a comment

I arrived in Maine on Tuesday, 4 June afternoon after a trip up Mt Washington in the morning. I wanted to arrive in good time to meet Jenny at the airport and to sort out the car for me as a second driver.

I met Jenny in Harper’s Ferry after Google Maps directed me up the driveway where she was staying with a group of friends for Memorial weekend. They invited me in for a beer so that I could figure out where the hotel was that I was looking for. I left them two days later feeling like a much richer person. What an amazing group of people!

I found out in my last few hours with the DC gang that Jenny was legally blind until a year ago when she had corrective surgery. I could not imagine what it must have been like not seeing all the beauty in the world. I wanted to share that with Jenny, so I invited her to join me on Trinity up the Maine Coast. Jenny was very excited but wasn’t sure how she’d handle being on the bike as she had never been on one.

As luck would have it Jenny’s friend, Carol, offered us the use of her cottage in Portland and another friend lent her a helmet. We could now explore Maine and she could try out riding with no pressure. Perfect!

As I could only go halfway up Mt Washington, due to snow and ice, I arrived in Portland around 2pm. Jenny’s flight was due in at 4.09pm. I popped around to the cottage to get ‘the lay of the land’ – it was a lovely cottage and a very nice neighbourhood near the ocean.

I had about an hour to kill before going to meet a Jenny at the airport at 4.30pm, so I went to a grocery store to buy us some food for the house. I was craving good organic food and went to the store hungry, so I got a little carried away!

At about 3.45pm Jenny text me to say that she had arrived and was heading to Herz. I was still shopping! 😱

After a few back and forth messages, Jenny decided to go and collect the car on her own and drive to the cottage. I felt like a complete jerk not being there after telling her I’d collect her at the airport!

This was the first time Jenny had hired a car to travel around. She had warned me that she had no sense of direction. Worst yet, she warned me that her phone’s battery as nearly dead. I was so worried about her that I sat at the front door until she arrived.

When Jenny arrived she was ecstatic that she had managed to find her way to the cottage on her own. She gave me a huge hug. I was so happy to see her happy and safe!

As the weather forecast wasn’t great for our few days in Portland we decided to head out for a bike ride that evening. We went to Portland Head Lighthouse, which wasn’t too far from the cottage. Jenny was so excited, although she looked petrified in the photographs, which we later laughed about later.

As we walked around the coastline Jenny kept stopping to admire the rocks and the flowers on the trees. She would get excited about seeing a lighthouse in the distance or a bird in the water. She kept saying, ‘Sorry, I get really excited. Please tell me if it gets annoying’. It was making me so happy there was no way I would stop her!

We took the obligatory photo at the lighthouse and couldn’t resist tipping a toe on the grass next to the ‘Keep off the grass’ sign. We couldn’t stop giggling and this pretty much set the tone for the next few days.

We went to a grill house that evening for dinner. Jenny had a burger and I had ribs. Both were good but I think Jenny chose the better meal.

The next day we ventured to the historic part of town which was about a 25 minute drive from where we were staying. I’m not sure it was quite what either of us expected but we had a good day wandering around the streets. I bought myself a new cap and Jenny bought me a sticker for Trinity which says, ‘Not all who wander are lost’.

That night we picked up some Italian and a couple of bottles of red wine and went back to the cottage to have a meal in. It was a fantastic day.

Below are some photos of our first two days in Portland.

We had a slow start on Thursday morning. After a little too much wine the night before we were keen for a walk so we headed back to the lighthouse. Carol had given us a list of good local restaurants and we were determined to try at least a few out. The one was a food truck at the lighthouse, which was great!

After our walk we went back into town to catch a ferry to Peaks Island. What a cute place! We explored the island on foot although you can also do so by bicycle or golf cart.

We wandered through the houses admiring aspects of the ones we liked and laughed when we came across one with a huge metal cock in the front garden. We also stopped off at a house with a quote from Maya Angelou in the front garden that read, ‘Love recognises no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences and penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.’

After a photo at the house we stopped off at a small beach and watched a couple with a toddler and two babies on the beach, then walked on the pier and took photos of us doing a Lotus pose. On the way back we came across a cat with a dodgy eye which nearly adopted Jenny after she gave it a lot of attention.

It was a fantastic day which ended at a meal at another one of Carol’s recommendations, Central Provisions. Below are some photos of our day.

After cleaning the cottage and giving the unused food to one of Carol’s friends, we took Trinity for a ride up the coast. I’m not used to having anyone one the back of Trinity but I didn’t even feel Jenny on the back once we got moving. I just had to concentrate more when we stopped. Jenny was full of smiles!

I rode with Jenny back to the airport on Thursday before heading off to find a new headlight globe for Trinity which stopped working on Tuesday as I arrived into Portland.

I went to Portland with the intension to show Jenny the beautiful in this world through my eyes; everything that she’d been missing. Instead, seeing the world through Jenny’s eyes changed my world. I will treasure my time with her always.

I found a headlight globe at a dealer just north of Portland. I knew I wouldn’t make it to Bar Harbour so I asked them where I should stay. They said Boothbay Harbor, so off I went.

I arrived at Browns Wharf Inn as the sun was starting to set. The Inn was on the harbour and the view was spectacular! The lady at reception told me to go and enjoy the sunset while she sorted out my room, which I did. I sat on a swing chair on the deck admiring the sunset and thinking of the swing chair on the porch in Harper’s Ferry. It was perfect!

After sorting out my room I popped down to the bar for a drink. I had held the door open for a group of people on my way up to the room, which included two Harley riders. They were sitting at the bar, so I joined them. This is how I met Jim and Derek.

As luck would have it I met them again in Bar Harbor two days later when I was walking down the Main Street looking for a place to have dinner and I saw Jim calling to me from across the road. He saw me through the window of a Mexican Bar that they were in and he came out to call me.

What fantastic guys! Jim is a complete chatterbox, which constantly made me smile with all his stories. Derek is definitely more reserved and would pop up every once in a while. It took Derek a little longer  to open up but once he did he had the most electric smile. I absolutely loved meeting the guys and I gave them both a huge hug when I left them the second time.

Meet Jim and Derek.

Boothbay Harbor was beautiful and I could easily go back there but my time there was very short. In the morning I hit the road to get to Bar Harbor which was about a 2.5 hour ride away.

Arcadia National Park sits in the middle of what almost looks like an island off the coast of Maine. I wanted to explore the whole area so I rode around to the quieter part of the ‘island’ – the southwestern side. It was stunning! A combination of rocky beaches, lakes, mountains, lighthouses and large trees.

Below are some photos of my day.

I had a fantastic day riding around and taking photos and at around 4pm stopped at a harbour restaurant for coffee. As I sat there I thought, ‘I like this area. I’m going to stay here’.

I booked myself into a B&B called Lindenwood Inn, which was a 3 minute ride from the restaurant, and with Gordon’s words in my mind that I had to have lobster in Maine, I ordered a lobster. This was the first time I have ever eaten lobster – I’m not a huge seafood fan.

I had two couples next to me from Florida who had also never eaten lobster, so we were giggling over the experience of having to work so hard to extract the meat from the shells. I felt like a caveman. It was hilarious! I would still rather eat a steak but the lobster actually wasn’t bad. I kept my bib as a memento.

Lindenwood Inn was fantastic! I think it’s my favourite stay so far, primarily because their staff are amazing. Most of them are from Serbia, which I visited last year during my Eastern Europe tour. The guy at reception’s name is Milan, which immediately made me think of my friend Milan, who I spent time with in Croatia during that tour. It was a great start to my stay and it kept getting better.

After a wonderful day riding around Arcadia National Park and two trips up Cadillac Mountain, one in the day and one at sunset, I sat down at one of the fireplaces and was joined by three other guests and Milan for drinks. We sat chatting for a few hours before heading to bed.

What an amazing day!

Below are links to some photos of the day and the gorgeous Cadillac Mountain.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bygr57ZntL7/

Meet Jennifer, Milan, Lilian and Bettina.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BygtaXUHAQu/

I could not have had a more beautiful experience of Maine.

Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Melanie de Wet2 Comments

I arrived in Provincetown on Friday, 31 May around 9.30pm after a 2 hour bridge closure left me, and a host of other people, waiting in McDonalds for the road to reopen.

For the first time I had actually booked a place to stay in advance so I wanted to get there. I liked the name of the guest house, Carpe Diem, which was my high school’s moto – words I never truly understood until four years ago.

It was dark and raining when the bridge reopened so I didn’t get to see much of the journey. The guest house had left my room key attached to the back door in an envelope. I was a little taken aback by the lack of security but it wouldn’t be the first time in the USA. I remember staying with a lady in an AirBnB in Hood River in 2015 who never locked her doors. The South African in me was freaking out! I locked the front door that night.

Given the time and the weather I stayed in and had an early night. That was a great decision as I woke up early and went for a walk on the beach. I was finally getting a feel for Provincetown and it is stunning!

After calls to my loved ones, some exploring of the town and a walk up the Pilgrim Monument, I returned for breakfast and met my hosts. One of the owners, Stephen, is originally from Brighton in the UK but has been in the USA for nearly 30 years. Stephen told me that I should go to Lewes near Brighton for Bonfire night. Apparently there is a festival on Bonfire night which is quite the experience! It is now on my (very big) bucket list.

I had barely seen Provincetown so I decided to stay another night and Stephen gave me a discount on the only available room, which was incredibly sweet. The bonus was that it was Pride that weekend, which I hadn’t appreciated, so I knew there would be a great buzz in the town. There was.

After breakfast I was off to explore. I walked down Commercial Street until I could see water. There I saw Provincetown Causeway – a pathway made of rocks running through Cape Cod Bay linking the town to the horn of Cape Cod where the lighthouses are. I love lighthouses, so I had to go and see them up close.

It was a 2.5 hour round trip walking to Long Point Lighthouse via the Causeway and then the beach. It was a great walk and I had the beach all to myself! There were white shells on the beach the size of my hand. My niece Kiera would love these! We spent hours walking around Surfers Paradise in Queensland, Australia, the last time I was there to visit looking for perfect shells for her. These shells would have blow her mind!

Below are some photos at the lighthouse.

There are more photos of Provincetown on my Facebook Page.

I returned to the guesthouse at 5pm looking for John who I had met at breakfast. He wanted me to take him for a ride on Trinity. Unfortunately, Massachusetts helmet laws are one of the strictest in the country, so that wasn’t going to happen without a spare helmet.

When I arrived at the guesthouse there was a little party. Three of the guests had birthdays that weekend so the guesthouse put on wine, an array of snacks and cake. How amazing! This also allowed me to meet some of the other guests in the house which was lovely.

When everyone headed out for dinner I popped to one of the bars on Commercial Street for a pint of Ale. There I met Melinda and Christine. After about 15 minutes I started talking to Melinda and I told her about my tour with Trinity. She loved what I am doing as she is also a keen traveller.

I mentioned to Melinda that I wished I could take better photos so she started showing me how to use the camera on my iPhone properly. I definitely need a lot more practice but since my lesson I’ve been paying a lot more attention to the photos that I’ve been taking. Hopefully one day it pays off. I’ve always wanted to properly capture the beauty of what I am so privileged to see on my trips. I was therefore very grateful for Melinda’s photography lesson.

Meet Melina and Christine. Christine was serving us and getting in on the conversation.

I was so excited about my photography lesson that I left the bar and forgot to look at the laser light show – the key attraction of the night. I woke up at 4.30am mortified that I had missed it! As it turned out, I got to see it the next day when I met Richard at breakfast and he showed me photos. It was stunning – a huge rainbow. As Richard put it, ‘the gays putting love out into the world’. That made me smile.

I spoke to Richard for a while at breakfast talking about travelling and motorcycles. Richard used to ride a Harley but he lives in New York City and was dealing with traffic all the time so he eventually sold it. I totally got that – traffic is not a pleasure!

Eventually Drunkerella got in on our chat and she was envious of the time that I could take off – she works 6 days a week and seldom leaves Provincetown. Drunkerella jumped up and said, ‘let’s take a photo with your map’. So we did.

Meet Richard and Drunkerella.

The Pride parade was only taking place at 4pm so I decided to hit the road. I absolutely loved Provincetown but I was in the mood for quiet, so I decided to skip Boston and head straight for the mountains.

It was incredibly foggy riding through Boston and into New Hampshire. I stopped off at a grocery store in Hooksett in search of organic bone broth, fruit and vegetables. Race, who I met in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, introduced me to bone broth in a carton. A month of hotel food was finally getting to me. I have never been so happy to walk down a vegetable isle in my life. Everything looked so yummy!

The store manager finally tracked down the bone broth so I bought a chicken and beef carton, along with some fruit and various salads. I sat in the parking lot next to Trinity and ate my goodies. I probably looked like a bum but I was so happy! I also drank the chicken broth as I did not have room for two cartons on Trinity.

It was 6.30pm so I needed to find somewhere to stay for the night. I rode for about an hour and reached Newbury and stopped at Lake Sunapee. My friends Kinga and Euan have a place in Newbury in the UK and I wanted to send them a photo. It was so pretty watching the sunset over the lake. It also gave me time to book a motel in the neighbouring town of Sunapee.

I got really excited when I arrived in Sunapee. It felt a little quaint Lake Tahoe, which I loved, so I was so excited to see it in the morning in full light. As it turned out the morning was foggy so I didn’t get the photo opportunity that I had hoped for but that did prompt me to keep moving.

I saw a little town called Lyme on the map, which is where my friend Adam grew up in the UK so I wanted to go there. It was a very cute little town.

It was now time for the Kancamangus Highway, which Dave had told me about in Harper’s Ferry. I stopped at a little store to take the obligatory photo next to the sign and sent that to Dave and the gang from Harper’s Ferry.

Below are some of the photos that I took.

A few miles down the road there was an incredible lake to my right so I stopped to have the salad I had bought earlier that day. It was stunning with the fog blowing over the lake. It was cold though! I was very glad to have a few layers of clothes on. I sat enjoying the lake and sending various friends photos, including Jenny, who I met in Harper’s Ferry and would be meeting up with in Portland.

The weather was coming in so I booked into a hotel in Lincoln and decided it would be pizza and beer night. I was so chuffed when the gas station sold Samuel Adams ‘76. I had it for the first time on Jekyll Island and I love it – it’s such an easy drinking beer/ale blend. I also happen to be born in 1976 so I like the ‘76 reference. It was a good year! 😂

I found a sticker at the gas station which I thought would be perfect for Trinity, so with a beer in hand I popped outside to Trinity to put the sticker on my top box and also play around with some photos – I had to put Melinda’s lesson into practice. I clearly got carried away as I realised the next morning that I left my one pannier unlocked. Eeek! Slight panic came over me expecting it to be empty but everything was still there. Phew! That’s this cat’s 4th life gone on this trip!

Feeling rather blessed to be so lucky I skipped off and headed to The Flume which is in the Franconia Notch State Park. It’s a 2 mile trail with spectacular scenery and waterfalls and costs $16 to enter. This is definitely a great trail for everyone to do as it’s a relatively easy walk with good quality gravel paths. I kept thinking my mom would love this.

Below are some photos of the trail.

With even more of a spring in my step now, I jumped back onto Trinity and rode the Kancamangus Highway through the White Mountain National Forest. It was a very pretty ride with it winding road alongside the meandering river to the left.

The forecast was again for rain that evening so I booked myself into a hotel around 4pm. As it turned out the hotel was next to a factory outlet centre. Woohoo – shopping!

I was nervous that the cold weather in New Hampshire was going to continue in Maine so I bought an extra base layer and warm top and a new pair of flops which I desperately needed. Then I walked out of Under Armour and saw the Levi store. I am such a Levi girl so I couldn’t resist! I ended up buying a new pair of shorts and two vests in there too. Now I could throw away my favourite shorts that I’ve been holding onto long after their expiration date. I love those shorts!

The evening was quiet at the hotel. I spent quiet a lot of time on my phone chatting to various people on WhatsApp, including finalising plans with Jenny for the next day. She was hoping to get an earlier flight so I needed to head up Mt Washington pretty early so that I could meet her in Portland by 2pm.

I was on the road by 7am on Tuesday morning. When I arrived at Mt Washington I got the news that they would only be opening the road half way as there had been snow and ice the night before. That’s a shame I thought. I had to wait about 20 minutes before they opened the road, which was enough time for me to check the weather on Mt Washington, which said it would be -3 degrees Celsius. Shit! I very quickly grabbed out some extra layers and put that on in the parking area before I started my assent.

The park only changed us half the price to go up the mountain. That was nice (and fair) I thought. Given that we’d be riding 4 miles and climbing to 4,000 ft I decided to stand on the pegs the whole way. It was a bit of fun, particularly as the speed limit was 25 miles per hour, and I’d have a better view.

It was a fun ride up until I reached 4,000 ft and was hitting a clearing at which point it got really windy very quickly. Hmmmm…I wasn’t liking that so I decided to turn around and went to the closest viewing point where I saw a truck pull in. I was understood why they were only letting people go half way.

I jumped off Trinity and tried to take photos but I kept being blown forward. Man it was cold and this wind was not pleasant. I spoke to the driver of the truck who also commented on the wind. He had a little dog with him but was scared to bring her out in case the wind swept her away up the mountain.

The view was lovely but it was difficult to enjoy it in the strong wind. I stayed for 5 minutes and left. It probably took me a minute or two to turn Trinity around because the wind was catching her from the side and I was nervous I’d lose my footing. I was glad I went up there but also glad I left that ledge. As I started Trinity the temperature gauge was flashing 2.5 degrees Celsius. It slowly crept up on my decent.

On the way down I stopped to talk to an elderly couple who were walking up the hill from their car. They were bird watching. I told them how the conditions changed on the ledge and that they may not want to go up there. They live just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico but had lived in Alaska years before. We spoke about Alaska for a while as that’s the part of my trip which is completely unplanned at this stage and I need to finalise. They were so sweet!

I also met the truck driver on the way down the mountain when I stopped to play in some snow. He told me that I hadn’t missed much higher up the mountain as there was a guy turning people around not far from where I had seen him. That made me happy as I thought I may have missed something special by turning around earlier. Great, now I was really happy.

About a 30 minute ride from Mt Washington I passed a heath food store and had to stop. I had not had breakfast and was dying for a healthy meal so this was a godsend. I had a veggie juice and a vegan breakfast, which was not usual for me as a meat lover but it hit the spot.

I was now ready to leave New Hampshire and venture into Maine.

Pennsylvania and Connecticut

Melanie de WetLeave a comment

What a great three days In Pennsylvania, even with the thunderstorms and tornado warnings!

I left the gang in Harper’s Ferry on Sunday late afternoon with a heavy heart but I needed to get back on schedule. I arrived at Gettysburg around 6pm and managed to find an Inn in a central location. I had made a last minute Booking.com reservation so it was taking a little time for the booking to come through. I asked Laura at reception if I could leave my things at reception and head out for dinner, which she was happy about, so off I went.

As I’m quite fond of microbreweries, I chose the Appalachian Brewing Co. Brewpub and Grill for dinner. I had a steak dish and the Appalachian Ale – both were great!

Towards the end of my meal a couple from upstate New York, Kevin and Jeanne, came to sit at the bar next to me and we got chatting. Kevin used to serve in the coastguard, so they’d ridden in the Run for the Wall motorcycle rally in Washington DC the day before. I understand there were nearly half a million motorcycles on the ride. Wow! That must have been a sea of Harley Davidson’s. It’s definitely the most popular bike on the road in the USA.

Jeanne and Kevin were understandably tired so they didn’t stick around for long but it was lovely when they got in touch the next day! 😁

As luck would have it, the Memorial Day parade was taking place the next day at 2pm. I hadn’t planned to see that but it felt like something I couldn’t miss. I had a lazy morning and then started walking around town, the cemetery, the battlefield and went to the Museum of History. Gettysburg played such a fundamental part in US history that I felt lucky to be there on Memorial Day.

The parade was a lot of fun and it was interesting to see some of the uniforms of soldiers through the various ages. I moved closer to my hotel towards the end of the parade thinking that I’d make a hasty exit when it finished but then I ran into three Harley riders – Mike, Tom and Eric. All three were veterans (I think Mike was in the airforce, Tom in the army, while Eric was a marine). Eric reminded me of Sean Connery – he was incredibly handsome.

Tom was like a big teddybear and Mike was hilarious! He was telling me about a time when a swallow had hit him in the chest while on a ride and he was gasping to get his breathe back. Apparently it took a while – he had to pull off the road. He said when he looked down the swallow was on his lap doing the same thing – only it recovered faster and flew away. He was horrified! I told him that’s only because the swallow was tougher than him. 😂

I probably stood chatting to the guys for about half and hour before we parted ways. I thoroughly enjoyed their company and Mike was just pleased to see someone actually riding their BMW. He said that he sees them but normally in someone’s yard – not on the road. They wished me safe travels and I was off.

Below are some photos of the guys and the Gettysburg parade.

From Gettysburg I headed to Lancaster county. I wanted to see the Armish farms which Gordon and Gina had told me about when I stayed with them in Florida. I popped into Lancaster on my way to York but didn’t stay long as I wasn’t overly enthralled by the town. Their market was nice though!

Gordon had mentioned two places that I should go for lunch – Miller’s in Lancaster or Shady Maples in East Earl. As I wasn’t ‘feeling’ Lancaster I decided to seek out Shady Maple. For some reason Google Maps took me to the Sight and Sound Theatre in Lancaster – a Christiaan Theatre. It’s apparently a fantastic theatre. They were showing a production of Jesus but unfortunately not on that day, so Shady Maples it was.

A short ride from the Sight and Sound Theatre I saw a place called The Armish Village, so I decided to stop off there first. They had examples of Armish horse carts and farm equipment which was interesting to see. The bit I found a little odd was two young Armish ladies washing the floor by hand in the Village Store. I couldn’t help thinking, ‘where’s your mop’? There is keeping it simple and then there’s inefficiency. There was a little part of me that was wondering whether this was real or for show. I never got the answer to that question.

I had booked myself onto a 2 hour guided tour of the area, with tour guide Margaret. She drove our group of eight around the area, showing us the difference between the Armish and ‘English’ farms, and explaining the truth and fallacies about Armish culture.

I really like the Armish value of family – that I certainly share. What I definitely could not deal with is not ‘straying to far from home’. For this reason the Armish ride scooters instead of bicycles. ‘Hell no’, is all I could think!

The farms were immaculate and outside of the lack of tractors and other mechanical devices it was difficult to tell the Armish and English farms apart.

The one thing you definitely cannot miss in the area though is the scent of the Lancaster perfume – the smell of manure. Man, that took a bit of getting used to! It basically destroyed any fantasy I ever had at living on a ranch because I imagine it would smell the same.

I left for Shady Maples around 4pm and arrived there around 4.30pm for an early dinner.

Shady Maple is not quite what I was expecting. When Gordon said it’s an Armish restaurant I was expecting a quaint setting. This was not quaint! It felt more like a cruise ship dining hall, which also reflected the average age of the patrons. I expect that the food comes from the Armish farms but that it’s run by English, which is what the Armish call their non-Armish neighbours.

It was surf ‘n turf night, so I tried a selection of food. I’m not really a seafood fan but I thought it was worth a go. As it turned out I wasn’t that hungry and only managed a single plate of food and then I had a some jelly for dessert.

When I got outside to leave it was rain. Hmmm…I better check the weather. The first thing that popped up on Dark Sky, a weather app that I use, was a Tornado warning. WTF! Where did that come from.

I sat for a bit under cover and as soon as there was a break in the rain I ran to Trinity to get my waterproof trousers. I needed those for the hour ride back to my hotel in York.

The first 20 minutes of the ride was fine, the next 20 minutes was in the blistering rain with pretty strong wind, and fortunately the last 20 minutes was clear. If I had turned west instead of east after 40 minutes it would not have been pretty. The clouds in that direction looked angry!

When I arrived at the hotel I placed Trinity between two pillars outside the front door of the hotel. That would give her some protection from the wind and rain – hopefully it would be enough.

The severe weather warnings was until 10pm. I sat on my bed with the curtain open watching TV and watching the weather outside. Around 9pm the wind really picked up and then the lightening started. At a point the TV lost its signal and I was watching a little Samsung logo turning around on the TV saying ‘signal lost’. At this point I popped downstairs to see if Trinity was okay.

The thunderstorm was roaring but it was no Tornado. The receptionist said that if the weather got worse I could bring Trinity into the reception – it didn’t come to that. Just after 10pm things calmed down dramatically and I stopped looking outside.

Below are some photos of Lancaster County.

The reason I stayed in York for two nights was because I wanted to visit the Harley Davidson factory in York and the Steel Tour Tour was sold out on the Tuesday. I booked the Wednesday morning tour which started at 9.30am.

Unfortunately you’re not allowed to take photos of the factory but it was fantastic! I’ve never had a desire to be a factory worker but if I had to pick one this would definitely be up there. It was so interesting! I particularly loved the robots that ran on magnetic strip along the floor. The walkways are also controlled by a traffic light system which really appealed to the Transport Planner in me.

At the end of the tour I sat on six different Harley’s that were on display. I was slightly gutted they did not have the Fat Boy on the floor. I think I’m going to have to go and test ride one some day (not that I’ll be replacing Trinity anytime soon).

Below are a few photos at Harley Davidson, including Linda the tour guide.

I decided that I’d have a big ride and try and make it up to New Haven that night. I stopped at Quaker Steak and Lube in New Jersey for lunch, where I had a steak salad, which was probably one of my favourite meals to date. When I came outside I could see the rain was coming. It did about 30 minutes later and it did not stop.

It was 28 degrees Celsius when I was in New Jersey and it dropped to 14.5 degrees by the time I hit Connecticut. I was starting to get wet and cold so when I saw the traffic standing still ahead of me I decided to take the nearest exit. When I saw an undercover car park I pulled into it for cover so that I could put some warm clothes on.

I sat in that parking lot for a good 30 minutes watching the weather and looking at my accommodation options. There was a four star hotel opposite me but it was not in my trip budget. So I sat waiting for the rain to stop and being entertained by my friend Joa via WhatsApp. When the rain got harder rather than softer I decided I’d had enough of the rain and I booked a room in the Delamar hotel opposite me.

I walked into reception dripping like a downed rat. The guy at reception was so sweet! He kept offering me a towel but that wasn’t going to help much. It was taking time for the booking to come through Booking.com so he told me he’d put some towels down on the couch so that I could get comfortable. He then brought me bubbles. Woohoo! I had two glasses.

The hotel was beautiful! My room overlooked the harbour – sadly I didn’t get to enjoy my balcony.

After a shower I popped down to the bar and restaurant that was attacked to the hotel. I had put on the nicest clothes that I had with me and I was still underdressed.

The restaurant was really pricey. Luckily I’d had a late lunch so I had sliders and a glass of Prosecco. There was a band playing which I was enjoying so I ended up having a second glass. $52 later I called it a night. Yup, this evening was definitely not in the budget!

The hotel provided a very basic continental breakfast. I was a little disappointed with that but then I realised that none of the guests ate breakfast. A number grabbed a cup of coffee, nodded their heads and walked off. One lady grabbed a banana and a gentleman took a pasty. Nobody really spoke. I had taken a yogurt (one of the only 2% fat ones I could find as the rest were fat free – I bloody hate fat free food – it’s ‘plastic’ not real food) and some granola. I didn’t finish either. They were too sweet.

I sat in the lounge in this beautiful hotel overlooking the boats in the harbour, which was so idyllic, and thought that if I ever had money that I didn’t want to live like this. Give me real food and people that speak to each other any day!

The best part of my morning was speaking to Richard, the porter, as I left. He rides a street bike and we had a good chat before I left. Of course it helps to have a common interest.

From Greenwich it was a 1.5 hour ride to Groton, Connecticut, which is where I was heading to see the Nautilus – the first nuclear powered submarine. As I approached I saw signs for New London and thought I’d pop in there first to see what it looks like and get a photo with the sign. I live in London, UK, after all. I had to see what New London looked like.

I never found a sign in the town so I headed into Groton.

When I arrived in Groton I pulled off the road to see where the Nautilus was located. I had just stopped the bike and a truck (a Bakkie for the South Africans) pulled up next to me. This is how I met Richard.

Richard said he saw the foreign numberplate and had to say hi. He rides a Harley but sadly due to ill health never rides more than about 20 miles from his home. He said riding always makes him feel better so he rides all year round. I smiled and said, ‘Yes, riding is good for the soul’.

Richard told me of all the places that he always wanted to go but now wouldn’t make. He wanted to go to California, to Leeds in the UK and Jerusalem. My heart bled for him and I felt so blessed that my health was good and gave me such freedom of movement.

As it turned out, Richard worked on the Nautilus when it was still in service. How funny! He showed me how to get there, we took some photos, exchanged details and off I went.

Meet Richard.

The Nautilus is located next to the US Navy Submarine Base. After it was decommissioned it was turned into a Museum. The Museum building houses artefacts and facts about submarines during WW2, along with models of the submarines. I met Forrest at the museum. He is a submarine veteran. What a cheeky chap! I thoroughly enjoyed his company.

After lunch at the Groton Townhouse Restaurant, which had a great steak salad but a slightly somber waitress, I hit the road for Provincetown. I found a room in a nice place at a reasonable price so I wanted to ensure I didn’t lose it.

1.5 hours outside of Provincetown a truck pulling a boat jackknifed on a bridge, shutting the road. The cops turned all the traffic around and I went to wait at McDonalds. It took 2 hours to clear the road, so I eventually got to Provincetown at 9.30pm. It was raining so there was little point of going out. After a shower I jumped into bed. I wanted to be wide awake for the day that lay ahead.

I had heard so many good things about Provincetown – I couldn’t wait to see it. It definitely lives up to its reputation – more about that tomorrow though!

North Carolina & Tennessee

Melanie de Wet4 Comments

The mountains were calling and I had to go. I can’t stop smiling as a result!

Friday morning started with a conversation with Bobby at reception of the Country Inn & Suits in Greenville, which already had me in high spirits. The day just kept getting better!

My rough plan was to go and ride the Tail of the Dragon (Highway 129) which straddles North Carolina and Tennessee, with the hope of spending the evening in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park and then meeting my friend Amanda around lunchtime on Saturday.

Everything was going to plan until I reached Maggie Valley and passed a sign saying Motorcycle Museum. That could be fun I thought, so I turned around and went in.

OMG…that was the best decision ever. I absolutely LOVE the museum! It was like walking through time from the early 1900’s. Every motorcycle still runs and they are happy to start them up if you fancy it. Even Evil Knievel’s motorbike was there! It was an absolute work of art and I couldn’t stop thinking that my dad would love this place the whole time that I was there.

I mentioned I was from the UK when I entered and the lady at reception told me I had to meet Andy. Andy is also from the UK and as I found out after talking to him – he has cycled through 76 counties, including my native South Africa. How bloody awesome!

Andy had seen me riding in and saw my British number plate, as well as the stickers on the my panniers showing my current trip and my 10 year plan. I’m not sure who was more excited him or me!

Andy is AMAZING! I felt like royalty walking through the museum. He kept introducing me to everyone, gave me some free stuff (the signed cap I’m planning on framing and keeping) and then organised with the photographer in the wall of death to take a photo of the rider taking money out of my hand. He even made me a cup of tea! He was incredible and it completely made my day.

Meet Andy.

Please visit my Facebook page for photos of Dales Ride Through Time Museum.

Below is the wall of death.

I was struggling to wipe the smile off my face when I left the museum. I would have loved to have ridden the trails Andy told me about but I also really wanted to head into the park. The park won.

I absolutely love the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. As with the Congaree National Park I went to the information centre ready to pay my money to enter the park (I was actually trying to purchase my annual pass which costs $85) but both parks are free to enter. Seriously, WOW!

The park cuts across North Carolina and Tennessee and it is absolutely incredible! The only thing to watch out for is that there is no mobile (cell phone) reception. As long as you are prepared for that, all is good!

It was about 5pm when I arrived in the park so I didn’t have too much time to ride around before it got dark but I made the most of it. Around 7pm I started looking for a place to sleep. There were two campsites in the park that worked for me. The first was full, so I headed west toward Townsend where there was another campsite. When I arrived there was a sign up to say they were full too. Damn!

It was not looking good. I was wandering about trying to figure out my next move when I spotted a Greek God of a man walking up the road towards me. As he passed he started speaking to me. He used to ride and loved Trinity. After a few minutes I mentioned I was hoping to spend the night in the park but the campsite was full. He offered that I stayed with him and his two friends. They had a campsite and I could pitch my tent there. ‘Sounds great’, I said, so off we went.

Race and his friends are law students from Florida. What amazing people! If they are the future of America then the US has a lot to look forward to. We spent the evening chatting and eating – they fed me as I had nothing but some snacks and a bottle of water with me and they wouldn’t accept any money from me. I got the, ‘you’re our guest’, which I have heard so many times before in the US.

Meet the future of America.

I had been surround by fantastic people all day – the day could really not have been any more perfect!

Race and his friends had to leave at 7.15am so it was an early start. I hung around for a little longer before hitting the road. The road I had hoped to take towards the Tail of the Dragon has apparently been closed for years, so that Put a slight spanner in the works. I didn’t have time to ride around the mountain and still get to Knoxville by lunchtime so I decided to head to Gatlinburg instead on the way to Knoxville.

Gatlinburg is very cute but touristy. I moved away from the high street hoping it would be easier to find somewhere to eat, which is when I noticed the Pancake House. I nearly left due to the queue to get inside but Amanda told me that it was the best place for pancakes so I stayed. I’m glad I did.

I had pancakes with Blueberries and Pecan nuts which was fantastic. I skipped the syrup and the pancakes were perfect – moist and fluffy! Yum!

After breakfast I was back on the road to Knoxville which took about an hour.

I had a warm welcome from Amanda and her boyfriend, Dustin, who I had not met before. Over the course of the weekend I grew to absolutely adore him. What an amazing guy! An ex-cop with a heart of gold.

On the Saturday night we went into town and first had dinner with one of Dustin’s oldest friends before heading to a music festival. Outside of the funky music I had me some Moonshine and some Yee Haw (a brand of beer), before hitting the local ice cream parlour. It was an absolute blast!

Below are a few photos of the evening.

Of course the next morning I felt the aftermath of the night before. Slightly hungover, Amanda and I took the dogs for a walk while Dustin helped a friend move house. The park was fantastic!

Maggie, Amanda’s Beagle, was pulling me along the trails so I let her run and I followed suit. It was great except for the headache that followed. That Moonshine was talking back to me now. Luckily it disappeared quickly. 😂

In the afternoon we headed to the local river to do some canoeing. We dropped the canoes off with one car and left the other car downstream. It was all worked out.

The canoeing was great fun but incredibly hard work when we hit the main river due to the strong winds. It definitely felt like we were padding upstream. It was hard work but well worth it. I also discovered that paddling backwards is pretty cool and it gave my shoulders a rest. Bonus!

That night we ordered take out (my weakness – pizza) and waited for the final Episode of Game of Thrones. I got about half way though and fell asleep – I was exhausted! At least it didn’t ruin the ending for me as I stopped watching GOTs after Season 4.

What a fantastic weekend and amazing company!

The next morning I spoke to my parents before hitting the road. After seeing a message from my friend Duncan I realised I couldn’t miss the Tail of the Dragon, so I headed back west to complete the famous ride.

The Tail of the Dragon was loads of fun! I took a photo when I got to Deals Gap – one for Duncan – and then had some food in the cafe before hitting the road again.

I spoke to one of the Harley riders and he told me to get onto the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville, which is what I did. The Harley riders can look scary but most of them are sweethearts. 

The Blue Ridge Park Way is incredible! I stopped at a few of the lookout points and eventually took a break when I hit the peak. There was a short hike to the top of mountain which I couldn’t resist exploring, so I hit the trail, motorcycle boots and all. Man it was steep! The view from the top was worth it though.

On the way down the hiking trail I saw a set of keys in the path and thought some poor bugger had lost their keys until I realised they were my keys. Some how they had fallen out of my jeans pocket without me realising it. This cat has now used three out of my nine lives on this trip!

I arrived in Asheville about 6pm. I had booked into the Princess Anne hotel which was a short Uber ride from the Breweries. I stopped off at Hi-wire Brewer for what was going to be one drink and then dinner but I got talking to Will – a gaming software developer. I thought about my nephew, Steven, who’s dream is to be a gaming developer. He’d be so excited!

It was serendipity meeting Will. As it turns out Will was a heroine addict and was homeless for 10 years before turning his life around. My eldest nephew, Andrew, had contacted me for money earlier in the day and I had been feeling torn about what to do. Andrew started taking drugs when he was 12 and was a heroine addict by the time he was 15. He turned 25 the day I landed in Miami. It was a bitter-sweet day for me.

Andy has been in and out of rehab and on and off the streets for years. His drug of choice these days is Chrystal Meth. The last 6 months were particularly tough as he went off the rails and after getting violent with my sister, she had to kick him out of the house. I don’t know how she copes. He was living in a park since December. 10 weeks ago a guy whose ex-wife was an addict offered him a job and is allowing him to sleep on the shop floor, so at least he has a roof over his head.

There is nothing more painful then watching someone you love self-destruct. At times I feel completely helpless and other times wrapped in guilt that all the ‘help’ I have been giving may have been perpetrating the situation i.e. enabling his addiction. It is at time pure torture! I would do anything to save my nephew but I know you can’t save someone – that’s a journey they have to make on their own. 

All I can do is prepare myself mentally and emotionally for the next storm. I have learned to expect storms.

I spoke to Will about how I was feeling before we moved onto other life conversations – ending the causes to homelessness being one of them. It was just what I needed and it gave me a glimmer of hope that maybe one day Andy will be okay. Nothing would make me happier!

I sent Andy a message when I got back to the hotel telling him how much I love him and that I would always be by his side but that he had to learn to stand on his own two feet, so I wasn’t going to give him money. It was a tough decision.

I was feeling uneasy about my decision  yesterday morning – scared about the potential consequence – so instead of exploring Asheville I hit the road. I needed to keep moving and get out of my head and back to my heart. The mountains were calling and I answered. I always find peace in the mountains. They didn’t fail me!

South Carolina

Melanie de WetLeave a comment

The last 5 days have been absolutely incredible! I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime in these few days and it’s been so good for my soul – in so many ways!

As there is too much for one post I’ll split it into two – this one for South Carolina and then North Carolina and Tennessee, which has definitely been the highlight of my trip to date. Hopefully I can write that up tonight but here’s a bit about my time in South Carolina.

I left Jekyll Island last week on Wednesday heading for Savannah, Georgia. The city is bigger than I expected and I was struggling to find parking for Trinity. I’ve realised motorcycle parking is not a thing here i.e. they don’t provide any. Shock, horror! I wasn’t in the mood for struggling so after riding around town for about 20 minutes I hit the road again.

I reached Charleston, South Carolina, around 5pm. I rode through the residential area, which was stunning with its large Georgian Style houses, on the way to the historic part of town. I booked a hotel through Hotwire and ended up at the Fulton Lane Inn. The hotel provides Sherry at 6pm, so I had a little tipple before heading out to explore the local area and find dinner.

Charleston is lovely! It is definitely not cheap though. What also stood out for me was that people dress up for dinner. They haven’t anywhere else. I was definitely underdressed in my favourite old shorts, flops and a T-shirt but that didn’t stop me going to Poogans Porch restaurant, which was recommended by the hotel. It was good but I was a little taken aback when my salad turned out to be a quarter lettuce with a few tomatoes, slices of cucumber, with a sprinkle of bacon and salad dressing. A wedge is not a salad people! 😂

Below are a few photos of the hip and happening city that is Charleston.

Thursday morning started out great. I popped downstairs for coffee and started chatting to Andy at reception. I loved his chirpiness and bow tie! He recommended that I popped around the corner to City Lights Coffee to meet Greg, a fellow South African, so I did. I’m so glad I took the time to do that because I also got to meet Libby, a photographer and Graphic Designer who was absolutely lovely. My quick pop in turned out to be an hour stay before hitting the road to Congaree National Park.

Meet Greg and Libby.

It took about 1.5 hours to get to Congaree National Park from Charleston. Outside of Miami, which is a slight traffic nightmare, the roads have been great so makes for easy riding.

Congaree National Park was very interesting. According to Wikipedia, “the park preserves the largest tract of old growthbottomland hardwood forestleft in the United States. The lush trees growing in its floodplain forest are some of the tallest in the eastern United States, forming one of the highest temperate deciduous forestcanopies remaining in the world”.

Most of the year the park it dry and you can hike the trails but during the rainy season the park fills with water and you have to get around in canoes. How cool is that! Sadly they’ve had a dry spell so I didn’t get a shot at canoeing.

My hike though the park was quite an experience. I wanted to go beyond the short boardwalk loop so I thought I’d take route 3 for a bit and then loop back via route 2. In theory this was easy. Of course, I missed the turn-off and ended up on the 4.4 mile route 3 loop.

Fortunately I had my neck sock with me because I could hear the mosquitoes buzzing around my ears every time I stopped to take a photo. The park’s Mosquito Meter, which ranges from 1 (all clear) to 6 (war zone) was sitting at 2.5 (between mild and moderate). I would not want to see what war zone looks like, although the name is hilarious!

I loved the hike although it was a little creepy by myself. The hiking trail follows the swamp like waters, so I wasn’t sure what was potentially lurking in the bushes and water. Eventually I found what was lurking in the bushes – two hogs! I can’t believe I saw them before they heard me – I’m clearly light footed. I stood in the path for a minute not sure whether to turn back or keep going. I’d hear that hogs can be a little vicious. I couldn’t see any tusks so I picked up a chunky stick (just in case) and started walking towards them making enough noise so that they could hear me coming. It worked because they heard me and ran away. Phew! With a nervous giggle I kept going but I held onto the stick (just in case).

My remaining walk through the forest was a doddle – no stick needed. When I reached the boardwalk there was a lookout point across the river. I met an older couple there who pointed in the direction of the alligator that they had just seen. My eyes grew wider and I made another nervous giggle thinking about my walk. I never saw the alligator but I did see some gorgeous little turtles.

Here are a few photos of the park.

I was happy now so headed off to figure out where I was going to stay for the night. That was to be Greenville, South Carolina. It made me think of Mac Arnold who I saw playing with Gina and Gordon in Florida. That made me smile so it seemed like a good place to spend the night.

I arrived in Greenville around 6.30pm and I was starving as there was no food in the park, only snacks. I was really in the mood for something healthy so I had a look at the restaurants around me and saw a Greek restaurant was just around the corner. That made me think of my trip to Greece last summer and Melina (aka Mini-Mel) and that definitely made me smile, so it was an obvious choice.

With my tummy full I was happy to have a quiet evening at the hotel before heading into the mountains the next day. I was so excited about that. I had no idea that I was about to have some of the best days that I can remember having in a long time. I can’t wait to tell you about that.

Watch this space!