Given that it’s winter and there is not much riding to be done here in the northeast, I figure I can kill some time and hopefully have a bit of a cathartic experience reminiscing about some of last year’s trips. In July my son Jake (10 at the time) and I took a five-day, 1,350 mile trip; mostly through Upstate NY. This would be Jake’s first “big” trip. A year earlier we rode from Long Island to Cooperstown, NY which was about 500 miles round trip. We did that ride on my 2000 Heritage Softail. This past year, I bought a new 2012 Ultra Limited and I was really exited to take Jake on this trip. Been thinking about it ever since he was born, actually.

The first day we left Northport, L.I. and headed to Pt. Jefferson to take the ferry to CT. Our goal this day was to make it to Saratoga, NY where we would stay at my friend Tom’s house who was out of town and left us a key. We had a great first day with the exception of about 50 miles of rain as we headed north on Rt. 7 in western CT. For the balance of the ride north we would be taking Rt. 22 that runs parallel to the Taconic Parkway in Eastern NYS. 22 is a great road to ride and an excellent alternative to the Taconic if you are not in a big hurry.

Around 3ish, we got to Schuylerville, just east of Saratoga, found the key to my Tom’s house and cooled off in his pool. Then into Saratoga proper for some dinner before heading to the Malta Drive In to see a movie. Jake had never been to a drive in nor has he even seen one for that matter. There aren’t any left on Long Island and they are en endangered species everywhere else for that matter. It’s sad really as they had been big part of the American experience for so long. We set up our chairs and tuned the sound in on the bike radio. It worked great! We saw Spiderman which was kinda “eh” but the movie really didn’t matter in this case – it was all about the experience. The only downside here is that the movie ended late for Jake as it didn’t get dark enough to start it until about 9PM. Riding back to Tom’s house he started to fall asleep on the bike which was scary but we made it.

Here is the old school drive in entrance...


And here we are all set up for the movie...


The plan for day two was to ride up to Schroon Lake in the Adirondacks and visit Tom who was camping there with his family. Needless to say the riding the Adirondack Park is fantastic.

At Schroon, Jake got to go tubing for the first time in his life off the back of Tom’s boat. That’s him in the middle. He claims to like it better than riding but hey… he’s only 10 and riding is not novel for him like it is for other kids.


From here we headed to Chittenango, just outside Syracuse to visit his grandmother (my mother in law) and spend the night.

Day three started with a photo-op with Grandma...


then we were off to Niagara Falls. This was a great ride heading west on Rt. 20, up and down hills, thorough towns, past lakes and farms – good stuff. We would turn north and stop for lunch in Batavia at the Poka Dot which is a very old school local joint as you can see here...


From Batavia we would head north until we hit Lake Ontario. This was actually the first time I had ever been right up to one of the great lakes. We could barley make out Toronto way on the other side.


Getting to the border to cross into Niagara Falls was a bit of a congested ride through some industrial parts of Western NYS but once we crossed into Canada I was very impressed with the scene over there. We did the touristy stuff like ride the Maid of the Mist had a nice dinner and stayed at the Marriot overlooking the falls. I give Niagara Falls, Canada a thumbs up overall.

The next day started with the buffet at the hotel, pack up the bike and head back to New York. This wasn’t a big riding day. We headed back east toward Rochester and then south to Letchworth State Park. A month or so in advance, I arranged to have Jake and I take a hot air balloon ride. This was to be the highlight of the trip and I recommend this to everyone. It’s not scary at all. The company that took us up is called Balloons over Letchworth in case you want to check it out. Here is a picture of the ballon being inflated and another of the view from up in the air...





The next day we got up and rode south from Letchworth into Allegheny County, NY and crossed into Pennsylvania until we his US-6. 6 is one of the nicest two lane highways in the northeast in my opinion with very little traffic, lotsa curves and big elevation changes to keep you interested. We had planned on going to Port Jervis, NY this day but somewhere on Rt. 6 Jake hit the wall. He simply could not stay awake. His helmet would clonk the back of mine as he nodded off and I had to keep talking to him so he’d stay awake. Ultimately, we had to pull over at a scenic overlook where I let him take a nap for an hour or so. We cut he day short and spent the rest of the day and that night at a hotel in Scranton.

The last day of the trip was simply the ride a home from Scranton. Once you get east and out of town it’s a great ride along 6 until Port Jervis. After riding the Hawk’s Nest, we stopped for the photo op below and saw a bald eagle flying along the Delaware River below us. I’ve only seen three bald eagles in my life and two of these were right here on this road.



We had pancakes at Homer’s in Port Jervis and then took the long way the rest of the way home, along 6, through Bear Mtn. State Park and into CT back to the Ferry in Bridgeport. Overall it was a huge success and a lot of fun for both of us. We are already planning our 2013 ride. We are thinking of touring the Civil War battlefields of PA and MD and dropping down in to Virginia to ride Skyline Drive. If anyone has any other suggestions I’m certainly open to ideas.

Thanks!

 

Thanks for sharing. Great story and a memory for a lifetime.

 

I'ts great the two of you can do that.

 

Very cool. Will be great in a few years when he's old enough to get his own bike and start riding with you. My dad and I ride together all the time.

 

Thanks for sharing. Brought back memories of trips with my son at that age. Fishing rods and camping gear. One trip was Raystown lake in Pa., then to Gettysburg Battlefield. After that it was off to Hagerstowm, Md. for the flat track motorcycle races. My son is a grown man now but we often talk about that trip. It's all about memories.

 

great story, thx. even better when he gets older. my son and i started our annual trip three years ago when he was 17. two bikes, just us for sevreal days and little planning. it's priceless.

tin

 

Way to go!! Thanks.

 

Great write-up! I'm sure that you son won't forget this ride and will cherish it.

Thanks!