I can't wait til next year

Its 2:20 on Saturday and I am on the Plymouth to Boston bus after spending the night and morning at Eric's in Waterville Valley. It's nearly 80 degrees out and the countryside is filled with leaf peepers. The traffic on my left is bumper to bumper. I'm so glad I'm on a bus heading south.

What an incredible day yesterday, nothing like we planned it. We got an early start out of Millinocket hoping to settle in Bethel or Berlin for the night. If we were lucky, we would find a cheap hotel and then find a Friday night high school football game where we would cheer for the locals and savor a hot dog or two for dinner. No such luck. Both towns were full as was the spectacularly beautiful Twin Mountains area heading up into the hills.

The weather was ideal, it was a three day weekend and it was the height of the foliage season. Even so, we had started the day thinking that we would easily find a place to stay. How naive. iPhone and Android searches returned only one option; the Mt. Washinton Resort Hotel. It had one place left, a $375 room with a king bed. That wasn't happening.

We then searched the old fashion way, knocking on the doors of roadside inns. Innkeepers looked at us incredulously. They had been booked for months.

It was after 5:30 p.m. and we were facing 75 miles to Waterville Valley, 60 minutes of daylight and mostly back country windy roads. We knew we had to hoof it. And that we did.

If we hadn't been so anxious about the impending nightfall, we would have soaked in this stretch over a few hours. It was out of this world. Next time you are in the White Mountain National Forest, try heading southeast on 302, cut over Bear Notch road and then west on Kancamagus Highway. Spectacular.

Our one strategic mistake was not fueling up earlier. Cutting it too close, my bike was on fumes as we limped in to Lincoln. We found a gas station and took a few minutes to fill the tanks. Eric needed to go to the bathroom and to have a bag of chips to hold him over. By the time he was done it was dark.

We had the option of taking a 40 mile route on dark back roads to Waterville Valley or to take a 25 mile route down rte. 93 and over 49. This was the one time I agreed to go on a freeway. I'm not sure why it scares me so much. We went 60-70 mph much of the trip. For some reason, doing so on a major highway feels different. I don't like it.

Instead of going directly to Eric's we decided to stop at the local watering hole, the Coyote Grille, for dinner. The staff at the Coyote was quite nice,

as was the clientele. The service and the food however, was beyond poor. I can't for the life of me understand how it's got a four-star Yelp rating. Those reviewers must own the place. The meals took over an hour to arrive. Once they did, we barely ate them.

Mine was the chicken and pasta. It's hard to screw either up but Coyote did. Eric had the raw tuna, and I mean raw. I wouldn't take a bite of it. It smelled like it was marinated in ammonia.

It was nothing like the lunch we had yesterday at "Whats for Supper" just southwest of Skowhegan, ME. A delicious chicken salad sandwich for me, a reubon for Eric. The price was a quarter of what we paid at the Coyote and a thousand times better.

We left the Coyote and arrived at Eric's two minutes later. We put the bikes in the garage and then collapsed on the couches. Time to crash.

We traveled 330 miles yesterday and 1,309 miles overall. A long trip and one that I will treasure always. Thanks Eric. I love these trips and have a blast taking them with you. I can't wait til next year.

Signing off.
-george


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Location:Cushing St,Newton,United States