It was a whirlwind six days of activity and we packed a lot into the time we had. Rain messed up our scheule, but we did almost everything we intended.
Six of us left home early last Tuesday morning in a GMC eight-passenger monster truck and headed for Owls Head, Maine, and the Transportation Museum of cars, bikes, trucks and WWI planes. Half way through the state it began to pour rain which continued into Wednesday and Thursday. Waiting for us at the museum was one of our club members on his BMW 1200. He was already on the road and heading west, but stayed with us until Saturday. When we arrived in Kingston/Rhinebeck we were joined by another club member and his two sons, plus two other members on bikes on Thursday. It was almost like old home week for the vintage bike club
We did the tour of the Owls Head museum and found a place to stay for the night.
The next morning we motored south, but stopped in Danbury, CT, and went to an indoor public shooting range for an hour. Three had never held a pistol before and two others were so-so, so I became the range safety officer and instructor. I was surprised at how good the novices were!!
We left the range just as the rain stopped and the sun eventually came out. We had nothing else to do except to drive to our motel in Kingston, so we decided to go on down to Newburgh and see the Orange County Choppers complex. None of us are fans of OCC per se, but since we were close, why not. It's pretty impressive and Paul Sr. was in the building, but we didn't see him.
The Motocyclopedia Museum is also in Newburgh, but it was getting late so we decided to came back another day.
Thursday was a monsoon as a huge weather event moved across that part of the northeast. That upset our plans so we motored down the Hudson River and went to the Vanderbilt mansion for a tour of how the filthy rich used to live. On the way back we stopped at the Rhinebeck Aerodrome to see the museum. The rain had let up some so we were able to walk outside and in and out of the various buildings. The airfield and hangers are a short distance away and we were able to walk there and back without getting too wet. Because of the weather there was no activity at all.
Friday morning was still misty and wet, but as we neared the Rhinebeck fairgrounds the sun broke through and we stayed until 12:00 noon drooling over all the bikes and displays. We had to make the most of our time so we drove back to Newburgh for the afternoon to see the motorcycle museum. To say it's stunning is not the word!!!! I saw bikes I had never heard of and bikes I had only seen in pictures. There is an Indian motorcycle time-line of bikes from the first year to the last year and an example from every year. Absolutely stunning!! It's a must-see for anyone who can get there.
Saturday morning we were at the huge fairgrounds early and there were even more bikes and displays. It was a beautiful sunny day and we walked our feet off until about 1:00 PM. They had a motorcycle Wall of Death so we took that in and got the autograph of the crazy rider!!
We wanted to see the drag races in Lebanon to the north so we didn't have time to go back to the Aerodrome and possibly go up in a vintage plane. Reluctantly, we left and headed for the race track where we saw racers doing the quarter mile at amazing speeds in only a few seconds. This was a regional meet and two racers from Nova Scotia were there that we knew so that made it even more interesting. Too bad they were eliminated during the trials - but only by a fraction of a second!!
Since we had seen and done almost everything on our list we decided to come home on Sunday instead of Monday.
I'll start another thread with pictures as soon as I sort through the 300+ I took
Six of us left home early last Tuesday morning in a GMC eight-passenger monster truck and headed for Owls Head, Maine, and the Transportation Museum of cars, bikes, trucks and WWI planes. Half way through the state it began to pour rain which continued into Wednesday and Thursday. Waiting for us at the museum was one of our club members on his BMW 1200. He was already on the road and heading west, but stayed with us until Saturday. When we arrived in Kingston/Rhinebeck we were joined by another club member and his two sons, plus two other members on bikes on Thursday. It was almost like old home week for the vintage bike club
We did the tour of the Owls Head museum and found a place to stay for the night.
The next morning we motored south, but stopped in Danbury, CT, and went to an indoor public shooting range for an hour. Three had never held a pistol before and two others were so-so, so I became the range safety officer and instructor. I was surprised at how good the novices were!!
We left the range just as the rain stopped and the sun eventually came out. We had nothing else to do except to drive to our motel in Kingston, so we decided to go on down to Newburgh and see the Orange County Choppers complex. None of us are fans of OCC per se, but since we were close, why not. It's pretty impressive and Paul Sr. was in the building, but we didn't see him.
The Motocyclopedia Museum is also in Newburgh, but it was getting late so we decided to came back another day.
Thursday was a monsoon as a huge weather event moved across that part of the northeast. That upset our plans so we motored down the Hudson River and went to the Vanderbilt mansion for a tour of how the filthy rich used to live. On the way back we stopped at the Rhinebeck Aerodrome to see the museum. The rain had let up some so we were able to walk outside and in and out of the various buildings. The airfield and hangers are a short distance away and we were able to walk there and back without getting too wet. Because of the weather there was no activity at all.
Friday morning was still misty and wet, but as we neared the Rhinebeck fairgrounds the sun broke through and we stayed until 12:00 noon drooling over all the bikes and displays. We had to make the most of our time so we drove back to Newburgh for the afternoon to see the motorcycle museum. To say it's stunning is not the word!!!! I saw bikes I had never heard of and bikes I had only seen in pictures. There is an Indian motorcycle time-line of bikes from the first year to the last year and an example from every year. Absolutely stunning!! It's a must-see for anyone who can get there.
Saturday morning we were at the huge fairgrounds early and there were even more bikes and displays. It was a beautiful sunny day and we walked our feet off until about 1:00 PM. They had a motorcycle Wall of Death so we took that in and got the autograph of the crazy rider!!
We wanted to see the drag races in Lebanon to the north so we didn't have time to go back to the Aerodrome and possibly go up in a vintage plane. Reluctantly, we left and headed for the race track where we saw racers doing the quarter mile at amazing speeds in only a few seconds. This was a regional meet and two racers from Nova Scotia were there that we knew so that made it even more interesting. Too bad they were eliminated during the trials - but only by a fraction of a second!!
Since we had seen and done almost everything on our list we decided to come home on Sunday instead of Monday.
I'll start another thread with pictures as soon as I sort through the 300+ I took
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