After my nice experience with the Canadian border guards, I arrived in St Andrews and things just got better. What a gorgeous little town, small, quiet, picturesque and full of friendly people (and deer) just my kind of place. I stayed in the cutest cottage and had booked for 2 nights as the weatherman forecast some awful weather. For this reason, I decided not to go to Nova scotia also because I want to come back and travel around this area with Joern. He has a dream to go to Newfoundland so we can certainly do an easy 3-week trip around the area.

As if often the case the weatherman was not completely correct and I had nice, slightly overcast but still nice weather…that is until I left. But before that I got to thoroughly enjoy this little piece of heaven.

My cute little cottage and the lovely chilled boardwalk at the hotel.

There are deer all over the town and I love the fact that the locals protect their vegetable gardens and prize flowers from them as opposed to just getting rid of the deer. It really is a special place.

I spent the afternoon wondering around the little botanical garden. It’s a beautiful garden full of sculptures and stunning plants along with a few goats, alpacas and ducks. I had lunch on a bench in the garden watching the ducks before tacking the little maze. It could not have been a more relaxing afternoon.

The town itself is small and so quaint with some great restaurants and a fantastic coffee shop. You can also take a whale watching cruise, but as it wasn’t the best time of year to spot whales and I’ve done a couple of these cruises before i decided to to the botanical gardens instead.

The antique lighthouse has been restored and was in use for 100 years from 1833 to 1933.

Leaving St Andrews and riding towards Quebec City was no fun. Absolutely freezing at 7^oC and pouring rain. I just froze, but sometimes one just needs to tolerate bad weather when travelling by bike, it’s one of the penalties we pay for riding. I very briefly stopped at Grand Falls for just 5 minutes before checking into a hotel and having the hottest bath I could manage. The weather really put me in a downer as well as draining my energy, but fortunately although the following day started chilly it was dry and by the time, I rode into Quebec City it was a warm 22^oC. I dropped my bike off for its service and began looking forward to my 2 days in rest in Quebec City.

Leaving Vermont, I started to head to Canada and spent the night in boring Freeport, but not after visiting Kennebunkport. Another little gem in the stunning state of Maine.

17 June

Heading for Canada today. Although the heavens threatened rain all day and it was overcast and very chilly the clouds held out and I arrived bone dry, but frozen. Although I hardly felt it as I was enjoying riding through Maine and some lovely countryside.

I had two heart stopping moment…well of that is a bit of an exaggeration so let’s say two mildly scary moments at the border. Firstly, I followed the road and soon realised that I had passed (with no option to stop) the USA boarder / customs post and arrived in Canada. With no option to turn around other than enter and then exit Canada I continued on. I was quite nervous as having crossed many many borders on motorbikes I know that things can quickly get tricky. I was really worried that I didn’t go through customs or get my passport stamped as I exited the USA. Since I’m returning to the USA in about 12 days, I’m worried that there may be some issues. As soon as I arrived at the hotel I phones the US customs and border security offices and was told (you dumb tourist) that this was normal and there are no exit checks when going to Canada. Phew that’s a lod off my mind.

The second moment was when I handed to Canadian border guard my arriveCan receipt to be told it was expired and that in fact you have to apply a max of 72hrs in advance not a minimum. DAMN I really thought I’d have to go back to the US and lose a day or more. BUT no, Canadian border guards are the nicest in the world (that I have come across so far. I really have a pet hate of border / customs people as they are usually on some kind of power trip, especially the Russians just awful customs people) They let me stay in the waiting room and download the arriveCan app and fill the form in right there and then while they checked my bike. They didn’t even ask me to unpack my luggage. Easy peezy 15 minutes and I was done and on my way to St Andrews.

13 June – Pennsylvania: Wellsboro

Leaving Gettysburg and heading up towards Vermont as I passed some beautiful rivers and then found a hotel for the night in Wellsboro. Another one of those accidental finds. What a sweet little town with an awesome Chinese restaurant.

14 June – New York: 5 Fingers lakes, Cayuga Lake

Taking Colleens advice again (it pays to be in with the locals) I took a route via the 5 finger lakes in New York. What a stunning area. A combination of wine country full of vineyards (as I was riding I only tried to grape juice, but if that is anything to go by I bet the wine is good), forests, picturesque towns and of course lots of water. I went to one of the locks and met the sweetest old lady who was going fishing, walker an all. She told me that she usually caught 2 to 3 fish a day. I rode past the biggest outdoor store I have ever seen so had to stop and take a look. It was fantastic, the choices are just incredible. That is one thing I can say about the US, you are really spoiled for choice. Just going into the petrol station and trying to decide what to drink is an adventure. I love it. It is a good thing I’m travelling by bike or I’d have left that store with everything including a bunch of fishing poles…I’m not sure what I would do with them but let’s just say it was very hard to leave empty handed. I mean it solve Boats and quads…right there in the store, not a boat store but just an outdoor store.

15 June – Vermont: Killington

The reason I wanted to go to Killington is that I worked there in 1991 and wanted to visit my old stomping ground. When I finished university, I signed up for a student work program and got placed in Vermont at the Killington ski resort as a waitress. The program offered students 6-month work visas and you could choose between a summer beach resort or a ski resort, but not which ones. I think I hit the jackpot getting Killington and had an absolutely fantastic time.

Coming back to Killington was great, just riding up past the wobbly barn brought back a flood of great memories, and a tinge of nostalgia for a misspent youth. Including throwing a hissy fit because I wasn’t invited to the New years eve party until Ruth (my roommate) showed me a picture of myself…at the new years eve party…must have been a good night.  Killington has grown but not nearly as much as I thought it would and was still quite recognisable. I did realise, seeing it again, that we really did spend out time between work (at the Little Red Inn), the wobbly barn (our local hangout) and the slopes. In fact I think that was our entire existence for the ski season, except Christmas lunch. Chris and his wife, two of the long time locals, arranged for a lost souls (the foreign students who didn’t go home to families over Christmas) Christmas lunch including ice skating on the pond outside the restaurant. Fun time.

It was truly great to be back and go back in time for just a moment.

There are have definitely been a lot more slopes added over the years. One fun memory is that back in 1991, snowboarding was only just taking off and the ‘’pesky’’ snowboarders were restricted to boarding on Bear Mountain to the left. Leaving the rest of Killing to us skiers. Since I’ve become a snowboarder myself I’m damn glad things changed 😊

I got to meet more of Colleens family members thanks to her persuading me that Gettysburg is a must see. I can totally second that opinion. I’m not really sure where to start except to say that I know I won’t do the weekend justice.

I arrived after a great day riding partly on back roads and partly on the interstate. Being really tired I opted to stay in and have a quiet evening getting to know Barbie and Gus.  Such an interesting couple and so nice, friendly, hospitable and funny. Barbie and Gus are retired military couple and have lived in a lot of places including Germany and Saudi Arabia during their 20 and 22 years in the military. Gus as a paratrooper and Barbie in the air force my understanding transportation logistics. All sounded very interesting to me and Barbie now works as a volunteer in an animal rescue shelter…now that is my kinds woman. They live just outside Gettysburg in Aspers, a stunning quiet suburb where foxes and deer visit their backyard. Gus has the biggest best man cave I have seen and after our sightseeing day in Gettysburg the 3 of us sat there watching the 4hr directors cut of the movie Gettysburg. I can highly recommend watching the movie especially before or after visiting the  battleground as it perfectly puts it all together. We were visited by Nicky the maine coon and a for a brief second a very shy Stormy.

But I’ve jumped forward. So back to the night I arrived. I fortunately had a very small lunch ( I think I just had a yoghurt or banana) so was quite hungry and got fed a hoagie…. I had no idea what this was and no it’s not just a sandwich, it’s a SANDWICH. This one was an Italian Cheesesteak and all I can say is YUMMMMM

On Sunday Barbie and Gus took me into Gettysburg to see the battlefield. Gus is a great guide and very knowledgeable. We started by going to the centre to look at the Gettysburg Cyclorama. This is an absolutely massive oil on canvas painting. Painted in the 1880s, the dramatic painting depicts the famous Pickett’s Charge with lights and sound effects really bringing the battle to life. We then drove around Gettysburg and the battlefield, which is huge, stopping at various places. We walked up Little Round Top which, as the guide book says ‘’was once the scene of the most decisive encounter of the battle. From atop the small, rocky hill, you can take in commanding views of the battlefield and learn about the Confederate’s unsuccessful assault on the distinctive landmark’’. It was incredible to stand there and imagine (which you cannot do in your wildest dreams) marching across the battlefield under heavy fire in unbearable heat and not turn tail and run.

General Lee. General Warren atop Little round top. Looking down from Little Round Top. The clump of trees that Lee aimed his army towards. The last picture’s are of the battlefield seen from the side of General Lee and a mile away from the side of General Mead

What you cannot comprehend without standing on the battlesfield is the size. The army stretched a mile wide, and there was a mile between the confederate army lead by General Lee and the Union army lead by General Mead. This battle however was on day 3 after 2 days of fighting. As the guide books say ‘’ The Battle of Gettysburg marked the turning point of the Civil War. With more than 50,000 estimated casualties, the three-day engagement was the bloodiest single battle of the conflict.’’

Looking down from Little Round Top

A fascinating trip, including a great lunch at the Irish pub. So much I couldn’t even face eating dinner. We did however stop at the chocolate shop. Gettysburg itself is a lovely historical town, and well worth a visit. I really wanted to stay longer as there is so much more to see but needed to head off on Monday morning and continue my ride north to Vermont.

On my way to Gettysburg I stopped for the night near Mill Hill and decided to go visit the falling waters house on my way out of town. WOW what a treat, stunning. I’m so glad I came across this place.

Fallingwater is a house designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in the Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania. As explained by the tourist guide – The epitome of “organic architecture,” Fallingwater’s design symbolizes the harmony between people and nature. Through thoughtful design that is seamlessly integrated with its natural setting, the building, its furnishings, and the surroundings become cohesive parts of one unified, interrelated composition.

It is stunning and I can highly recommend a visit. One of the little things I loved were all the chipmunks….sooo cute I could have watched them for hours.

Heading out of Sandy Hook and the first surprise this morning is that gas has gone up to $5.09. When I arrived in the US on the 24th May it was $4.30. Well it is what it is. onward and upwards, but not before stopping for the best Hawaiian Pizza with EXTRA pineapple yum. I could only eat half of it and couldn’t eat more than a sausage for dinner.

My friend Collen arranged for me to stay with her sister Jennifer and her brother-in-Law Paul in Frazeysburg, Ohio. They live in the back of beyond in a quiet country area on a farm surrounded by forest and open land. It is totally idyllic, although I arrived a lot later than expected.

I had selected avoid tolls and highways on my GPS in order to ride some small country roads … GPS took this very seriously and decided to test the v-strom. It took me through some serious hilly bad dirt roads. The pictures I took do not do the steep roads justice, but needless to say even on road tires the v-strom did an awesome job.

Surviving the roads, I arrived at Jennifer’s place and had a lovely afternoon watching the birds and squirrels with Paul. I also got to play Frisby with Hermani (aka Pony) the most awesome yellow lab. He also showed me his woodwork studio and the amazing furniture he makes. After Jennifer got home, she introduced me to her horses and the next day we went for an awesome ride, spotting a deer and plenty of bunnies. Paul then took me on a great ride through Amish country before I said goodbye and headed off to Pennsylvania.

After riding in heavy rain yesterday, and with the threat of more thunderstorms along the route today, plus missing my two boys, I woke just not feeling great. However, this changed as soon as I was on the bike, as is usually the case. AND What a fantastic day, one of the best riding days so far, sunshine, great roads, meeting nice people and beautiful scenery.

It’s days like these that remind me why I ride, that free, fun experience travelling from one place to another seeing and experiencing so much. On a bike I feel so much closer to where I am, really more a part of it, not closed up in a climate-controlled car. Yes cars are very comfortable but I can’t explain the feeling and experiences you get from travelling on a motorbike.

I only had about 180km to go from London to Sandy Hook so only took the back roads. I had this mistaken image of Kentucky being flat and dry a bit like I expect Montana to be. How wrong was I. I guess this is one of the reasons I travel…to learn. Kentucky is very pretty with rolling hills and it’s GREEN. The backroads were practically empty with a mixture of open fields and almost tropical looking forests. Once again, the houses were a mixture of stunning huge house, to pretty mid/small sized ones to ready beat up ‘’come on throw your trash out’’ small houses and trailers. What’s interesting is that you find all 3 varieties in one road.

On the way I saw a beaver (well I think it was a beaver, I couldn’t see the tail and am not sure if there is another animal that looks similar from the front) I also saw a ton of squirrels again and a deer. I nearly hit the deer and was glad I was on a back road and going slowly. There I was riding along looking straight at this animal thinking ‘’damn that deer statue, in that garden under that tree, looks so real’’ Then it moved and then it ran across the road DAMN moving statues get you every time.

I arrived at The Little Sandy Lodge around 1pm. What a gorgeous little place recommended by my friend Colleen and so pretty and great value. The owner is so nice I really liked her. I asked her where I could go for a walk and she recommended the Laurel Gorge down the road. Such a pretty place, quiet with loads of birds and dragon flies. Fortunately I didn’t see any of the local snakes. The waterfall was not flowing but that did not detract from how much I enjoyed the walk.

Leaving Memphis I decided to spend some time off the interstate again, this combination is working well for me. The interstates get me from A to B quickly but I get to explore and see some interesting sites on the back roads. This time taking the picturesque Natchez Trace. I lovely easy road through the forests of one of the many state parks. This country really does have a lot of open space, it’s stunning. One other thing that I have found really good so far are the rest areas, very clean.

I’ve met a few interesting people this way. I met a lady who reminded me of Darlene, the character from Ozark, the other day. She was the splitting image of Darlene and talked my ear off. I had stopped for a water break in a backward little gas station and was sitting inside drinking my water. She sat down with her hubby and just started chatting as she’d seen my helmet. What a character told me all about when she rode Harleys, she must have been about 70. It was yet another great interaction with a total stranger, she was sweet and funny. I do these kinds of trips for encounters like this. When you ride in a group or even just a couple people are reluctant to approach you and you miss out on a lot. I have come to realise that a lot of what we see on TV / movies is real. The characters the out of the way gas stations and diners that look like something from days gone by. It is fascinating. I love how friendly and also how patriotic Americas are (although sometimes that can be a bit in your face)

Another one of my little finds outside of Nashville in Spring Hill was the Rippavilla Manor. WOW this was one of the larger plantations in the area and with a house to match. Stunning. Once again, I was there during the week and early in the morning, also out of season, so I got a private tour. I am no architect or historian but I love seeing old buildings and learning about how people lived in past eras, and this is the reason I wanted to see Rippavilla. Thus I did not think that my trip to Rippavilla would get me interested in the civil war…

I know a bit about the civil war and learned about it in school but old battles were not something that interested me too much. As I mentioned I was the only person at Rippavilla so got a private tour and Kristi the guide was so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the Battle of Franklin she was re-enacting parts of it and had me riveted. I won’t do it justice by trying to explain it except to saw it was a disaster in which the confederate state suffered a major defeat.

Interesting factoid: General Schofiled and General Hood were best friends and roommates at West Point.

Kristi was also very knowledgeable on slavery the area / era. The plantation has 75 slaves at one time, but as Kristi explained to me this was not just a plantation situation but most people owned or rented slaves at that time. Even the pastors, who in fact published booklets explaining that it was not wrong to own a slave. There are written records of these and also invoices for the rental of 17 year old enslaved men for 12cents a day, who would have been required to do everything from building roads to houses to harvesting etc. There is so much to learn about the past that I just did not know.

Leaving Spring Hill I headed up towards Lenoir city, where I stayed the night and, from where I’d be able to head up to Deals Gap and ride the Tail of the Dragon before continuing my journey to Kentucky. The weather however had some different ideas. I woke up to heady rain and started having second thoughts about riding the tail of the dragon with a lot of other idiots (or so I have been told I’d find on this stretch of road) I then thought the weather might change so off I went.

15kms in absolute torrential rain, although through some pretty areas, I realised that I still had 60kms out of my way to go just to ride some twisties…in the rain. What an idiot. SO I stopped did a U-turn and heading towards Kentucky. A decision I got happier with as the weather worsened. Ending up like a drowned rat I stopped early in London Kentucky. The tail of the dragon can wait for another trip.

Oops I did it again. Went rolling in another plane. These rolls are just fun fun fun.

Spent an absolutely awesome day with my brother, Anthony, who I haven’t seen for 8 years. His friend Bill took me flying: did a couple of rolls, let me fly a bit, did some low level flying over a friend of his farm and most spectacularly did a lot of formation flying with Ant in his white Yak 50 and their friend Gene in his yellow Harman rocket. (I had to write down the names of the planes because to me they are, pretty white plane with wings and cool paint job yellow plane with wings )

What a nice person, he also treated us all to Vietnamese for lunch YUM.

Ant and I topped the day off by going to see Top Gun: Maverick. Great movie, extremely comfy movie theatre (the seats are huge and have fold out leg rests)

I also got to see my nephew Justin’s hanger with my Dads Auster which was very special. Justin is not only a pilot and aircraft mechanic, but a very talented artist. I saw one of his paint jobs up front on a plane that he built. Wow so interesting.

I also got to see my old Kawasaki DLR 650 that I rode through South and Central America and left with Justin in -Memphis hello old girl great see you again 🙂 that brought back a few memories.

Ant lives on a smallholding just outside of Memphis which is home not only to his two funny loving dogs but a few racoons and a load of squirrels.

Awesome awesome very memorable weekend

From Glitz, to Grit, to Glamour- A very interesting day in Memphis.

Welcome to disne..oops I mean Graceland, very interesting. Extremally kitsch including green shag carpets on the ceiling. Graceland is a great glimpse into the life of a rockstar even so long ago. His cars, motorbikes, horses, planes, stunning house (bar the kitch decor) All in all a worthwhile visit.

The Civil Rights museum. Very interesting, hard hitting- Not a great claim to fame of my name i.e. the motel in which Martin Luther King was assassinated. I learned so much, but was surprised, almost sad to see that the I was only 1 of 2 white people there. This really is a museum for everyone to see. Its history don’t ignore it. We as humans struggle to learn from history but we should try.

Some interesting thing I learned about slavery from one of the guides on the plantation: We in the west learn that the plantations were these mega right cotton farms that owned slaves. However the reality is most people earned or hired slaves at that time. Plantation is just another name for farm including the 10% of mega huge ones that on which one would find up to 100 slaves. The smaller middle class roughly 605 of the plantations having around 12 to 25 slaves ie. under 50. However people in the cities owned salves sometimes 1 to 12 to look after their houses, children and houses i.e. cook etc. Even pasters owned slaves usually 1 or 2, and the churches published booklets explaining to people why it was not wrong to own slaves. who were seen as heathens needing to be saved. There is documented invoices of 17 year old slaves being hired out for 12cents a day. They could be used for anything from cleaning house, harvesting to building properties or roads.

There is a movement to stop using the larger plantations for weddings etc, however as has been pointed out the courthouses were built by slaves, the bricks in most building were built by slaves. This is history deal with it, it’s ugly but it needs to eb faces and the contributions of the slaves need to be recognized. But trying to change it to tear it down doesn’t help anyone,

As Mandela, my heroes said: I walked out the door towards my freedom. I knew that if I did didn’t leave all the anger, hatred and bitterness behind that would still be my prison.

The Woodruff-Fontaine House 1871 Victorian mansion, very interesting with lots of history about that period. My only criticism is that the rooms were full of great stuff, but I am 100% sure during the 1800s they would not have been quick so full and it was hard to focus on everything. However don’t let this put you off it was a great tour with a fantastic tour guide.

My tip for all these places: Find slightly off the beaten track places. Go during the week, off season and early in the morning. That way you have a change of being the only person on the tour and you will get so much out of it and can ask a hundred questions. You will get a ‘’living’’ history lesson worth far more than you can read in a book.