Goodbye, the flight and Boston to Manchester

For a country as modern as the USA its frustrating the when one of your friends gets a mobile signal and the others cant – more so when there is a WiFi network but you cant connect – oh well – i am typing this up in word on Friday morning in the Aspen Motel in Manchester Vermont.

I said a sad goodbye to everyone on Wednesday night at the farewell dinner at the Westin Hotel at LAX – i really hope to see many of them again – but time and distance etc.....Steve and Ian - i certainly will and look forwards to it.

My ticket out said a 10:45 departure and being me – i was there at 9:00, only to see the flight was now 10:05, so i got straight on to an ancient 757, to find that first class was like a wide economy seat – still only a 5 hour flight. This huge guy rightly told me i was in his seat, but said i could keep if if i let him read my V-Twin mag – seemed a fair deal. As we sat down half the people on the plane came on said hello to him. I asked him why and he said he was well known in the US....i said but not in England! He then pointed to the guy opposite and said he was with Pharrell Williams – had i heard of him? (vaguely i think he is in N*E*R*D) – anyway shut my eyes and listened to music the whole flight which arrived promptly at 6:15am.

Got a cab to the Hotel and met Iain, Paul and Tim for breakfast, who are mega excited but i am still a bit tired – so excited we get to Eaglerider HD at 8:15 – they dont open until 9:00, but who cares! We collect the bikes 3 Road Kings and a Fat Boy for Tim and start our ride to manchester about 165 miles away, the weather is cold overcast and the odd light shower, a real contrast to Santa Monica which was a 100 degrees F.

The scenery was beautiful, GREEN as you get, rivers everywhere and picture postcard villages and churches. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant by a river in Battleboro – and then onto manchester – this was the scariest ride of my life, i didnt realise how tired i was and could barely stay awake, and was so glad to finally arrive.

Our hosts Al and Roger were there to meet us and took the other three out for a ride in the evening while i had a sleep (i so needed it).

That evening we went over to Al's and had supper with Roger and Guy our road companions – they are all in their 60's and epitomise “Live to Ride”, a real contrast to their counterparts in Laughlin. A fantastic pasta meal - first non fried meal in two weeks – get the maps out, and it looks a brilliant trip up and along the Canadian border.

In bed at 9:30 and i am now ready and excited about the next three days – hope the WiFi works at the Crowne Plaza in Lake Placid!!