Trip Log - Day 7 – (Mon) Hawks Nest, Bear Mountain and Beyond

Its been an interesting week and although this is the final leg of our trip, there are still great views to take in. We decided to head over the Hawks Nest via route 97 and then back onto Route 6 heading to the Bear Mountain bridge.

If you haven’t taken a ride through the Hawks Nest on Route 97 near Port Jervis,NY, your missing out. Route 97 flanks the Delaware river and then heads up over the mountain pass. Featured on many car commercials, the Hawks Nest has the best twisting turns that can be found around. It’s a lot of fun riding through this area and on weekends you often see literally hundreds of bikes coming through the pass. During the week however its not as busy but the views are still awesome.

Unfortunately we are getting closer to our final destination, but one last sightseeing stopover after the Bear Mountain bridge before we move on.

The last stop is in Ossining, NY, for lunch at Anthony’s Sports Bar (aka Main Street Steakhouse). Literally under renovation when we stopped. Some fellow bike fans run the place and rustled up some great lunch for us between painting the walls. Through Tarrytown and eventuallyback into the Rat Race of the Long Island and its congested expressways. We will do this again for sure.

Trip Log - Day 6 – (Sun) PA and NYS Touring Ride

One of the things we learned during this trip was that having a destination with a reservation attached to it became to be somewhat of challenge. So having a day for touring with no particular place to go was awesome. We woke up to another gorgeous day and headed out with our friend on their Gold Wing and went exploring the northeastern PA area. We decided to check out one of the local wineries.

Even though we are somewhat familiar with this region, we never seem to get tired of the views. They seem to be even better when cruising on a bike.

After soaking up the surrounding we stopped at Calkins Winery in Milanville, PA - toured the property and tested some of the wine.

After the Vineyard we headed to a great bar and grill – The Long Branch Saloon. Now Earl the owner and bartender is a Harley driver who is was quite the character who makes a great lunch and puts up with BMW riders. He proved to be an interesting character and we will surely visit the Long Branch again. After lunch we hear over to some friends that just returned from an Elk hunt to view their trophy.

Trip Log - Day 5 – (Sat) Pensi Grand Canyon, Pit stop in Lackawaxen, PA

With all of the instability in the weather around us – we certainly have been fortunate. We woke to wet roads this morning windy and partly cloudy - but dry. Much cooler today so we add a few layers and push off early.

With the clouds and sun darting in and out, the views of the fall foliage are wonderful. Although we thought we already passed it we were fortunate to run into a parks service sign directing us to the Pine Creek Gorge (aka the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon). The 20 mile detour is well worth it as we experience more spectacular views. Quite the destination as we park - the place has a a half a dozen bikes parked checking out the Gorge.



























Passing through Troy, NY we decide to stop at the Tamarack Inn (a dive bar and grill) for lunch. The inside looks slightly better than the outside does. The beers were cheap and the food was fair.

Another Kodak moment on route passing through the Allegany Mountains. Warriors Path has an amazing view of the valley and Susquehanna River.

































After last nights late arrival at our stop, we were able to abide to our newly created rule of no driving at night. We head into Lackawaxen for our 2 day stopover around 6pm. Our friends were prepared for our arrival as we toast some dry martinis to the new machine.

The night continues with some hawk throwing and cold Jager (for a change)

Trip Route Chicago to New York

Our trip to pick up our new bike would start in Barrington, IL and end up in Nesconset, NY. This is approximately 850 miles assuming interstate driving (but who wants to do that). After speaking with a few seasoned riders, there was no question that the route to take was Route 6. Route 6 is a wonderful back road that winds its way through Illinios on the lower portion of the great lakes, through the planes of Indiana and Ohio, continuing on through the Allegany mountain region of Pennsylvania and on to New York. The actual mileage ended up to be 1250 miles after a fiew sightseeing detours. But the views and the diversity of the landscape was exactly why we took this journey and definitely made up for the extra saddle time.

The trip was setup in legs that generally kept us on Route 6. There were a few occasions where we did some interstate driving to make up some time since we had reservations at specific hotels that we had to make. The legs were as follows:

1. Barrington, IL through Chicago via Lake View Drive
2. Chicago, IL to Nappanee, IN
3. Nappanee, IN to Napoleon, OH
4. Napoleon, OH to Sandusky, OH (2nd Overnight Stopover)
5. Sandusky, OH to Andover, OH
6. Andover, OH to Meadville, PA
7. Meadville, PA to Olean, NY
8. Olean, NY through Pine Creek Gorge (Pensi’s Grand Canyon)
9. Pine Creek Gorge to Meshoppen, PA
10. Meshoppen, PA to Lackawaxen, PA (2 Day Overnight Stopover)
11. Lackawaxen through Rte 97 /Hawks Nest to Bear Mountain (Bridge), NY
12. Bear Mountain, NY to Long Island destination

Total Trip Approximate 1250 Miles