Saturday
August 31, 2019
We
had planned to leave at 8:30 a.m. and meet 3 more couple in Smyrna but we had
to push our departure time off a bit in order to hold mom’s going home to
heaven celebration. The service was well
attended but that is another entry. We
did get on the road at 2 p.m. with Bernie and Faye following us. This year Don and I bought an 18 ft. trailer
to tow our bikes. We worked for a couple
of hours on Thursday to get them loaded and tied down. I began pulling the trailer out of our drive
and boy was I surprised at how much I could feel the extra weight. I mean the trikes are about 1000 pounds each
and then the trailer is about 2000 pounds so I was towing a heavy load. But the RAM did a great job. I was nervous trying to keep it on my side of
the center line but not over on the shoulder.
Going up 896 to Lancaster was a bit of a challenge but I did great; even
Don said I was handling it very well. We
reach our agreed upon stopping location, Clearfield PA at 9 p.m. so the last
hour and a half or maybe 2 hours was in the dark. Did fine just a bit difficult to see on the
back roads in the dark. Pulled into a
parking spot (well really two parking spots) just fine and this morning there
was a car parked so close I could hardly get in the driver’s door but I managed
to back the truck and trailer up, move it over some and make the turn.
Sunday,
September 1, 2019
We
met up with Bill, Sandra and Ralph and Willia at Clearfield. Temps were in the low 50s and after about an
hour on the road it began to rain. I was
very glad to be in the truck! Made a
couple of stops for potty breaks and for those on the bikes to get out of the
rain a bit and then arrived in Ellicottville NY at 11:30 a.m. No rooms available yet (they were fully
booked last night) so we unhooked the trailer, parked the bikes and the 12
people here all jumped in trucks and headed to lunch. Gary led the way and since we all have CBs it
was a pleasant ride with Gary giving us a lot of history along the way. Back to the hotel, got a room and the rest of
the group had arrived. Dinner was pizza
and chips in the breakfast area and then our first meeting at 6 p.m. with a
slide show of our travels for tomorrow.
After some time visiting and strapping the trailers down I was in the
room and in the bed by 8 p.m. and sound to sleep in a matter of minutes.
Monday,
September 2, 2019
Rain! But with 6 or more trucks/SUVs we made out
just fine. We visited and toured the
Dunkirk Lighthouse on Lake Erie; rode around the pier had a great lunch at
Demetrius; did a drive-by of another lighthouse; made an ice cream stop and
learned some very interesting facts about the area. Gary was born and raised
right here in Ellicottville and later in Jamestown just a few miles
downriver. Dinner was on our own and
then we had a nightly meeting before heading to bed.
Tuesday,
September 3, 2019
Up
early to take my shower and found there was no hot water. Went to breakfast and found out no one had
hot water. My day was not starting so
well. We wiped off the bikes and lined
up for a nice day riding, but the weather was still cool and cloudy. We did have a couple of visitors for the
chamber of commerce who wanted to take a picture for the local paper. I asked the president of the chamber what the
industry was in this area; where do people work, and the answer was
tourism. That’s it. The village is about 1500 residents but they
“import” about 5000 employees to cater to tourist; especially in the winter
because they get over 200 inches of snow beginning in later October and lasting
right into April. He said they actually
have more tourist in the summer but need more employees during the winter to
handle the two ski resorts located here.
The weather warmed up nicely. We
visited the cultural center of the Seneca cultural center; the Kinzua Reservoir
and dam and the Kinzua Bridge skywalk. Plus, lunch and ice cream stops so it
was a full day. Left at 8:30 and got
back at 5:30 and traveled 169 miles.
Wednesday,
September 4, 2019
Heading
for Canada and Niagara Falls today.
Weather was rainy when we got up and black clouds were swirling overhead
so we were heading out in the trucks. I
was to lead this ride while Gary led a group to Letchworth State Park in
NY. I had 9 in my group, 3
vehicles. Nice trip up and crossing the
Peace Bridge was pretty simply. We
traveled on the Queens Way and when we got into Niagara, we found a decent
parking location and walked down the hill to a welcome booth to get tickets to
Journey Behind the Falls and a bus pass.
The falls are so magnificent and so much power. Going through the tunnels to stand behind the
falls you could feel the power as the water pours over the rocks. Spray was washing over everything and
everyone. Grabbed a burger at one of the
many shops; did a quick look at the expensive gift shops and then decided to
ride the bus to the end of the line and then back again. Saw lots of the tourist area as well as some
of the “regular city”. Met everyone back
at the trucks at 2:20 and headed back to our hotel. Getting back into the USA was not as quick as
getting into Canada. Not difficult; just
had to show our passports and answer some questions but they were pretty
slow. Three went off on their own to
find a couple of Harley shops before heading back. I’ve walked 9497 steps so
far and we still haven’t gone to dinner yet.
Thursday,
September 5, 2019
Beautiful
day once the fog burned off. We pulled
out at 9:30 heading for the Allegany State Park which was beautiful riding. As always we were given some history facts and I found it interesting that in NY Allegany is spelled differently than in PA where they spell it Allegheny. Not sure why. Stopped at the Kinzua Reservoir and the state park gift shop. Then off to the Horseshoe Inn for lunch and a
much-needed rest. Back on the bikes and
maybe 2 miles down the road and we stopped at the Onoville Marina for ice
cream. Back on the bikes we headed back
to the hotel for a potty break and then off again to see some amazing iron
sculptures. Very unusual and it makes
you wonder what a person was thinking when they came up with these
designs. Back to the hotel for dinner
and then game night.
Friday,
September 6, 2019
Last
day of the rally; listed as a “free day”.
While some rode in 4-wheels to a lunch destination a couple of hours
away Don and I walked downtown with Bernie and Faye. A nice little town consisting of one block of
shops that are very expensive. This is a
tourist town and while many come this time of the year to ride the great
mountain roads the big attraction is the 200+ inches of snow they get beginning
in late October and continuing through March.
There is no pharmacy, no Walmart or any department stores, not even a
real grocery store. There is a small
food market (Tops) but I seriously doubt you could do all of your grocery shopping
there. No one living in the village is
allowed to have a mailbox but rather must get their mail at a P O Box at the
post office. Almost every home has a
sign listing either a room to rent or listing themselves as a B&B. As I stated in an earlier post, their only
industry is tourism. After our walk
downtown Don and I loaded the bikes on the trailer, packed as much as we could
in the room and loaded the truck. This
evening was the banquet and we had a great time. Food was good (just way too much) and then those
that wanted to read their interpretation of the Indian drawings that Gary handed
out the first night. I think the
drawings were supposed to mean something but what people said they meant was
completely different. Bill Venable’s was
the wildest and he won hands down. Gary
handed out 3 pages from the UTR newsletter from 1997 and a group picture of the
rally attendees from the first rally. He
said he got the paper from Brad Carter who has been in the club since the
beginning. Bill Venable received the
gift for the only person at the rally who has attended all 25 rallies. Bernie received a gift for the person who
worked the hardest to attend this year’s rally. As always Gary and Ruth did a fantastic job.
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