• Penny and Neil Mason
  • Penny and Neil Mason

North America Motorbike Trip

12 weeks Canada and USA Leia mais
  • Inicio da viagem
    12 de abril de 2018
  • Toronto Air Canada Cargo

    11 de abril de 2018, Canadá ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    We took a taxi to the Air Canada Cargo armed with all our paperwork. We then had to walk around the corner to get our customs documents stamped. With everything in place we returned to the cargo where we picked up the bike. Heathrow had done an amazing job of strapping it down. After much deliberation and Neil using his screwdriver, the bike was free to go and we were on our way. We returned back to our Toronto Hotel to get things ready and off on our adventure tomorrow morning. But it's not very warm.Leia mais

  • Niagra Falls, Ontario

    12 de abril de 2018, Canadá ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    We left Toronto in freezing conditions and luckily had only 80 miles to ride to Niagra. The weather was terrible, cold with heavy rain. It did clear briefly by the time we reached Niagra. After checking into a Days Inn we then walked to the falls. They were amazing but it was so cold the maid of the mist wasn't running. We did however go behind the falls and take some pictures. There was a lot of ice in the river belowLeia mais

  • Skyline Drive, Virginia

    15 de abril de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We set off early this morning so we could do some of this beautiful ride. It was cloudy but nice and warm. The trees were still dormant so we could see the views through them. We had looked at the weather and knew there was a storm in the afternoon. We just managed to reach our hotel, and while checking in the heavens opened. A lucky escapeLeia mais

  • Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina

    16 de abril de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    We left Roanoke and headed into the mountains. We managed to ride along some of the Parkway. We opted to avoid Grandfather Mountain because we had run into a freezing storm. We were so cold. The temperature was 1 degree with freezing winds and snow. We both had as many layers on as possible and had turned on the heated seats and grips. It wasn't enough. We were frozen. We arrived at our hotel just off the Blue Ridge Parkway late afternoon. The owner was lovely and made us some hot gumbo stew and a chicken roll. It took us all night to warm up. We went to bed wondering if we would be snowed in.Leia mais

  • Smokey Mountains, North Carolina

    17 de abril de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Thank heavens, the storm has passed through. We wake up to bacon eggs and pancakes. It was still very cold but clear and sunny. We set off after breakfast and rode some more of the Parkway. We then entered the Smokey Mountains and rode some of the mountain routes. Our trip ended at Deals Gap at the end of The Tail Of the Dragon Road. We had a horrible fast food dinner. I had BBQ pork in a soggy roll and Neil had chicken. This place is popular with bikers, and there is a tree of shame with accident remnants on it.Leia mais

  • Tail of the Dragon

    18 de abril de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    This morning after a reasonable breakfast we rode the Tail of the Dragon and back. 11 miles each way and over 300 bends. A lovely sunny morning with little traffic. We then headed to Maggi Valley, 70 miles away. We had the afternoon off and was hoping to visit the motorbike museum. This was closed so will visit tomorrow morning. In the evening we had a nice meal at a Mexican restaurantLeia mais

  • Fayetteville, North Carolina

    20 de abril de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    We left our hotel and headed into town to visit the American Airborne Museum. Very well laid out going over the wars from ww2 to present day. Late morning we left and rode to Charlston, South Carolina. The weather was beautiful, warm with clear skies. The motorways are pleasant to drive on and no rubbish on the side of the roads either.Leia mais

  • Charleston South Carolina

    21 de abril de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    A nice sunny day, cool and windy. We didn't realise how cool and so regretted wearing shorts and sandals. We caught the water taxi from Patriots Point to Charleston. We spent a couple of hours just leisurely wandering the streets and markets. A nice old colonial city with a good vibe about it. Plenty of shops. Not great for us because we can't buy anything.

    In the evening we found a health food shop that sold take away buffet meals. At last, a healthy option.
    Leia mais

  • Patriots Point, South Carolina

    22 de abril de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Today we spent the day visiting the USS Yorktown museum. Really enjoyed this but there was so much walking. We were able to go inside the aircraft carrier, the frigate and the submarine. The aircraft carrier had several planes on the landing deck and hanger. We could wander around them and go up and down the decks. Spent several hours here.Leia mais

  • South Carolina

    23 de abril de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    We left our hotel in Patriots Point knowing a huge storm was on our way. We managed to ride about 65miles to the T-junction on the freeway before we accepted we could go on no further. We booked ourselves into a Best Western which had a good sized indoor pool. We had a swim in the afternoon and chilled out.Leia mais

  • Kennedy Space Center, Florida

    25 de abril de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We set off early and arrived at 8.30am. A beautiful sunny day. We took the tour bus to the Saturn V5 rocket. On the way we saw the huge roads that carry the rockets to the launch pads. We spent a couple of hours walking around this huge site then we returned to the visitor center where we saw the Space Shuttle Atlanta. A brilliant day out which we thoroughly enjoyed. We also saw a couple of alligators in the swamps.Leia mais

  • Fort Benning, Georgia

    27 de abril de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We are on our way through Georgia and Alabama, heading towards Birmingham. On the way we stopped at an infantry Museum. We stopped a couple of hours before continuing our journey. We arrived in Childersburg late afternoon and booked into a Days Inn. Lovely warm sunny day today. Not much choice for dinner apart from fast food take aways. We thought we'd try a Taco Bells. Not again, it didn't taste nice.Leia mais

  • Barber Motorcycle Museum, Alabama

    28 de abril de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    This morning we left our hotel and took a beautiful route through the countryside to The Barber Motorbike Museum. A huge place surrounded by very well kept gardens. Next to it was a race track and they were racing a few sports cars. We were able to walk across the bridges to watch the cars. We continued our journey in the afternoon and arrived in New Albany, Mississippi around 4.30pm.Leia mais

  • Graceland, Memphis, Tennesee

    29 de abril de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We arrived at Graceland at 10.30am after a lovely 70 mile drive on the interstate. Gorgeous sunny day today. We paid for the house tour and the car collection. We both enjoyed the house. Everything was the same as when he lived there. We walked through several rooms including the kitchen, dining room and famous jungle room. The cars included a red mg and a pink cadilac. We left about 2.30 and started heading west to a small town in Arkansas called Conway. We had our first decent meal in days tonight at an Australian restaurant.Leia mais

  • El Reno, Oklahoma

    30 de abril de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We set off from Conway on a beautiful sunny day. Just after midday we crossed the border into Oklahoma and stopped along the interstate at their visitor centre. We both commented on what perfect conditions it is for being on a motorbike. Hardly any traffic along with good quality roads and warm and sunny. We set off still heading west towards Oklahoma City. Ten minutes later it hit us like a ton of bricks. Storm force side winds. Neil found the winds too strong and we were glad to arrive safely in El Reno. We were both exhausted.Leia mais

  • Weatherford, Oklahoma

    1 de maio de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We looked at the weather and it seemed to be less windy in the morning so we decided to leave at 7am. We filled up with petrol and then someone walked past us and said "hey y'all take care out there, watch out for that storm that's coming". We rode 20miles and decided enough was enough, we booked ourselves into a hotel in Weatherford.Leia mais

  • Route 66, Oklahoma

    3 de maio de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    This morning the skies are much clearer and the winds lighter. We decided to go out for a spin. We visited The Stafford Air and Space Museum. Much of it was about Stafford from Weatherford who was an astranaut during the apollo space programme. A nice museum with plenty of artifacts from NASA. After that we headed west 15 miles to Clinton, picking up the historic Route 66. We only visited the museum there, then headed back to Weatherford. The winds are still very blustery, hopefully tomorrow they have died down. They are supposed to change direction from south winds to blowing from the north. We'll wait and see.Leia mais

  • Route 66, Texas

    4 de maio de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    At last the strong southerly winds have died down. Now there is just a gentle north east breeze. We decided to set off at 7am and make up some miles. We crossed into Texas and stopped at a few iconic Route 66 sites, an old garage/cafe and the cadillac ranch. We also had a fuel stop on the interstate where we met some old bikers on tiny vintage American bikes. There was also a quirky museum at the petrol station. The breeze did pick up briefly going through Texas but started to die down by the time we crossed into New Mexico. Perfect day on the roads, we ended up doing 500miles today. Stopped the night in a Holiday Inn at Los Alamos.Leia mais

  • Taos Publeo, New Mexico

    5 de maio de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    This morning we went to the Nuclear Museum in Los Alamos. We were there just over an hour. After we rode to Taos. A beautiful warm sunny day. The route to the gorge took us along a section of gravel road up hill. We stopped at a bridge over the Rio Grande River and looked down the gorge. We then headed to the ancient settlement of Taos Publeo. We walked around the old buildings which is part of UNESCO World Heritage. We went into a couple of buildings where we met the locals and bought some produce. Then we headed on to Eagles Nest where we had booked a room. Unfortunately the neighbours were very noisy.Leia mais