It was a weekend of riding, eating, riding, eating, riding, ribbing,
and laughs with great friends up at the Gray Ghost Inn in Vermont.

We left early Friday morning and returned late Sunday night. All
told we put just shy of 1200 miles of beautiful roads beneath our
wheels.

The Innkeepers, Magnus and Carina, couldn't be more accomidating.
From towels to dry our seats from the morning rain, to picking up
sodas for us while they were out and about. Bottled water was
offered each morning to pack in our saddlebags, and routes were pre-
planned and mapped out if we needed guidance. These folks knowed how
to cater to the biker croud, being bikers themselves.

After we arrived and checked in on Friday, we took a pre-planned
route to see 5 covered bridges that were nearby. After about 100
miles, covering about 1000 turns, we decided dinner was in order.
After a delicious meal, we returned to the Inn, only to be greated by
a group of Yamaha riders groaning over the Harley's coming in.

Saturday found us eating homemade blueberry pancakes, sausage, bacon,
toast, eggs, and coffee. Magnus is a chef and it shows in his
cooking. While eating breakfast, a downpour was occouring outside,
and the Yamaha riders were looking nervous. We all finished
breakfast and donned our rain gear (all meaning all of the HOG
members). We headed out under gray skies and wound our way around
the greater Dover area, returning back to the Inn at about 11am.

Walking into the Inn it occoured to us that the Yamaha riders had
went out, unfazed by the gray skies. We hadn't gotten a drop on us
all morning, and neither had the Yamaha riders. The afternoon didn't
work out the same for us.

While the donning of the rain gear kept the rain at bay all morning,
after lunch (which was ate a nice little deli a few towns over), we
hit some showers. The showers quickly turned to downpours, but the
roads we were on seemed to make the rain disappear. The sights, the
roads, the twisties, the ups and downs of the mountains kept focus on
the ride, not the rain.

We arrived back at the Inn to find the Yamaha riders dry and poking
fun at those Harley riders. How'd they manage to stay dry during the
downpour? Well, their bikes had never moved. The took the Moover
into town (a free local bus service) and back to the Inn, where they
had shacked up all day.

After some major ribbing by Ike and I, things settled down and the BB-
Q began. What wonderful food we had that night. Magnus grilled
chicken, ribs, made beans, slaw, and topped it off with apple pie a-
la-mode.

Space was offered next to the furnace to dry our wet gear, and story
telling and picture viewing commenced.

Sunday found us with another great breakfast before saying our good-
byes and heading for home. We wound through the back roads all the
way to Trenton, where home was calling too loud to continue with the
secondary roads.

The Gray Ghost Inn has to be the most biker friendly establishment I
have ever stayed at, and the owners strive to keep it that way.
Ike's suggestion to go next year the week before the HOG rally seems
to be a great time to incorporate a Vermont trip into our ride
schedule.

Details about next years trip to follow shortly.

Until then, I'm off to Arkansas to scope out the Ozarks and the
riding opportunities they offer.

Ride Safe,
-darrell