Northern Vermont Meet & Ride

**vtrider** · 06-17-2010, 06:40 PM

"Spyder Riders Meet & Greet"

Anyone care to join me for a weekend gathering in Northern Vermont? I've had this in mind for some time and thought it would be fun to have a gathering up here with some spyder rider friends who would like to come to Vermont for some relaxation and enjoyment of the area. What I have in mind, is the weekend of August 13th, 14th and 15th. I'm on vacation from work in this time frame. The weekend of August 20th, 21st and 22nd would also work, I'm flexible.
I want to make this a weekend gathering, because this would give anyone time to get up here and stay for a couple days to get some rides in. My plan is to have this gathering based in the Burlington Vermont area. There is plenty of lodging options here along with restaurants, shopping ect...

What I'd like is to have Friday as the arrival date and maybe meet for cocktails and snacks some place later that day and maybe even take in a local ride and tour somewhere, or just relax and enjoy each others company for that evening. Saturday would be the big day! I would head east for a Northeast Kingdom tour on a scenic ride through some of Vermont's more pristine locations, with nice backdrops of mountains, lakes and streams. We then would stop at the waterfront on Lake Memphremagog for lunch in Newport. There is a couple good places here that I have in mind. From there I would take us west and back to the Burlington area. On Sunday we would gather and ride to breakfast someplace, maybe take in a short ride and or say our goodbye's! What do you think? Is this something that we could plan on in August?

Right now nothing is cast in stone. Once I know who and how many would come up, or down if your coming from the North, I will have a better feel for where we would meet up. As far as lodging goes, there are many places off I-89 in the Shelburne, Burlington and Colchester areas. I can research this some or you can google search your options for where to stay. Please let me know if this is something that some of you would like to do. More to come!

**rnet** · 06-17-2010, 07:10 PM

I think either will work for me. I just have to stay way from sept. (wedding and cruise) I am looking forward to it. Perhaps I could meet up with the conn. and mass. crew.

**Monique** · 06-17-2010, 09:06 PM

I lovvvvve Vermont !!!

The plan for Saturday sounds wonderful. I'll keep checking for a final decision on dates.

Are the dates correct? Did you perhaps mean July?

**vtrider** · 06-18-2010, 01:02 AM

Originally Posted by Monique

I lovvvvve Vermont !!!

The plan for Saturday sounds wonderful. I'll keep checking for a final decision on dates.

Are the dates correct? Did you perhaps mean July?

Thank you for pointing that out! I guess I looked at the wrong calendar. It will be in August. I corrected the dates in my post. I'm shooting for August 13th, 14th and 15th. I just hope that the weather cooperates for this weekend.

**rnet** · 06-18-2010, 06:11 AM

Originally Posted by Monique

I lovvvvve Vermont !!!

The plan for Saturday sounds wonderful. I'll keep checking for a final decision on dates.

Are the dates correct? Did you perhaps mean July?

Don't you feell sorry for the flat landers, we have so many great areas to ride here in the northeast.

**fastfraser** · 06-18-2010, 06:12 AM

Sounds good ! Hope the weather is better then we had last time out at Americade !

**pjp623** · 06-18-2010, 07:38 AM

We probably can't do the entire weekend

, but may be able to meet up with the group in Newport on Saturday.

**Smylinacha** · 06-18-2010, 11:11 AM

You know I wanna go! Gotta talk to HDX and see what his schedule will look like. We might not know until last minute. He works 2 weekends a month.

**vtrider** · 06-18-2010, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by Smylinacha

You know I wanna go! Gotta talk to HDX and see what his schedule will look like. We might not know until last minute. He works 2 weekends a month.

Well, I hope you can make it! It would be a pleasure having you guys up here. You are always welcome to come up anytime otherwise if for some reason you can't make it this time. This gathering should be a memorable and fun time for everyone! This is the first time that I've ever organized something like this, but I've been on a few rides and I know that the North East Kingdom of Vermont will be a place that everyone will enjoy. It's just beautiful up there. The Burlington area is nice to visit especially on Lake Champlain's waterfront.

**Smylinacha** · 06-18-2010, 10:06 PM

I put in for both fridays that you posted and I think HDX will do the same. Thanks for the offer to come up any time - if we can't make the party, we'll be up sooner or late r- I LOVE VT! Been a while since we've seen ya and that would be nice - you coming down this way any time?

Originally Posted by vtrider

Well, I hope you can make it! It would be a pleasure having you guys up here. You are always welcome to come up anytime otherwise if for some reason you can't make it this time. This gathering should be a memorable and fun time for everyone! This is the first time that I've ever organized something like this, but I've been on a few rides and I know that the North East Kingdom of Vermont will be a place that everyone will enjoy. It's just beautiful up there. The Burlington area is nice to visit especially on Lake Champlain's waterfront.

**vtrider** · 06-19-2010, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by Smylinacha

I put in for both fridays that you posted and I think HDX will do the same. Thanks for the offer to come up any time - if we can't make the party, we'll be up sooner or late r- I LOVE VT! Been a while since we've seen ya and that would be nice - you coming down this way any time?

I'm not sure when I will get another chance to head down South again. Work has been real busy and having to work lots of overtime. I usually take a week off from work in August, which is why I wanted to plan on this tour up here in that time. I hope to get down your way sometimes though.

**j45p3r** · 06-19-2010, 05:22 PM

Sounds like fun, I'll see what I can do. I just got back from a Spyder ride to Colebrook, NH a few minutes ago just a stones throw from VT. Probably only about 6hrs from here to Burlington.

**vtrider** · 06-19-2010, 07:53 PM

Ok! I it looks like we have some interest for this gathering. I have decided to make it on the weekend of August 13th, 14th and 15th. I'm on vacation from work through August 22nd, which is why I want to have this meet & greet at this time. My only real concern is the WEATHER! It's been tough to plan anything so far this summer up here in the Northeast. Keep your fingers crossed and hope that mother nature will be good to us.

These are some of the lodging options that I have gathered which are located just off the I-89 exits in Burlington:

Best Western Windjammer Inn 802-863-1125
Holiday Inn 802-863-6363
La Quinta Inn 802-865-3762
Sheraton Hotel 802-865-6600
Doubletree Hotel 802-658-0250

These are the Hotels which are located off I-89 in Colchester:

Hampton Inn 802-655-6177
Motel 6 802-654-6860
Quality Inn 802-655-1400

There are many other motels in the area that can be considered as well, but these are the ones close to I-89. For more details, you can google search these options. I will try to get more info on pricing for some of these places and maybe we could arrange to all stay in one place or one area that would work out for everyone.

When we went on the Bennington Vermont tour, Rnet (Ron) had a theme called the Covered Bridge Tour for that ride. We did get to see a few covered bridges while we were on that ride. Vermont has many of these covered bridges throughout the state. I've been giving some thought for what I want as a theme for this tour. This is what I have decided. The first Northern Vermont Spyder Friends Meet & Greet for an exclusive:

Lakes Region Tour

August 13th, 14th and 15th 2010

Get those Spyders ready! I have an exciting tour on Saturday planned that will take us to Vermonts Northeast Kingdom around some scenic and pristine lakes up in that region. I promise to make this a memorable ride that everyone will enjoy! More to come!

**rnet** · 06-19-2010, 08:38 PM

Adrien. I think it would be best to just check out which one you can get a decent group rate and block some rooms, that they just hold until a certain date and whatever rooms aren't booked by then, they release. I know it's a little more work for you, but it should make for a better rate and we will all be in one place. I have done this several times at the Comfort Inn in St. Johnsbury for the snowmobile club. Just let us know.

**vtrider** · 06-20-2010, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by rnet

Adrien. I think it would be best to just check out which one you can get a decent group rate and block some rooms, that they just hold until a certain date and whatever rooms aren't booked by then, they release. I know it's a little more work for you, but it should make for a better rate and we will all be in one place. I have done this several times at the Comfort Inn in St. Johnsbury for the snowmobile club. Just let us know.

That is a good idea. It would be nice to know however, how many of us will be going so that I know how many rooms we will need. I will call some of the hotels and see what they have for discounts for large groups and post it here. I myself, like the Holiday Inn in Burlington or the Hampton Inn in Colchester. The Hampton though, might be a little pricey. The Quality Inn in Colchester or the Motel 6 would also be good choices. I will check these out and get more information this week.

Today me and my two kids went on this ride with my truck. The route is about 250 miles From Burlington to the NEK and back! It's a long ride, but there are some good places along the route where we can take breaks and take pictures. I can see about altering the route if it will be too far for everyone. It is real scenic though along the routes that I picked for this ride on Saturday. I figure that the whole trip, with fuel and rest stops and stopping for lunch break, it would be somewhere around 8 to 9 hours for the day depending on how long we stop between breaks.

**Monique** · 06-20-2010, 07:30 PM

Looks like you had a wonderful Father's day !
The NEK ride you planned for the Saturday sound perfect.
If it turns out that I can stay longer than for just the Saturday ride I will be towing my tiny tent trailer and camping nearby. Not sure if anyone else would be inclined to do the same. I'll check what's available online and run the campsites by you to make sure they're not dives

I've been fooled before reserving online - live and learn

- just letting you know so you don't count me in for the group rate at a hotel.

**rnet** · 06-20-2010, 07:59 PM

Looking back at the post, it looks like you have six rooms possible now. I would block like 10 rooms and then see what there minimum # is for a group rate. One group rate I have in Florida has a group minimum of six. What I have found is they would like the release date 30 days prior to the reservation date and right now we are 54 days. So you need to move fairly quickly. Also check the cancellation policy. If everyone post how many rooms they need it would be helpful. I would need one.

**vtrider** · 06-20-2010, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by Monique

Looks like you had a wonderful Father's day !
The NEK ride you planned for the Saturday sound perfect.
If it turns out that I can stay longer than for just the Saturday ride I will be towing my tiny tent trailer and camping nearby. Not sure if anyone else would be inclined to do the same. I'll check what's available online and run the campsites by you to make sure they're not dives

I've been fooled before reserving online - live and learn

- just letting you know so you don't count me in for the group rate at a hotel.

Thats great! looking forward to meeting you! I know of a couple camp grounds that are in the area, which I think are good ones. Here are some links to them. I'm sure there are others if you do more searching.

http://www.lonepinecampsites.com/

http://www.homesteadcampground.net/

http://www.appleislandresort.com/

**Monique** · 06-20-2010, 08:53 PM

three excellent options that I will look into - thanks!

**Smylinacha** · 06-20-2010, 09:41 PM

I know what you mean about being busy - I'm working quite a bit of O.T. Got a new boss and I work thru my lunch and I can't get out at 5 and I could stay there till probably 8 each night and still not be done w/ my stuff.

Hopefully we can do 8/13! Let's hope the weather is nice!

Originally Posted by vtrider

I'm not sure when I will get another chance to head down South again. Work has been real busy and having to work lots of overtime. I usually take a week off from work in August, which is why I wanted to plan on this tour up here in that time. I hope to get down your way sometimes though.

**vtrider** · 06-21-2010, 02:37 AM

Originally Posted by Smylinacha

I know what you mean about being busy - I'm working quite a bit of O.T. Got a new boss and I work thru my lunch and I can't get out at 5 and I could stay there till probably 8 each night and still not be done w/ my stuff.

Hopefully we can do 8/13! Let's hope the weather is nice!

Will it be just you and HDX coming down, or will you have other friends coming down with you as well if you do come? I will try to get some rooms at a hotel blocked for everyone, once I research which one we will use.

Yes! Nice weather will be a plus! It is so scenic out there in the NEK, that it would be ashamed to have the day ruined by bad weather.

**Smylinacha** · 06-21-2010, 02:52 PM

Would be nice to have Roaddog and Mrs. Roaddog come - you can see his new Harley. I'll ask him. Right now just me and HDX.

Originally Posted by vtrider

Will it be just you and HDX coming down, or will you have other friends coming down with you as well if you do come? I will try to get some rooms at a hotel blocked for everyone, once I research which one we will use.

Yes! Nice weather will be a plus! It is so scenic out there in the NEK, that it would be ashamed to have the day ruined by bad weather.

**j45p3r** · 06-21-2010, 05:25 PM

I've stayed at the Hampton Inn in Colchester before and it was nice. They had milk and cookies set out in the evening.

**ameobe** · 06-21-2010, 06:37 PM

Had to bow-out of the Chicago event due to a blown cage engine.(priorities suck)
Lakes Region Tour

This sounds like a great weekend

If the schedule permits (we'll make it) we will be there.

Pat & Ann

**Roger** · 06-21-2010, 10:37 PM

This could be doable but i have to wait till the end of july to know for sure.

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