Home Again -- Jiggity Jig
First, here is a link to a few, modest photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66459437@N02/sets/72157627450020746/
Second, you might be interested in our adventures after we left everyone to start home. The ride on the way to Sarnia (we loved the highways in Canada so wanted to return via Ontario) where we thought we would spend the night was uneventful. As we approached Sarnia we saw a great, brownish cloud ahead in the twilight. We should have stopped then to put on our rain gear but didn't. What a storm it was! I've not seen the intensity of that rain in many years. It pounded us.
We had made reservations at a motel in Sarnia so we figured if we could get across the border -- even though we were soaked -- we could dry off and get a night's sleep. Approaching the border was a nightmare: shiny roads broken with construction, potholes and barriers. It was so dark and the rain was so dense that we couldn't see the lines on the road. It is understandable, then, that we missed the turn to the border. I suggested that I thought I could return us to that turn so I took the lead. Instead, the route I followed took us through one of the less desirable neighborhoods of the city but we finally did get back to the border. Then we had to find the motel -- Jim Van Cise was leading -- and the route he followed took us through a more middle-class section until we arrived at the motel.
On Monday morning we got started around 8:30, drove through Ontario without any problems. The border lines were long so we waited about an hour there but finally got into the US. Going east on the NY Thruway, I had decided to peel off at Batavia going south to NJ. Jim, Nancy and I said our goodbyes and I headed out. The further south I rode the stronger the threat of rain so I stopped to put on my rain gear. There were intermittent rain showers through the southern tier of NY so I decided to find a motel room for the night. Thinking I would have no difficulty on a Monday night in NY state, I stopped at a motel in Corning, NY where I had stayed before. They were full. The clerk -- trying to be helpful -- called two other motels. They were full.
I continued on to Horseheads, NY were there were many motels; I was sure I could find a room. I stopped first at a Holiday Express; they had one room and the price was $229 for the night!! So, on to other motels. I called 9 of them in the area and not one had a room. I began to get desperate: it was getting dark and began to rain fairly hard. I figured if I could get to Binghamton there would be plenty of rooms available but the going was slow and dangerous. Stopping at a gas station I started calling again and finally found a room in Owego, NY.
This morning, it was also raining (this storm that had hit the East Coast dropped 8 inches of rain on NYC in a few hours breaking all previous records) and continued to rain off and on all day. By the time I drove through Philadelphia I was tired, damp and cranky. All I wanted to do was to get home.
The final episode in this long narrative was crossing the Walt Whitman suspension bridge between Philly and NJ. Almost unbelievably, the sun was shining as I approached the bridge but there was a severe rain shower ON the bridge itself. The winds were blowing south at 45 - 50 mph and the rain was mostly horizontal. Semi-trucks were being blown out of their lanes by the blasts and the the Spyder rocked side to side. Somehow we all got across ok but at the foot of the bridge was a two-car accident with both cars on their flattened roofs and with two casualties lying in the road.
I finally did get home at 1:30 PM a bit wet and much wiser. I drove 2445 total miles and loved almost every minute of it. Deb and Brian created a great weekend filled with memorable rides, sights and friends. What could be better than that? It was a delight to meet you all; you made the trip worth the effort.
Ride safely and thanks again.
ken tompkins.
ps: I apologize for the length of this post.
Hope to be able to do it again next year! 
