RAW this week came from Buffalo, a mere 500 miles from my house. Never one to miss an opportunity, I decided to take Stormbringer – my trusty Harley Davidson Heritage Softail – out of the shed for a little ride. Stormbringer was named in 2005 after a few long rides, because every single time I rode this bike it RAINED! It’s been a while since Stormbringer and I have traveled any great distance, so this opportunity was one not to be missed. The road was calling, and we were answering.

Thanks to my friend Stu and a bottle of The Glenlivet that we drained the night before, I got off to a late (and wobbly) start on Saturday. My plan was to ride to the Lake George area of upstate New York, find a room, then continue on through the Adirondacks, then across the state to Buffalo.

Though my head hurt a bit, the weather couldn’t have been better, leading me to believe the curse of Stormbringer may have finally lifted.

I wanted to take as many back roads as I could, but due to my late departure, I ended up taking the boring ol’ straight-line Mass Pike all the way to Albany. The road from Albany to Lake George was twisty and interesting, which almost made up for the boring slog through the Bay State.

Lake George looked like a great place to stay, with tons of people all over, and tons of restaurants and bars lining the main street. There were also tons of hotels and motels, but I soon realized that the tons of people had taken every last available room in the town.

Great.

Since my big plan for the next day included visiting Ausable Chasm, which was still about 70 miles north, I decided to jump on the highway and head north. I figured staying on the highway would increase my chances of finding a place, since there HAD to be plenty of places off the highway. As I rode into the twilight, I kept repeating to myself, “There had to be something available somewhere!” I passed about five hotels with the NO VACANCY sign lit up before I started to doubt that anything would be available anywhere.

As the sun set, it started getting colder. I stopped at a gas station, trying to figure out what to do. Sleeping on the side of the road didn’t sound like all that much fun, though the idea started to become a possibility. I asked in the gas station for a recommendation.

“Heh! Hun, are you kiddin’? There’s four festivals up this way this weekend. You didn’t make a reservation? That’s funny! You ain’t gonna find nuthin’! There’s a place up the road a ways, but they’re prolly full too.”

I wound my way along Route 9, hoping to find a place to spend the night. After about seven miles of wilderness, I came upon a place called The Pine Tree Motel. I took it as a good sign there was no sign out front, Vacancy or Not.

I parked Stormbringer in front of the office and walked up to find out if this would be my night’s home. Many times having a motorcycle – especially a Harley – can work against chances of getting a room. One trip Abi and I actually watched the hotel manager look out the window, see two motorcycles in the lot and hurriedly switch the sign to NO VACANCY. Fortunately that night we had a reservation at this hotel – THAT was a fun check-in!

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a reservation at the Pine Tree Motel, so I was at their mercy. I walked into the office, and knew immediately I was in a good place. The first thing Norleen, the owner said was, “Wow! That’s really a nice bike!!”

I quickly took their best available accommodation, a little cabin for $95. Norleen told me there was a hose to wash the bike if I wanted to, and blocks of wood under the porch to put under the kickstand so it wouldn’t sink into the ground.
Wow. This place was perfect, and was about to get even better.

Norleen told me that her husband Burt was out back getting the bonfire going.

Bonfire? Are you kidding? She said I was welcome to go warm up by the fire for as long as I wanted to. Then she told me to look for Bert, as I was sure to run into him eventually.

I went to my little cabin and unpacked Stormbringer. As I walked back out the door, a huge bear of a man was out there with his hand extended. “Hi! I’m Burt. The fire’s going out back. Want a beer?”

This is the best place I have ever stayed!

Surprise beer in hand, I walked to the back, where a ring of chairs surrounded a pretty decent sized bonfire. I met two couples, Richard and Jenny and Jim and Barbara. Richard and Jenny were on holiday from London, Jim and Barbara were two other travelers that spent a few hours looking for a place to stay the night. They were also lucky recipients of accommodations at the Pine Tree Motel.

Soon our party was joined by Vickey, the housekeeper. Evidently when my cabin wasn’t occupied, Vickey lived in it. When a guest stayed in the cabin, Vickey moved to a little trailer parked on the other side of the office. When I first met her she was taking her things out of my cabin. She said, “Don’t worry, I’ll just scamper to my camper!” She came across as a little crazy, but that’s just because she was a little crazy.

Vickey had an uncanny knowledge of each and every cartoon ever made, and ‘entertained’ us with her impressions, laughing like a madwoman after each one. “Thufferin’ Thuccotash! HEEhoooHEEE HA HA HE HOO HE hahaHEHEHOO!”

It would have been annoying, except for two things; Jim thought she was hysterical and soon joined in with impressions of his own, and most importantly, Vickey had a cooler full of beer.

After a while owners Norleen and Burt appeared. Partying with the motel owners is great, because you can’t get in trouble as long as they are part of the fun. And it seemed they’d already been partying for a while, as both were slurring their words a bit.

Burt asked if we wanted to see a show, which we all eagerly did. Not sure what was going to happen, we watched as he got up and walked away. Moments later all the outside lights for the whole motel turned off. He came back and simply said, “Showtime. Look up.”

We did, and within minutes we’d seen three shooting stars. The night sky was so crystal clear it was like being in an observatory.

Sitting around our bonfire, we all traded stories, jokes, and of course – more cartoon impressions!

Norleen pulled up a chair beside me and started explaining what a pain in the ass some potential customers can be. She said she’d spent the last hour waiting for ‘some greasy guy and his wife’ to decide if they were going to rent the last available room. Evidently this greaser was rudely talking on his cell phone for quite a long time while Norleen waited and waited. Finally she’d had enough waiting for this guy, so she walked over to the motel sign, and hung the dreaded No Vacancy sign! “Sorry, you’re out of luck, pal!” she said as she left him standing there dumbfounded, still on his phone.

I knew this was my kind of place!

The joke of the night came from Jim, “I used to have a dog named Stain. It was great because when I called him I’d always say Come Stain!”

Vickey added, “HEEhoooHEEE HA HA HE HOO HE hahaHEHEHOO!”

After the roaring laughter died down, Richard asked me, “When you’re on that motorcycle, what do you do if it rains?”

I didn’t even have to think about it. “Get wet.”

And with Richard’s obvious foreshadowing, I realized not only was my fun meter pegged, but the hour was getting late – so I left the fire and my new friends to get some sleep.

Tomorrow’s plan? Get up early, ride more back roads north to Asuable Chasm, then shuffle off to Buffalo.

Part Two can be found by clicking HERE.

Author: frenchy