Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Romance, Riding & Rounders at Niagara Falls

Ripleys Niagara Falls
Nothing says romance quite like King Kong hanging off the Ripley's Believe It or Not building. Right? Some quick research on Google reveils that Niagara Falls does not show up on anyones list as a honeymoon hotspot. I have to wonder why I had the impression that it did? Perhaps glory days of the 50's and 60's? As a natural wonder, it is a must see, but plan a day, two at the most. A week would be my idea of hell.

Oh so why was I there? The Rounder's got the high season in gear by holding their 4th annual round up this weekend - nicknamed the RUIN - Rounder's Unite in Niagara. 22 of us snuck through customs and rode into the Canadian side of Niagara, enjoying the beauty of the falls and the silly tackyness of the city. We came in from NH, MA, OH, PA, MD, MI, IN and maybe a state or two I missed.

This is the way to walk to dinner... reservations for 22 in the Elvis Room at the Hard Rock Cafe.
Rounder's Group Picture 2008

Hard Rock Cafe Niagara Falls

Silly Tacky Frankenstein!
Frankenstein Burger King

Kevin and I hooked up with Xaque and Leftlane for the trip out. It takes a long winter to forget how long the Albany to Buffalo shuffle is. But we really didn't have much to complain about, no raingear was needed for the trip! We saw a couple of drops from heavy overcast in Syracuse and then we were home free. We started the trip by taking our favorite route over Hogback Mt. in Southern VT. We opted for NY & MA Rte 2 for the trip home, both fun options.

Obligatory Diner Shop - I'm working on more artsy shots this season, I even removed the EZ Pass on the winshield for this one.
Peterboro Diner

Essential Water Falls Shot - the tulips and daffodils were in full bloom
Niagara Falls

Daffodil Days

Here is Xaque catching a few Zzz's at a rest stop. The nice thing about the NY Thwy is there are plenty of places to take a break!
Napping Xaque

More rest area sillyness as Dennis mimicks our leaning K75 bikes.
Leaning Dennis

I tend to need more rest stops in the afternoon, 900 miles is pretty ambitious for the first long ride of the year. Everything was a little stiff and sore - and I had a sore throat. I needed one more cup to make the last 2 hours home.
Bikers and Donuts

We're on our way to another great season, hope you are too!

2 comments:

Ronman said...

Glad your season is finally off to a start. I feel as though I made the trip to Maine and then Niagra Falls that I'm not gonna get to make here in a couple weeks now. Thanks for the great shots and post.

Ronman

gypz said...

hi gail, i really enjoy your pictures, and posts, thank you for the blog and sharing. on a side note, have you heard from rocketbunny, i was following her trip from texas and back,and she hasnt posted since april 10th. i pray all is well with her, and keep posting.