Our trip to Americade   by Dennis Hutchinson

    Holly and I left along with our neighbors, the Smith’s at 6 AM on Saturday with our first stop Bridgeport to pick up Ken and Peggy.  After that, our next stop was Port Huron.  Then on through Canada stopping at our motel in Niagara Falls at 2:15 p.m..  There were 24 people on 9 bikes & 5 trikes leaving in 3 groups.  We figured we would be the first group to arrive.

    We walked into the lobby and the clerk asked if anyone in our group was Holly Hutchinson? There was a message from Tom Reed.  Approximately, 15 minutes before that, Dick and Ginger were in a accident and they were waiting for an ambulance to take Ginger to the hospital with a possible broken leg.  It was like every bit of energy drained from our bodies and my legs felt weak.  What do we do? Not much until Holly called Tom and got more information.  Tom & Sue, Clark & Sandy Wentz were all together with Dick & Ginger when the accident happened.  They stayed with Dick & Ginger until they knew there was no more they could do to help them.  The two couples left from London Canada to Niagara Falls at 11 PM.  Dick rented a car and took Ginger back to Midland Hospital with a cast on her leg.  They knew she would have to have surgery when she got back to Midland.   Their  bike & trailer were taken to a Honda dealer in London  area.  Holly started calling some of our member’s back home to let them know what happened and help out Dick & Ginger if there was anything they could do for them.

    We checked in and then went on the "Maid of the Mist" boat ride that goes right up to the falls.  Holly & Ken had never seen the falls and I only saw them when I was a little kid. Words can not describe the sight and sound of the falls up close. When we got back to the motel, the other group was checking in.

    The next morning we all left at 9:00 a.m. and broke up in two groups for a lunch stop just north of Syracuse, NY.  We were to be there by 1:30 for lunch.  In our group was Holly & I, Ken & Peggy,  David & Jan Smith, Clark & Sandy and Tom & Sue.  We had 168 miles to go & we thought it would be a breeze.  NOT,  when we got back into the USA and made our way to Highway 20.  It was a two lane road with lots of rolling hills, stop signs, stop lights, and more speed zones then I could count.  By 12:30 we still had 80 some miles to go.  Our group made the decision to head north and get on I- 90 which is a toll way.  We got to the restaurant at 1:45 p.m..  The second group arrived at 2:15 p.m..  They stuck it out and made it all the way on Highway 20.  After enjoying a great lunch, we had another 200 miles to go.  It was 3:30 p.m. so we made the decision to take the expressway and book it.  This decision made a change in the group makeup.  Now it was Holly and I, Ken & Peggy & Bob & Yvonne Zietz.  We set the cruise control at 74 MPH and ate up the miles.  We checked in our motel at about 7 p.m..  Holly and I, were at one motel and the rest of the group was about 1 ½ miles away.

    That night I was cleaning up the bike and trike talking to several people out in the parking lot doing the same thing.  This was our first Americade and we had a lot to learn.  We soon learned that thousands of people would be in our parking lot first thing each morning to register for the rally.  We were at the host motel.  Reservation was to open at 11 AM on Monday morning.  I was told that people would start lining up by 7.  I am a early riser so by 6:50 I had a folding chair trying to find where the line would start.  Once I found that spot I went back to the room and turned on the walkie talkies so I could wake Holly up well before reservation started.  We were second in line & it was cool inside & very hot outside for those waiting in line.  By nine, the line was longer than I could have ever imagined.  Once we were all registered Holly & I went for a walk downtown.  When we were leaving the parking lot, the rest of the group was arriving to get in line. Later that  day Holly & I met up with Ken & Peggy and followed the beautiful lakeshore north past Bolton’s Landing.  The road is very twisty and was fun.  A really good place to practice your riding skills. Later that evening the whole gang met up at Roaring Brook Ranch for opening ceremonies.  Good snacks.

    The town of Lake George is small and hilly.  During the winter, there is only one restaurant open and two motels.  During the summer, the town is packed every week and weekend with something going on.  It is very hard to put into words just how well the roads are maintained. Smooth as glass, if there was a sign that said rough road we would laugh because their rough was like Michigan’s best roads.  The back roads in the Green mountains in Vermont and the mountain roads going to & from Lake Placid, NY are mouth dropping.

    Tuesday morning the vendors would open at 9 AM.  Oh, we were told that by the end of the week it would be so packed that you would have a hard time seeing anything.  We got through with the vendors within a couple hours.  Our only purchase was some nice leather women’s boots.  You name it and it was there as far as vendors.  Then we took off for Lake Placid.  That trip spoiled us for the rest of the week.  Mountains, raging rivers, unbelievable lakes & neat little towns.  Let’s not forget those roads.  They were so curvy that if you looked up at the mountains it made you dizzy very fast.  There was very little traffic on these roads. Mark & Mary Zinger had told us some of the roads we should take & that helped a lot.  Mark & Mary just smiled when they tried to explain just how good of riding we would have.  We made a big circle that day not taking the same road twice.  By the time we got back 7:30 after traveling over 250 miles we were all pooped out. 

    Wednesday night we had scheduled boat ride with the rest of our group & we had to be at the boat by 5 PM.  We left our room by 7 AM heading for Vermont.  We went to our old stomping grounds that we had been to 12 years before.  First we went to Rutland, then Ludlow to Mt. Okemo & then on to Holly’s favorite store, The “Vermont Country Store”.  They had things in that store that I had not seen in 30 years.  I didn’t even know they still made some of that stuff.  Next to the store was a artsy fartsy lunch place that Holly wanted to eat at.  Well, I have been dragged into enough of these kind of restaurants to know you pay a lot & get a little.  I just gave her a look like “You have to be kidding”.  Well, I will eat crow, the food was great as well as the portions.  Then we headed for the Green Mountains for some more great riding on the way back.  We got back by 3:30 having traveled a couple hundred miles. 

    We got to the boat early and were one of the first ones in line.  When we got on board, we grabbed table & chairs for 22 people.  That was hard to do because there were hundreds of people boarding & they all wanted tables. When 99% of the people had boarded it poured rain for about 20 minutes & then cleared up some. After a great dinner on the boat, we went up on the deck to see the view of Lake George.  Holly & I just made it to where Tom & Sue and Ron & Carol were when some young guy in a small fishing boat mooned all of us.  We laughed so hard.  Then the next thing we knew some one grabbed Sue Reed & she was being interviewed on Speed Vision TV. 

    Thursday Holly & I were to meet with several members from Michigan GWRRA Chapters for a covered bridge ride that John & Maxine Lance had set up.  We were to see 7 bridges but we ended up seeing 8 covered bridges.  We were told to be ready to leave a 9 AM & there were 9 bikes & trikes in the group.  This was a very enjoyable day.  We stopped at each bridge took pictures & walked the bridges.  We got to see the worlds longest 2 lane wooden covered bridge.  It is hard to describe the workmanship that went into these bridges.  Some of them had massive beams with giant pegs fitted into the beams.   We made it back to our room by 7:00 p.m. and we never stopped for lunch or dinner.  It was a very long day of riding but worth every second with all we saw.  Our hats are off to John & Maxine Lance for putting together such a great ride.  This was another 250 mile day.

    Friday, our last day to ride.  Holly & I signed up to ride a Vermont Country Brunch ride that Americade put on.  This was a new experience for both of us.  You see there are about 60 bikes in the group ride.  Americade has one of there own up front, one in the middle & a tail gunner.  With this large of a group you are limited in what the group can do.  I don’t think we ever got out of 4^th gear & most of the time we were in 3^rd.  I am not demeaning this type of riding at all just letting you know that it is a different type of ride. At the last gas stop our group got on CB & said all our gang pull into Citgo for gas and we broke off from the main group to head home.  NOTE:  ALL the staff at Americade are volunteers for the whole week.  Most of us thanked the staff when we went on an Americade group ride.  When something doesn’t go just right you have to cut them some slack because if it weren’t for these people the fees for Americade would be double.  After we broke off, we headed straight back because Orange County Choppers were set up at Bolton’s Landing just north of Lake George.  We all rode up to see the boys.  You can not believe just how large these bikes are unless you see them in person.  Those bikes are as long as a car.  I guess for $140,000., you should get something for your money.  Holly got Paul Sr. to wave to her and that made Holly’s day.  We hear Carol Yaekel got all of their autographs, Paul Sr. , Paul Jr.,  Mikey, Vinny & Cody.

    Make sure when you go to the Lake George area you fill up at Stewart’s gas station.  Each one of them had hard serve ice cream cheap.  What is weird is that NO gas stations have fountain pop.

    Saturday morning Holly & I, Ken & Peggy and Bob & Yvonne left for home at 7 AM.  Yvonne asked me where are we going to stay on the way home.  I told her we would play it by ear and stop when we got tired.  We took the expressway all the way home.  We didn’t think we would ever get off I 90 in New York.  We made it to Canada by 1 PM then had lunch when we crossed the border.  Yvonne asked how far across Canada?  3 hours.  None of us was tired yet and we decided to keep going till one of us got tired.  When we crossed the border back into Port Huron there were a couple bikes that we road with on the Covered bridge ride.  They were from Chapter “L”.  I went to channel 2  and asked them how they were doing.  They had done the same thing as us.  They were going to ride until they got tired, made it all the way to Port Huron, and were headed home.

    Once in Port Huron we stopped for gas and Yvonne checked her cell phone.  We were all getting tired by this time.  Then the sickening news, Kathy was in an accident & hurt her arm real bad.  There were no other details.  I felt so sick to my stomach I thought I was going to lose my cookies.  How could we have 2 bike crashes on this trip.  We felt so helpless.  We were too far away to be of any help.  We all decided that we would push on home and get a good night sleep in our own beds.  Holly & I arrived home at 10:30 PM.  We had traveled about 750 miles in one day.  Our total mileage for this trip was about 2500 miles.  After traveling with Ken & Peggy and Bob & Yvonne this far, it has made a special bond between all of us. Our hope and wish is that each member of our club can experience a ride like this some time in their life, without the accidents of course.