My brother Bob and I decided to meet for breakfast in Sidney, New York. The motorcycle trip was about 100 miles for me and a bit less for him. My route to get there was planned the night before the trip using DeLorme’s Street Atlas (see route). Departure time was 6:25 AM and it was COLD. To make things even more uncomfortable, it was also very windy. It was still fun though — fantastic scenery as I wound my way down Route 507, and then north on Route 191 and then Route 196 to the end and then Route 296 to the end. I always wondered where those roads went. The view in front of me and behind me showed no cars. None. The roads wound their way through hilly farm country. Haven’t seen so many corn fields and cows since growing up in southern New Jersey. The difference between this part of Pennsylvania and south Jersey is the hills. Southern New Jersey is completely flat. Northeastern Pennsylvania has a lot of hills, mountains, streams, rivers, and lakes. After a few more state and county roads (no Interstates), I made it to Hancock, New York — just over the border from Pennsylvania. Not that I didn’t trust the Garmin GPS but I stopped at a gas station and confirmed with a nice gentleman there that Deposit, New York was about 12 miles away.
Route 8 goes from Deposit right to Sidney, New York where I saw my brother standing by his Harley at the Hess gasoline station. We drove into Sidney and had breakfast at Nancy’s. Sidney is at 42.3° N 75.4° W right in the heart of upstate New York. Our original plan had been to meet in Unadilla but we decided Sidney would be a more certain place to meet — right at the intersection of Routes 7 & 8. After an eggbeaters omelet, some coffee, and comparing notes on various Harley things, it was time to head our separate ways.
Unlike the trip up, the return trip back to Pennsylvania was unplanned. I decided to aim the Garmin at Greentown, PA and just follow the arrow. This approach can be adventurous but can also get you into trouble. I’ll never forget reading about the man in Germany who followed his GPS so literally that he drove his Mercedes into a river — the ferry boat was not operating! I had a similar problem today when I got to Lake Oquaga and had to go around it and then ran into more than one road I wanted to take but which were closed for repairs. Today was a day where I had no appointments and was in no hurry so meandering around was fun. Some of the roads had no numbers and some had no names. The roads through the rolling hills seemed so neat and the scenery of blue sky and green mountains was beautiful. As I rode through the little town of Deposit, New York, there were people sitting on their porch watching the cars go by. It felt good to wave to them and see them wave back.
Coming down Route 191 through the Pocono Mountains into Honesdale, PA, I came upon a roadside stop where some people were gathered looking off into the valley. I couldn’t resist stopping to see what it was — turned out to be The Jadwin Dam Scenic Overlook. Some dams are built in order to provide power generation. This one was built for flood control. I had heard of floor control but didn’t know much about it. Little is heard anymore on the streets of Honesdale, Hawley and other nearby areas but during the 1950s, 1940s and or 1930s, major floods reeked havoc on these communities taking dozens of lives and causing millions of dollars in damage. At the overlook they had pictures of railroad tracks and homes that were destroyed. The dam was completed in 1959 and effectively ended the cycle of catastrophic flooding in the Lackawaxen River Valley.
On through Honesdale and across Route 6. I had a hunch that my tire pressure was low so I stopped to see the nice people at Baer Sports Center for a check. Both tires were at 15 psi and should have been at 35 psi. What a difference in the ride that made! Then on through Hawley to find twenty one antique cars parked near Tanglewood Lodge. A car club was taking a trip and they stopped for a break. The cars were incredible — clean as a whistle. I looked in one and saw the clock was exactly right and there was not a scratch or piece of dirt to be seen. These people really take pride in their cars and undoubtedly put many hours into restoring and preserving them.
The bottom line is that riding around the back roads gives you a really good feeling — seeing nice people at work and play, nice scenery, and a lot of very interesting things to see and learn about. It makes me appreciate the great country I live in.
