I rode through Calvary Cemetery. It is surreal to be in a large cemetery with the view of the city so near in the background.

I headed south and back to the river. A good rule of thumb for getting good shots is…when you see a hole cut in a fence, walk through it.

When I went back to the bike, I was disappointed to see oil dripping. The gasket around the clutch adjustment lever was still leaking, so I took her back to the shop.

The International Motorcycle Show

A friend got me a free pass to the bike show at the Javits Center last week. We went on Friday night. In the past I went on Saturday or Sunday. Friday makes a huge difference as far as the crowd goes. It was nice to be able to check everything out without much hustle.

This big beauty didn’t feel as large once I sat on it. Just after this I bumped into a friend I met at a pow wow in Montana while traveling cross country in 2009.

This is one of Pauly Jr’s bikes.

Norton is back. I sat on this Commando. It may not be the bike for a long distance ride, but it sure feels like fun.

There aren’t a lot of spots to get to the river. A few streets still dead end at the water’s edge. It was at this spot below that I noticed I would have to cut this trip short. After taking this picture I saw a fresh puddle of oil the size of a hockey puck under my bike. Leaving her running while leaning on the kickstand had the oil dripping furiously. It was time to head back. If you don’t know NYC, that’s downtown Manhattan in the distance and to the left of the smokestacks. The tallest building closest to the smokestacks is the new Liberty Tower.

Before getting to the tunnel and back into Manhattan, I couldn’t resist taking this shot. There is some great graffiti all around the neighborhoods on this side of the East River. This piece is in Greenpoint, Brooklyn which is just south of LIC. Once the bike is fixed up I’ll take a graffiti tour. There’s some really great stuff out here!

I leave you with these words of wisdom.

I had a brief look around Trenton as well. There are some very depressed neighborhoods in Trenton surrounded by neighborhoods once grand in stature. Both the grand old homes below are for sale.

I went to look inside through the windows when I was startled by this bird stuck inside.

I have posted before about the Occupy Wall Street movement in NYC. Here is New Jersey’s version.

A few miles north of Trenton is where George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River on December 25, 1776.

To visit places of historical events on rivers is a bit odd. Most rivers in the United States have been dammed since the time of George Washington or Louis and Clark. They no longer resemble the rivers that would have been described during the time of these events. In the case of this crossing however, some things have remained. The building to the right is the McConkey Ferry Inn on the banks of the Delaware River (Pennsylvania side). Samuel McConkey operated a successful ferry business at the location of the famous crossing. George Washington had dinner here before traversing the river. The house on the left was built in 1817.

There is a boathouse where they keep the replica Durham boats. These boats are used in reenactments.

The red spot represents the McConkey Ferry Inn where the crossing of the Delaware began.

Across the river are a few other structures that date back to the time of the Revolution. Below is the ferry house on the New Jersey side built in 1740.

I returned to the Pennsylvania side and headed north. Looming above just ahead of me I saw a tower atop a mountain.

Bowman’s Hill Tower was built in 1930 to commemorate the American Revolution.

To the south you can see the lovely sight of strip mining on the Jersey side.

This is the Thompson-Neely Grist Mill. This mill was build in the 1830′s.

When I think of a grist mill I visualize a big wheel on the side of the mill powered by water. This mill has the trough for the water to get to the mill but it leads the water inside.

The wheel is located inside the mill. I could lift my camera to a basement window to see the inner workings.

The water then exits through a channel cut on the other side of the mill.

Across the road is the Thompson-Neely house. During the winter of 1776-77, this home was used to care for soldiers during the Revolutionary War. Lieutenant James Madison (later the fourth President of the US) was quartered here for a time.

From here I continued north along Route 32. It’s a great ride as the road continues along the Delaware. It passes through New Hope which was packed with people wining and dining on either side of the road. Many motorcycles lined the street as well. It was getting too late for me to stop and explore New Hope.

The hurricane last month has had lasting effects in these parts. Firstly, it is the reason the grist mill was closed to the public, but also there was a resulting detour. This took me west when I wanted to go east. And it was getting dark and cold. It did lead me to a beautiful sunset.

Someone recently asked me what my favorite color was. The answer is here. It is the color of the sky just before night.

It was a cold ride home. Not only that, Bonnie is leaking oil. It was a very slow drip when the thick dark oil from my cross country trip was circulating through the bike. But since a recent oil change things have gotten messy. That drip was spraying at 70mph all over my left side. My pants are now oil soaked. I feel after nearly 60,000 miles of riding, I have been christened a true  Bonneville man.

Connecticut

11/08/2011 (I forgot to post this at the time)

Determined to go for a ride this weekend, I ignored the fact that it was below 40 degrees when I left NYC and headed for Connecticut. I could see evidence of the recent winter storm as I rode around. There were fallen trees here and there. People were cleaning branches and debris from their lawns. One home seemed unfazed, still alive with seasonal splendor.

There was still some snow on the ground from the October storm.

The colors of Fall were intermittent. It seems some trees had already been stripped of it’s leaves as others were just beginning to change. Occasionally there was a fine blast of color.

I wanted to ride further into Connecticut and see some historical sites, but the cold was getting to me. It wasn’t going to get any warmer either. I headed home. Most of my riding lately has been to and from work or at least within city limits. It was good to get out despite the cold.

Around town:

You may remember the bike below from my previous post. The rider has since added some custom fairing. Nice!

This beauty is usually tucked between the wall and a car at my garage. I was glad to have my camera when I saw the car had gone.

Down on 14th Street this bike is having some work done.

And lastly, I was going through some old photos and decided to re-crop and clean up this shot of my old Bonnie in Osborne, Kansas (2008).

Last week I returned to Zuccotti Park (home of the Occupy Wall Street Movement). It is more crowded than it had been the first time I visited, but continues with the same vibe and vigor. It is just larger and more diverse. People of all issues congregate and display their concerns.

Empire State Building

Chrysler Building

I really like the way the sky reflects on the building’s surface. If the surrounding buildings have this same effect, it’s gonna look great! It will be like a live Magritte cityscape.

Before we get to the protest I have to share a motorcycle parked nearby. I am guessing it belonged to one of the protesters. After seeing the photos to come, I think you will agree.

Ain’t she pretty! Now, on to the protest. It’s called Occupy Wall Street and it’s a worthy cause, but after seeing it I was a little deflated. On Saturday thousands showed up, but many may have been lured by the rumor of a surprise Radiohead performance. 700 people were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge. If you don’t know the layout, it is easy to unintentionally end up on the road of the bridge instead of the walkway if you are caught up in a group. That group was actually following cops on to the bridge before being rounded up and arrested. A little game of mousetrap if you ask me. That was Saturday. This is what I saw on Sunday.

Granted it was Sunday. Everybody deserves a day of rest. I have mixed feelings about the execution of the protest. I don’t have the answers. Like I said it is a worthy cause and people are out there. Maybe just the fact that they are out there is worthy in itself. Good for the folks that fight the fight for others! My photos only concentrate on some of the more colorful characters. There were others painting signs, playing drums, making sandwiches and instigating debate and conversation. I don’t think it is fair to judge what’s going on by a short glimpse on a Sunday afternoon. I hope that they get the support they need to carry on. The media has been fickle and at times misleading about this event. I have seen photoshop doctored photos increasing crowd sizes and this morning I read in the paper that thousands more showed up on Sunday after Saturday’s arrests. I was there and these people were there, but not in the thousands. Not even close.

Besides not putting in much riding time this past month, I have also neglected my cameras. That is not to say I haven’t taken any photos. Here are some recent shots.

Gilles Larrain Art Salon Party

NYC Subway Motorman.

My first time at Citi Field.

This little girl was getting her first taste of freedom as she pulled away from daddy’s grasp. Such a classic moment.

This woman was reprimanding the gentleman for working on a Saturday.

And lastly I strolled past the Slutwalk. Sadly it was populated as sparsely as the protest on Sunday.

The river crept in and out of view. Lewis and Clark were hoping the Missouri was going to be the one to take them all the way west. Not quite. Just before Pierre, SD there is a sign that says this area was used to film Dances with Wolves. The river in Pierre was flooded. You can see the playground below is well beyond the shoreline in the water.

And now for the appropriately placed sunset.

Mitchell, SD

I spent the night in Mitchell, home of the Corn Palace. They have been changing these murals made of corn annually with new designs since 1948.

I checked out the Prehistoric Indian Village while in Mitchell as well. I’d have to say it’s not worth the price of 6 bucks. The one thing I did find interesting was the buffalo skeleton. I didn’t know the hump on it’s back was shaped by vertical bone.

I stopped by Baltic, South Dakota. I had been here for the first time when I was 11 years old. Back in NYC my friend Michael and his mom Donna would often take me to the movies. To this day I probably have seen more movies with them than anyone. Then one summer they took me with them to Baltic, South Dakota.

I believe the population at the time was 80. I even remember the movie we saw when we came to South Dakota. It was The White Buffalo with Charles Bronson. And I remember meeting Conrad Bain at the Minneapolis St.Paul Airport where we had to transfer to a small propeller plane. Anyway, Facebook got me back in touch with my friend, but I found out his mom had passed a few years ago. As I was leaving Sturgis, it occurred to me that she had probably returned to Baltic. Donna was very kind to me growing up, so I went to pay my respects. In Baltic if you need to know something you can just go to the general store, generally everybody knows everything about everybody. I asked the cashier if she knew Donna. She said she was new to Baltic but we could go ask Mr. Slanzky at the American Legion (to the left below). She left the store with me, brought me to the Legion and introduced me to Mr. Slanzky. Mr. Slanzky directed me to the spot in the cemetery and I had a visit.

When we were kids this was our fishing spot. We caught 35 catfish one day.

IOWA

I was moving along fine through Iowa as the 65 mph highways turn to 55 mph. I had just passed through the town of Estherville. In a line of traffic headed east out of town, a police car jumped ahead of some other cars and got right behind me. He followed me tight, staying right on my ass, uncomfortably close for about 6 miles before he pulled me over. I was wondering what his justification would be. He told me he pulled me over because he couldn’t read my tags. I said, “that’s funny because that is the only part of my bike I cleaned just this morning so it could be seen.” These guys know Sturgis just ended. I wasn’t doing anything to warrant being pulled over. It was straight up harassment. He was hoping to find some dirt when he ran the drivers license. Bullshit!

Just the fact that they think they don’t need a reason to pull me over is pissing me off as I continue and it’s taking the fun out of my ride.

I felt better after a night of camping in some cool shade at Pilot Knob State Park.

The landscape gets hilly again and the roads get more interesting right until it opens up to the Mississippi River. The plan was to head south along the Iowa side.

If You Build It, They Will Come

I saw on my map that it said Field of Dreams in little red letters. Field of Dreams? Really? Wow! I got the biggest grin on my face as I made my approach to this place. It was exactly as it was in the movie. They do such a good job making this place magical in the movie that it feels really special being there. They call me Shoeless Pat.

Ray loves Annie.

I am told on Sundays real old timers come out and play ball here. They built it, and they do come! How about that?

I continued south toward Clinton.

My reason for going to Clinton, Iowa was to get some Flavor Flav’s Chicken. I read about it a while back and I decided as well as I’m headed in that direction I was going to try some. I got to Clinton and asked a girl in the store where I could find Flavor Flav’s. She told me it was closed. Apparently Flavor Flav’s staff wasn’t getting paid and the place closed down already. Disappointed I crossed the mighty Mississippi River into Illinois and settled for a chicken sandwich from Hardees. I stayed in Morrison Rockwood SP. The log below burned the entire night and into the morning. it was about four feet long and burned from one end to the other like a cigarette. It you ever stop here bring your bug spray. I left my feet exposed and got chewed up bad! 

It was time to make some miles. I hopped on the Interstate and flew. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio…blew right through ‘em. In Pennsylvania I decided to get off the interstate and back into the mountains. I took Route 66. No relation to the old road out west.

I was headed east on 6 to go to a place I had visited on my first cross country trip. Cherry Springs State Park. Considered the darkest place on the east coast. Below is Kane, PA. 

Smethport, PA.

This old bus house is in considerably worse shape than when I saw it 4 years ago.

On the way down Route 6 an old barn caught my eye. But there was more than just a barn at this location.

Looking up into the old barn silo.

The truck traffic on Route 6 became so bad I started yearning for the interstate. The truck traffic is due to natural gas drilling going on all over this part of Pennsylvania. Water tankers make up the greater syndicate of trucks. Apparently natural gas drilling involves lots of water! I was talking to this guy Steve who drives one of those trucks. He says the locals hate it but if it’s not him it’ll be someone else cause it pays real good! As a result of all the truck traffic there is lots of construction and flagmen stopping traffic for one lane roads. The ride started sucking. So I headed back toward the interstate. After a couple delays caused by a fully loaded truck going up hill and an Amish dude on a buggy I was back on the super highway on my way home.

And now I am back in NYC with many mixed feelings. Good to be home? I am not quite sure. Certainly, home or not, the adventure must continue.