Two wrongs don't make a right...

Today started with the sun, actually before the sun, with the clocks being pushed ahead one hour the sun was late in rising. Worked around the house a little (damn little) then wiped the dew off the windshield and the frost off the seat and hit the road. I decided that since the weather was to be sunny and in the 50's today I would throw the chaps in the bag and forgo the heated gear (also in the bag). I picked up I-95 and ran up to exit 90 (from 89, a distance of about a ½ mile) dropped onto rte 27 and had a coffee at the Equinox. If you haven't tried their coffee you are in luck, it's horrible, but I go there often because all the waitresses are fun to talk to. After coffee and talking I fired up the bike and took rte 27 to rte 184 and headed west to get a decent cup of coffee and be ready when the Club arrived for the Sunday ride. On the way through Center Groton I passed a green Motorcycle parked at Dunkin Donuts, made a u-turn and hooked up with Carey. Carey and I headed west on 184 and picked up I-95 over the Thames to rte 32. Carey was running without chaps and cut off gloves, without chaps I was freezing, Carey was fine,(Carey isn't right). We arrived at Dunkin and found Dale and Mark (Griffin?), Mark had his new Low-rider, Straight pipes.

After a while the Club started to arrive, and at about 945am our Liege and Lord Stephen the first arrived (Stephen1). The normal greetings were made and Steve lined us up for the Mystery ride. I was now wearing chaps, Carey, Mark, Dale, Dave and Margo saw us off. As we turned onto rte 32 a light rain paid us a visit but didn't last long. Steve took us north on I-395 through Norwich to exit 84 (rte 169). Dan was up front with Evert and Myself as blockers behind them, behind us was Paul N., Dana M., Jim S, Smurph, Sue D. and bringing up the tail-gun position was Steve D. with his son on the back. We proceeded north through Newent, and Canterbury to the rte14-169 intersection where we picked up Bubba and Joe F.

The ride continued up 169 through Brooklyn, Promfret, South Woodstock and Woodstock. In Pomfret the sky darkened the rain had returned, it was light so it didn't matter, then it started to hurt, sleet started bounce off our faces, but it too didn't last. A column of smoke rose ahead of us and as we came near the schools in Pomfret the woods to the left were ablaze, and in the middle of the fire was a building. The fire department was executing a controlled burn, it looked great, it looked warm, by this point my decision not to be plugged in was regretted. Stephen 1 lead us north and as we went the depth and amount of snow on the ground around us increased and the clouds increased and the temperature...didn't. We passed the fair grounds in Woodstock on rte 169, we passed rte 171, we passed through farm lands, we pulled into a Post office turned around and headed back to Woodstock. Route 171 is what we wanted at this point, not 169.

There is an old saying that two wrongs don't make a right...but three lefts do, Stephen the first proved today that you can make a right using two lefts, only after you indicate your turn, get a message from a backseat driver (back bike driver?), listen to him, and drive straight past the road you want...again. Now Three lefts making a right requires a block,

But Steve showed us that if the first turn is actually and reverse 45 degree you make make a right with two lefts.

Now on rte 171 we headed west and north, still the snow depth around us increased, the roads were... It's hard to condemn them, if it weren't for this past winter they would have been fantastic, steep hills, sweeping curves, yes plenty of turns and elevation changes, but the frost had done it's damage, and we found ourselves off the seat more than on them. I believe at one point I saw Steve's butt about three feet above his seat.

We cruised rte 171 through West Woodstock, Woodstock Valley, and Kenyonville, rte 171 turned more north and took us through North Ashford. At the 197 171 split at Coye Hill, Steve slowed and yelled to man in the yard to confirm our direction of travel, I had to stop, I put my foot down and found two inches of rock salt under my boot, Steve headed out again and luckily I could follow since I had no footing. (Steve was to find this rock salt on the ride back, a little tail wiggle, a little over the line, recover and continue). We passed through Bigelow Hollow into Union Ct., where rte 171 merges with the Buckley highway, as I cranked the throttle and leaned into the turn the throttle went dead, leaning at a right angle forward motion stopped, I dropped my foot down ready to step off the bike when the engine kicked in and the bike righted itself. (I later told people it was because Steve took us north into the arctic and the fuel lines froze). The group started cruising, we came around a corner on a down grade and found our destination on the right, once again I found myself riding past where I wanted to be. Five of us made a quick U turn in the road and joined the others in the parking lot.
The Traveler Restaurant is like no other I have seen, the sign out side says “Food and Books” and that is exactly what it is, as a write up in “Boston's Hidden Restaurant's” says:

You like reading a good book with your meal? Well, there is a dining spot in Connecticut about an hour away from Boston that not only offers decent food, but also has stacks of books from which to choose as well. Now surely most of you have seen the Traveler Restaurant while traveling to and from New York along Route 84. Do you know the sign just off the highway near the Massachusetts border that says FOOD and BOOKS? Well, that indeed, is the Traveler Restaurant, and if you haven't stopped there yet, you may just want to check this unusual place out.


From the outside, the Traveler Restaurant looks like a rather plain-looking dining spot that is wedged between Route 84 and the vast woodlands of Bigelow Hollow State Park in the town of Union. The inside of it is anything but plain, however, with books everywhere you look, not only on the main floor where the dining room is, but also in the basement. And when you order a meal at the Traveler, you get not one, not two, but THREE free books. Granted, these books are used, and some of them are not the most exciting bits of reading, but hey, they are free, so who's complaining?


The food at the Traveler Restaurant is pretty much what you would expect from a roadside restaurant; large, hearty breakfasts, as well as satisfying lunches and dinners. The chicken noodle soup is almost as good as the soup at Rein's, a famous deli 20 miles down the road. Both the open-faced turkey sandwich and the turkey dinner at the Traveler are particularly good, with lots of white meat and, in the case of the turkey dinner, all the fixings that go with it. The char-grilled burgers are hearty and full of flavor, and are offered with a variety of toppings, including bleu cheese dressing and horseradish sauce. The French fries are decent, but the sweet potato fries are the real winner here, as they have little grease and are firm and crispy. The Traveler Restaurant also has beer; this isn't exactly a bad thing, but remember that you are just off of Route 84, which can be a rather dicey highway, so you may want to go light on the adult beverages.

I know, this story is a bit long, but then so was the ride and it was great, it felt good to be back on a bike and riding with a great bunch of people.
The ride back was enjoyable also, We headed back down 171 to Kenyonville where we picked up rte 198 south through Eastford, Phoenixville, and Chaplin to rte 6, at North Windham we took 203 south through Windham to South Windham loosing Bubba and Joe as they turn east on 14. We stopped at the fuel station at route 32 and said our good byes, Evert, Paul, Jim, and Dana headed south on 32, Steve took Middlesex north on 32 to 66, Dan and I decided it was too early to call it a day so we tagged along with them though Willimantic, Columbia and Hebron where we turned waved our goodbyes and took rte 85 into Colchester. In Colchester we stopped at Dunkin for coffee, I ran into my old boss there, he just picked up a 103 in December and this was his first day out on it. I talked with him a bit and he got a gleam in his eye when I asked him if he wanted to join, so I'll get in touch with him later this week. From Colchester Dan and I took 354 down to 82 then 163 to Raymond Hill rd and back to the Dunkin on 32 in Montville. There Dan waited with me for the next ride of the day, The VFW Benefit dinner for the Blind. Jason showed up and talked with us a while, the Griffins arrived and departed, Jason departed, Dan departed, Paul and his wife arrived in their cage, then Jim and Judy. On the way to the VFW we met Dana coming the other way on his bike so I made a U-turn to ride in with him. (It is a MOTORCYCLE CLUB after all).

All in all a great day, and I am looking forward to the next ride with Stephen the 1st, Sentry of the Guilfordshire at the helm.

klay