The "American Tragedy" Tour...Dr. Greg & Wotan head East

How do you stay away from your wife for so long?

Well, that's an interesting question. Don't wanna get into psychology...after all, I'm just a dumb engineer...don't wanna get too sappy here...

Mrs. Greg (Annie) and I have been married 40 years. Four boys (born in three decades: 70s, 80s, 90s). I courted her on my '73 RD350, so she knew what she was getting into.

IMHO if you truly love someone, you have to give them some freedom. Neither Annie nor I are into "clinginess"...if you know what I mean. I've known people like that, and---to me---it's a danger sign.

We have done things together (e.g. flattrack spectating), and we've done things separately (like this trip). No big deal.

Like the immortal words of Steve Bolander (Ronnie Howard in "American Graffiti" --- perhaps my favorite movie): "Seeing other people while I'm gone can't possibly hurt...I think it would strengthen our relationship." Hey, Annie, just kidding! Put down that rolling pin!!

--Doc

CRUNCH!! That was the sound as I SAT ON my glasses. Busted 'em good.

Good thing I carry an extra pair. Whew! Hadn't even had a drink...:eek1

Carry on.

--Doc

Just stumbled on your RR, saw the title and wondered what's that all about? Anyhow, I did not look at where you were from, but when I saw the first picture of Wotan...I'm thinking, "I know that view" it is only a few miles from where I live near Sipapu. Nice spot atop US Hill Have enjoyed catching up and will follow along! Safe travels! Love the forest rat comments! We have many prowling around up here in the mountains.

Unplanned trip out of the country for a week....just getting caught up...great stuff....that part of Pa along the mighty Susquehanna is a wonderful journey...great roads,quaint towns..I know ,I know-forest rats....they are a challenge...I have a small herd of about 20 or so that hang out in my back yard(including a 3 legged doe-she's made it through 2 winters)...enjoy Vermont and rest up...looking forward to rest of your trip.

Thanks for following along; today is my big day to explore the Adirondacks; specifically to find Big Moose Lake (site of the real American Tragedy). This morning is kinda foggy: that's a condition we rarely see in New Mexico.

I think trials is the M/C sporting activity that Mrs. Greg (and all the Gregsters) enjoyed spectating most. You can literally reach out and touch the riders. Saw an AMA Nat'l. trials event at Taos Ski Valley many years ago, as well as local NMTA stuff. With my innate klutziness, I know better than to try it myself...

You live in a beautiful place; we should all be grateful for this country of ours. I'm trying to see as much of it as I can in whatever time I have left.

Thanks again for following...

--Doc

Hey, a well-aimed .30-'06 would work wonders on that deer population (even a .270 perhaps)...ha, ha, just kidding. I like the forest rats just fine...in their place.

--Doc

Yeah, on the dinner table.

Whew, made it back from the Adirondacks; a successful day. Full report tomorrow. And the swimming pool here is closed! WAAH!

--Doc

"YOUGHIOGHENY". No one else could pronounce it either. OHIO. Was easier.

Love the report.

Glad you had a good day riding! Sorry no swim to loosen up the muscles. I guess you'll just have to stop back by here! Charlene & I are following the report waiting to hear more about your investigation of Moose Lake and surrounding area.

Yeah, your pool was the best! I intend to spend today writing up the entire "Big Moose Lake" saga---a good day.

And I certainly do plan to stop by your place (along with numerous others ) on my return trip. I am, however, glad that I've got a few days for more R&R before I make the big push home.

When I awoke to my "medication" alarm at 0600 this morning, I was a bit disoriented (Mrs. Greg will tell you about my brain damage ), but I'm OK now. At about three weeks I usually "hit the wall" but so far so good.

Later,

--Doc

Sunday, July 20: Nowhere --> Nowhere.

As tempting as it is to watch "Judge Judy" on daytime TV (recall my accommodations here have two TVs...), I better update the Ride Report to keep myself in practice...lots more ride ahead.

Actually my title should read "6 mi S of Killington, VT --> 6 mi S of Killington, VT." As in: stayed put. Yeah, I promised the "Big Moose Lake" update, and that'll be coming later today. But---like before---I need to throw 'er in reverse and cover some stuff that happened before then...


Lunch at the "Back Behind..."

My location here is kinda out in the "boonies" --- not much around but pretty country. And since I did bring all my camping stuff, I guess I could fix, say, some instant oatmeal or freeze-dried mac & cheese. But there WAS this one restaurant across the street:

This place was just across the street, so...​

I was intrigued by this "Polish Pirogie" appetizer, so I ordered it (plus some fish & chips...the waittress, er, waitperson, said I'd have lots of leftovers with that). I got three of them: they were kind of a cheese-stuffed doughy thing. Good enough, but not THAT great...perhaps you've gotta be a Polack to fully appreciate them (and that's about the only ethnic group that's not in my background). No offense to any Polish-Americans out there...

These "pirogie" (sp?) things were pretty good...​

And---sure enough---I didn't lack for leftovers with the fish & chips...in fact, I think I got three more meals out of them. Not a bad investment...

It would take a Sumo Wrassler to finish all this!​

A stroll around the vicinity...

I decided to take a brief walk around the area...first thing that caught me eye was this. I think the contractor should give this homeowner a refund...ouch!

I've heard of shoddy construction, but...​

Even though I'm like 6 miles south of the town, apparently the city limit extends a ways...undoubtedly some sort of revenue advantage to that. Seems like money is at the base of most things...

In the heart of the Green Mountains, so they say...​

Never let it be said that Dr. Greg doesn't get pix of the "photogenic" stuff around. I walked up an old highway service road, and saw this "drag"...at least I think that's what it is (note the cables attached in the lower pic).

Ever wondered at what happens to old car tires?​

That is probably not what Killington ("in the heart of the...") wants to advertise as its local color. Like I said, leave it to Doc to capture the photogeneity (is that a word?) of the moment...


Conclusion and Preface to Monday...

As I've said several times, the culmination---in a sense---of this trip will be on Monday, when I attempt to track down the site of "An American Tragedy." That will lead me through most of the width of the southern Adirondacks, which should be fun in and of itself. That is, unless I meet a Forest Rat in the middle of the road.

The "Monday July 21" installment will be coming up in about 2-3 hours, depending on how fast I can type (and think). Adios for now.

--Doc

I would bet that your detached garage picture is the result of the horrendous floods VT had a couple of years ago. I am guessong that those tires are blasting mats and probably also have something to do with all the road repair from the flood.

Pierogis are a staple with polish families. Like anything else, some are really excellent and others are just okay.

Monday, July 21: In Search of "An American Tragedy"...

My raison d'etre for taking this trip was the 1925 historical novel written by Theodore Dreiser, based on the 1906 actual murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette. Said crime occurred in the southern bay of Big Moose Lake, a few miles north of Eagle Bay, NY. So that's where I was headed.


Killington, VT --> Eagle Bay, NY

The proprietor of my resort (er, the guy at the front desk) suggested I follow VT 100 north to Hancock, then VT 125 west on into the state of New York (hah, as opposed to a state of confusion?) Keep on track, Dr. Greg...

Anyway, that turned out to be very good advice. But first, a pic of a "stripped-down" (look, Ma, no side cases!) Wotan, ready for action.

A leaner, meaner Wotan; ready for "An American Tragedy"...​

Only a top case ("what's up with all the top boxes"...never did read thru that thread). But top boxes are sure nice for commuting; keeping a narrow profile and all...just for the possibility of the odd lane-split, y'unnerstand. BTW, if you sharp eyes you can note the presence of DEW on Wotan (e.g. the windscreen). This is a phenomenon we encounter rarely (like never) in New Mexico, where the "dew point" is usually sub-zero. But not here...

The first few miles were on US 4 (at least that's what the GPS says), and there was the presence of yet another moisture-related condition rather unusual in New Mexico: FOG.

Little bit o' FOG on US 4, just S of Killington, VT.​

At times I was worried the fog (OK, cloud) was gonna get bothersome...

Was the cloud (fog) gonna close me down?​

Other times looked like it was goin' away...

Or maybe it's gonna just go away...​

Either way, I was very much enjoying the cool, dampish morning. You just NEVER see weather conditions like that where I'm from...I even had donned my Gerbing jacket liner (but hadn't plugged it in) due to the 55 F temp at the start. That was unnecessary; I shed it early on...

Finally, one more pic of the last of the clouds, and we're good to go:

This was (fortunately) the last of the clouds (fog?)...​

Oh yeah, several times while proceeding N on VT 100 I got the encouraging warning of Moose Crossing...can you imagine? In 2008 I totalled my '06 Uly and got three new fractures just hitting a small deer at 72 mph (killed her, thankfully). Can you imagine hitting a friggin' MOOSE at that speed? I'd just bounce off!! Of course, I wasn't going 72 mph currently. Still...

And I'd gotten an early start (for me, that is: on the road at 0715) cuz it was gonna be a long day. Just the time for the forest swine to be out and about...however, I'm posting this on Tuesday, so I musta survived.


Through the Green Mtn. Nat'l. Forest on VT 125...WHOOPEE!

At Hancock, VT I turned west on VT 125, and the genius of my friend's advice became manifest. The road began to climb as it headed into the Green Mtn. Nat'l. Forest, and there was NO TRAFFIC! I mean...NONE!! I didn't have to pass one single car all the way to Ripton, almost to Middlebury. The road crested a "gap" at over 2,000 feet (didn't catch the name). Now where I come from, 2,000 feet is not much, but here---well it was a heckuva lotta fun! Wotan seems to handle just the same whether he's loaded or not...the limiting factor is clearly the nut behind the handlebars. But the nut was enjoyin' hisself immensely. And on roads like this---at the spirited pace I was trying to maintain---ain't no way you can a pic safely. See, Mrs. Greg, safety third!


Middlebury, Vermont...you can always tell a "college town"...

Near Amesville, OH I was discussing "college towns" with inmate oldgezzer...they have OU (Ohio University, not the other OU) nearby in Athens, OH. Well, here we have Middlebury. I actually have two connections (however tenuous) with Middlebury:

1. In the movie "American Graffiti" the high school teacher (who talks to the Curt character [Richard Dreyfuss] at the "freshman hop") has attended Middlebury College for one semester before dropping out and coming back to Modesto, CA (the hometown of the movie).

2. My oldest son studied Japanese at the University of New Mexico (and later at the Univ of Hawai'i); turns out that Middlebury College has a very good Japanese program. BTW, my son is good at Japanese; he's been mistaken over the phone for a native speaker...

So here's a foto of a building that---to me---connotes "eastern college"...

Eastern college building...Middlebury College, in this case.​

Other indications of a college town are: lotsa cyclists and joggers. And "love the forest" bumperstickers, and the like. They prolly wouldn't appreciate the term "forest rats"... Well, pretty soon I was outta Middlebury, and headed for Lake Champagne, er, Champlain.

Between the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain, the country "opens up" a bit. Still very pretty...IMHO.

An "open" section of Vermont between the Green Mts. and Lake Champlain.​

Lake Champlain and the Crown Point area...

As I approached the bridge over Lake Champlain I managed to squeeze off a couple pics:

Approaching the bridge over Lake Champlain, NY state...​

Got a pic while traversing the bridge, naturally (hey, running water and all that)...

A pretty good-sized body of water...​

The Lake Champlain Visitor Center.

Being a history nut and all, of course I had to stop at the Visitor Center...

Gotta stop and check out the Visitor Center...​

They must had a brochure on every "tourist attraction" within 1,000 miles in there. I took one thing...a blurb about the "Crown Point State Historic Site"...might as well quote from it a little:

"Samuel de Champlain explored the lake that bears his name and battled the Iroquois on the Crown Point Peninsula in July 1609..."

There's more, but you can go there yourself and pick up a brochure...BTW, Crown Point remained under British control till 1783.


Four historical signs for you to READ...

Now these are all hi-res enough for you to "zoom in" on and read. There'll be a QUIZ at the end of the RR. Winner will get my "special prize"...

​

And then, having a adolescent interest in chemistry (specifically, explosives), I felt compelled to take an image of when the blew up the bridge a few years ago...prolly got to zoom in on this one, too.

Man, would've liked to have seen that...​

Finally, a parting "telephoto" (far as my little camera will go) of the bridge...hey, a rider!

A telephoto of the new bridge. Crown Point, New York, USA. The Planet Earth.​

That's how my high-school colleague Alan Frisbie (real name) used to have his business cards...Alan Frisbie, Los Angeles, California. The Planet Earth. He was even stranger than I (BTW, "me" is always wrong, learned that from Dave Barry)...

And I finally saw the "welcome" sign I'd missed a few days earlier...

The governor says "WELCOME"...​

Onward into the Adirondacks...

Headed S to Ticonderoga, then picked up NY 8 thru Hague, and on to I-87. Which was scenic for an interstate...

Along NY I-87 somewhere S of Schroon (Skroon) Lake, I believe...​

The Hudson River (hey, where's Pete Seeger?)

Somewhere along here I came by the Hudson River...hey, I've heard of that! Usually in conjunction with Pete Seeger. Looked around, but didn't see him anywheres around...

Yup, that's the place.​

Got a nice pic of Wotan along the bank...water level looked to be fairly low. Dry spring?

The Hudson River and Wotan the Great...​

Used the auto-timer to take a self-portrait from the rear. Jeepers, is my hair really that grey? Or I guess distinguished is the operative term...man! When I get home better bust out the Grecian Formula...

Dr. Greg along the Hudson...​

Approaching Eagle Bay and Big Moose Lake...

Went thru the towns of North River, Indian Lake, Blue Mtn. Lake, Raquette Lake, Inlet (the last two names were in the book "An American Tragedy"). I was gettin' close! And I was gettin' excited, a little.

Beginning to see more coniferous trees along the road; I'll call them fir trees. In the book, as the protagonist nears Big Moose Lake, the "gloomy firs" profoundly affect him.

Fir trees begin to be prominent near Big Moose Lake...​

Finally, at the east edge of Eagle Bay, there it is: Big Moose Road. I turned Wotan north onto it. It was quite narrow, rough, roller-coaster, although paved. After around five miles the GPS indicated I was getting close. Then a sign to the right: the Glenmore Hotel. I was almost there! Turned right, and 300 yards more I parked by the legendary Glenmore (Wotan at lower right):

The Glenmore. Where Grace & Chester had stayed prior to "An American Tragedy."​

Walked down to the shore, and took a pic looking east across Big Moose Lake.

A view to the east across Big Moose Lake...​

Y'know, after all the reading and reseach I've done on just this place---and "the tragedy"---I don't mind tellin' ya that I felt just a little strange. The fir trees really did give the place an aura of gloom, and I really could imagine Grace & Chester pushing off the bank in their final canoe trip. Eerie.

And just to prove I'm not making all this up, there was a plaque...

Yup, this was the place...​

To "break the spell" I wandered back into the Glenmore and ordered lunch:

The menu and my lunch. A welcome diversion from 1906...​

One Final Look Back...

After eating, before I left I walked back down to the shore again; this time I tried to get an image of the southern "bay" in which the actual drowning took place...

Back in there is where it happened...​

Wrapping it up...

To think that listening to an audiobook inspired me to take this ride, to this place...I was at the actual place where it happened. Overwhelming. I seem to base my "longer" trips on some kind of historical happenings: Civil War, etc. This was one of those. An American Tragedy.

I was glad of my lodging back in Vermont where I could go and "escape" the gloom of Big Moose Lake. I took a slightly more direct route back to Killington, although the word "direct" doesn't really apply in the Adirondacks...

So by now it's Tuesday and I've recovered. No forest rats, no problems. Good ride. But the haunting gloom of Big Moose Lake and those fir trees will probably stay with me forever...

--Doc

P.S. I'd encourage any of you to read "An American Tragedy." At 800+ pages it's not for the faint of heart, but still...you can see what it did to me.

Excellent report!

July 24: Preface to Dr. Greg's Return Trip...

Finally gonna get back on the road to head home to Albuquerque, New Mexico tomorrow morning, and I thought a few "prefacing" words might be in order. As often is the case during the "return" leg of a trip, I might not write quite as much---or take quite as many photos---as during the "outbound" leg. Just wanna get home to Mrs. Greg...but first, a few things that have occurred me over the last days...


Mowing---you guys in the east (and midwest) have it BAD...

Every time I head east from the Great Basin, I'm absolutely amazed at the vast, beautiful expanses of mowed grass that surround many houses. And that stuff has to be mowed, or it wouldn't look like that. Man...what a JOB!!

In, say, New Mexico, you have to WORK at it to even get grass to grow. In fact, grass shouldn't grow there, cuz there's not much water. Nevertheless, lotta people try to maintain a lawn. Not Dr. Greg (well, not soon, anyway). Mrs. Greg & I are going to landscape our front yard "naturally" so---for one thing---it doesn't need much maintenance. Not quite xeriscaping, more "foresty" than that. Hopefully.

In the meantime, my heart goes out (and I honestly admire) those of you with all that mowed grass.


Staying at a resort like this midway thru a trip...

Recall that I arrived at this (fairly mundane) resort near Killington, Vermont last Friday...I'm leaving tomorrow, so I'll have been here a week. It was Mrs. Greg's idea to stay at a resort (we're members of one of these timeshare ripoffs) midway thru this trip. It's turned out to be a very good idea. It has been so nice to stay in one place for a few days...sleep a little later (hey, I got up at 0450 or thereabouts for dangnere 36 years...I deserve a break), and generally relax. And I've "sat around" long enough that I'm actually looking forward to hitting the road (uh, not literally) tomorrow morning.


Watching 2-wheeled sporting events.

While at the resort I've been able to watch all three Pyreneean Stages of the Tour de France (I used to be a competitive road cyclist, in SoCal in the early 70s...collision w/a pickup during a training ride (1) killed my best friend, (2) put me in traction for 2 months, (3) unconscious for 2 weeks...pretty much ended my racing career. And I was a pretty good climber (137 lbs back than...)

Anyway, I still enjoy recreational cycling, and watching the big races. Good to see Teejay Van Garderen have a better day today. Hopefully he can make up some time in the time trial on Saturday.

And I just watched the German GP (Mrs. Greg & I are online subscribers) Moto3 (go, Jack Miller!) & Moto2 (first win for Aegerter) races. Will watch MotoGP later today. Technology is wonderful. And I said there'll never be computers in the home (I did, about 1975).


A little rain squall...

So I was sitting out on my "back porch" reading yesterday about 1730 hours, when it got windy, and I thought sumthin' was up. Barely had time to move all my junk inside before it hit. Pretty intense thunderstorm (severe t'storm warnings in this area). Rained like crazy for some time. Kinda glad I wasn't in a tent (yeah, I've been there, done that).

Looked out my back door at the creek: GOOD GRIEF...the thing was THREE TIMES bigger than an hour earlier! The "before" and "after" pics below don't really show it too well, but.

My little creek before and after (well, during) the storm.​

NOW I understand that comment about "flooding" re that house pic I posted earlier (where the side had fallen off...) Guess that's why ya don't camp in a streambed...


Sure don't have weather like this back home...

This morning was nice: cool and moist. I sauntered out down the creek a ways and snapped the self-portrait (don't like the term "selfie") using my camera timer...a very nice morning. Doc in his "uniform"...

Creek back to normal the next morning.​

Put my thermometer down to check the temp:

Like I said, nice and cool.​

Now this temp was at about noon. Back in Albuquerque it was prolly already 90 degrees. Although---in all fairness---the humidity IS much lower. Although now is our "monsoon" season, so the humidity may be in the double digits!


My route home...

I'm not going to follow quite the same route back to New Mexico, although generally over a similar region. For example, tomorrow night I plan to stay with my old friend Colin (and his wife) in East Meredity, NY. Haven't seen him for several years; they have a nice old farmhouse there (nicer in the summer; ask Colin). Then I plan to re-visit John in Forksville, PA...that place was just to beautiful to pass up. Also Stan in Walton, KY...his swimming pool keep re-appearing in my head.

But along the way I'll traverse some different roads. For example, I hope to take OH 56 west of Athens, OH---IIRC it is delightfully twisty (goes thru the Wayne Nat'l. Forest), but more importantly it goes thru the town (er, village) of Starr, OH. That's my last name, and when I rode thru there in 2010 I missed getting a pic of the "village sign." Gonna try again this trip.

OK, folks, time to wrap it up. Gonna set the alarm a little earlier tomorrow. Tentatively plan to follow VT 100 south a ways, then VT 9 over thru Bennington, and into NY and thru the Albany mess to the East Meredith area.

Oh yeah, one more piece of "unfinished business." When I leave East Meredit, I plan to head west thru the little village of South Otselic. The "Grace Brown" farm (the girl that was murdered in An American Tragedy) was near "South Ots." I'm sure there's no memorabilia there, but I'll just take a foto of the town or something. Just something I'd like to do to complete the trip.

Now, it's certainly possible that by the time I leave Stan & Charlene in Walton, KY I'll just be fed up enough that I'll take a more "direct" route home (interstates or whatever). As I've said, three weeks is usually about my limit, although this "resort stay" has helped the condition of my spirit.

Been a pleasure to do all thie riding and writing (I enjoy both; not all that great at either...) and---as always---it's good to have you along.

--Doc

Hey Doc - Well, the end of one adventure is merely the beginning of another. But for now, lets leave the American tragedy behind in NE and have a safe journey west bound. As for Moose: Saw after effect of Car / Moose interaction in both Yukon & Maine (lucky me) - I can agree we want NONE of that on moto's. May as well just do a head on into Mt Rushmore. Tho if you could get them to stand still & sideways, sport bikes could probably go under the belly of the beast without contact. Its the "standing still" part that is tricky. Will stay tooned' in. jp

Thanks for taking us with you! The photos and writing are top notch. Really enjoyed this.

Mornin Doc - sent you a PM - no hurry on response. johnpdaly@comcast.net Cheers, jp