Finding a hotel in Endicott and Vestal, New York

We were riding south through the Adirondack Mountains and decided that we’d need to take an interstate westward in order to get back to Illinois. I had to get back home in time to take the kids to our town’s annual festival. There were only a few highways to choose from to go west. We were already south of I-90 so we considered making our way over to I-86 or I-80. We were on the eastern side of New York near I-81 and there were no highway that headed west. We kept going south with the idea that we’d turn right (west) on a decent road and find our way like we usually do. Late that afternoon we didn’t make much progress west and found ourselves in a small town looking for a diner and hotel. We found a diner and had a small meal. We were off the highway and between small towns.

Inside the diner we ate and asked the waitress about the local area and hotels. A couple sitting at a table across the aisle heard us and join in conversation about riding motorcycles. Turns out this woman just had her Softail Deuce converted to a trike! We were surprised because the woman told us she was over 70 years old. Her and her husband has been riding for about 50 years. This couple had some good stories.

We got directions to a couple hotels with pubs near them. We were near two towns, Endicott and Vestal. The directions from the diner were simple. Problem is I made a wrong turn and got on a highway. I thought no big deal; we’ll simply get off at the next exit and work our way back on the road that parallels the highway. It was already dark and chilly. Somewhere along the way we forgot exactly what the folks at the diner told us. They either said stay in Endicott or STAY AWAY from hotels in Endicott.

We found the main street that fit the description given at the diner. We found the motel they told us about. The motel’s building was U shaped with parking in the center of the U. All the rooms opened outside to the center as well. In the middle of the building we found the door labeled Manager Office and stopped in front of the door. Still sitting on our bikes we peer through an open door beside the Manager Office. A shirtless fat guy was sitting up in a bed motioning us to come on over. I start looking at the remaining doors in the two story motel and see other people come out to the catwalk. We both got the feeling that we should not stay in this place. So we put the bikes in gear and zoomed away before we got shot or something.

We pulled into a gas station down the street from the motel and asked a gentleman if there were any other hotels in the area. We got some directions and went on our way. The next hotel was a pretty big 5 story building. We pulled into the parking lot at the end of the building and had to turn around to pass through a gate type entrance to the hotel that led under the building and into a parking lot on the back side of the building. As we turned the bikes around and rode through the gate, I noticed a bunch of women that came out and stood leaning against the hotel balcony on the main street. On the back side of the hotel we looked for the best place to park near the registration office. The parking lot was not very full. We turned the bikes off to talk before dismounting. A door on the second floor balcony is flung open. Out came a rough looking woman in a night gown waving us to come in. A quick look at the rest of the rooms alerted us to the newspaper taped inside all the windows. More doors started opening and it seemed like this hotel was filled with mental patients. Normally we may fit in but again we zoomed off a little bewildered thinking some of the folks in the diner that gave us directions were playing a prank on us by sending us to these two shady hotels. We think, did the diner folks tell us to stay in Endicott or STAY AWAY from hotels there.

We agreed to ride a short distance down the road and try one more hotel. We found one and pulled in front of the hotel. We stopped our bikes under the entrance at the hotel. This hotel type has a covered area for unloading luggage in front of the registration desk. We could see the hotel clerk standing inside behind the desk. We glanced at him a few times and it seemed he was eagerly waiting to see if we were going to stay. Again the area did not look desirable and no bar was within walking distance. We discussed trying the town on the other side of the highway. We made U-turns under the covered entrance. We looked at the hotel guy behind the counter and saw him clapping his hands and smiling. He was celebrating that the biker guys were not going to stay at his hotel. What a businessman! We conclude to stay away from Endicott!

We crossed the river and highway into the town of Vestal and immediately saw a difference. We found a new hotel with Wifi and complementary breakfast! Wahoo! Brad even grinded the night manager down and got us a good deal on the room.

We unpacked the bikes and walked down the street to the local bar. This was a great place. On our second round of drinks I handed the barmaid a twenty dollar bill and she gave me over thirty dollars in change! WAHOO! We can drink here and get paid for it! We were honest and corrected the mistake. We’ve had enough close calls without calling upon karma.

Lunch in the Adirondack Mountains...Twilight Zone!

At this point in our trip we’d decided to start making our way toward home.
We rode south through the Adirondack Mountains. More beautiful sights and curvy roads! We stopped in a small town called Chestertown, New York. At the filling station I asked a man if he could recommend a tasty place to eat lunch. He gave me directions down the street to a local pizza and sandwich shop. We road down the street and easily found the small pizza diner. While parking our motorcycles on the street we noticed a German motorcycle with side car turn into the motorcycle shop beside the pizza diner. Two men in their late 40’s or 50’s were riding the bike and side car. We walk over to them while one gentleman was still sitting inside the side car and the other standing real close to the motorcycle and looking down. Brad made a comment such as nice bike or how does that side car ride. Neither of the two men looked up at us. We thought perhaps they didn’t hear us so we side stepped around the bike just as you would walk around a bike on display at a bike show. We said some more comments and these guys still did not even acknowledge that we were standing there. In my mind I heard that music from the Twilight Zone!

We turned and walked to the pizza diner. We were the only customers and hungry. We sat at a table in the window and the waitress handed us a set of menus. We ordered a calzone and a nacho appetizer to split. It turned out to be way too much food for us. Anyway the waitress returns with our drinks. The soda came in those white Styrofoam cups. There was no ice! I figured they had a refrigerator with those two liter bottles of sodas to serve the customers. This seemed similar to a restaurant we stopped at while in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Brad ordered some water and the cup came with more ice than water! He was puzzled about why the soda had no ice but the water did. As we waited for the food we looked at the map and tried to determine if we should turn west toward Syracuse or get on the freeway toward Schenectady before turning west. We decided to go toward Schenectady and then our conversation turned toward the small motorcycle shop next door and those men not acknowledging our presence.

Our food arrives. The waitress places the food on the table adjacent to us. We look at her puzzled and she nonchalantly asks if we need anything else before walking away. This confirms that the Twilight Zone music I heard in my head was real! Brad and I had to stand up and get our food from the table beside us. This was crazy! Was the waitress afraid to get too close to us? Is the practice of setting the food on a different table related to the no ice in the soda but ice in the water? Did we smell? Did this have something to do with the two men outside the diner ignoring us? Is it possible that we found the Twilight Zone in the Adirondack Mountains? Perhaps we did!

Vermont to Missisqoui Bay, Quebec

So far in our trip we’ve stuck to our rules to avoid chain restaurants and to make no reservations or definite plans. We did have a few goals such as riding to the Atlantic Coast, eating some Maine Lobster, perhaps cross in to Canada and make our route plans on the fly. We’ve completed our goals except for crossing into Canada. So we set a direct course through Vermont into Canada. The road through the mountains took us past more “Bear Crossing” signs and through some big patches of fog. Some of the trees were changing colors and we saw patches of red along the course. It was common to ride to the top of a mountain and look off to one side and see a small town nestled in the valley below.

We reached the Canadian border crossing. There was no traffic and only about three cars crossing the border. The Canadian border agent started out speaking French but switched to English one he realized that I could not get past bonjour! The agent asked my purpose for the visit so I told him the abbreviated version of our motorcycle trip. He asked where in Canada we planned to visit. I told him that our plan is to ride around Missisqoui Bay then perhaps cross into New York. Once we crossed all the signs were in French. It was pretty neat and made us feel like we entered another country.

On the other side of the bay we stopped at the Duty Free shop at the U.S. border. I bought a few souvenirs and noticed the stop signs in the parking lot had the English word under the French writing. We entered the line at the border and noticed that the west side of the bay was much busier. We turned off the motorcycle engines and coasted the bikes as we waited in line. I noticed a border patrol agent walking between the lines of vehicles. He bent down and placed a package on the underside of a pickup truck then walked away. Several minutes later another agent with a working dog weaved between the vehicles. The dog walked past the truck then turned around quickly. The dog smelled whatever was in that package. He passed the test.

Last year Brad got in trouble at the American border near Niagara Falls. He parked his motorcycle too close to mine. The border agent made him push his motorcycle back and was talking very sternly. This year Brad kept his distance and waited to be called upon before moving the bike forward. I was first so I shut off the engine so I could converse with the border agent. I had my passport and was answering all the questions. The agent asked if I bought anything in Canada. I answered with an exact list; I purchased some post cards, refrigerator magnet, and a hockey puck. The agent gave a big grin thinking my shopping list was comical. He asked if I rode all the way to Canada to buy a post card and hockey puck.  I said yes, my son plays hockey adn is a fan. He asked if I visited anywhere else while in Canada. I quickly replied by stating that we crossed on the east side of the bay from Vermont. We rode up route 133 turned onto route 202 and then to route 15. The agent was a little stunned and asked again how many times I visited this area. I told him that it was my first time. He examined the dash of my motorcycle closer while asking if I had a Tom Tom navigation system. I told him that I didn’t have one. I have a paper map and I was the navigator for our trip. Brad tells people that he doesn’t need a Tom Tom. He has a Bill Bill to navigate. It seems that we spend more time at the check points returning to the U.S. than we do leaving. Missisqoui Bay was pretty but uneventful. Perhaps it was out timing. It was still mid morning when we crossed into New York. Oh well, we still have good memories from last year in Sudbury!

New Hampshire to Vermont

After a late night telling stories in Laconia we got back on the bikes and found some more covered bridges. Some were closed to vehicle traffic. We walked through them and enjoyed walking along the streams. Some of the streams reminded us of wading through the streams aboard Quantico during our Marine Corps training. It was training in Quantico where Brad & I met for the first time about 11years ago. Unlike the streams in Virginia these streams and roads had moose crossing signs! That day in New Hampshire we saw many Moose Crossing and Deere Crossing signs. In Vermont we saw Bear Crossing signs too!

We spend most of the day riding the back roads of New Hampshire. We did cross into Vermont over the Cornish-Windsor Bridge built in 1866 pictured here. The bridge had a wooden floor and two lanes for traffic. When we crossed into Vermont we stopped for fuel. We did not see any welcome to Vermont sign so we asked the policemen in the parking lot where the Welcome to Vermont sign was. The policeman told us that a truck hit the sign and knocked it down. Another sign was not far away. The policeman told us to turn left out of the gas station, go to the next stop light; turn left and we’d see another sign. So we figured it was simple and short. Usually when someone says go to the next stop light we think it may be a city block at most. Well, this stop light was over 5 miles away. It turned out to be a nice curvy road but not so close! We found the sign and took a snap shot.

After riding some more curvy roads we crossed Quechee Gorge. There was a little gift shop there that sold souvenirs including the well known Maple Syrup candy. About half a piece is all I could handle-it is sweet! It melts in your mouth! Who knows how many calories are in a small piece. Our stomachs were telling us that it was dinner time but all the diners around the Gorge were closed. We ended up crossing back into New Hampshire and eating at a restaurant and pub I think was called Seven. Not sure of the name but we closed the pub down talking with a few business travelers that were there for the night.

Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire then to Laconia

We crossed the state line into New Hampshire. We rode through White Mountain National Forest and ended up in Conway. We met some bikers who told us about the famous covered bridges. They suggested that since we rode all the way to New Hampshire we have to ride the well known Kanacamagus Highway. They invited us to follow them to the Kanaca Highway toward Lincoln. We rode with them for several hours. The Kancamagus Highway took us through so beautiful mountains. Nice curvy roads with green trees all around us. I bet this would be an excellent ride in the fall when the trees are changing colors.

We had lunch in North Woodstock at the Woodstock Inn. We sat outside and there was another group of motorcyclists dining there too. We started talking about our adventures. A couple members of the group were riding from Ohio. We were familiar with parts of Ohio. Recall Brad & I stopped in Wadsworth, Ohio last year. So we told the story about meeting the U.S. Olympian, Gary Broadband, who is a boomerang champion in Ohio. The couple from Ohio had met him too! Small world! You can read in the archives from 2008 about our stop Wadsworth. It was kinda funny that a group of tough bikers were eating outside at a small town diner in Woodstock talking about boomerangs of all things.

The Woodstock Inn had great food. It was actually a restaurant, pub and bed and breakfast. It has its own brewery too! A moose was waiting in the foyer. We sat on the moose’s lap for a picture here. This town seemed like a great place to say but we wanted to enjoy the curvy and scenic roads a little more.

After lunch we set a course to find some of these covered bridges we heard about. We found a few and we rode around the lake where the movie ‘On Golden Pond” was filmed. Squam Lake is where the movie was filmed and I think we passed some of the houses from the movie! We continued and ended up near Lake Winnipesaukee and into Laconia. Laconia is famous for having an annual motorcycle rally. The streets are a little easier to navigate without all the rally visitors. We ate dinner and found a cabin to stay in for the night. The cabin was right on a waterway. We found ourselves in small bar on the Laconia strip telling stories until it closed. Then we walked back to the cabin hoping some of the other residents were still sitting outside around a campfire but it was too late no one was around. This seemed like a really nice place to spend a vacation. There is a train station, beach, great restaurants and pubs. We may have to visit Laconia again some time!

Leaving Bangor, Maine on Route 2

In Bangor we washed laundry, completed our college homework and got some rest. The next morning we took the most direct route west toward New Hampshire and Vermont. It was route 2 which was not a major highway. The route is heavily traveled. We saw the stimulus money at work first hand. It seemed that every half mile we had to stop at a flag person due to construction. The construction spots closed one lane so we had to wait until oncoming traffic finished with the lane then the flag person would give us a turn. At many of these spots the wait was long enough to turn off the engines while we waited. Despite the road construction we could not have asked for better weather. The temperatures were in the 60s to low 80’s during the day. Not too cold and not too hot for riding. The small towns we rode through on route two were neat. We stopped at a post office in Palmyra, Maine to mail some post cards. Brad almost had the postal worker to close up and join us on the ride. Back on the road we came to so signs that said welcome to Mexico! I am the navigator and didn’t realize we’d turned south. It was a small town called Mexico, Maine. I was still on course to find New Hampshire. I figured it should be difficult as long as we headed west.

We were enjoying the country side. Riding in and out of small towns and kept stopping for the construction projects. It seemed like the entire road from outside Bangor to the state line was being resurfaced. I’ve seen many road construction spots but we came to one that was a little different. Brad noticed workers suspended from the side of a mountain drilling and blasting away the rock so the road can be widened. Brad has experience hang from mountains drilling and blasting making room for a road in Alaska. So on our left there is a rock face of a mountain with construction workers and on our right sides was a river. We were accustomed to the signs alerting us of “flagman ahead” but we saw a sign that said “Road Ends.” There was no place to turn; a sheet of rock to our left and river to the right. Being the navigator I was getting a little concerned. The pavement gave way to a dirt road. We were in a turn and wondered if we should have turned around because there was no trail or anything. Then ahead of us in the turn I saw a tractor trailer coming toward us. I figured if that truck didn’t get stuck in the dirt then we should be ok. After continuing forward we did come to a spot where the pavement started again. I suppose we’d only had to turn around if the road sign said “dead end.” When the “pavement ends” we just keep going until we find pavement again.

Bar Harbor to Bangor- Bill's Orange Vest.

After seeing the top of Cadillac Mountain, Brad and I spend the second half of the day tooling around Bar Harbor then decided to start heading west toward Bangor. The sun started to set and riding west into the sun is not a good idea no matter how dark your sunglasses are. So near Bangor Maine we stopped to get gas and directions to an affordable hotel. I fueled up, moved my motorcycle out of the way and went inside the gas station shop. I noted that this shop had two pay phones hanging inside with two old fashioned phone booths painted on the wall behind them so it appeared the pay phones were in the painted phone booths. I thought it was neat since phone booths are becoming a thing of the past. I'll try to take more pictures next time...

I walked back outside and Brad is talking to another customer pumping gas. This guy is associated with the military too such as the National Guardor Army Reserve. So we got to talking for some time. We got directions to a good hotel and bar near the airport in Bangor. Brad and I start talking about motorcycle vests. Notice our pictures - Brad wears a leather vest proudly displaying his ride pins. Bill wears the orange vest that meets the military regulations and no ride pins. Bill actually out grew his leather vest and is too cheap to buy a larger one! Anyway Brad told me that many people were asking him questions about his pins and the vest was causing others to start conversations. He suggested that I stop wearing my orange vest and wear my leather vest with pins because no one will come up and start talking to me about my vest! Well later we find our way to the hotel. While unpacking our bikes a woman comes up to me in the hotel parking lot telling me that I have a cool orange vest! So ha! Turns out that woman wears one just like mine! My orange vest does get attention and invites people to talk to me.

We did laundry at the hotel. The hotel even had complementary laundry detergent and scented dryer sheets! I know we are tough bikers but we like clean and fresh smelling clothes. We ate dinner at a bar near the hotel and planned to continue west thought New Hampshire and Vermont tofind some covered bridges we heard about.

Acadia National Park and Cadillac Mountain

After lunch at the Bar Harbor Lobster Pound we rode into Acadia National Park. We stopped at the entrance so Brad could tighten up his shifter peg that was coming loose. Good thing he had his tool kit with an allen wrench that fit! I took a picture of the Acadia sign to use in the 2009 ABC’s of Touring Contest. That is the picture above.

We started riding up Cadillac Mountain and stopped at the first scenic pull over that overlooked Frenchmen Bay. From 1613 to 1760 the French occupied the small islands pictured and battled the English for possession of the islands. By 1800 Bar Harbor became known as a popular summer resort with pleasure boats. I suppose it is still known as a resort with some pleasure boats. The bay with the islands and mountains is a great back drop for a vacation!

We slowly rode up Cadillac Mountain’s smooth and curvy road. The road had large rocks in lieu of a traditional steel guide rail. Yes, guide rail-some say guard rail but I read somewhere where a civil engineer referred to the rail as a guide rail to guide vehicles through a curve. I think the use of natural rocks was a great idea on this breath taking road. The road was cut into the rock of the mountain and there was an occasional small waterfall over the rocks.

At the top of Cadillac Mountain we found a small gift shop and some walking trails. I bought some post cards at the gift shop and then found Brad out on one of the trails. He renamed the mountain Cardiac Mountain! Here are some pictures from the top of the mountain. Notice the view of the bay and islands. There was a wooden fence across the rocks to keep us from stepping on some sort of moss. Beautiful views! I would really like to see the views in the early fall when the trees are full of colors.
We were walking toward our motorcycles and noticed two more motorcycles had parked next to ours. There was a tall white haired man and his bride bending over reading the names of the states listed on the license plates. As Brad and I got closer we heard the gentleman call out Illinois and Utah. We quickly responded that those were our bikes. The four of us stood behind the motorcycles at the top of the mountain. We initially spoke about our trip and how Brad & I met and started our annual rides. Then the gentleman’s bride…I am calling her his bride because they looked so happy together! I am sure it has been many decades since they were newlyweds! Anyway the woman told us about her husband being on a satellite radio talk show a couple weeks prior. The radio DJs had her husband talking about taxing methane gas from cow droppings. There was a proposal to tax farmers per cow due to the amount of gas cows produce. I am still puzzled about this conversation but it was comical. Later Brad handed the couple our 2BikerGuys card. The gentlemen replied by handing us one of his cards. He turned out to be a State Representative for Maine! That just made the cow gas tax conversation even more comical. He did not endorse the tax simply an entertaining conversation. As the Representative handed us the card told us to give him a call sometime. Brad is witty and asks if we can call in him to get out of jail while on our bike trip. This caught the gentleman off guard and he stated that he wasn’t sure about that. So we asked if we could simply hold the card up when we ride past the toll gates without paying!

Route 1 to Bar Harbor, Maine. September 1, 2009

Gregg, the General Manager, at Bentley’s gave us directions to Big Moose Harley Davidson in Portland. The service department at Big Moose installed a new rear tire while we ate breakfast that Monday morning. They even washed three days of rainy road grime off Bill’s bike. While at Big Moose’s we pulled out our paper maps and had some fellow customers help plot our course north on highway 1 and 3 toward Acadia National Park at Bar Harbor.

Along the way to Bar Harbor we learned about the Penobscot Expedition of 1779. The bridge behind us in the picture was taken at a point on the trail where American Colonist fought a disastrous battle against the British during the Revolution. The failure caused the Colonist to sink or burn over 40 ships to keep the British from taking using them.

Along highway 1 and 3 there were many roadside signs advertising fresh wild blueberries. This area had wild blueberry everything including blueberry soda and beer! Our favorite roadside business was the Lobster Pounds. The lobster pounds were common along our route to Bar Harbor. These pounds had tanks of live lobsters waiting to be ordered and cooked. We stopped at one near Bar Harbor for lunch. We ate a fresh lobster dinner, some shrimp and Brad ate 2 pounds of clams. It was a bit pricy compared to the lobsters at Bentley’s. We experienced the fresh Maine lobster, clams and shrimp. The lobster was pretty good. The clams were ok and we discovered than Maine shrimp was very small like popcorn shrimp.

Rhode Island to Maine (Bentley’s) August 30, 2009

Bentley’s Saloon http://www.bentleyssaloon.com was really easy to find off highway 1. We arrived long before lunch and were the first customers there on this Sunday morning. One of Brad’s goals for this trip was to eat some Maine Lobster. Luckily for us Bentley’s was having a lobster cook! We got two large lobsters with side dishes for only $15! There was a crane/claw machine where you could try to catch your own lobster. Since the people were friendly, food was tasty, drinks priced well and Bentley’s had a few hotel rooms onsite we decided to park the bikes for the day and stay. Brad was still telling stories after last call! Great People! Great time!
Oh, we have to thank the bartender once again for being patient with us…we opened and closed our tab many times and I think she was getting a little bewildered as to why. We were trying to keep track of our spending and the pay as you go works best. Of course if we ran out of money I am sure we’d figure out some way to work off out tab – we’ll give Brad an open microphone for entertainment!

There were a few organized motorcycle rides from New Hampshire and Massachusetts that stopped Bentley’s on August 30th. A custom bike builder had a booth set up and was raffling off a custom motorcycle. There was literally hundreds of motorcyclist there. Brad and I were telling stories of our rides and people wanted to see what kind of motorcycles we were riding. So we’d walk them out to the bikes and let them see our Illinois and Utah license plates. After the fourth trip to the parking lot we thought we’d better stop before someone thought we were selling something illegal from our saddle bags. All we were doing was handing out our business cards for this blog site—honest! I had to write this for the policeman and dispatcher who made sure we did not drink and ride that night!

Here is a picture of the unique grill with handle bars at Bentley’s and the “No Burn Out” signs on the parking lot. Notice the tread on Bill’s rear tire. I failed to mention why riding through the Catskill Mountains with those switch back turns was so exiting. It was exciting because it was pouring rain and Bill’s rear tire was BALD!!!

Connecticut to Rhode Island

While in Putnam, Connecticut we heard reference to a great biker place called Bentley’s Saloon in Arundel, Maine. The next morning our plan was to ride through the northern corner of Rhode Island and then head for Bentley’s for lunch. We entered Rhode Island on highway 44 and took a photo at the state sign. We didn’t see much of Rhode Island…by the time we put on our brakes to stop again we realized we had left the state already! We found ourselves in Massachusetts pretty quick that morning and decided to ride the 495 around Boston. On the 495 we noticed many signs advertising tax free alcohol. There were no more than a couple miles between each package store along the highway. Later we found out that alcohol was cheaper in Massachusetts than Maine due to taxes.

New York and Connecticut Rainy Ride

Brad and Bill stayed in Ellicottville Thursday evening and rode through the Southern Tier of New York all day Friday. The roads were twisty and curvy through the mountains. The mountain sides were green and refreshing. Small farms were spread though-out the ride. Some houses had little signs to sell molasses, eggs and even baby piglets! We saw an old cannon with a stack of cannon balls in front of one house-some neat little villages. We stopped for lunch at a Greek restaurant in a town called Apalachin off highway 17. Bill tried some Greek food-some hamburger wrapped in grape leaves. It was pretty good!

It rained most of the day on Friday. We had an exhilarating ride through the Catskill Mountains, crossed the Hudson River and stopped at Poughkeepsie for the night. Our challenge was to find a nice hotel. The rain was pouring down so drinking a coke and asking for directions seemed like a good thing to do. We stopped at Gentlemen Jim’s Restaurant and Pub to get directions. We walked in the bar side wearing our rain gear and dripping wet. There was standing room only and no two barstools together at the bar. This was a popular place. Luckily for us there were two widows eating at the bar who were kind enough to move over to give us room beside them. That was the ice breaker Brad needed. Soon we had so many recommendations to hotels and bars that it was tough to decide which one to select. We ended up at the Grand Hotel and walked, in the rain, down to the Derby Pub. We had a great time sharing stories with some good folks there….one guy could not comprehend that we were really on our bikes riding to anywhere!
Saturday was another wet and rainy day. We rode highway 44 through Connecticut. The roads had many sharp turns covered with mature green trees. The rain got much harder as the day went on. Our feet were wet and the rain had penetrated our rain suits. It was time to stop and dry out! We stopped a small town called Putnam and found the Kings Inn which is a hotel with a Mexican restaurant beside it. We did not take any pictures due to the heavy rain and fog.