New Hampshire

“Since ‘The Kank’ has no gas stations, stores, or hamburger clowns on its 34-mile stretch to Conway,” wrote Gary McKechnie in his book, Great American Motorcycle Tours, “the town of Lincoln has thoughtfully added a flood of ugly stores and smelly things. Race past these and into some of the most mind-boggling alpine scenery and rideable roads you’ll encounter. Goose it to 60 and get into the rhythm of the road, but be prepared to brake when you reach some 20 mph hairpin turns that deliver you to scenic viewing areas such as the Hancock Overlook.”

These words came to mind as I followed a Suzuki GSX-R rider, not nearly able to match his speed or corner-carving prowess and bemoaning the fact that my rental car had an automatic slushbox instead of a proper stick. But that was the only complaint I had, and it was a minor one. After all, here I was in the White Mountains in a Ford Mustang convertible — much better than, say, a Ford Focus I thought I was going to get from the rental car agency — and the weather was gorgeous enough to have to top down all day. And the alpine scenery was, well, mind-boggling all right. Continue reading »

One could probably say that my northeastern U.S. trip started sub-optimally. After sleeping only one hour, I was blasted out of bed by my 100-decibel alarm clock at 3:30am and due to my grogginess, driving down towards the Denver International Airport was quite a chore. (Should’ve taken the Shamrock shuttle instead.) Then, on my Southwest flight to Manchester, NH, I was completely enveloped by the Texan Congregation of Fatsos which made sitting (much less sleeping) quite uncomfortable.

The woes of the morning were suddenly erased when I arrived at the Manchester airport, with just one sentence from the girl at the rental car agency (Budget) that I had a reservation with. Continue reading »