24th October
I wake early, to a grey cold wintry morning. After a shower (bath rusty, shower curtain torn, soap dish broken) and a cup of coffee (filter jug cracked), I leave the worst maintained motel I’ve yet stayed in and ride through downtown Rutland. For the benefit of Marion (Matron on UKGSer), who lives in Rutland, UK, here’s a picture of the main street…
…and the Post Office/Court House…
- not too exciting, eh?
I head out of town on Highway 4, towards the New York State border. Just into New York, I stop for breakfast (I’d decided not to risk the ‘complimentary continental breakfast’ at the EconoLodge – if it was in line with the rest of the motel, it’d be no great loss…). I choose a very run down looking diner…
…which had a foolproof recommendation – lots of cars in the car park. I’m not disappointed - Wilma and her husband produce an excellent breakfast, served with coffee that you can stand your spoon up in – I don’t need to switch my heated jacket on for half an hour afterwards.
A little further down the road is the Washington Correctional Institute…
…a grim looking prison (is there another sort?). The USA imprisons more of its citizens than any other country…
I’m soon riding through Saratoga Springs, a very pleasant town, bustling on this cold Sunday morning…
…it has several pieces of ‘horse sculpture’ – this was my favourite…
Pressing on, I notice that the whole area looks like it has a degree age to it – the houses, often brick or stone built, look old and are often well maintained…
…this is a Bed & Breakfast. These differ considerably from B&Bs in the UK, in that they would be a very expensive place to stay (at least $100-140 per night, as opposed to the $30-70 I’m paying for an hotel room). If I were touring Europe, then B&Bs would be the way to go – let’s face it, it’s a great way to converse with locals – but here it would be prohibitively expensive…
The towns here are occasionally quite traditional in appearance – not the series of strip-malls which seems to characterise US towns over the whole country – this is Fort Plain – almost out of Back to the Future…
…with the local newspaper office sporting a beautiful old clock, which chimed just as I was taking this picture, scaring the poo out of me…
I continue down the Mohawk Valley, a good road with wide, sweeping bends, as it follows the Mohawk River.
I get as far as Utica and start getting some lip from Bettie. I ask for the route to avoid major roads and, for some reason, she keeps trying to send me down the Interstate for the next 200+ miles. I decide to stop for the day and plan the rest of the route on the laptop tonight, before loading it into Bettie, in order to show her who’s boss…
I wake early, to a grey cold wintry morning. After a shower (bath rusty, shower curtain torn, soap dish broken) and a cup of coffee (filter jug cracked), I leave the worst maintained motel I’ve yet stayed in and ride through downtown Rutland. For the benefit of Marion (Matron on UKGSer), who lives in Rutland, UK, here’s a picture of the main street…
…and the Post Office/Court House…
- not too exciting, eh?
I head out of town on Highway 4, towards the New York State border. Just into New York, I stop for breakfast (I’d decided not to risk the ‘complimentary continental breakfast’ at the EconoLodge – if it was in line with the rest of the motel, it’d be no great loss…). I choose a very run down looking diner…
…which had a foolproof recommendation – lots of cars in the car park. I’m not disappointed - Wilma and her husband produce an excellent breakfast, served with coffee that you can stand your spoon up in – I don’t need to switch my heated jacket on for half an hour afterwards.
A little further down the road is the Washington Correctional Institute…
…a grim looking prison (is there another sort?). The USA imprisons more of its citizens than any other country…
I’m soon riding through Saratoga Springs, a very pleasant town, bustling on this cold Sunday morning…
…it has several pieces of ‘horse sculpture’ – this was my favourite…
Pressing on, I notice that the whole area looks like it has a degree age to it – the houses, often brick or stone built, look old and are often well maintained…
…this is a Bed & Breakfast. These differ considerably from B&Bs in the UK, in that they would be a very expensive place to stay (at least $100-140 per night, as opposed to the $30-70 I’m paying for an hotel room). If I were touring Europe, then B&Bs would be the way to go – let’s face it, it’s a great way to converse with locals – but here it would be prohibitively expensive…
The towns here are occasionally quite traditional in appearance – not the series of strip-malls which seems to characterise US towns over the whole country – this is Fort Plain – almost out of Back to the Future…
…with the local newspaper office sporting a beautiful old clock, which chimed just as I was taking this picture, scaring the poo out of me…
I continue down the Mohawk Valley, a good road with wide, sweeping bends, as it follows the Mohawk River.
I get as far as Utica and start getting some lip from Bettie. I ask for the route to avoid major roads and, for some reason, she keeps trying to send me down the Interstate for the next 200+ miles. I decide to stop for the day and plan the rest of the route on the laptop tonight, before loading it into Bettie, in order to show her who’s boss…