Blaze Set Free

Cars, trains, ships and planes, all have been our vehicles of transport as of late. The planes were to and from the west coast, a rental car, the Midway (aircraft carrier) and the train ride around Safari Park. We saw family, tourist sites, mastodon bones, signs warning of rattle snakes and mountain lions. Yet, when Lee said “let’s go to Connecticut this weekend” he was talking about getting there by motorcycle. No other mode of travel ever sounded so enticing.


Andy and I were itching to get on two wheels again, so neither of us needed convincing. When I slid the doors open to let Blaze free, she looked so forlorn; her fenders dusty, the seat cold. It had been a while since she’d escaped the confines of the stall. I am often struck by how motorcycles “feel” to me. Jade always felt like a young untamed colt; alert, ready for anything. Blaze is more stoic; seasoned, patient and always compliant no matter the situation. I tenderly brushed her clean of dust and pollen, spritzed the windshield to removed the dead bugs, and off we went.

Last year, EasyEd had taken us on some fine Connecticut roads, and we wanted to revisit a few of them. Connecticut is one beautiful state. Andy leads us on a hightail out of New Hampshire until we exited to route 44. Lee took over the lead at that point and we lunched at the Vanilla Bean. After a great lunch, a stop at the Gillette Castle was in order with the obligatory ferry ride across the Connecticut River. From there we meandered our way to the coast, enjoyed the smell of the ocean, and a glimpse of a lighthouse from our saddles. We retreated to our respective rooms to refresh and then headed out for an evening meal, this time with Debra for a foursome and enjoyed our meal, at Saigon City, despite the establishment’s chaos and confusion. Deb having taking the brunt of being delivered a drink she didn’t order, and her meal requests ignored. I ended up enjoying rice instead of the rice noodle clearly labeled on the menu.

The next morning, with Deb back off to NH, we mounted our steeds and headed off to see if we could get closer to that lighthouse. No such luck, so Lee pointed us toward the Devil’s Hopyard, where he understood we could enjoy the cool spray of a waterfall. Once we had enjoyed fully nature’s beauty, I suggested that Lee and Andy might like to glimpse the Frog Bridge. With that Lee pointed us toward Connecticut route 66 and the ride along these roads to our destination were magnificent indeed. While Lee seemed unimpressed with 11 foot frogs sitting sentinel on thread spools, Andy did get a kick out of the sight. With the day marching on, we lunched late and took to the highways once more, opening up the throttle and returning from whence we came. Blaze is tucked back in, feeling better for having kicked up some dust, but by no means satisfied with being confined again.