Ready for some great riding in New Hampshire

We had a reasonably short day today. Ted had a low tire on his Road King and had called the Harley dealer in Portland Maine. They assured him they could help him out but when we pulled into the Big Moose Harley-Davidson dealership right at opening time, the service department told Ted that it would be HOURS before they could get to him. Now I know that some of you reading this are Harley owners who have had to make an emergency drop in at a Harley dealer while on a road trip. Have any of you EVER been treated like this? The one time we needed emergency work done on David's Ultra while on a trip we were moved to the front of the line by the service people at Pikeville (KY) Harley-Davidson. From others I hear the same thing. Big Moose Harley-Davidson apparently doesn't care for the traveling motorcyclist who needs help.

We rode on west on US-302 - a gorgeous highway through tall trees and deep blue lakes. We had breakfast a small diner where omelets and generous portions of meat ruled. One neat thing was the coffee bar - just like it sounds with various coffees and condiments.

By late morning we had made it to Conway, New Hampshire, where there was another Harley dealer - but this one is closed on Wednesdays. About this time we were trying to decide what to do for a hotel in the White Mountain region. We have plans to stay in the area for three days and we want a nice place and don't want to settle for a place like we had last in Old Orchard Beach.

While looking through the ads in the discount book and trying to decide what town to stay in, Wanda suggested a place that was advertised. The hotel was just a few miles up the road so we went to check it out. Ted, David, and Dale went in to inquire about room availability and what kind of rate could we get booking three rooms for three nights. They struck a bargain and we are in North Conway, New Hampshire tonight through Saturday morning. The place is wonderfully posh with three pools, a sauna, a whirlpool, laundry facilities, and restaurant on site. There are also several restaurants within walking distance and an outlet mall. In addition, the Mount Washington Auto Road is just 20 miles from here. We have an extremely good base from which to launch a few rides into the White Mountains.

One interesting side note: when we were going out for a bite of lunch, with me leading, to Conway, I couldn't find the place we had set out for. A trip through town and even asking a few people was no help. On the outskirts of town and just where the Kancamagus starts (one of the rides on our 'must do' list), I turned down a street that I had hoped would circle us back into to town. It was a dead end street. While we were getting turned around, Ted noticed a motorcycle repair shop with a big Harley sign out front and a rack of Harley tires at the side. He stopped and talked to the owner. Bottom line - this garage can do the tire for Ted and at a very good price and we would not have found it if I hadn't made the wrong turn. :-)