I've Been Everywhere

Last updated on 5/1/01.

Commitments and obligations being what they are, Cathy and I are finding it difficult to get out on the road together for any extended length of time.  Rallies and group rides almost never fall on weekends when we are together.

I found this "I've Been Everywhere Tour" on the Team Strange website and decided that we are going to give it a shot.  This is the perfect type of event to get people out and about to places they've never been before.   This page will be updated to show our progress in gathering as many of the locations listed in the song as possible.  Not all will be visited, but we will have a lot of fun trying.

5/6/00

We start.

Our first stop on the tour was Kingston, RI.   Close to home, good for a late Saturday afternoon spin.  The post office was easy to find, right next to URI.  Our next planned location was Washington RI.   Sad to say but Washington is a section of Coventry, there were none of the required proofs of the visit to be found.

6/4/00

Around Connecticut.

Our next ride out to pick up some IBET locations was also local.  Our plan was to leave the house in Waterford and see if we could add Boston, Washington, and Waterville CT to our list.  We didn't get going until 2:00 PM.  Interstate 95 south to Milford then the Merrit Pkwy to Rt. 58 north to Redding. Rt. 58 was a pleasure to ride. In Redding we traveled Cross Hwy to 53/107 then south 1.5 miles to Boston arriving   3:30.  Again we found that Boston was a small section of  another town and none of the required proof of the visit was available.  We then headed north up Rt. 53, through Danbury then 202 north to New Milford.  Rt. 109 from New Milford was a winding country road perfect for motorcycling and I was enjoying every minute.  It wasn't long before we came upon the sign indicating we were entering Washington.  A quick photo and we were back on the road.  South on 47 was another good road to Rt. 6 then on to Waterbury.  The sign indicating Waterville was easy to find, just off Rt. 8 on Thomaston Ave.  After documenting our second location of the day it was time to head home.  After a stop in Middletown for gas we arrived home 220 miles later around seven.  I was impressed with the many good motorcycling roads in western CT and glad that they are so close to home.

7/28/00

Trip to Maine. 

We decide to head north to visit relatives for the weekend.  The plan is to leave around 7:30 AM, pick up a few IBET locations and head to Toms house in Wiscasset in time for dinner.  We leave at 10:30 AM, three hours later than planned.  It's all interstate from Waterford CT. to our first stop in Winslow ME.  I-395 to Worcester, MA. then I-290 to I-495 through Lowell and onto I-95.  North I-95 through NH and into Maine.  A quick stop in Portland for gas and some refreshment and we hit the road again.   Several hours north we pull off exit 33 in Waterville and cross the Sebasticook River into Winslow and turn left onto Benton Ave looking for the police station.  A few moments of searching and we find it behind the town office building.  The sign is no more than some lettering on a glass door but I'm not going to complain after six hours and 290 or so miles.

OK, so it's 4:30 PM but we decide to press on.  We head up 139 from Winslow to 202, quite a refreshing change from the interstate.  Rolling hills and good road surface makes the 50 or so miles go by quickly.  The plan was to stop for the post office photo in Bangor, but I soon spy a city limit sign that will do.  No need to go into the traffic in town.  It's now about 5:45 and we realize that there is no way to make it to Wiscasset for supper, so on to Charleston.

From Bangor it's maybe 16 or so miles north on Rt. 15 to Charleston.  Seems easy enough, but the extremely slow traffic on this road makes the trip at least 30 minutes long.  From 15 we take a right onto 11 and are soon in Charleston.  No sign around, not much of anything for that matter.   Cathy sees a woman sitting outside her home and we ask about the post office.   Just down the road we find it.  A quick picture and were off.

We head back south on 15 to 202 to avoid the highway.  Through China to S. China then onto 32 to 218 along some very twisty roads in the dark to Wiscasset arriving about 9:30 PM.  Cathys first 500 mile day.

Our ride home on Monday was supposed to get us Boston and Black Rock MA.  But a late start and heavy rain changed our minds.   These we'll have to pick up on a day trip in the future.