Frank playing helmet hockey with his duct-taped shoe!
Delaware WaterGap Overlook at WaterGap PA
From: dje@mail.bellcore.com (Don Eilenberger) Date: Thu, 15 Jun 95 21:24:05 EDT Subject: BMW: Fandango part Deux (Episode three of several) LONG
We last saw our motorcyclists in Stone Church PA[1], after a minor repair of one riders shoe, filling of the bikes with expensive fuel, and a cool off of a root beer float..
We continued on north on PA Rt. 611 through Mount Bethel, on to Portland where the road turned basically north again. While stopped at a light in Portland, Frank indicated to me that he REALLY needed to buy some new shoes, since the temporary repair didn't seem to be holding (but it did look quite stylish with the duct tape around the toe of the shoe).. so we wandered the two blocks that is Portland, without finding anyplace that looked as if it would sell shoes. Finally, Frank suggested we pull into a service station and see if they knew where he could purchase a new pair of shoes... which meant I had to ask.
We were told of an outlet mall 'up the road a bit' where there would be shoes. It only took us about three tries to actually find the entrance to the outlet mall (the entrance was to the east, the outlet mall itself was to the west of 611 - go figure..).
In the mall was an outlet sneakers store, where I left Frank do the talking. I stayed near the bikes, and ended up in a conversation with a gentleman who was the mall security.
He'd moved to the area about 20 years before, and since then hadn't been more than 20 miles from where he worked. He didn't seem to feel the need to go anywhere. He thought that when he got 'old' he would retire and get a motorcycle - his son has a Harley that he won't let his dad ride. I finally managed to find out that he was only two years older than I am, and several decades younger than Frank.
Finally Frank returned - yelling at me "You wouldn't believe what these sneakers cost (he had on a pair of Adidas [pronounced ad-di-das]!!" "$40!" I guessed - and was right. So we continued northward with Frank now attired in vinyl jacket, flannel shirt, jeans and Ad-di-das sneakers.
We soon entered Stroudsburg[2] PA (or it could have been East Stroudsburg - the maps aren't real clear). We were seeking PA State Rt. 209 north, which was a bit of a challenge to find. It finally ended up with us on US Interstate 80 for two miles or so - the only interstate highway we were to travel on for the entire trip - which was good. It is a bit unnerving to be traveling along a highway where the average speed is between 70-80MPH, when the slowest bike in our pack was resolutely doing 50MPH.. big things come up on you VERY fast. Luckily, after a short while I was able to breathe again, as our exit came up (but - why did we have to go west to get on Rt. 80, then east again to get on Rt. 209??)
PA State Rt. 209 in the section between Bushkill PA and the top of the Delaware Water Gap is a spectacular road, with some nice pullovers where you can view different aspects of the Water Gap. It's more or less like you could imagine a road going through a miniature Grand Canyon, about 1/2 way up the south wall. On the western side is usually a stone face carved out of the mountains for the road, on the eastern side, a low stone wall, and a drop down to the river, way below. It reminds me also of Coast One in California, but flipped.. and in this case the river was below, not the ocean. More than one photo was taken of FrankenCycle with the water gap in the background.
While Rt. 209 is fairly heavily traveled - it was the scenic route, and the traffic was never an annoyance. This was a section of road which I wish lasted much longer - but after about 45 minutes we were out of the Delaware Scenic River Park area and headed into Milford PA looking for a place to stay and eat.
I had been in Milford PA many times over the past few years, since it is on the way to the Boy Scout camp in New York State that I go to with my son each summer. Milford was where I got very nostalgic last summer when I saw hundreds of BMW's on their way to the MOA national rally at Modus.. and I was in my cage (BMW - but still a cage), watching them heading north (it was one morning when I 'escaped' from the camp for a few hours..). Downtown Milford really is Rt. 209, and lining it are several restaurants, a wonderful commercial building (done in a 1800's French style, complete with crests cast into the walls), and no place really to stay.
We had seen a BIG SIGN coming into Milford about the Milford Inn - which turned out to be a dining establishment which didn't appear to offer lodging. There was another establishment in town, which did offer itself as a more-or- less bed and breakfast, after circling it, it not only appeared closed and it had not heard of air-conditioning..
Since the temperature was still in the 90's (degs F) - I was more or less looking for someplace to cool off. We went north of Milford a ways on 209, and found two more or less mom-and-pop motels - where unfortunately, the rooms were directly facing the highway and only about 50 feet from the edge of the road, I knew these would not be quiet places to stay.
Finally we circled though the choices several times - at one point stopping, Frank suggesting that I "ask someone." When we stopped, Frank managed to find the only hole in this parking lot to put his left foot in.. resulting in his bike doing a 120 degree list to the left, and Frank tumbling across the lot a few feet.
Luckily - nothing was broken or injured. A passing motorist stopped quickly and helped us get Frank's bike upright.. Frank was in more or less a panic, thinking that oil was leaking out. Once it was upright, I suggested he smell the "oil" - and as I suspected - it was gasoline dissolving the asphalt pavement. Luckily the thrill of the spill seemed to make Frank forget that he wanted me to "ask someone", so we continued onward.
Finally at this point, I gave up on Milford PA and decided we should continue north a bit. Frank made some food and fuel noises, but basically was subdued after his brush with bruising. About 2 miles north of Milford, we found a Best Western, a veritable sultans rest! Restaurant, bar, pool, refrigerated air, free ice - what more could one want?
Oh - a room with the bikes right outside - no problem!
We'll leave the travelers at this point - about to experience their first night 'on-the-road'.. waiting for Bronson[3] to pull up to tell them what to do next.
[1] Stone Church PA - it would seem that with a name like this, a church would feature prominently in the local scenery.. but for the life of me I don't recall seeing any church anywhere around Stone Church. It would also seem as if a stone church wouldn't burn down - so it should still exist - does anyone know??
[2] Stroudsburg PA - is where you will find LOTS of people named Eilenberger. It is more or less the center of Eilenberger's in the United States. Our branch of the family descends from the Stroudsburg clan, but broke off from them about 1900, due to an unfortunate marriage.
When I was a kid - I thought we were the ONLY Eilenberger's in the world, until one day, we were crossing the bridge (TOLL) between the Delaware Water Gap and Stroudsburg (or East Stroudsburg - never too sure about this), when my father noticed the nameplate on the toll-takers booth, it was something like Harry Eilenberger. My father was surprised, and said "My name is Eilenberger!!". The toll taker said "So what?" This surprised my father even more, and even more so surprised me - my father had talked to someone in the toll booth - and that someone had talked back.. and I'd seen the name Eilenberger on something besides an envelope or report card. Things like this just didn't happen often when I was a kid!
My parents have recently taken to "looking up roots" - and have gone to Stroudsburg and the surrounding area (probably East Stroudsburg) - and found that there is an 'Eilenberger Street', there are heaps of Eilenberger's buried in the Lutheran graveyards - dating back to about 1710, and really NO ONE thinks anything of being an Eilenberger.. after all, one was once Governor of Pennsylvania, and later Postmaster General of the US of A.. and several were ner-do-wells.
Frank and I just continued onwards from Stroudsburg (or East Stroudsburg - whatever).
[3] Bronson - just the week before the trip, somehow I got in a discussion (I think I was being ragged) with my wife - and son - about boring TV shows. In the mid 1970's there was a TV show called "Then Came Bronson" - starring Michael Parks as a loner, riding his Harley around the country experiencing life, and bettering the lives of everyone he came in contact with.
There was a fair amount of un-reality to the show - first, the Harley never broke down - second, Bronson didn't seem to need a source of income - third, Bronson always left town being loved by one and all. (This has never been the reality of any Harley owners I've met - but of course YMMV..) Does this plot sound familiar??
My wife claimed (my son had never seen it) that there was NO dialog in the show at all.. I claimed that it was a minimalist motorcyclist's show, and dialog was unnecessary (as was money or a change of clothes for Bronson). My wife claimed it was BORING - I claimed it was great (just on general principles - when I'm being ragged, I tend to start to snap back.)
Anyway - it was another inspiration for dreams - more or less a motorcyclist's "Rt. 66" with a lot less talking than Buzz and Todd did (which is OK by me - and it wasn't boring.)
Don Eilenberger, SIE Bellcore 331 Newman Springs Rd. RM 3X224 Red Bank, NJ 07701