Day 3 Eagle Point, NY to Franconia, NH

When I say the heavens had opened, this was an understatement. Perhaps if I said the heavens had collapsed would be more accurate. At 4:00am I was woken up by an almighty crack of lightening that was so close, it felt like it hit the tent. The sky illuminated with each strike as I wrapped my sleeping bag tighter around me hoping it would soon pass.

Eventually I managed to get back to sleep for a couple of hours however when I woke again, the rain still hadn’t let off. So I slid into my crocs and shuffled over to the shower block. Seeing as I had some time to kill, today was hair wash and dry day. I spent a long time pampering and getting myself feeling human again and guess what? When I came out it was still raining!

Roughly an hour later, the rain settled into spotting so we hurriedly packed away and loaded the bikes. Putting away the tent was particularly gross this morning, as so much dirt and debry was sticking to the soggy material and then attaching itself to me.

A little flustered with fresh mosquito bites added to our growing collection, we were soon back on the road. Thankfully the rain stopped and we quickly arrived at our first stop, Pitkins Restaurant.

American breakfasts are delicious but so big! Growing up, I always had “finish everything on your plate” drilled into me, so naturally I always want to clear my plate. Of course its almost impossible but I give it a good go!

This day was definitely my favourite day for riding. We rode through the incredible Green Mountain National Forest which I would love to do all over again. The twisty roads, hill climbs and decents made for a an excellent ride and the views were incredible. Of course I have no photos to show for this because I was having too much fun to stop, so you’ll just have to take my word for it!

Of course after experiencing such a ride I needed a coffee and little treat (sugar and fat don’t exist when you’re on holiday) so we made a stop to Dunkin’ Donuts… Again!

Soon we made our way into Vermount across the Lake Champlain Bridge. Before this bridge was demolished and rebuilt, the original bridge can be spotted in the film, What Lies Beneath. I can’t say I’ve seen it myself so I guess I’ll have to rewatch this classic and keep my eyes peeled for it!

Our next incredible ride for day 3 was through White Rock Mountain. I had so much fun I was giddy and kept shouting WEE! directly into the headset (much to Mitch’s delight… Not).

Again the twisty turns of this road were so exciting and a joy to ride. I honestly can’t remember the last time I had to much fun. Even the rain couldn’t spoil it, although it tried it’s best!

We needed to pull over to make some adjustments to the bags, so took a side road and what do you know? We ended up in a cemetery and I got this really cool photo. You can see the storm brewing beyond the tree’s making it particularly spooky.

We really wanted to make some distance today so decided to keep riding through to New Hampshire. Before getting there, we had to stop at Dog Mountain to see the Dog Chapel. We arrived too late to see inside but even the outside was worth the detour.

The Dog Chapel was built by late Folk Artist, Stephen Huneck. He suffered from Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome and once died for 5 whole minutes. On his recovery, he told his wife he wanted to, “build a chapel, one that celebrated the spiritual bond we have with our dogs, and that would be open to dogs and people. People of any faith or belief system.”

I don’t know what leaves me more in awe. Dying for five whole minutes and coming back or the Dog Chapel… Probably the Dog Chapel.

With time ticking and the rain now pouring (it really didn’t give us a break), we stopped at McDonald’s for some dinner and contemplate if we really wanted to set up camp in the rain. Although only on day three, we decided tonight was the night we stayed at a motel. The batteries to our headsets were dead, our battery for charging was dead, hand held radio was dead, phones were nearly dead and our enthusiasm we had that morning was on it’s way out to. It was time to get out of the rain, dry off all our belongings and recharge.

We stayed at the Stonybrook Motel and it was perfect. Once checked in, we pulled our bikes up to our room and unpacked. As I was carrying in the bags, I noticed something shiny on the floor so picked it up. It was an immaculate bolt with a washer on it. I thought to myself hmm.. What are the chances? It turns out the chances were in my favour as this bolt I had stumbled on was the exact size I needed to bolt my seat into place!

How lucky is that?

After showering and putting on some clothes that weren’t soggy, we rode to the nearest shop for snacks and had an early night in our seperate double beds. It was a luxury compared to our single sleeping mats!

As always thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed this post please let me know by leaving a like, comment or buying me a coffee. Also make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss the next post!