Washington Crossing Historic Park

I had another Polar Bear Ride but the meeting place was at a motorcycle dealership in Hatfield, PA with nothing interesting to see nearby.  The location is 70 miles from my house so I plan my route to pass through George Washington Crossing Historic Park.  The temperature was going to be in the mid 30's and I can only imagine how cold it must have been when Washington crossed the Delaware river on December 25th, 1776 with the river half frozen.  Washington's Crossing is a U.S. National Historic Landmark area and it marks the location of where George Washington crossed the Delaware River during the American Revolutionary War.  The park includes historic buildings including McConkey's Ferry Inn, where General George Washington and his aides ate dinner and made plans prior to the crossing.   I am sure everyone knows the famous painting by Emanuel Leutze depicting the crossing.

Emanuel Leutze oil on canvas

I decide to ride alone today and when I ride alone I tend to stop more and take more pictures.  Sometimes it feels good to ride alone. I open my garage to get the bike out and was greeted by 28 degrees (-2.222 degree Celsius) but it felt way colder because it was windy outside.  I suit up and for the first time this season had to plug in my heated vest. Nicely insulated I hit the road going towards Trenton on I195 and then follow route 29 along the Delaware river.  Traveling at 80 mph made the air feel like it was in the 20's with the windchill effect.  My first stop is on the New Jersey side near the metal bridge that crosses the river at the Washington Crossing.

I cross the river but decide to continue and spend time at the park on the way back.  I head towards New Hope on route 32 and then take route 202 west making a right onto route 309 and a few miles later arrive at the Montgomeryville Cycle dealership, it's a quick 29 miles with not much traffic on the road.  The place is already packed with riders.  I head inside to take refuge from the cold and find the perfect couch to take a rest.

I walk around admiring all the new bikes but if I had to pick two, one for solo riding and one to take my wife, they would be the beautiful flat black Kawasaki Vulcan custom and the red Kawasaki Nomad.  I have always loved the Vulcan's and miss my old Mean Streak.

The store has a plethora of old bikes on display and I spend some time admiring them and particularly the 2-stroke, 3 cylinder Kawasaki 500.  I still remember the wailing the 2-stroke engines made when I was a kid.  I join my friends and have some hot chili with corn bread the dealer had graciously made for us.

I leave the dealer and retrace my steps back to New Hope where I make my next stop near the historic "New Hope and Ivyland Railroad" station.  The steam train travels through the rolling hills and valleys of historic Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  I take a few shots as the train leaves the station and wave at the kids.

I continue south on route 32 now heading towards the Washington Crossing Park and eight miles later I arrive at the park.  I leave the bike near an old canon while I walk around admiring the old and historic buildings.  These historic buildings have been well maintained and offer an opportunity to see how people lived in the past.  They are closed during the winter season but otherwise are open to the public.

I walk over to the metal bridge using the pedestrian walkway as the bridge is quite narrow and cars have to be very careful when passing each other.  I then walk across the street to the Washington Crossing Inn where I take a picture of the monument depicting the famous crossing.

I leave the park and head home stopping again about an hour later to get a few shots of the bike with the sunset behind.  I take the first silhouette of the bike holding the camera and then decide to put the camera on the ground and use the timer to take the shot.  I didn't compose, I simply put the camera on the ground and pressed the shutter, how surprised I was when I reviewed the picture and saw a beautiful shot with the sun peeking through the opening on the bike just below the carburetors.   I then took another shot with the camera in "sunset" mode only to get another beautiful silhouette this time with me in the shot.

I went home having completed around 140 miles on the coldest day so far this year, the highest number I saw on the thermometer was 37 degrees.  The entire east coast is under a cold spell and they are predicting very cold weather for the next few weeks. Tonight is going to be in the upper 20's and the entire week will be in the mid 30's.  How I wish I was back on route 50 in Nevada with the thermometer showing 105 like last July during my cross country trip.