International Travel Alert (credit cards, talk, data, text)

I made a few telephone calls for Jim when we were on the  Digby Bay Ferry to Nova Scotia on July 17, 2013. One of his credit cards was declined & we learned that the credit cardcompanies needed to be notified prior to leaving the United States. I then checked my data information and it appeared as if I had plenty of text, minutes and data but I did see 3 overages. I did not know what that meant but I did paid extra on my cell bill in addition to setting aside a few extra dollars just in case. A few hours later, I received a text from AT&T stating to call them and the call is free. It turned out that I used 8.7 MB of data at $15.00 per MB at a cost of $131.00. I got an international plan for $30.00 for 100MB of data and they waived $100.00. This plan did not include calls or text and a few days later I called to actually find out and was told that I used  23 minutes at $23.00 dollars. This was a dollar per minute. Again I got another $30.00 international plan giving me 80 minutes and they put the 23 minutes under the plan. I also got a $10.00 international plan for text. All minutes, data, text and voice mail is included even if I do not answer the telephone. It was suggested that I turn off the cell telephone while on the Harley.

JUST BE AWARE

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

On Monday, July 29, 2013, The Marriot Hotel in Springfield Massachusetts extended the courtesy of holding our luggage while we visited the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. We learned that this present location is the 3^rd one. It keeps growing.

It was established in 1959. Funds were raised and the building opened on February 17, 1968. This was at the Springfield College where Naismith invented the sport in 1891. Seventeen years later and more than 630,000 visitors, a new building was constructed beside the Connecticut River and recognized women for the first time. This was in 1985. In 2002, the new building was moved 100 yards into a $47 million facility. To date, the hall honors 314 individuals and 9 teams.

James Naismith invented basketball in the winter of 1831. He was a 30 year old physical education instructor from the local YMCA in Springfield. He wanted a game that could be played between football and baseball. He was interested in the development of the triangular relationship between the mind, body & spirit of young people.

Jim and I were there for about 2 ½ hours. After coat checking my helmet, the hall took our picture and we purchased it once we completed our touring. There were two floors of exhibits and the first floor was a basketball court. People of all ages were having fun shooting balls. We read so many informational boards; saw trophies, rings, pictures, interactive stations and other exhibits. We, of course took pictures. It was so much fun. I knew that Jim would enjoy it, but I was surprised how much I, too enjoyed it.

The Kancamagus Highway

We did the Kancamagus Highway when we were in New Hampshire on our way to Canada. That, as you know was several weeks ago. We are now, closer to home. It is a 34 mile scenic highway, also known as "The Kanc" and is located in the White Mountain National Forest. We saw so many beautiful Highways & byways and we climbed/rode so many mountains on this trip. There were times when Jim said that some of them reminded him of the Dragon's Tail of which we did last year. The Dragon's Tail was 11 miles and 318 curves.

Cadillac Mountain

I am reflecting back to what we did when we were in Maine several weeks ago. On July 15th we were in the town of Bar Harbor and  on that day, we rode Cadillac Mountain. It is in Acadia National Park and at 1,532 feet, it is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard and is the first place to view sunrise. Wish I could have seen this.  This mountain is actually in the city of Bar Harbor, Maine. The mountain is composed of pink granite. It is a winding scenic road that was officially opened in 1931. There are several small observation points along the way. They also have informational boards to read about the sites. This was another beautiful & breathtaking experience.

Springfield Massachusetts

Today we rode from Bangor, Maine to Spingfield, Massachusetts. We rode about 350 miles that included going through Parts of New Hampshire again. We travelled to Springfield to visit the Basketball Hall of Fame. That is our task for tomorrow, Monday, July 29, 2013.

Today we learned that Springfield was called, "the City in the Country" but today, it is called " the City of Firsts". The game of  basketball, the gasoline powered automobile, frozen foods and the post card all originated in Springfield.

Our Daily Travel Routine

Once we find a hotel for the evening, unpack what observers can not believe we have on the Harley,  (5 black bags), get into the room, we start our routine. The first thing I usually do is find ice for Jim's drink. The first thing Jim does is fall on the bed or video the room. After that, we immediately look for electric outlets. We must recharge all of our electronics. These include: the video camera, the GPS, my camera, Jim's camera, my iPhone and Jim's iPod. Some hotels have enough outlets and at others, we unplug lamps or coffee pots. We must re-charge every night. We also turn on the weather channel for the next day's forcast and we pull out the maps to determine our route and mileage for the next day.

Laundry

Last night we went to the Springhill Laundry in Bangor, Maine. So far we did laundry about 4 times but this was the first time that we did not do it in the hotel. It wasn't bad. We used one 30lb washer but two dryers so it did not take us over two hours to complete this task. They had 45lb & 62lb washers. This was a new experience for me.