Day 2 Matamoras,Pa to Phoenicia,NY aka Catskills

We started our 2nd day in Matamoras,Pa at the Best Western indulging in the free breakfast buffet included with the room. Ate quite a bit and a variety of foods to fuel for the day. Had a fresh cooked waffle, swiss cheese omelette,home fries and lots of coffee. On the bikes by 815am and 1st stop less than 15 minutes down the road at Turkey Hill to get my obligatory 24oz Amp Energy drinks for in my water bottles! Headed up Route 209North and crossed the Delaware River at Port Jervis, NY. Kept heading north on Route 209 and headed into the hills and beginning of the Catskill Mountains, which are beautiful anytime, especially on bicycle. Took our food break past Huegenot,NY at a Stewarts store and had THE 2ND WORST CHILI I'VE EVER HAD! 1st worst was on a cross-country motorcycle trip 30 years ago! That's how memorable both these bowls of bad chili were. AMPED up and continued North and it wasn't too long until our 1st mechanical, hopefully our 1 and only flat on Richard's bike. I was absolutely no help other than taking pictures to record the moment for posterity. Passed Richards' Restaurant and Lounge then rode into Ellenville(no, Ellen Degeneres does not live here!)Stopped at the local Chevrolet dealer to check out the 1st of the new Camaros and photos will follow, Hot Car and lists under $30,000! Went up the road a bit further to one of our favorite fueling stops, DUNKIN DONUTS, more for the coffee and an egg white sandwich with cheese. Still riding North into spring with lots of flowers and trees in bloom with good colorful photos. In fact we rode past a gorgeous plant nursery, The Catskill Native Nursery of indigenous plants. The road through Tabasco! Spent a good deal of time climbing roads named Hill Road, Summittville, High Point Mountain Road, and the weather finally broke into a blue sky day as we approached the Ashokan Reservoir at Phoenicia. The causeway across the reservoir has been closed to car traffic since 9/11 but is open for pedestrians and bicycles. Gorgeous ride across the reservoir with lots of photo ops before we hit Route 28 then to Phoenicia in the heart of Catskills. We were supposed to meet Richards friend from Saugerties, Jason, at 630pm but we never even got into town until after 7pm. Got acquainted and headed to Brio's Pizza Parlor for garlic twists, hot wings, spaghetti with meatballs and 2 pizzas; 1 6 cheese w/goat,gouda,ricotta,mozzarella, and more and the other pie was Canadian Bacon w/onion. Truth be told the whole reason for riding like this is to afford us the opportunity to eat like PIGS! Even got dessert to go which I ate at about 3am the following morning by headlight. We stayed at the Cobblestone Motel, which had abolutely NO WI-FI SERVICE so was unable to download the ride to Garmin, post photos to Picassa or post ride on Blogspot. In bed by 11pm and supposed to start Day 3 at daybreak tomorrow.