What is the strangest place that you sought shelter during a rainstorm?

[SilverGirl]

shelter from the storm

Back in 1984, I took my first trip (or second?) to Nova Scotia with my then husband. Memory is a bit hazy but I'll never forget the rain we found ourselves in. I was still fairly green at riding and by the time we got to Route 9 in Maine (the Airline as it was known then; this was several years before it got repaved and straightened) we had been in the rain for a while and the temps were in maybe the low 60s and dropping as we headed north. I just got colder and colder and wetter and wetter (Yes! even with the Dry Rider!) and the logging trucks were getting more and more unnerving and there were NOOOOO places to stop. Just miles and miles of pine and spruce trees. Finally, there was a general store at the side of the road so we pulled off and asked if maybe? there was somewhere to stay? We were at a point halfway between Bangor and Calais and there was nothing in either direction. The store owner said he might know of a place we could stay though. He knew someone who had an old mobile home a short ways from there and after a phone call we were given directions to get to this dwelling and told it would be open when we got there. It was a short ride off the main road and sure enough there was an old dilapidated mobile home sitting in a field. And blessedly, it had electricity and heat. It was a godsend to me. We decorated the inside of that place with all of our sopping wet gear and turned the heat up to about 90 degrees.

Next day we got up and got on the bikes in the pouring rain and continued north. I don't recall being cold for that leg of the ride up to Calais and then to St. John to the ferry. Got on and off the ferry in pouring rain too. That was the first time I encountered wet oily steel decking to ride on. Ended up finding a campsite that was open and we holed up in our tent for the next 3 days. Wind was so bad both bikes got blown over even though they were on their center stands. Halifax got clobbered with that storm and had millions of dollars worth of damage. After 3 days the sun came out and the entire rest of the trip was sunny and warm and beautiful in the way that only Nova Scotia can be beautiful.

After many many trips to Nova Scotia, to this day I have never been able to ride the Atlantic seacoast of Nova Scotia and been dry.

~Louise

 

[BC1100S]

On a trip into New Hampshire a buddy and I decided to ride up Mt. Washington. About 20C at the bottom and fr-fr-freezing at the top - in July. It was late in the day when we got back to the bottom so we decided to make camp for the night. Woke up to pissing rain. Its always fun packing up your tent and sleeping bag while simultaneously getting soaking wet, right?

Anyway, off we go heading west towards Toronto. Made it as far as Watertown, NY while battling rain and wind the entire way. The only dry part of me was my head thanks to my full-face helmet. There was no way were going to camp and we figured we'd splurge and spend the night in a Holiday Inn. Pull up to the reception area and go and stand at Check In. As a puddle of water gathered at my feet, the lovely girl at the desk advised us that they were full and so was every other hotel/motel/B&B/hourly-rated accommodation in town - firefighter convention. My buddy and I looked at each other and then back to the clerk..."Do you have anything at all where we can lay our heads for the night? We'll take anything at all - broom closet, pool maintenance shed, lawn mower storage hut - anything."

Her: "Well, we have a conference room that you could use but you'd have to be out by 7:00 am. It has no beds or couches but we could give you some sheets, blankets and pillows to put on the carpeted floor."

Us: "Does it by any chance have an accessible shower?" (Not that it would have made any difference at that point)

Her: "Yes, it does."

Us: "WE'LL TAKE IT! Uh, how much?"

Her: "Well, uh, how does 10 bucks for the two of you sound?"

The next morning dawned sunny and warm. We had a great ride home and, all these years later, I still get a warm feeling when I think of that angel-in-disguise behind the counter at the Holiday Inn, Watertown.

 

[Anyname]

Back in 1984, I took my first trip (or second?) to Nova Scotia with my then husband. Memory is a bit hazy but I'll never forget the rain we found ourselves in. I was still fairly green at riding and by the time we got to Route 9 in Maine (the Airline as it was known then; this was several years before it got repaved and straightened) we had been in the rain for a while and the temps were in maybe the low 60s and dropping as we headed north. I just got colder and colder and wetter and wetter (Yes! even with the Dry Rider!) and the logging trucks were getting more and more unnerving and there were NOOOOO places to stop. Just miles and miles of pine and spruce trees. Finally, there was a general store at the side of the road so we pulled off and asked if maybe? there was somewhere to stay? We were at a point halfway between Bangor and Calais and there was nothing in either direction. The store owner said he might know of a place we could stay though. He knew someone who had an old mobile home a short ways from there and after a phone call we were given directions to get to this dwelling and told it would be open when we got there. It was a short ride off the main road and sure enough there was an old dilapidated mobile home sitting in a field. And blessedly, it had electricity and heat. It was a godsend to me. We decorated the inside of that place with all of our sopping wet gear and turned the heat up to about 90 degrees.

Next day we got up and got on the bikes in the pouring rain and continued north. I don't recall being cold for that leg of the ride up to Calais and then to St. John to the ferry. Got on and off the ferry in pouring rain too. That was the first time I encountered wet oily steel decking to ride on. Ended up finding a campsite that was open and we holed up in our tent for the next 3 days. Wind was so bad both bikes got blown over even though they were on their center stands. Halifax got clobbered with that storm and had millions of dollars worth of damage. After 3 days the sun came out and the entire rest of the trip was sunny and warm and beautiful in the way that only Nova Scotia can be beautiful.

After many many trips to Nova Scotia, to this day I have never been able to ride the Atlantic seacoast of Nova Scotia and been dry.

~Louise

You found shelter on the Airline? I used to drive that when taking my son to university in Halifax NS. It seemed to me that there were only a few abandoned house trailers between Bangor and Calais. That and signs for places like TWP 28, we used to joke that TWP stood for town without people.

 

[ramble]

Amazing coincidence, about the airline highway , we were told it was so named because the planes used it as a navigation aid to the north. As it turned out we were coming from Eastport , heading south, and hiked to a restaurant/motel. As they say, "We were in a tight spot", stranded, low on fuel. I approached a guy in uniform, a DNR officer, and explained our situation. As it turned out we slept in our tent, after he ordered a fellow subordinate, to drive us to Old Town for fuel and whatever else we needed. 2 days later the weather cleared and we headed towards Ohio.

 

[6322]

In 2014, while crossing Michigan's UP, I rode into some heavy thunderstorms. Coming into Escanaba, I found a micro brewery (Hereford and Hops), to ride out the storm. Well..., it was five o'clock somewhere...

 

[179212]

Corn storage building

I have used a building ( machine shed ) that was used to store a very big pile of corn had reinforced walls up so high than corn piled in until the angle of repose hits the top of reinforced walls which had holes for multiple bin fans which connect to large perforated plastic tubs so stored corn can be aerated.
The times I used building it was empty it sits next to a state highway one end almost completely open, rode in to put on rain liner in riding jacket, building at the time had a few pieces of farm equipment stored in it and it was still large enough so I was able to practice some slow speed maneuvers while waiting for rain to stop. The building is on Illinois Route 54 and twice I have been lucky enough to be close to it when the rain came.

 

[OldNuke]

Front entry overhang at a Mennonite church in western Minnesota.

 

[henzilla]

A covered loading dock with forklift ramp in view from rain/ hail battered visor. Only structure in view for miles.
Rode up ramp like I owned the place to amazement of workers standing inside open dock roll up doors. After dismounting to ask if I was OK to be there, an offer to have a warm cup and a sandwich came quickly. Good stop!

H and I were camping at National Park off the Cabot Trail and ran our still set up tent and gear to open group shelter right as bottom fell out to break camp down. The other campers gave us kudos for fast moving efforts. We left in steady rain as forecast wasn’t pretty.