Almost to New Hope

Peddler's Village

This morning, with one of the possibly last good weather forecasts in the season, my wife and I decided to go out to New Hope in the MG.  The forecast called for light cloud cover with a high of 68 degrees and no rain so we headed out the door a little after 09:00.

We planned a route that would take us there via back roads bypassing the highways.  It would have been simpler to go out 276 to York Rd and then follow that out to 202 into New Hope but we wanted to see some foliage and we felt that we could get a better ride if we avoided the highways.

We followed Matsonford Road through West Conshohocken and across the Schuylkill into Conshohocken were Matsonford turns into Butler Pike. Between our house and West Conshohocken, the road runs through some pretty wooded areas but once you get close to the borough it turns urban until the other side of Conshohocken by Cold Point Hill.  There Butler Pike makes a hard left dogleg and it's best to follow that to avoid Cold Point Hill road which is narrow and steep.  This is a really pretty area with country road feel and lots of foliage.  Buttler Pike continues with that character all the way out to the crossing of Prophesy Creek into the Village of Ambler, which is a really cool little town with shops, restaurants, and great architecture.  Of course, I would leave the house without my cameras again.  I am going to have to make a ride check list to include all the things we need to have before hitting the road!

Shortly after Ambler we made a right on Horsham and stopped at the Wawa there for refueling.  Then we made a turn around the southern end of the Air Guard flight line to continue on Maple Avenue, following that to York Road.

Once on York we continued out to make the link to 202.  There was some construction on York but there is also some very nice country out that way.  A lot more open than before with farms and clear fields all around.

Shortly after getting on 202, we got a little spitting from the clouds.  Not rain, just three drops but enough to give me pause.  We decided not to continue on to New Hope but to stop at Peddler's Village and asses the situation.  We also needed to be back by 14:00 and by now it was 10:45.  With time for lunch and sightseeing we would have been pressed to make out to New Hope.

From the Buttonwood Grill window

The rain did not materialize but we stopped did some window shopping and had lunch at The Buttonwood Grill.  Our waitress recommended their burgers which are rated Best of Bucks.  I had that.  Being and In-N-Out snob I am always disappointed by other burgers but hope springs eternal.  It wasn't a bad burger but like most places they can not grasp the concept of an onion slice even when you ask for it and it fell short of my expectations.  I will never learn.

We left the Buttonwood at 12:30 and decided to head back on 202 to save on time since we only had an hour and half to get home.  The coolest event of the ride happened shortly after we left the restaurant.  As we approached Durham Road, I noticed a guy in a Military C5 Royal Enfield waiting to make a right onto 202.  I gave him a big wave and he waved back.  He followed me and the next red light I turned around and we talked Enfields for a bit.  It's really nice to run into a Bulleteer on the road!

The return was fairly uneventful except that 202 makes a hard right dog leg shortly after East Germantown Pike at Johnson Hwy without any signage that I could see.  There you have a one way facing you and no clear direction.  I supposed I should have figured to go right but I went left and had to maneuver through Conshohocken to find Matsonford Rd. again.  Once there it was easy.  Because of the mishap with 202 we got home by 13:45 instead of my targeted 13:30 but still within time for our 14:00 schedule.

The day was overcast but nice, cool enough without being cold.  The ride out had some really good areas and some not so much but overall it was enjoyable.  When we go back to New Hope we will follow this route again.  Also, we will put Ambler on the list of ride destinations.  The ride back was not bad either, there are some portions of 202 that are not highway like so that was good.  In the highway like portions, I had the MG cruising at 65 mph without any issues so that is good to know.  Mechanically there were no problems during this ride.