It's a small, small world.....

We are constantly reminded just how small our world really is.....

Finding a Tim Horton's in Findlay, Ohio.....
Finding out a close friend lived in Ohio, not far from where we stayed, and still has friends there....
Getting ready to message a friend in Chicago to tell him we will be close by only to find out he is visiting New Brunswick....

The funniest one though was a conversation we were having as we rode the long route heading West.  We were passing cornfields and crossing state lines, when I happened to ask Larry if he had been through these states on his bike trips in a previous life (BC - Before Cindy).....At the time we had just crossed from Ohio through to Indiana and anticipated crossing into Illinois before days' ends....Larry indicated that he had been through these states but couldn't quite remember which route they had taken.  He then reminded me of a story he often told about camping behind this house with a lot of old vehicles in the back...it was a campground with a small store out front.  It was a story that always freaked him out as he said the old fellow who owned the place came out in the middle of the night with a shovel and bucket and did some "digging"...of course anyone who knows Larry also knows that sometimes speaking truth and "tooth" are two different things...but he did say he didn't sleep well and did keep his buck knife under his pillow...Not two minutes later I hear "Oh my God...that's the place!"...as we passed along route 224, just as we crossed into Indiana, there stood a house with a lot of old vehicles and an old store in the front.....I think I saw an old man in the back, digging.....

Our trip so far.....

• We have travelled 2,725 kms.
• We have ridden through 10 States so far - Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
• We have experienced all kinds of weather - heat, rain, thunder & lightening, and fog.
• The mid west is definitely flat and full of corn.
• Having been stopped on the Interstate in high heat, I now have a new respect for my Ontario brethren who have to use the Don Valley Parking Lot.
• As we rode through Troy, we wondered if Helen really did live there...
• The smaller communities are beautiful and the people are just as beautiful.

We didn't stop much today, but when we did we took a couple of pictures....mostly because it was just nice...One of the stops was a nice little family park...

Clowning around!

Shade for the horses!

Another stop we found the very first drive through for Coffee and Tea....at a grain elevator!

An actual drive thru for Coffee on 24W!

Quite the back drop!

We are looking to get an early start tomorrow.  Looks like there may be more interstate in the plans!

Heading West Young Man!

Finally done with the interstates....

This morning was a little slower getting going....we are just starting to get our groove on the road and now with the worst of the heat behind us (for now), we decided this would be an easy ride day.....it turned out to be easier than we thought.

We started on the I80 in a bit of rain and rode on to the I76 and I71.  We finally found Hwy 224 W and the day just got better from there...the ride through Akron, OH was the last bit of heavy interstate we encountered and happy to have that behind us for now.

The temperatures today really cooperated which also made for a much better ride....a nice 24C was a welcome reprieve from yesterdays heat.  Although we had a bit of rain, it still made for an enjoyable ride.

On the 224 we left all the traffic behind.  The clouds however continued to chase us...we did our best to dodge them as we were actually running through mostly farm country...not many stops or places to take cover...fortunately when we could no longer dodge the clouds, we came upon a BP gas station just as it started to rain,...we took cover under the canopy to put on our rain gear just as the skies opened up and the thunder and lightning show started.  One poor couple from nearby Findlay were not quite get as lucky...the rolled in not long after us coming off route 6, soaked to the bone.  As we got ready to leave the rain was slowing...we had another hours ride to Findlay where we would stop for the night.

Hwy 224 - Farm Country in Ohio

We got a room at the Hampton Inn (I am kinda liking the life of a Princess lol), showered up and headed to the Beer Barrel for supper.

On the table

On the menu

The Beer Barrel....unique place...they have their own app that you can order ahead and then pick up in a drive-thru...they have a huge menu....they have a ton of craft beer...they have great staff!...we each tried a beer flight (tasting of 6 different craft beer).....good thing we always walk to where we are eating!

We shared half a rack and then did half of the track!

.....and at the end of the evening, we plan our route for the next day........

Until tomorrow...when the adventure continues....

















The sunset as we walked back, seems to indicate a promising day tomorrow.  One thing for sure is that we weren't as tired at the end of today as we have been the last two.  As beautiful and as nice as the Interstate is, it still requires a great deal of engagement of all your senses to navigate, especially in heavy traffic.  The back roads are definitely a lot more fun and relaxing, even in the rain.

Where is Waldo...or the Johnsons...

Ready to roll on the next big adventure

We have covered a great deal of ground since we left on Wednesday afternoon....our first leg of the trip got us to Bangor, a little late in the evening but a least a good start to our trip.

We left at a good hour the next morning so we could hit the I95 and cover some ground.  We covered 4 interstates yesterday, two of them smooth sailing and the other two not so much...road construction on the I90 and an accident on the I84 meant we sat in the sun in stop and crawl traffic....and when I say sat, I mean baked....the temps ran between 30 and 35 C as we ran the bikes...stopping in the middle of heavy transport traffic in 40C temps is kind of like sitting in an Easy Bake Oven. By the time we reached Danbury, CT last night, we didn't even care that the Super 8 wasn't all that Super!  It didn't really matter as we were so tired and drained that a shower, a salad at McDonalds (closest place to eat) and a bed were all we needed.

This morning we were up early and on the road by 8:30.  We had a much better day with only one construction stop on the I84.  It wasn't as hot this morning.  Actually when we left it was raining but we drove out of it.  The temperatures were a lot cooler for a while.  We made frequent stops to drink water and have a snack, gas up and just simply take a bum break.  We rode 3 states today, CT, NY and PA.  We almost made it to Ohio today.  If it hadn't been for yesterday and today's stops on the interstates, we most definitely would have made it.  We did make one Love Stop!




So far we have almost 1700 km behind us....and only 4000 more to go!  We hope to be west of Cleveland tomorrow.

Tonight we found a nice spot in Dubois, PA.  Nice little town and the mall next to where we are staying has a wine shop from a winery only 45 minutes north of here...tonight we enjoy a little Autumn Leaves by The Winery at Wilcox....they use concord grapes....almost like drinking grape juice!