I Think We're Getting Spoiled

Well it's been awhile since we've updated and alot has happened since. We;re apporaching the 1,000 mile mark and are finally starting to feel like we're picking up the pace. A couple of days ago Bruce and myself were really getting discouraged because it felt like we were never going to make it to Portland anywhere close to the beginning of September. We figured at the beginning of the trip that we needed to average 60 miles a day including our days off. At this point we're probably close to 50 but the past couple of days we've hit 75 to 80 miles a day and its looking like we'll need to do that for the next week in order to hit the destinations we have lined up. The terrain has also started to level out so thats helped out quite a bit. Once we get through the next 30 miles of Pennsylvania it should really level out for awhile.


And the nice part has been our accomodations over the past week or so:

















In Sodus Point we had just set up our tents when the campground owner came up and told us she was going to move us into a cabin because there was a tornado coming. The storm ended up not being too bad but we still got the cabin. It was right on Lake Ontario and had a great view from our back porch.


The next night was not quite as nice. We had just started on the Erie Canalway Trail and there were no campgrounds along the 90 mile trail. We were told at a local bike shop that we could camp out at a lock where the University of Rochester had there rowing facilities. So we found a field right along the canal away from the road and set up camp. It was a really rainy and dreary day and we were all cold, wet and pretty miserable. It was probably the most depressing day of our trip so far, and of course it had to be my bithday. But they bought me a brownie cake so that made everything better.


The next night we stayed at an amish family's house. This picture doesnt really show much, but we all had nice beds which sure beat our tents. Plus we had some great cooking and good conversations. They were really into biking and had done some touring themselves so they were really interested in our trip.









The next day we biked through Niagra Falls. It was a little hectic with all the tourist traffic but most of the time we had a really nice recreational bike path to ride on. We continued riding after Niagra and thought that we were going to be staying at a campground in Fort Erie. But when we pulled up to the campground we found out that it had been shut down. The next camground was at least 20 miles away and it was already close to 6 and we were close to 70 miles at that point. So we decided to stay in a hotel. We were kinda disappointed because it wasnt raining and we weren't feeling like we needed the luxury of a campground that night, but we really had no other options. So we stayed at a Howard Johnsons, ate dinner at Wendys and hit Tim Hortons first thing in the morning for breakfast.


Our next night was in Jamestown, NY. A friend of my (shawn) fiances family had a cabin there and generously opened up his place to us. He even cooked up some incredible steaks for us. This was the first night that we actually sat around a campfire. Usually we're in bed by 8 so theres no point in starting one. But Rod's (the owner of the cabin) sons started one for us and we got to sit there by the lake and relax to end our evening.












And then came my favorite stop of the whole trip. Saturday night we pulled into Oil City, PA and stayed at my fiances families, the Myers, house for Saturday and Sunday night. My family, minus my sister Sonya came up Sunday to spend the day with us. We had quite the party. My parents brought shrimp and scallops with them and we had venison steak and chicken on the grill. It's going to be hard to go back to camp food after these past couple days.





The next week or so is going to be alot of the same. Every day or two for the next couple weeks, through Iowa, we have friends or relatives that we will be staying with. Its going to be a nice couple of weeks. It'll be at least a week before we have to set up our tent again.



I'll leave you with this picture, as you can tell we had a fun time in Oil City.