Napoleon, Ohio, July 23rd

Marcia: Finally...I am a few miles ahead of Tim and have found a lovely library in a sweet little Ohio town/city. We have been so tired come evening, that even if we can find internet we have trouble putting coherent thoughts together. Well, I do anyway. Tim is going strong, amazing athlete that he is. When he arrived at our adorable little cottage on Lake Erie at Firefly Campground yesterday afternoon (our first anniversary) he was carrying a bouquet of flowers which he had been keeping in one hand and steering the bike with the other for over four miles in the rain. I picked a good one!

I'll tuck in some pictures here from the road...although I'm already forgetting the name of towns where they were taken. Our first night in a hotel a few days back when Tim was riding on the Erie Canalway we took a walk downtown and came upon a jazz band concert. 

Here is an approximation of our route. Wow...when I look at where we are today it seems mighty short so far compared to how long it has felt. Ok...I'll try not to think too far ahead! One day at a time...

We have a great end of day and morning routine well established. I set up camp while he is coming in at the end of the day. We cook together, and in the morning he makes the essential coffee, while I pack up our little tent and he loads up all the rest. And off we go for the day's adventures. 

Lake Ontario...this picture does not do justice to its vast and stunning beauty.

Hand cut hay stacks in Amish country. 

Our favorite campsite so far....

Tim enjoying the Erie Canal bike path...a wonderful ride. Someone should make a bike path all the way across the country. Really. Someone should.

After a particularly tough day of riding on our Anniversary eve...a cup of wine in his hand he sat down and said "I should probably get up, but I'm not sure how..."

This little cottage was just rustic and fun, and the chair lined view of the beach below was lovely.

This is completely out of order here, but it is us at Niagra Falls on an incredibly hot hot day with a bazillion other people. But when you are in the vicinity, you just have to do it, you know?

Tim: (Typed up from his voice memos as he rides along....) Day 6 included three states, starting in New York, riding through the vineyards as far as the eye can see of Pennsylvania, and into Ohio. I think I did 100 miles of nice rolling terrain, feeling good. Off to the urban jungle of Cleveland tomorrow.

Day seven...call it Cleveland. The Cleveland woes. Started out by having to go about four miles out of the way to get back on the route. Then headed into the suburbs of Cleveland along lake Erie. Beautiful gated communities with unfortunately street detours that added to the mileage, with construction, and into Cleveland proper. This included more detours, tricky maps to follow, and finally meeting up with my wife at Lakewood Park right on Lake Erie. I was so relieved to see her after 74 miles of riding before lunch. I then rode along through the western end of Cleveland to a beautiful little purple cottage at Firefly campground to celebrate our one year anniversary with a lovely dinner at a French restaurant in Vermilion. 

Marcia: All is well... we are both doing great...I stopped at a car dealership this morning to figure out a few issues with my little Honda. They helped me right out and got me back on the road free of charge. Ohio folks are some of the nicest people we've met so far, which makes the little snags along the way so much easier to get around. We'll write more another day when the coverage is good. Missing our family and friends....we send our love to all.