There's no place like home / Map Update

Landed Tuesday night.
Updated map is at:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC1UpW3rhn20.kXzlxwL_jFp8&usp=sharing

Fin

Lots of rain in the forecast for the coming week.
Decided not to continue to Boston.
Flying instead today from Quebec to SFO via Philadelphia.
Took a nice local ride in Quebec to Montmorency Falls about 20 kilometers north of Quebec City , along bike trails.  Then rolled across the bridge to Iil Saint Laurent, then back to the city to get the bike put into a box.

Why I love Quebec City

Raining all day.
Just more opportunities for fine food.
Had the best fine dining experience that I think I've ever had.
Pics:

Le Patriarche menu.  My dinner was the one on the left.

My bouche was very amused.

Clam Chowder with fixin's

3 kinds of Halibut.  The one on the right included a tempura of smoked halibut with squid ink on top of a halibut mousse.

3 kinds of lamb:  Sausages, Ravioli on top of a tenderloin, Shoulder wrapped in bacon (very tender).

A strawberry orgy dessert

An overcast day in Quebec City.

View of Chateau Frontenac from the Citadel.

Se si bon

Hopped a train Saturday morning to Toronto.  Then another GO train up to Ajax, which is about 30 miles north of Toronto. Rode to Coburg and  stayed in a lovely B&B with hosts Ruth Anne.
Rode to Nappanee, near Kingston the next morning.
Then on to Perth, followed by Ottawa, one of my favorite cities. Ottawa has an extensive system of bike trails especially along the Ottawa River which I had the pleasure of riding into town on a tail wind.
On the next day rode to Lachute, then into Montreal.  A fine dinner at Pegase .
Had excellent croissants early this morning at three different bakeries before heading up the bike route towards Quebec City.

Falls guys & fries

After 2 days of goofing off in Toronto  I hopped on the train to Niagara Falls to meet up with my brother in law Dave & my nephew Aaron.

Canadian French fries are a source of national pride as well they should be. there is a new chain of poutine fast food in Toronto , Smokes. I had lunch there yesterday... bacon and pulled pork poutine.  Most excellent.

Niagara Falls view from Canada

With nephew Aaron and brother-in-Law Dave at the falls.

Through Michigan into Canada

Crossed Lake Michigan (7/9)  on the Lake Express ferry,  then biked another 45 miles to Grand Rapids, mostly along bike trails.
The next day stayed in East Lansing on the campus of Michigan State University.
Then to Novi to visit my cousin Ariella, Ian, and their new baby, Mia.
From Novi to Marine City for the border crossing on the ferry  across the St. Clair River into Canada.
http://bluewaterferry.com/

First night's stay in Canada (7/13) was in the small town of Strathroy, at the Clock Tower Inn which is in the building originally designed to be the town's post office, built in the late 1800's.  The next morning it was raining hard, so I took a taxi about 15 miles into London, the nearest city.  Spent most of the rest of the day trying to get Canadian cell phone service. A very frustrating experience.
To make up for the lost day from rain, I took the train from London to Oakdale, then rode  30 miles along  Lake Ontario into Toronto. Enjoyed excellent lunch at the Richmond grill.
Plan to chill out here until Friday morning, when I will take a train to Niagara Falls to meet my nephew and my brother in law.

Wisconsin - frozen custard mecca

Wisconsin has an extensive network of rails-to-trails.  Much of it unpaved, but some of it paved. Along one of them, near Madison, was a pair of very interesting birds.  If anyone knows what they are, please comment.

What kind of bird is this?

Stayed at lovely bed and breakfast on Ripley lake on 7/7 evening.  

7/9 was the great frozen custard ride:

Wales, WI.  Near Glacial Drumlin Bike Trail

Leon's in Milwaukee - best ever!

Stayed in Milwaukee, downtown. Some really good scallops with pork belly and cauliflower at Bacchus, with a view of Lake Michigan.

Bacchus, on the lake in Milwaukee.

Took the Lake Shore Express ferry, then rode to Grand Rapids on the paved Musketawa Trail.  Settled in for the night on the SW side of Grand Rapids .

On the banks of the mighty Mississippi

7/4  About  30 miles east of Carroll, on the way to Ames,  is the small town of Jefferson, home of Bunkers Dunkers donuts which of course I had to check out .

On 7/5 I stopped in Grundy Center  for the night ,  which is about 25  miles  west of Cedar Falls Iowa. It rained most of the day today, so I got a cab to Cedar Falls, then rented a car to drive to Dubuque.

7/4: Nice family run donut shop in Jefferson IA, between Carroll and Ames

Missouri Valley 7/2.

7/6 :  Rainy day... took taxi about 25 miles to Cedar Falls from Grundy Center, IA.

Waitin' for the rain to stop

I'm now about 65 miles west of Omaha, and it started raining pretty hard. I pulled into a  convenience store/gas station to dry out, and wait out the storm.   The good news is that the rain is probably going to stop in about an hour and I should be able to make my destination this evening which is Missouri Valley, about 25 miles north of Omaha.
The past several days have been along US 30.  The most striking feature of US 30 is the long trains that pass with full coal cars going east and empty coal cars going west.  Most are over one mile long.

The larger towns have Walmarts and mostly shuttered downtowns as a result.

Total miles ridden so far :  1,910.

From the Mountains to the Prairies...

A 1500 foot climb from Walden, CO while under attack from mosquitoes.  Ended up with about 25 bites.
Then the fun part... a 2000-foot drop over about 6 miles.  Settled into Laramie WY for the night.

Biking on I-80 

After a 2000-foot climb on I-80 to get out of Laramie, I was on Happy Jack road.. Click to listen:

Rest stop on I-80 at the summit east of Laramie

Rest stop on I-80 at the summit east of Laramie

Pretty Rocky country about 30 mi. E of Laramie

Wind farm about 20 miles West of Cheyenne.

  

While passing the wind farm, my music player was set for shuffle.  Click to hear what came on 

Gas is cheap in Cheyenne.

Fields of Yellow Flowers in Eastern Wyoming.

Train after train on US 30

Across the Great Divide

Started my day with a small let down.

No donuts for the fat guy today!

Went to Creekside Cafe and Grill instead for an excellent breakfast with homemade corned beef hash to fuel the arduous climb to rabbit ears summit

The "rabbit ears" of rabbit ears pass

On the Continental Divide in 2015

Same guy at the same spot in 1985

Rocky Mountain High

Arrived in Steamboat Springs tonight.
After going through the tiny towns of Rangely and Meeker.
Spent last night in Craig which is on US 40.  Craig is big enough to have a Super Walmart, so dinner last night consisted of: sweet corn, cantaloupe, and cereal.

Corn comes out pretty well in the hotel room microwave.

There are three marijuana stores in Steamboat Springs and of course I had to check one out.  Things sure have changed since the seventies.  The array of products offered is staggering.

Tomorrow, I climb Rabbit Ears Pass , 9426 ft elevation ... which partly explains my dinner choice (below). 

Dam on the White river about 5 miles east of Rangely.   Rivers in CO are running strong due to a wet May and early June.

Sheep grazing - 20 miles east of Meeker.

Dinner (Rabbit) at Harwigs Grill.  

Dessert from the local candy store.  A lot like Marini's in Santa Cruz, only better...

Tomorrow's ride over Rabbit Ears Pass to Walden.