Abrupt ending followed by seafood feasts

 Tue. 7/13  - Still raining

Rain still coming down @ 11.  No way to make it to White River Junction (70 miles) ... so managed to find a taxi (This was no small task in Middlebury) to cut at least 20 miles off the ride.   After the first 20 miles... still raining, so I had Marv (the owner of this brand new taxi service) drive another 20 miles.  After lunch, it looked passable, so I rode the last 30 miles to White River Junction. 
Had a lovely dinner at Tuckerbox downtown... it's about a 200 ft drop from the hotel to the town.

Chicken Güveç (Earthenware casserole)
Grilled marinated chicken breast, with tomato, mushroom, onion, pepper, eggplant

 Wed. 7/14  - More rain forecast ... I give up!

Streets wet when I headed out to ride to Dartmouth College in Hanover to catch the Dartmouth Coach bus to Boston.  Arrived to Boston South Station before noon.  Rode through town (a bit harrowing) to North station and caught the MBTA commuter train to Newburyport.   From there, biked up to Seabrook NH, just over the MA border, for a 2-lobster early dinner at Markey's Lobster Pool.  Strangely laid out place.  You order sides, fried foods and soft drinks at one counter, order boiled stuff (lobsters, corn) at another counter, and beer and mussels at yet another counter.  Each is bought separately, so you don't really see the full financial impact as clearly, and it's difficult to coordinate timing (see below)... but it got the job done!

The 2-lobster lunch. 
Fries were already consumed by the time the lobster came out...

Continued up the coast through Hampton Beach ...  a kind of honkey tonk beach town ... to my intermediate stay in Hampton Falls.  

Thu. 7/15  - Clear weather, more feasting!

Foggy early morning, but otherwise dry.   After breakfast biked 6 mi. back down to Hampton Beach to sample the fried dough... since I was too full the night before to pack that in.

Then biked another 15 miles to Warren's Lobster House which is just across the NH border for a late lunch .  

View of the Piscataqua river from my table. 
It appeared to be flowing upstream, probably due to tides. 
I can see New Hampshire from my window... just like Sarah can see Russia from hers!

2 lobster tails with Ritz Cracker stuffing swimming in butter

Having now officially OD'd on lobster... I rode cross town to my hotel to relax a bit before dinner at Bob's Clam Hut, which, like my hotel, is on the northern edge of Kittery.  

Shades of Howard Johnson's... I'll have the clam strips!

Tomorrow... it's down to Boston to visit some relatives, then fly home.

This is my last blog post for this trip.  I expect the total mileage to be around 2400... a far cry from the original 3600 I had planned.   Shortfall is due to: 

1. Cutting the trip short by about 10 days to go to a wedding in Seattle.
2. Taking Amtrak, taxis, and other transit to accelerate the schedule and dodge rain in the East and excessive heat in the west.

Better luck next time!

Water, Water, everywhere!

Wed.  7/7 Batavia

Must have when near Buffalo

After dinner, settled into the Super 8 Batavia.  The place is a little worn, and shares parking lot, ownership and staff with the Days Inn.  Apparently this business survived the pandemic by taking government vouchers to house otherwise homeless people.  I encountered a few long-term residents there.  Sounds to me like making lemonade out of lemons.

Thu. 7/8 - Pittsford (near Rochester)

Stayed at Dave's house.  He is the widower of my late sister (Liz) and a gracious host.  We met up at the Pittsford Dairy for sticky buns and coffee after the 40 mile ride under threatening skies, but the rain held off until just after we reached the house. 

Stephanie and Mike (long-time friends of Liz and Dave) came over for dinner.  Mike is a musician and engineer and played his mandolin a little after dinner.  The next morning, we went over to their house, which is on a wooded lot about 10 min away for a wonderful pancake breakfast.

Fri. 7/9 - Syracuse

Since the forecast was for rain across the area, I again turned to Amtrak to keep me on track (I should copyright that!).   After the short train ride (1:20) I stopped off at Dinosaur Barbecue for a late lunch before heading to the Jefferson Clinton Hotel, which is downtown amid a plethora of bars and restaurants.  Surprised that Syracuse was such a happening place.  

Sat. 7/10 - Rome
After a fairly easy 45 mile ride arrived in Rome.  Decent sized town.  Highlight was Honey Garlic Pork Tenderloin for dinner at Sugarbeets.

Sun. 7/11 - Into the Adirondacks in the rain
So much rain has fallen recently in the Adirondacks that water was flowing over the dam I passed by about 30 miles east of Rome.  Sure would be nice to be able to move some of that water to CA.

The politics of this region is typical of rural America.

Someone was having a bad hair day!

Rode about 45 miles of my 65 mile day before the rain started.   Hitchhiked to get out to the rain around 2PM and got a ride (no room in the cab, so had to ride in the back of the pickup with the bike) to the Oxbow Inn, a bar/restaurant in Piseco.   From there, caught a ride to Speculator with Mike who was at the bar.  Thanks!   It rained all night and into the morning.  Forecast was dicey for Monday as well, so arranged another ride with Bob, the 82-year old owner of the motel I was at.

Mon. 7/12 - Middlebury
Had arranged to meet my nephew in Ticonderoga.  He's in a summer Spanish immersion program at Middlebury College, a 45-min drive from Ticonderoga.  Because I got a  45 miles ride closer to Ticonderoga from Bob I was able to meet Aaron about 15 minutes closer to Middlebury.  Nice dinner at Two Brothers Tavern, the only restaurant open on Monday (other than McDonalds) .   Hadn't seen Aaron since 2014.  Glad we could meet up.

It rained all night here, and is raining now (Tuesday) so I'm writing this blog waiting for the rain to let up before heading out to White River Junction, VT on the NH border.   It's a 70-mile,  2700ft vertical ride.   A bit of a challenge.  Almost no services between here and there.

From Clare MI to Batavia, NY via Ann Arbor, Oberlin & Cleveland OH

 Fri. 7/1 :  Clare to Owosso

Breakfast at Cops & Donuts, of course  

The sticky buns were warm... then an 80-mile ride south to Owosso.  While riding the wide, smooth shoulder of US 127, the sheriff pulls up behind me in his black SUV and politely suggests I get off the highway... even though it's legal, he was uncomfortable having me ride there... so we crammed the bike into the SUV, and they took me about 15 miles down the road.  I then rode back roads with no shoulders into Owosso.  

Sat. 7/3 - Ann Arbor

Pleasant ride to Ann Arbor.  My reward was a good corned beef sandwich at Zingerman's deli.  Easily as good as anything in NYC.

Sun. 7/4 - Perrysburg :  Toledo area truck stop

The truck stop where I-280 and I-80, Ohio Turnpike meet is about as exciting as Toledo itself.  I've stayed in Toledo before... so I know these things.  Also, staying there, about 20 miles west of Toledo means that Oberlin, the next day's ride is feasible (75 miles) instead of 90 miles.   Since it was going to be over 90 deg. the next morning and humid, minimizing that ride was important.

Mon. 7/5 - Oberlin in the heat

The truck stop restaurants (Dennys and Iron Skillet) near my run-down hotel allegedly are open 24 hours, but actually don't open until 6AM, likely because they can't find enough workers to keep it open during the graveyard shift, a common problem now.  I headed out at 4:45AM and ended up with a breakfast of some pretty pathetic donuts from the truck stop store.  

However, most of the ride to Norwalk (about 25 miles from Oberlin) was on paved dedicated bicycle paths.  By the time I got to Norwalk at 11:15 it was already in the upper 80's, so I got a taxi the rest of the way to Oberlin, and dropped into Gibson's... the bakery and grocery that's right next to campus and has been operating since 1855.  

Sunrise over Ohio farmland

Kiwanis is everywhere

My accommodations were a lovely AirBnB in Oberlin.  A room and bathroom in a very large house that was built in 1885 and well kept up and renovated.  Deb and Dave were my hosts.  It was lovely!

Tue. 7/6 - Oberlin and Cleveland with Dave and Joy

Breakfast at Gibson's. 
The Cinnamon Swirls and Apple Fritters were still warm when I got there.

On the porch of Shurtleff College with Dave.  This was our dorm in 1971/72.  

Selfie with Giles Waldo Shurtleff.  

We then did a pretty comprehensive driving tour of Cleveland's western lakeshore region and downtown.  Then we had more great corned beef at Slyman's

Hung out with Dave and Joy for the rest of the afternoon.   Had planned to stay there, but rain was forecast fot the next day, so I decided to take the train to Buffalo.  Train was scheduled to depart @ 5:50AM, so staying at a nearby hotel in downtown Cleveland made more sense.

Wed. 7/7 - Training cause of raining

Of course, Amtrak was 45 minutes late... but at least it was dry.  Got off at Buffalo / Depew, which is only 32 miles from Batavia where I'm staying tonight.  Before heading out I had this:

Short stack cinnamon bun pancakes at Campfire Grill.
A Sugar high

Tomorrow, it'll be raining most of the day, as well as Friday.  Likely won't be riding until Sat. 

Minneapolis to Clare MI

Sunday  6/27 - St. Paul

Stayed close to the Amtrak station in St. Paul at the Intercontinental

Had a wonderful dinner at Meritage, a French restaurant a few blocks from the hotel.

I'll have the Duck Breast, please!

Landmark Center

View towards Minneapolis from my hotel room

Monday  6/28 - Madison, WI

Amtrak's Empire Builder was over 90 min late.  Finally arrived in Columbus, WI around 2:45 PM.  Rode to Carl's (my freshman roomate from Oberlin)  house just west of Madison.  It was great to see him, his wife, Mary Ann and granddaughters Joycelyn (age 5) and Tessy (age 3).   Bright and energetic girls!  

Tuesday  6/29 - Milwaukee, WI

Rained on and off for most of  the day, so I took the "Badger Bus" from U/W to Milwaukee.  After settling in, I made a quick run to Leon's Frozen Custard for an appetizer of the world's best Butter Pecan.

Leon's - It's the best!

Went back to Bacchus, a high end restaurant, for a 3-course prix fixe dinner:  Pasta = Fettuccini w. pork Bolognese,  Main:  Seared Scallops, Dessert:  German Chocolate (kind of like a parfait).

Wed 6/30 - Michigan

5:30 AM Sun Rise on the way to the Ferry

Woke up @ 4:30 to get the 6:00 AM ferry across Lake Michigan to Muskegon.  

Biked to Big Rapids, a town that's about 65 miles NE of Muskegon.  Unremarkable town with a lot of 4 big grocery stores for some reason.

Thur 7/1 - Clare, MI

Breakfast club at at Van Brocklin's Bakery in Big rapids. 
Note the Trump / MAGA hat on the guy in the middle.

On arriving to Cops & Donuts in Clare around 3PM, I was interviewed for their facebook post  by "Bubba" (Joe) and Kevin, both owner/Managers of this fine establishment.  

Delivery van.  Its catalytic converter was stolen a couple of months ago.

They comped my new T-shirt... since the one I've been wearing was from 2013... the first time I visited the store.