Thursday, September 29, 2011
A change of plans
So instead of biking to maine, we will now be riding to Boston, The details will be coming in the next two days. Thank you for following us on our adventures
Upstate new york is notthing your hear about back in portland. Its always the "Big Apple" that is brought into the portlanders mind to travel. After our ride to Rochester, I feel a need to inform the west coast of a peaceful, beautiful, and kind area of New York. We rode a bike trail that followes the Erie Canel for 200 miles. On the way we stayed at three diffrent towns, each almost identical in aperrance. Hank's Dad grew up in rochester new york and planned for us to stay with his old friends from his college days, with the oppurtunity to stay in a house with a warm shower got us very excited. Riding away from the peace of no motor vechiels, we headed onto a main street and towards lake ontario. where we planned to meet Ed's friends.
We climbed up and down rollers, a fast coast into a hard pedal up the hills, north we road, heading towards Hank's Dad's friends. Upon arriving we found an empty house, wondering towards the back the hung out and waited for the owners. Staring at long pond and relaxing for 5 mintues we heard a load scream, " oh my god, they are here!". Martha ran down the stairs and gave us each a hug. Tim walked down the stairs after Martha and invited us inside. after our intrductions, we walked inside and found huge leather couches that attracted us, almost more than the showers and laundry. Tim walked inside with a 12 pack of creme ale, apparently a memory of hank's dad. Soon the food begun to simmer, boil, fry, and broil. Gathering around the diner table we drooled over the home cooked meal of grilled steak, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, sauted mushrooms and steamed broocli covered in a swiss cheese. Can we ask for more, no! beau and charles sat for an hour trying to finish everything while thier stomaches complained about the task. Later in the night we got excited to watch the very new two and a half men, with Ashton Kuther, follwed by the roast of charlie sheen. Tim and Martha stayed awake as long as they could, and drank probably more than they should of, but the night ended well, and we all were happy to have a rest day with martha, a lake, and a couple of kayaks.
We woke very late, all of us sprawled over the house, tim left for work early, and the Grand children came soon after. We woke to the kids asking thier grandmother who we were, and if we were nice. Playing thier secrect agent games as we slept, doing thier best not to wake us, we soon crawled from our slumber. A kid dressed as batman, and another as spider man, had us running around, shooting laser beams at them as we toasted our bagles. Once they got use to the big kids, we sat down and played with playdo for a couple of hours. As charles and beau made sculptures hank and donald headed out on the kayaks, paddling into the silence of a quiet lake. Soaking in the freedom and calmness of the water we waddled around the lake. Relaxing for the day we got ready to head out for the day following. A 40 miles day should shake off the laziness and get us back into shape. So we hope...
In Rochester Tim and Martha showed me my Fathers stoping grounds, the house he grew up in, the high school he atended, and the bars he drank at, and some very great stories. Dad, dont worry, they wouldnt tell me the good stories, they said that the good ones would be left for you to tell me. A parent feel, and kindness made us not wanting to leave, but the ride must continue and so we had to leave. A sad face, wrinkles in a frown, and not wanting to mounts our bikes, we did just that, riding off in the distance we rode, upstate new york awaited.
We climbed up and down rollers, a fast coast into a hard pedal up the hills, north we road, heading towards Hank's Dad's friends. Upon arriving we found an empty house, wondering towards the back the hung out and waited for the owners. Staring at long pond and relaxing for 5 mintues we heard a load scream, " oh my god, they are here!". Martha ran down the stairs and gave us each a hug. Tim walked down the stairs after Martha and invited us inside. after our intrductions, we walked inside and found huge leather couches that attracted us, almost more than the showers and laundry. Tim walked inside with a 12 pack of creme ale, apparently a memory of hank's dad. Soon the food begun to simmer, boil, fry, and broil. Gathering around the diner table we drooled over the home cooked meal of grilled steak, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, sauted mushrooms and steamed broocli covered in a swiss cheese. Can we ask for more, no! beau and charles sat for an hour trying to finish everything while thier stomaches complained about the task. Later in the night we got excited to watch the very new two and a half men, with Ashton Kuther, follwed by the roast of charlie sheen. Tim and Martha stayed awake as long as they could, and drank probably more than they should of, but the night ended well, and we all were happy to have a rest day with martha, a lake, and a couple of kayaks.
We woke very late, all of us sprawled over the house, tim left for work early, and the Grand children came soon after. We woke to the kids asking thier grandmother who we were, and if we were nice. Playing thier secrect agent games as we slept, doing thier best not to wake us, we soon crawled from our slumber. A kid dressed as batman, and another as spider man, had us running around, shooting laser beams at them as we toasted our bagles. Once they got use to the big kids, we sat down and played with playdo for a couple of hours. As charles and beau made sculptures hank and donald headed out on the kayaks, paddling into the silence of a quiet lake. Soaking in the freedom and calmness of the water we waddled around the lake. Relaxing for the day we got ready to head out for the day following. A 40 miles day should shake off the laziness and get us back into shape. So we hope...
In Rochester Tim and Martha showed me my Fathers stoping grounds, the house he grew up in, the high school he atended, and the bars he drank at, and some very great stories. Dad, dont worry, they wouldnt tell me the good stories, they said that the good ones would be left for you to tell me. A parent feel, and kindness made us not wanting to leave, but the ride must continue and so we had to leave. A sad face, wrinkles in a frown, and not wanting to mounts our bikes, we did just that, riding off in the distance we rode, upstate new york awaited.
Oh, Canada!!
"Jumping Jesus! Portland? My God, I remember Portland, was there back in the 70's. Driving around and didn't know more than a dog knows about his dad. So how has it been fella's,?" Our first conversation in Ontario Canada was a great begining to the rest to happen after. The owner of a small gift store in Sombra, a gentleman in his late 60's sat in a chair behind his desk, looking up at us, his eyes still light with a spark of youth, he kept speaking in a rapid jumble of words and phrases. "You guys just crossed the good ol' blue ferry? A good boat there eh?" The rest of his words passed our ears, as we smiled and just wanted to exchange our American currency for some Canadain Cash. We finally got our money exchanged and hurried out of the store. Outside we looked around, Canada, finally here and we have no clue where to go. Riding north along the river we found a campsite were we set up camp and got ready to celebrate our arrival in our first province and out of our 7th state.
From Sombra we rode south and slightly east to the coast of Lake Erie. The ride was no different from another, the usual farm after farm, mile after mile of corn crops. The scenrey finally started to turn into a flush green spread thought the country side. A fimalar sight that brought back memories off home. We finally have learned to avoid if possiable, and if not possiable to spend as little time as we can in any big city. Which we accomplished in Wallecburg. By the end of the day we rode over a hill and got our sight on the third Great Lake of our trip, Lake Eire. A deep teal "Ocean" layed out infront of us, out in the distance was no shore, but onloy where water meet sky. An amazing sight to see, a fathomless awe to behold.
For the remainder of our travels througout Canada we followed Lake Erie towards the east. The one thing that amazed me was the wind turbines scattered throughout the land along with solar pannels in every other farm. Something we never saw in America and that we see a huge advantage if so. We got blank stares when asking for the bathroom, but pointed in the right direction when asking for the washroom. 1000 eh's later, we took a look a look at our maps and realized that we would be going to Niagara Falls today.
Battleing headwinds up the river, we soon heard the load crash of water pouring off, making the glourious Niagara Falls. A spatuaclur sight to see. The best view was crowed with tourist from all over the world. After riding our bicyles for 4000, we all kinda felt like yelling just that and a "get out of our way!." Instead we polietly waited intill we could mange to shimmy our way into the better view. After a couple of beers we decided to cross into back into the good Ol' USA. Crossing back consitied of the usaull were are you from where are you going. After customs we made our way to an Indain Buffet, which ended up with us moaning and complaining about deciding to eat at a buffet as we rode towards the KOA for camp. On our way we decided that a motel would be just as expensive and checked into one on the way.
Today we road out to niagara where Charles, Beau's brother would be meeting us to join us on our ride to Maine. Seeing a familar face was very strange and exciting. We watied for him at a gift shop that displayed the "barrels" that were used by insane people to go over the falls. Why they wanted to, I have no idea, the fact that they did it, pretty cool. After an hour of fantizing about making our own "barrel" we say a grey hound bus pull up. Walking outside we saw the beautiful, bearded, goofy, and smiling charles unpacking his bike. We all circled around him as he assembled his ride for the next two weeks. After showing the new biking member niagara falls we headed back to camp and rested for our ride for the day following.
From Sombra we rode south and slightly east to the coast of Lake Erie. The ride was no different from another, the usual farm after farm, mile after mile of corn crops. The scenrey finally started to turn into a flush green spread thought the country side. A fimalar sight that brought back memories off home. We finally have learned to avoid if possiable, and if not possiable to spend as little time as we can in any big city. Which we accomplished in Wallecburg. By the end of the day we rode over a hill and got our sight on the third Great Lake of our trip, Lake Eire. A deep teal "Ocean" layed out infront of us, out in the distance was no shore, but onloy where water meet sky. An amazing sight to see, a fathomless awe to behold.
For the remainder of our travels througout Canada we followed Lake Erie towards the east. The one thing that amazed me was the wind turbines scattered throughout the land along with solar pannels in every other farm. Something we never saw in America and that we see a huge advantage if so. We got blank stares when asking for the bathroom, but pointed in the right direction when asking for the washroom. 1000 eh's later, we took a look a look at our maps and realized that we would be going to Niagara Falls today.
Battleing headwinds up the river, we soon heard the load crash of water pouring off, making the glourious Niagara Falls. A spatuaclur sight to see. The best view was crowed with tourist from all over the world. After riding our bicyles for 4000, we all kinda felt like yelling just that and a "get out of our way!." Instead we polietly waited intill we could mange to shimmy our way into the better view. After a couple of beers we decided to cross into back into the good Ol' USA. Crossing back consitied of the usaull were are you from where are you going. After customs we made our way to an Indain Buffet, which ended up with us moaning and complaining about deciding to eat at a buffet as we rode towards the KOA for camp. On our way we decided that a motel would be just as expensive and checked into one on the way.
Today we road out to niagara where Charles, Beau's brother would be meeting us to join us on our ride to Maine. Seeing a familar face was very strange and exciting. We watied for him at a gift shop that displayed the "barrels" that were used by insane people to go over the falls. Why they wanted to, I have no idea, the fact that they did it, pretty cool. After an hour of fantizing about making our own "barrel" we say a grey hound bus pull up. Walking outside we saw the beautiful, bearded, goofy, and smiling charles unpacking his bike. We all circled around him as he assembled his ride for the next two weeks. After showing the new biking member niagara falls we headed back to camp and rested for our ride for the day following.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
day 80- 85
hiding from the rain, we sit inside a warm hotel room, our bikes and clothes spread across the room, a thick musky smell rises from our feet and belongings filling the room from brick wall to brick wall. Sprawled on the beds, we mindlessly stare at the t.v. It is still a little unreal to us that Canada sits right across the river that the Inn sits on. The last half of Michigan flew by, from the Cafe in Clare (the city of the last blog update) to midland, to bay city, to a small campground near fairgrove, to Emmet KOA, to marine city. Sitting on the edge of our seventh state and staring at our first province, the excitement of Canada preempts the memories of the last half of Michigan. I will give a brief summary of our days from Clare to our comfortable hotel on the boarder.
The ride from clare to Midland was strictly on a awesome bike path called the Pere Marqutte Trail. An old railroad tracks turned into a non-motorized multi use path labeled Rails to Trails. A brilliant system sprouting all over the country. 28 miles with a nice tailwind brought us to a pizza joint in Midland, where the employs gave us each two free t-shirts to advertise on our way to Maine. Riding through town we started to notice large troll decorations placed in the gardens on every corner of downtown. We found a nice camping spot hidden a forest next to a river.
We woke up to the worst rain we have had on the trip so far. Pounding hard on our tents, we fell back to sleep. Waking up at 2pm we called a rest day. Eating alot and stretching our legs we had a good relaxing day.
Bay city sits right on Lake Huron, the largest lake in the world, if you dont include oceanic lakes (Caspain Sea would be the largest if so). At the camp we were invited over by our next door campers for sloppy joes. Later in the night one of the men brought over hot dogs, and a couple of logs to make a fire. We quickly grabbed kindling from the forest but found it useless as he rushed back with his a pair of his wifes underwear. Slightly confused, it soon made sense as he drenched the underwear in gasoline and made our fire, telling us not to let his old lady know about her underwear being lite on fire. The family was awsome, continually bring food over through the night and offering coffee in the morning.
The two days to the Emmett campground were very uneventful. We camped at a small campground the day before the KOA. On our way to the Emmet campground we meet a fellow cyclist, his only luggage was a bag on his rear rack. He was a true minimalist. Finding that he started in Seatlle a month ago, we figured he rode around the same milage as us, just didnt take the two week break in minneapolis. At the campsite we offered for him to stay with us so he would't have to pay 20 for a site.
Rain is no fun to ride in. 40 miles in the pouring cold droplets that pounded on us made for a very quite ride as we held our heads down and pedaled hard. We finally hit St.Clair and got our first glismpe of Canada. At the Burger King we called all the local Hotels, getting dry and having a nice warm shower was to tempting. And here we sit, watching South Park and ordering Pizza. (I apologize for the short posts, the T.V is very, very distracting)
The ride from clare to Midland was strictly on a awesome bike path called the Pere Marqutte Trail. An old railroad tracks turned into a non-motorized multi use path labeled Rails to Trails. A brilliant system sprouting all over the country. 28 miles with a nice tailwind brought us to a pizza joint in Midland, where the employs gave us each two free t-shirts to advertise on our way to Maine. Riding through town we started to notice large troll decorations placed in the gardens on every corner of downtown. We found a nice camping spot hidden a forest next to a river.
We woke up to the worst rain we have had on the trip so far. Pounding hard on our tents, we fell back to sleep. Waking up at 2pm we called a rest day. Eating alot and stretching our legs we had a good relaxing day.
Bay city sits right on Lake Huron, the largest lake in the world, if you dont include oceanic lakes (Caspain Sea would be the largest if so). At the camp we were invited over by our next door campers for sloppy joes. Later in the night one of the men brought over hot dogs, and a couple of logs to make a fire. We quickly grabbed kindling from the forest but found it useless as he rushed back with his a pair of his wifes underwear. Slightly confused, it soon made sense as he drenched the underwear in gasoline and made our fire, telling us not to let his old lady know about her underwear being lite on fire. The family was awsome, continually bring food over through the night and offering coffee in the morning.
The two days to the Emmett campground were very uneventful. We camped at a small campground the day before the KOA. On our way to the Emmet campground we meet a fellow cyclist, his only luggage was a bag on his rear rack. He was a true minimalist. Finding that he started in Seatlle a month ago, we figured he rode around the same milage as us, just didnt take the two week break in minneapolis. At the campsite we offered for him to stay with us so he would't have to pay 20 for a site.
Rain is no fun to ride in. 40 miles in the pouring cold droplets that pounded on us made for a very quite ride as we held our heads down and pedaled hard. We finally hit St.Clair and got our first glismpe of Canada. At the Burger King we called all the local Hotels, getting dry and having a nice warm shower was to tempting. And here we sit, watching South Park and ordering Pizza. (I apologize for the short posts, the T.V is very, very distracting)
Friday, September 2, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
day 76 to 78
The past four days in Michigan have been wonderful. From the scenery and vegetation to the people and towns. We left ludington a little late, forcing us to make a shortcut to our campground for the night. The woods started to get thick and very green. Rolling hills stood in our as we cycled to Leisure Time Campground. Sitting outside as we all re-grouped we spotted a cyclist walking towards. He hopped over the fence still in his spandex, reaching us his first words, "its quite expensive here." He was silent as we asked him how much, staring at the campsite for a while he turned and faced us " you usually can bargin the price down but I'm a little to tired." the campground host came walking out asking if he could help us. Hank asked for a site that could fit all five of us. The health department only allows two tents per site, even though we could easily fit ten. He said he could make a deal with us if we got two site. Talking it over amongst ourselves, he made the deal for us and said " what the health department doesn't know doesn't hurt them" and allowed us to have one site. That was easy...the couple came over later in the night to chat with us. They were on a world bike tour. starting in New Zealand than to L.A, up the pacific, across the northern tier, than to Europe to ride to china. Some of us were extremely jealous and inspired by their journey. Warren, the guy talking to us before said that in the states, everyone they encountered have been extremely nice, giving them money, food places to stay. Saying that you would never find that in Europe, he said we have something very special here in the states, something to be very proud of. (At least we have that :) ) Thinking back on the trip, he is indeed right, the people and culture here have been amazing in many ways towards us. We do have something to be proud about and hope it continues throughout our trip, and even after than.
The following day we made it to Luther. Around 30 miles, the group was moving really slow as a couple of us were a couple miles ahead riding around 8mph waiting for the others. With 50 miles to the next campground, daylight would not of made it possible. Once again the negotiation of a discount on a campsite was easy, getting on campsite for only 20 dollars, showers included. The ended early as the clouds grew thick over head.
Waking to rain, we covered ourselves in our rain equipment and got to it. Packing up as quickly as possible. By the 5th mile the sky cleared and we were sweating once again, stripping layers every 500 feet. Making it to Lake George we stayed at the local campground, taking showers, reading, and cooking up chili dogs.
The following day we made it to Luther. Around 30 miles, the group was moving really slow as a couple of us were a couple miles ahead riding around 8mph waiting for the others. With 50 miles to the next campground, daylight would not of made it possible. Once again the negotiation of a discount on a campsite was easy, getting on campsite for only 20 dollars, showers included. The ended early as the clouds grew thick over head.
Waking to rain, we covered ourselves in our rain equipment and got to it. Packing up as quickly as possible. By the 5th mile the sky cleared and we were sweating once again, stripping layers every 500 feet. Making it to Lake George we stayed at the local campground, taking showers, reading, and cooking up chili dogs.
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