Niles, Ohio to Eire, Pennsylvania -- photos

These are all photos that I tried to upload with yesterday's post. The Internet connection quality here is very poor, with such impaired signal strength that I was unable to post these photos yesterday. I have, just this afternoon, found a more secure wireless Internet connection, so these pictures are now available.

The photo second from the top really is me. I know that I am not well defined on that picture. That picture was taken by Sam, and he was then unable/disinterested in the use of the zoom feature on my camera's lens.

I neglected to mention yesterday that the move into Pennsylvania then brought with it a new roadside botanical! We now see grapes as well as the earlier corn, soy beans, and ubiquitous day lilies. It is neat to see the vineyards now. I bet that there will even be more, as we move tomorrow into New York.

Today has been a very nice rest day in Erie. I went to a local laundromat earlier this morning. It was neat to see that it was all members of our group who were there then. Indeed, if it was not for our bicycle trip, I suspect that the laundromat would have done poorly today. All of my clothes are now clean and my bags are re-packed and ready for the last week of the trip.

Today we were rejoined by both Sandy and Craig. I am glad to see them both. Craig had to drop out, as of St. Joseph, Missouri, due to illness. He looks great now, and I am so glad that he is back.

A small subgroup of us rented a car today, and drove to Niagara Falls. I think that Doug Squires rented the car, and he was joined by Stuart, Stuart's wife Sandy, and a few others. I know that they had fun. I really did not want to go. I wanted to just relax here.

Last night, as on all of our rest days, the meal was on our own and not provided by the tour group. We might have been expected to go out all on our various separate ways, but we all ended up eating together. That just sort of occurred spontaneously. We really are a family now, after these six weeks, or so, of togetherness. We all just gravitated to the same local Erie restaurant together last night, and we had a truly great time. It really will be difficult to say goodbye to all of these friends, in only 7 or 8 days from now.

I had a great time today relaxing in Erie. After doing my laundry, I walked the ten blocks to the warf at the edge of the lake. I went to a maritime museum there. It mainly featured Oliver H. Perry, and his pivotal role in the War of 1812. There was some other stuff there also. Nice museum.

On to New York tomorrow! From what I can see on the forecasts, we should have good weather.