6/25-6/27 Jill's Bike Log

6/26 Sat.-Destination, Mt. Vernon, OH. (Biked 42 miles; total 663). Didn’t leave the campground until 10:00 since we had only 40 miles to ride and we told our hosts we would arrive around 2:00. Left from the campground on our bikes and will be the first day that we biked to our destination without having to get into the car. Mal rode the first 22 miles to a town park where we met Karen for lunch. I’m still not sick of peanut-butter, honey and banana sandwiches. Bryce created a new variation with peanut butter and chocolate covered raisins sandwich. We polished off our first 3 lb tub of peanut butter.

Killer hill to get to our Warm Shower hosts, Bill & Marsha Ernst. Their home is contemporary style, nestled in the woods. Throughout their home, they had artwork displayed; some of it Bill’s photography, but much it their 31 year old son’s, who is a painter. His artwork is very impressive. He’s won all kind of awards and has already established himself as a painter to the point that he’s able to support himself on the sales of his artwork I can see why.

By the time I arrived, the boys had already showered and were settled their family room watching on their big screen TV the soccer world cup play-offs between Ghana and the US, and Mal was glued to the computer watching videos. Karen was dropping off Tessa to join her College Discovery group.

Marsha had prepared fresh fruit, shrimp cocktail, and Congo bars. Bill made some delicious caramel corn, which I got the recipe for. For dinner Marsha made lasagna, zucchini quiche and a fresh fruit salad. For dessert we had a fresh fruit and sherbet parfait. Man o’ man was we lavished with good food…

After dinner Mallory practiced archery and shooting cans with a BB gun they had strung up; all for the benefit of their grandkids. Bill told Mallory he’d give her a dollar if she could place an arrow on the target, which since it was a physical challenge, she was all over it. We had great conversation with Bill and Marsha about everything under the sun from politics, religion, kids, to travel…

Bill showed us his pictures of his cross country bike trip across the southern US he completed with his friend a month ago. He’s older than me and they averaged 80 miles per day and their longest day was 137 miles. They traveled extremely lightly, carrying only a change of clothes and they stayed either stayed with Warm Showers hosts, Affordable Travel Club housing hosts, or in hotels. It made me think about how we’re averaging 40 miles per day, however I do feel we’re reaching my goal f making connections along the way, so I’m trying to let go of shorter distances we’re traveling. We headed to bed about 11:30.

6/27-Sun-Destination, Canton, OH (Biked 30 miles, total 693). We planned on departing at 9:00, but we kept gabbing and Mallory was determined to knock the 3 cans off the string with the BB gun by hitting the paper clips holding them on the line, which she eventually succeeded in doing. We departed from their house on our bikes at 11:30. A few miles from their house we picked up the Kokosing rails to trail bike path. Woods bordered the stream on each side. Really pretty and also helped with the heat as it was already 91 according to a bank sign I saw before we got on the trail. It still feels considerably cooler and less muggy than it was in Missouri, Illinois or Indiana. Along the bike path we stopped to take a swim in the stream to cool and T, B, and M got into skipping stones At one point we passed through some recreation fields and were lured to a metal structure, which from a distance looked like a play structure As we got to it, we realized it was an interesting modern art piece We met Karen at a picnic pavilion at the end of the bike path. Mal decided to sag and T, B, and I continued on. We soaked our heads and shirts because it was hot, (the downside of getting a late start).

We got into hilly country with smaller farms. It was picturesque. In one town we passed by 5 Amish horse and buggy within several miles. The first buggy had two shirtless teenage boys. The second two horse n’ buggies each had a teenage boy wearing tank tops. The next buggy, were two teenage girls wearing purple dresses without bonnets; and in the fifth was sitting a teenage girl and a boy talking on a cell phone. They all appeared like they were heading to the same destination. Sunday afternoons, must be teenage hang-out time... Karen picked us up at 4:00 so we’d arrive to our host’s home by 5:00 who were making us dinner. We traveled through really pretty countryside on back highways and passed 31 Amish horse and buggies!

Jan and Eileen Kicken from the UU church in Canton, OH hosted us. Sandy, also from their fellowship brought over dinner. She cooked a pasta casserole and side dish of pork chops, along with a tossed salad. We had chocolate and Boston crème cake for dessert. We’ve been really spoiled by our hosts. For the rest of the trip we’ll be camping.

Jan, Eileen and Sandy’s fellowship have 40 members. I thought it would have been bigger considering the size of Canton, but they did say it’s fairly conservative around here. I’ve really enjoyed making new acquaintances along the way. Each connection I’ve made has nourished me in a different way.

After dinner, Trevor, Bryce and Mallory played on their Wii. I tried a few rounds of bowling. We headed to bed at 9:30, determined to hit the road by 8:00 in the morning.