7/9 Jill's Bike Log

7/9- Destination-Hartland, Vt. (Biked 64 miles, total, 1171). In the morning, there was a mixture of excited and nervous energy. Today was our last day of biking with a celebration awaiting us in Hartland, but we also had to climb over the infamous Killington mountain to get there. We were instructed to arrive in Hartland around 4:00 pm. We didn’t want to wait too long before climbing the grade because we new it was going to be another hot day. We decided that we would hang out at a rope swing 10 miles from Hartland to kill some time.

Trevor worked on cleaning and lubricating his dad’s bike to increase its performance. He decided to ride it for the first 20 miles to Rutland and Keith would ride his bike. Kim headed to Hartland to help prepare for the welcome home party. We departed on our bikes from the campground shortly after 8:00 am. After a relatively easy ride to Rutland, we met in the city park and fueled up with food before attacking the 8 mile climb. We said goodbye to Crystal and Esoy who headed to New Hampshire for a Peace Corps reunion. Keith decided to sag to the top of the mountain since riding his clunky mountain bike would be a challenge.

We all arrived to the top of the grade by noon. We unanimously decided that the climb wasn’t nearly as challenging as we had anticipated, and the ride to Hague in the Adirondacks a few days prior was much more rigorous. Lynne bought food for lunch and made us wraps. After a good rest at Killington, we headed down the other side of the mountain, and met up again for an ice-cream break in Woodstock at the White Cottage. Wow, back to very familiar stomping grounds…Karen, Wes and Grandpa drove to the White Cottage to bring everyone Cyclo Healer t-shirts to wear for our entry into Hartland. We decided to bail on the rope swing attraction since it’d make us late for our 4:00 pm arrival time in Hartland.

As I rode the last 15 miles to Hartland, I felt a combination of emotions from excitement to be home, to a sadness that this journey is ending. I relished the daily simplicity of moving each day from point “A” to point “B”, rarely fretting about work, house renovations, or family issues. It has been a long time that I’ve fully embraced each day. I gained inspiration and nourishment from old and new connections I made along the way. It was wonderful to embark on a journey together with my children; to have friends and family drive the sag van along the way, and to have Todd and friends join us on the last leg of the trip. We were locked into stopping points, but we allowed the journey to unfold with impromptu adventures.

We all gathered at the Hartland UU Church so all 12 of us could ride in together. It felt strange to be leading the pack. I enjoyed my station bringing up the rear. For the last two miles, the excitement rose as we made our grand entrance at home. The lawn was lined with friends and extended family cheering us on. As a special surprise, my uncles Doug and John flew from Washington D.C. to be here for week-end. I felt overwhelmed with emotions that I’m not sure I could define.

As the trip was coming to a close, people have been asking me what have been the high and low points of the trip. I truly can’t single out one high point, but I have to say my overall high points have been the connections I’ve made with new and old friends and family, and our shared adventures. I am blessed to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends. The low point would be that on only 4 out of 32 days on the trip, the temperature was below 90 degrees.

As soon as we arrived, it was apparent all of the work friends and family had done in preparation for our arrival; particularly my friends Lucia Jackson and Sue Buckholz, and sister in law Kim Anderson, our contractor for our house renovation/friend Eric Kleber, and my mom who had been helping to organize the end of the trip celebration for months. This doesn’t include all of the people who brought food for a pot-luck meal. My friend Beth Rice had a welcoming banner silk screened as her way of being part of the celebration since she was going to be out of town. I was told that since the people on the home front weren’t able to participate on the actual trip, this was their way of feeling like they were part of it.

One of the big surprises was seeing the house renovation. I was told that Eric worked late hours feverishly trying to finish it. Although the renovation isn’t complete, the transformation is spectacular. We now have an awesome living space.

We were able to throw some inflatable mattresses on the floors in areas where stuff wasn’t being stored during the renovation and the back yard became a tent city, so we handily accommodated 20 people for the weekend. Before heading to bed, we watched the slide show of the trip that Karen stayed up until 2:00 am the night before putting it together. I’m already reminiscent about the trip…



























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7/10 Jill's Bike Log

7/10-Saturday- The Prouty. (Biked 50 miles, total, 1231). My children, friends and family joined me in my journey and the connections I made deeply nourished my spirit. I set a goal of personally raising $2000 and as a team $10,000. I raised $2200 and as a team $8675. I hoped to have 75 people on The Cyclo Healer Team and 58 were signed up for our team. It feels wonderful to be within reach of my goals

The forecast for Saturday was for rain and possible thunderstorms, so at the welcome home party, many of The Cyclo Healers walkers decided to begin their walk at 7:30 am and the bikers depart at 8:00 am. When I got up on Saturday, at 6:30 it was pouring down rain. We had some debate whether on not to bike the whole 50 miles if it was going to continue to rain. We decided to play it by ear. Karen and the rest of the walkers in the family decided to head out later in hopes that it’d stop raining.

This year I was able to park in the VIP parking lot near the starting point because of the amount of money I raised. The rest of our group parked in the other lot about a mile from the start and had to bike in. We thought we saw Bryce’s friend Ira biking to the start as we headed to the parking lot, so when we got out of the car, I went to pick up our bibs and Bryce scoured the food tent to locate Ira. Unfortunately we never did hook up with him. We headed out on with our friends the Bilbacks after grazing in the food tent. Rich thought his daughter Kelsey’s belly was going to pop from eating so much of the yummy breakfast foods…a great way to begin the snack to snack ride. You see, every 10 miles there’s a food tent with plenty to eat.

Initially the numbers participating in The Prouty seemed to be down. I assume it was due to the weather. It rained pretty hard for the first 10 miles, but just a drizzle for the rest of the ride. The rain kept the temperatures down, so we didn’t mind it at all. It was great to have 12 Cyclo Healers biking together and we met half a dozen more wearing their Cyclo Healers t-shirts on the route.

I wondered how challenging I’d find the route compared to the previous two years we rode in it. I didn’t feel tired or particularly strained on any of the hills. Now if I can mange to stay in shape! At the finish line The Cyclo Healers Walkers were waiting for us to cheer us on. Ah…what a gratifying journey. I’ll cherish it for the rest of my life.
















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7/7 & 7/8 Jill's Bike Log

7/7-Wed-Destination-Hague, NY. (Biked 66 miles; total 1081). We headed out, thinking that after 10 miles we would stop to get a quick refuel at a bakery Sue & Thelma scoped out. When we arrived, they were in a local convenience store. Apparently the bakery along with the other eating establishments were closed. We ate lunch in a shaded area bordering a creek. Sue made bologna & cheese sandwiches and Oreos for dessert.
Today the hills were more challenging than the previous day. We had a 4 mile climb with little shade to protect us from blaring sun with temperatures in the 90s. At some points on the grade, I was in my lowest granny gear and barely making forward progress. With the intense heat, it felt like my body fluids were in a rolling boil, welling up into my head and about to make it explode. The boys apparently made it to the top of the grade without stopping, but I had to make two rest stops before making it to the top. They concurred however about the intensity of the heat and steep grade. We cruised 4 miles down the other side of the hill into Hague.

We had four more miles to bike to Roger’s Rock State Park. After that major grade, fortunately the road had gently rolling hills bordering Lake George. As soon as the attendant saw us at the office, she waved us onto the campsite. Apparently she was forewarned to anticipate hot, sweaty, and potentially grumpy bikers would be arriving. Compared to last night’s exceptional campsites, these were medium sized and didn’t border the lake.

We walked down to the beach to swim and cool off. It was painful to walk across the hot sand. After we swam, we hunted down the showers to scrub off the daily quotient of bike grease. By the time we arrived back to the campground, we were already profusely sweating.

Yesterday I missed my daily ice-cream fix, so Sue, Kelsey, Jenna and I went on a mission in the car to bring back ice-cream. Four miles down the road, we found a soft serve ice-cream stand. We bought 2 qts. of chocolate, 1 qt. vanilla, 1 qt. orange creamsicle and 1 qt. of maple yogurt soft serve we loaded into an ice chest to load for transport. We snarfed it for a hors d’ouvres before Sue & Thelma made a delicious meal of salmon and grilled corn on the cob.

Lynne left after lunch to pick up Todd’s son Evan at the airport. They arrived at the campground around 9:00 pm. Sue and her mom Thelma, bid their goodbyes and headed back to their motel. They really spoiled us with elaborate dinners for two days. I’ll miss Sue’s laugh and Thelma’s vigor. We played a round of pinochle before heading to bed.

7/8-Thur-Bomoseen, VT. (Biked 26 miles; total 1107). We decided to take the ferry across Lake George which shortened the route by 25 miles. For some reason we all felt the ride today was even more tiring than yesterday. I suspect it had to do with the intense heat, plus we had a number of although short, but very steep hills to climb.

It was fun to take the ferry. It brought back memories of twenty years ago when Todd and I went on our biking honey moon in Vermont and we crossed on this ferry. We lived in Colorado, and little did we know that we’d eventually move to Vermont.

Once we hit gravel roads, we loaded our bikes on the vans and drove to Lake Bomoseen. The sites we had reserved were sunny, so Lynne and I cruised the campground to see if there were any shaded sites that might be available. We were able to snag several very shaded sites situated in tall pines. We headed to the lake to cool off before setting up camp. The beach was a distance from the campsite, but the boat launch wasn’t too far from it. We swam from the boat launch to the beach through major sea-weed, plus it was shallow with a mucky bottom. It was a relief to get to the sanctioned beach area because the bottom wasn’t as mucky and less sea-weed, although at one point the kids collected enough of it to drape on Mallory, so that she looked like a creature from the Black Lagoon.

My brother Keith and his wife Kim arrived at supper time. Keith will ride with us tomorrow. Crystal made a yummy spaghetti supper with the burger (from “T-bone” which she raised and slaughtered), along with a salad. Before supper, the kids played a complicated card game that Evan brought with him. After supper, we had two teams of four playing pinochle. Rich poured over the quadrant maps, dreading the 8 mile climb to the summit of Killington tomorrow. Keith changed the knobby tires on his mountain bike to smooth ones to make it a little easier for biking.





























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7/3-7/6 Jill's Bike Log

7/3 Sat- Rest day at Bucktail Family Camping. At 9:00 am over the loud speaker blasted “America the Beautiful”…the start of a “Bucky” adventure day. At 11:00 we all headed, (now 15 with the Friedeborns and Bilsbacks), over to the Bucky train which runs twice a day. It made a loop through the woods. Just as the train lurched forward, the last car came off the tracks. Bucky called in the rescue team who arrived in their golf carts, but by the time they had arrived a contingency of mostly men had lifted the car back onto the track. (A lot of people seem to stay for the summer here and use golf carts to get around). During the train loop, we saw: a skunk; a bear; a frog; a turtle; a deer; and a grouse wedged between two trees; all of the ceramic species.

Todd and my cousin Lynne arrived around noon. Until this trip, the longest Todd and I have been apart in our twenty years of marriage, has been a week. It was wonderful to be reunited after a month of not seeing him.

Next we clamored onto the vintage carousel which operated twice a day. I rode on a chicken, and Tessa was on a pig. Mallory really wanted to ride on the monkey, but it is coveted so you have to be first in line to be able to ride on it... Trevor signed us up as two teams to play in the volleyball tournament. Each of our teams made it to the second round, but then lost our respective matches so was eliminated from the tournament. John and Mallory, and Trevor and Bryce played in the basketball 2 on 2 tournaments, which T & B won. Just as we were arriving back at camp the fire engine arrived with Bucky the buck dressed in his uniform, to give rides around the campground. Mallory, Jenna, Sebby, and Tessa partook on the ride. It was already 4:00 pm when we got back to the campsite. We were going to cram a laser tag or paint ball game into the line-up of activities during the day, but we were too late to begin a game. There’s only so much “Bucky” fun you can fit into one day…Rich and Denise cooked up a delicious dinner of sausages and salad. We took a walk around the campground after dinner. The population density I’m sure was much higher than in China. We headed to bed at 10:00 pm so we could get up to be on the road by 8:00 am.

7/4- Sun.-Destination-Oxford, NY. (Biked 54 miles; total-934 miles). With the Bilsback punctual and organizational influence, we departed the campground by 8:00 am; the earliest departure on this trip. We drove to the highway to avoid riding 4 miles on gravel roads.

My cousin Lynne took over driving the SAG van after my sister drove it for two weeks. She did an awesome job. We suddenly mushroomed from 4 to 10 people riding bikes. We’re definitely more of a presence on the road. Rte 6 passed wider valleys nestled in the hills with picturesque farms dotting the landscape.

The hot weather caught up with us again. We had a two day reprieve riding in 70-80 degree temperatures. We’re back in 90 degree weather again. We ate lunch outside of Towanda on the Dupont manufacturing’s grassy lawn with huge white pines and oak trees. It’s amazing what relief from the heat shade provides.

Further down the road, we came to a 5 mile grade. I was following Kelsey as we grunted our way up the grade with the blazing sun beating down on us, with lots of traffic on the road, including semi trailer trucks. Thankfully the shoulder was wide. At the top of the grade was a scenic overlook with a stone pavilion, which gave us relief from the hot sun. On the next leg, we had a fun, twisty road to ride down.

Mallory decided to sag all day, and read one of the Harry Potter books…At age 11, she’s already out-read Todd, Bryce and I in our life-time. I drove the sag van for the last 12 mile leg so Lynne would have a turn to ride.

Since we took an unplanned rest day at Bucky’s Family Camping Resort, we had to make up the miles by piling into the vans in Montrose and driving 60 miles to Oxford. We stopped for ice-cream…yum. We arrived at Bowman Lake State Park at 6:30 pm. We were bummed that the lake was closed to swimming because of algae, but was pleasantly surprised there were showers as they weren’t listed as a campground amenity. Set up camp and then took showers. Only two unisex showers so there was a line-up waiting for them. Rich and Denise make a delicious dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes and veges. I tried to blogasize and everyone else walked down to the lakefront to watch the distant fireworks in Norwich. Everyone headed to bed by 10:00 pm for an 8:00 start in the morning.

7/5-Mon-Destination-Poland, NY. (Biked 30 miles; total-964 miles).We drove from Montrose to Norwich to begin biking. Just as we were loading into the van, I shut Mallory’s fingers in the van door. Needless to say I felt horrible. We immediately iced her fingers and gave her a Motrin. Thankfully by the time we arrived in Norwich, she had recuperated and decided to ride. I drove the van for the first leg so Lynne could ride with Mallory, and Denise drove sag for their van. We stopped in a local restaurant for a bagel and coffee. Mallory, Lynne, Kelsey, Rich and Todd stopped for a morning ice-cream during the first leg of their ride.

We ate lunch in a shaded park in Waterville. With all of us sprawled out on the lawn, we occupied a fair amount of space... Lots of rolling hills, but the ride today was relatively easy without major grades to climb. We decided we wanted to finish riding by 1:00 pm since the campground advertised tubing on the river. It sounded really refreshing after biking in the heat.

Rode down a hill that kept warning to gear down because of a steep grade. I am not a speed demon going down hills, but ended up not having to break much going down it. Rich flagged us down to stop before we entered busy roads in Utica.

We loaded into the van outside of Utica and headed to Poland, NY, to the West Canada Creek Park. Our tent sites bordered the river. We quickly set up camp so we could go tubing on the river. We thought the campground rented tubes, but found out we had to purchase them. We almost bailed but had our heart set on tubing, so bought 12 inflatable tubes. Fortunately the campground had an air pump, or otherwise it would have taken a lot of time to blow up all of them up using our own hot air. We piled into a mini bus and were driven upstream for a 1 ½ hour float. Really refreshing. Evan rigged up a cooler which was bungied to a tube so we had a supply of beverages during our float.

Back at camp, Denise cooked up a huge pot of meatballs and noodles, and Todd cut up veges for an enormous salad. Trevor, Mallory, Rich, Todd, Lynne and Jenna took another float ride after supper, while Denise and I did a load of laundry. Sue and her mom
Thelma rolled in about 7:00 pm to touch base before heading to their motel. Sue and Will got back from their yearly month long service trip to Guatemala a few days ago and then flew out from Colorado today to join us on the trip. She joined up with her mom who lives in Rochester, NY. They signed up to serve us lunch and dinner for the next several days. Crystal and her dog Esoy rolled in at 8:00 pm who drove from Colorado and will join us on the trip for three days before joining Peace Corps friends in NH for a reunion. Crystal used the one-man tent Lynne brought and Trevor tried out the Bilback’s screened hammock so everyone would have a screened sleeping space without having to face the vicious mosquitoes.

7/6-Tue-Destination-Blue Mountain Lake, NY. (Biked 57 miles; total-1021). We packed up and drove to the beginning of the scenic drive on Rte. 28 in the Adirondacks. Packing up wasn’t as smooth as on some mornings, but we managed to pull out of the campground shortly after 8:00 am. The Bilsback had a 5 minute head start on us. I rode with Crystal as we had 7 passengers and 6 seats. We all convened in a parking lot and readied our bikes for the ride. It feels good to have hit the 1000 mile mark and I also realize I’m a confirmed “putzer.” I get where I want to go, but I’ll never win a race getting there. Since the Bilbacks and Todd have joined the ranks, I continue to be the last one to arrive at the rest stops.

We ate lunch in the town of Inlet, in a city park with a huge pavilion bordering a lake. We’ve been doted on this trip. Sue and her mom made meatball subs for us from the leftover meatballs from last night’s supper. We also had watermelon, and ice cold water to refresh us. Thelma made delicious chocolate chip cookies- the kind that are soft and chewy.

The number of churches we’ve passed by have dramatically diminished. We’re definitely no longer in the Bible belt. Many of the churches seem to be nondenominational, community churches. We had a much hillier ride today, mostly through pine forests and passed by pretty mountain lakes. I’ve fallen behind in the road-kill count. Over the past number of days, we’ve ridden by a fox, a snake, a raven, a fisher cat, a groundhog, and multiple deer road-kill.

Todd, Rich, Kelsey and I brought up the rear of the bike pack. We biked to incredible sites at Lake Durant State Park. We had two adjacent campsites which bordered the lake and were nestled in the woods. The lake had a naturally sandy bottom and was easily accessible which made it very inviting. We dismounted our bikes; quickly set up our tents and then plunged into the water…Aah. Thelma, Sue, Kelsey Mallory, and Trevor blew up our tubes and floated in the lake. Mallory and Esoy the dog soaked for hours.

Sue and Thelma made a delicious chicken dish and a salad. Sue told her that bikers eat a lot of food so she cut up and prepared 8 lbs of chicken. For dessert Thelma baked brownies and Crystal brought a huge bag of Bing cherries she bought at an orchard in PA which we munched on. Todd added to the cuisine with the mussels he cooked that he and Mallory harvested from the lake. They were a bit bland in taste, so Trevor whipped up a vinaigrette sauce for flavoring.

Two teams of 4 played a round of pinochle and then we headed to the lake edge to watch an incredible sunset. We headed to bed early since we were tired from a long day of riding. The loons serenaded us in bed. It took a while to fall asleep as it took a long while for the temperature to cool down.


































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7/2 Jill's Bike Log

7/2 Fri-Destination; Mansfield, PA. (Biked 35 miles; total 880). We usually eat cereal and bagels for breakfast, but Karen & Mallory bought a special treat of sticky buns and cantaloupe. Yum. Trevor and Bryce adopted a “Kazakhstan” accent for the past four days. They’ve kept us amused with their duo dialogue while hanging out at the campground.

We drove on back roads from the campground to Galeton. The bikes were covered in a thick layer of dust from driving on gravel roads. We hosed off the bikes in a car wash, which worked well to remove the dust and grime. Yesterday Bryce and Mal took most of the day off and today Trevor and Mal decided to sag. For the first 20 miles, it was rolling hills nestled in a valley with intermittent towns and farms. Karen stopped so we could eat lunch. Bryce decided to sag after lunch which was a wise move because the road became really congested with traffic and the hills were intense. Part of the way was a rumble strip which was nerve racking going downhill because it looked like fluorescent flashing lights.

I was picked up at the end of a dirt road to head into Bucktail Family Campground. Passed by fields and woods and then suddenly came upon “Bucky” signs leading us into the campground. It was a RV city. Our campsite is in front of the office, so all day long we watched huge RVs stream into the campground. The kids were off playing “Bucky Ball,” swimming in the pool or playing mini golf while Karen and I washed clothes and Karen uploaded photos for the blog. John, Sebby and Tessa’s Friedeborn, (Karen’s family), arrived around 6:00 and Rich, Denise, Kelsey, Evan and Jenna Bilsback arrived around 9:00 pm. They set up camp and then we played a round of “Catch Phrase” before heading to bed.

6/30-7/1 jill's Bike Log

6/30-Wed-Destination, Warren, PA. (Biked 48 miles; total 806). Packed up and drove to Meadville to begin biking. At the campsite, Karen worked on uploading all of our photos to update the blog site. I bought a 4G flash drive for back-up, but it’s already full so Karen & I stopped at Staples to buy a 16 G flash drive, while T, B, & M bought fireworks at a road side stand. Since it was already 11:30, we decided to eat a fast food lunch at Burger King so Karen wouldn’t have to meet us with the lunch bin so she could find a Wi-Fi to work on the photos. After eating it, Bryce and Trevor swore off anymore fast food… She went up to the student union at Allegheny but it ended up being a secure network, so in the end she worked on the photos at Burger King. Locating unsecured Wi-fi networks on this trip has been a challenge. Karen has been indispensable in the amount of work she has but into the logistics to make this trip run relatively smoothly. I couldn’t have done it without her. She’s also been a trooper grocery shopping for us while we’re riding and then more often than not cooking the supper. It’s also been wonderful to be able to spend an extended amount of time with her which I haven’t been able to do since early adulthood.

We rode up and down hills all day, with some significant grades to climb. The landscape was a combination of farms and woods. I also noticed over the past few days that the churches seemed be shifting from predominantly Baptist, to Methodist Churches, and billboards with messages about Jesus, being saved, or about Satan have become infrequent occurrences. Mallory rode the whole day today; (48 miles). Riding in the cool weather really helps. Trevor wore knee-high crew socks to stay warm and I borrowed a pair as well…epitome of fashion.

We had two bike repair issues during the course of the day. Mallory lost the bolt to her mirror. I jerry rigged it with an Allen wrench and duct tape until we passed through a small town with a hardware store where I was able to get a replacement bolt and nut.
Apparently Trevor had a blow-out of his tube while going downhill. Thankfully he didn’t have an accident.

We passed through more Amish country. I have a new awareness knowing when we’re near Amish homes because you dodge horse poop on the road. At one point going up a steep hill, Mallory zoomed ahead and passed a horse and buggy on the left. I’m sure Mal saw the challenge and took it on… Going downhill, I worry about cars pulling out in front of me on side streets. Today a father and his son in their horse and buggy pulled up to the end of their driveway as I zoomed by going downhill. In one small town, I went into a grocery store with well worn wooden floors and on a shelf behind a counter sat a stuffed squirrel and a stuffed what looked like a combination of beaver and groundhog. They had a display case of pastry pastries which I couldn’t resist. The custard filling tasted homemade and the case was refrigerated. The store seemed to be a gathering place for the Amish men and boys.

As we drove through Warren to locate the bike shop to buy tubes, it cracked me up that the Main St was already lined with chairs in all varieties and colors to save a spot for the 4th of July parade five days before the 4th! The bike shop was already closed so we’ll have to buy them in the morning. We then headed to the municipal pool to take showers which closed due to the cool weather. The kids were bummed because the pool had a water slide. Down the block was a YMCA where Bryce and I took showers. Stopped to grocery shop and then headed to Buckaloons campground. Warren seems to be a really nice small city in the middle of nowhere. I’m curious what the industry is, because it seems to be surrounded by forests in an isolated area.

Arrived at the campground at 9:00 pm. set up camp and ate spaghetti dinner. While Karen was cooking dinner, T,B & M played street soccer . I don’t know where they got their energy after biking all day. Went to bed after we washed the dishes.

7/1-Thurs-Destination; Galeton, PA. (Biked 39 miles; total 845). By the time we dried everything out, left the campground at 11:00 am. Drove to the bike shop bought tire tubes and had the wow taken out of Trevor’s front rim. We were assured by the bike mechanic that the noise coming from Trevor’s bottom bracket was because it was dry and could wait to be lubed until we got home without damaging it. While we waited for it to be repaired, we ate lunch.

We were on the road at 12:45. For 2/3s of the ride, Rte 59 was designated as a scenic highway. It had the widest shoulders we’ve ridden on so far and was in good repair, and the hills were cut to make a gradual grade. One grade was 3+ miles long, but manageable. Came to Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River. Pretty big, and one of the most impressive aspect of it, was the far side of it was turf. I can’t imagine how long it took to mow it, plus with the incline, it looked almost too steep to mow.

This area is one of the most picturesque on our trip. After the dam, the lake with all of the narrow peninsulas, if they were steeper, reminded me of fjords. At the top of the long grade, it was many miles on a plateau with rolling hills. The woods were open and lush with ferns and rhododendron. It must be breath taking in the spring.

The last 15 miles of the ride was a buggar…it was no longer designated as scenic and the road narrowed and had no shoulders and with more potholes we’ve experienced on the whole trip. Trucks with white trailers passed by, (probably vending units), and trailer beds with demolition cars, so I figured a fair much be somewhere down the road. We passed through some run-down appearing settlements and passed through a boggy stretch which looked like perfect moose country, but I don’t think they live this far south. Too bad because they’re missing some prime moose real estate.

Outside of Smethport, I passed by a car junkyard. The yard was filled was vintage cars and trucks. There also was a bus with a Porsche on top of it, but my camera ran out of battery just as I was about to take a picture of it. I was picked up in Smethport (home of “Wooly Willy), since we had to travel on 20+ miles of gravel road to get to our campground. T,B, & M apparently were playing on the skate board park without skateboards while waiting for me to arrive. Before climbing into the van to head to Lyman State Park, we stopped at a local DQ, and Trevor had chocolate malts which I got him hooked on, and I ate a flurry with York Peppermint Patties at a local DQ. We traveled a long ways up a gravel road. The woods were blanketed with ferns. I never saw so many ferns naturally occurring in woods before. At the top was a scenic pull-out area. Mountains all around with little evidence of civilization.

The campground was small and near a lake. We all decided it was too cold to swim. We were pleasantly surprised to find warm showers as we thought it was a primitive campground. Keith and Kim sent directions for a geocache which the kids went to find after we set up camp and brought back firewood they collected. Karen cooked a delicious meal of Mediterranean Chicken while I took a shower. Mal picked out lemon meringue pie for dessert. Bryce noted on the list of ingredients that the pie contained less than 2% food. Of course both Trevor and Bryce with their dry sense of humor carried on about the non-food aspect of the pie. The two of them together are pretty funny. Trevor performed his ritual of making a fire and then we all headed to bed by 9:30 pm in an attempt to get an earlier start on the road in the morning.