Heart of the rust belt:

Tonight we made it into Erie PA after a short 90 mile ride. Erie is Pa's access point to Lake Erie. Erie PA is a very pretty town of just over 100,000 people. However it has long been in decline as the population was once well over 150,000. Industry and the railroads have been slowly moving out and closing down. The ride into town passed lots of lovely brick homes and beautiful parks. Erie has been working hard to revitalize the downtown core and we are staying in a real nice downtown hotel. As tomorrow is a rest day being downtown is great. There is a great looking Maritime museum here which I intend to visit and Preque Isle State Park which is a short water taxi ride away. Maybe I will try to squeeze both in as I already have my laundry done!

The ride to day was fast. I got to sign out first and so was on my bike first. Tracy was fiddling around with the sign out sheet and not putting it down. So I started clapping and chanting "Lets go bikers Lets Go" She came over and let me sign out first. I had the Surly in top gear right out of the chute and caught a fast line of riders all the way to the first rest stop at the 35 mile mark. A quick refill of water bottles and we charged off again. There was fierce head wind as we were going due north towards the lake so being in a line was great. Before I knew it we we at the second rest stop. Then with only 28 miles to go the day was in the bag. A third quick stop at the PA state line sign was the last stop. The weather was a very pleasant mid 70's with bright blue sky. It sure beat the sweltering high 90's we have been experiencing. The last 10 miles I slowed down as I wanted to see the town as I rode in, so I dropped off the line. Plus I wanted to have a little gas in the tank so that I could go out for supper tonight and not fall asleep into my soup. Arriving at our hotel at around 1:30 the room wasn't ready any way but it wasn't long. Zak who is one of the staff does a great job of getting the hotel pushed along and the riders into rooms. A quick 45 minute power nap and laundry completed the day.

Today's picture is of the "White Turkey Drive Inn" in Conneaut OH where we had our second rest stop. It was also the highlight of the day. This place was first opened in 1952 and hasn't changed since it first opened. It is right out of "Leave It To Beaver". Ian our gourmet and restaurateur even said it was great and called it a dinning experience. The root beer is home made and is the best I have ever tasted. I had the "Super Ed" burger which was a double cheese burger with bacon and a onion ring. It was served in wax paper sleeve. It was so juicy and delicious. Naturally I washed it down with a large root beer float which was served in a huge frozen mug with about 5" of soft ice cream on top. The bill $6.28 What a deal! This was the best rest stop on the tour.

Rest day tomorrow so I will post the weeks pictures on the Webshots page and you can see more of the White Turkey, swimming hole pictures and the rest of the week.

Thanks for visiting my journal and thanks for sending me your great comments!

Arf, Arf That's my other dog imitation.

Terry