Day 17 - July 22: A long way to go and not much to see

The title pretty much sums up the day. I knew at some point on this trip, this day would come. The day I needed to make some good time and cover some ground to get back home. Today was that day.

I spent the night in a campground right on the shore of lake Ontario and I slept the best I did on the entire trip. I don't think I moved an inch from the time I laid down until I woke up. From the campground in New York, the first stop was Niagara Falls. I had been there once before but I forgot what a tourist trap that place is. First I stopped on the U.S. side and paid $10 to park. After walking to the falls, I remembered that the better viewing is actually from the Canadian side. So I went across the river and through customs. The problem is that the parking and everything is such a zoo on the Canadian side. To park in the park is $20. I tried to pay for 1 hour of street parking, but the receipt never printed so I had no proof of payment. Much of the other parking is attached to business such as hotels where you need to be a guest to park or run the risk of being towed. I finally gave up and decided it was time to move on.

From Niagara Falls it was across Ontario and into Michigan. Coming back into the U.S. required going through customs again and it took over 45 minutes. They had 8 lines of cars backed up with people waiting to coming through. From there it was across Michigan and then back to Trisha's place on the north side of Chicago. Over all, I covered about 650 miles today with nothing special to report seeing other than Niagara Falls. Other than covering a lot of ground and getting closer to home, the only I thing I accomplished was squaring of my tires (other bikers will know what this means).

So in total, I have now driven in a total of 19 states on this trip (listed in sequence in which I rode in them): Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Michigan, plus Ontario in Canada. I will have covered about 7,000 miles by the time I get back home. I will provide more details, statics, and final thoughts once I actually get home.

My plan for tomorrow is pretty open at this time. I have a cousin that lives very near my daughter and I plan to meet them at 8:30 in the morning. From there I plan to stop and my other daughter (Lindsey) in Eau Claire. From there, I may also stop and see my brother that lives in Wisconsin on my home. At this time I have not even talked to them so Perry and Betty if you read this before I call you tomorrow, you might know I plan to stop by if it works out!

At the request of Trisha, I have been asked to include another picture of her dog Einstein - she really loves him.