New York

The final two days of this trip found us scooting along Lake Erie and the NY-Pennsylvania border. We found the town of Lorain, OH bursting with color right on the shores of the lake. Lake Chautauqua has the most elegant rest stop in the entire country! We wanted to pitch our tent right there. American painter Frederic Church's restored home, Olana, overlooking the Hudson River was another beautiful place where we could have easily spent the night. I enjoyed MOST of the drive, but there was this tiny little part of highway, a blue one, coming downhill over a bridge into Cleveland where this guy in boots and a helmet was standing in the middle of my lane. He aimed a gun at me and BLAM! With his speed gun back in the holster, he waved me over and I almost cried. You see, my children often say I impede the 'normal' flow of traffic with my adherence to posted speed limits. So I was aghast that I actually had exceeded 35mph. I was so miserable, I almost cried. I did not tell the officer that my tombstone is supposed to read She never got a ticket, but that is what I was thinking; it was a first for me. Happily, he felt sorry for me and gave me a warning and sent me on my way to New York. I did not ask him if I could take his picture for the blog, but that would have been cool, huh?

The Real World

We came back to the real world in Toledo, Ohio where we spent three wonderful days with our family Larry, Carol and Margaret. Spring is in full swing here with everything blooming; so many shades of new-growth green, and these winter-weary people are busy pruning, mowing, digging, taking down the storm windows, putting away the rock salt and snow shovels, walking, biking and basking in the welcome warmth. So we joined the neighbors working in the yard and strolled at Wildwood Park, toured the art museum for a bit, went to gymnastics practice, played Old Maid (sorry, Margaret), jumped on the trampoline (a first for both of us) and ate like kings. Here we are at our impromptu Kentucky Derby party. Pretzels and beer instead of mint juleps. It was such fun and we are so glad we dog-legged up to Ohio before heading to the Cape.

Red Highways

We traveled north for two days as we made our way to family in Ohio. It was a shock seeing so many deer on the roads, both dead and alive. It must be the season. It was sheer luck that we did not collide with one of them as they stood at the edge of woods, sprinted across the county roads, and even jumped the Jersey barriers on the major routes. Following several US highways, red on the map, and even the dreaded interstate, we ended up in Athens, Ohio at sunset. Triple A marked the town with a red tent, meaning camping at Stroud Run State Park east of town. The GPS told us to turn west and the road signs directed us north. It was a challenge that sent us wandering around the student housing section of this university town where a tent pitched on any green space probably would have not been noticed. Nevertheless, redfaced, we knocked on the door of the fire station and asked for help finding the park. Finally, we pulled in to an all but empty campground, pitched the tent and plopped down on our leaky air mattress. It was a fine night with no student yahoos disturbing the peace. On to Toledo...