Hosin' Around in New York, Eh?

Sherri, the true "Captain" Michael, and Scout.

Hey all you hosers!

After giving up our pepper spray at border patrol we headed for Port Stanley. We all noticed the unfamiliar headwind slowing us down so we stopped on the side of the road at a local farmers stand. The owner gave us some of her farm fresh eggs and continued to ask questions about the trip. She was so sweet and let all four of us make a second breakfast with our eggs on her porch. We reluctantly left and arrived in Port Stanley a lot earlier than our normal 1 a.m. arrival time. To pass the time before bed we walked around the tourist town window shopping and indulging in a little bit of Broderick's ice cream. We set up camp next to a marina where we met some locals, Sherri, Michael, Jerry, and Jill. They offered to take us out on their boat to give us a real view of the port...we couldn't turn the down! It was a real treat watching the sun set out on the water with good friends. It's the moments like these that make our trip worth while. 

We had another early start to the Norfolk Conservation Area, I was of course prolonging the inevitable. To distract myself from the headwind, Hannah and I made nicknames for Brian and John, our new riding buddies. We came up with Mowgli for Brian and Captain America for John since he holds the map. Our campsite was pointed out to us by a nice local that said "hippy hill is over there". We set up alongside the edge of hippy hill and enjoyed another beautiful Lake Erie sunset. 

The Crew!

We've been getting some of the earliest starts since running into Mowgli and Cap. America. That being said I'm ready to ditch them. Just kidding. But we left camp at 6 a.m. in order to beat the Harley heavy traffic that we'd been hearing rumors about in Port Dover. Apparently every Friday the 13th they have a huge bike rally at the port and we were warned to steer clear of the area. But before we peddled out in a hurry we had to stop at the local crepe shop! A nice "Summer Garden"(Lemon curd filled with raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries topped with whipped cream) and "The Bikini" (Pesto filled with a vegetable medley topped with pepper jelly) held us over until a quick lunch break. Since entering the Maple Leaf country we have experienced some pretty pricey campgrounds. This night was no different when we pulled up to a privately owned site that wanted $13 dollars per person. It's pretty upsetting when you see the price of an RV spot, which uses electric, water, and sewage, is cheaper or the same price as a tent site for a biker who uses almost no amenities. So we turned that down and searched for a place to pitch camp. We luckily passed a local, that goes by the name of Red Rooster, that let us camp in his back yard. It was much nicer than the campsite and the Rooster kept us company until it was time for bed. 

Pipe and a Crepe?

We set out for Niagra Falls the following day. What an incredible site to see! It seemed like nothing could get our psych level down after seeing that! But the hustle and bustle of coming back into the states was ever present. There was traffic everywhere but we luckily found our way through it and into our campsite in Middleport, NY. A very cute town but we rolled in late and were tired from all the excitement the falls offered that we just called it a night after a nice and well needed shower. 

Brockport, NY was our first stop to replace Mowgli's blown out tire at the local bike shop. Hannah and I wondered off and stumbled upon the Red Bird Cafe where the owner Josephine and Liz graciously donated to our cookie fund with two peanut butter and one white chocolate chip cookies! We really enjoyed talking with them and sharing stories about our adventure. They made a good rep for the citizens of Brockport. Despite all the warnings we heard about Rochester, we decided to take our chances and bike through the city. Why? Just wanted to see the city...and the local Cheesy Eddie's cheesecake and pastry shop! But to our extreme disappointment it was closed! We were twenty minutes too late. Hannah and I couldn't leave without a little something so we dragged the boys to an artisan ice cream shop before leaving the city. Our next stop was Macedon where we were camping for the night. About fifteen miles away from camp we stopped for a bathroom break where we met Kathy of Fairport, NY! She and her husband were so nice and showed us around their  crew rowing boats. Kathy's husband coaches the popular sport and it was pretty amazing being introduced to it and the added cookie they gave us wasn't bad either. 

We were awakened in Macedon by drops of rain through our tent which made us quickly seek shelter before we headed out for Fulton. The day was pretty consistent with a drizzle but it was refreshing after multiple weeks of scorching heat. It was a pretty lax Sunday and we took our time especially when we hit the Candy Kitchen! There we met our new Greek family Mary, Peter, and their daughters. They've been in the restaurant business for a number of years and have quite the cute spot in Williamson. After listening to what our plans were and how we got to the small town, Peter paid for all four of our breakfasts'! We pedaled on pulling into Fulton where there was an ice cream waiting for us at the Sweet Inspiration diner. Pitched our tent, dodged some mosquitoes, watched the lake view sunset, and turned in for the night.

Due to the desperate need to wash our clothes we didn't leave for Boonville, a good 80 mile ride, until one in the afternoon. But it was time well spent because we had a nice conversation with Tom, a Fulton local, at the laundromat. He told us about Arcadia National Park in Maine and how we should ride up the mountain to see the view and overlay of the land. I'm pretty sure that will be unavoidable for us so we'll take him up on that suggestion. Before saying good bye, Tom put a few dollars in my handlebar bag and wished us well. New York has been one of the friendliest states we've been through so far and we are eternally grateful for the generosity we've encountered. The generosity didn't stop there either, the local bike smith, Terry, trued my wheel and tightened my spokes free of charge. We finished at Stysh's Brown Barn Campground around ten o'clock that night . It was a long day but the temperatures were nice and we had a good tailwind.

The owner of Stysh's, Dan, suggested a cafe for us to have breakfast and later on an ice cream shop for lunch. His suggestions did not disappoint with a grilled blueberry muffin for breakfast and an amaretto gelato scoop for lunch. But before stopping at Inlet where the ice cream was Hannah and I stopped at the bike shop where we had to get my wheel trued again...or so we thought. The bike mechanic clearly pointed out that my spoke was broken. It wasn't as drastic as the one before this but we were still surprised that I was riding on it. I guess I should have passed on the gelato at Inlet but we only have two weeks left...give me a break. After a nice lake side siesta we pedaled off the ice cream into Blue Mountain Lake. We were stopped for a second when a truck pulled alongside us and said "you know there's a tornado warning with hail and strong winds coming?!" why no we did not know that. Luckily up ahead Cap. America was talking with Tom, another Blue Mountain local. Tom owns an ice cream shop (jackpot!) and offered us a place to stay for the night. It was bittersweet spending the night in Tom's beautiful home nestled in the woods because the four of us knew the next day we'd be parting ways. But we cherished the moment exchanging stories with Tom and flowering his two girls (Tinker and Keezy, two huge New Foundland's) with attention.

After almost a week and a half of riding together we finally said good riddance to the guys! Finally we can start riding at the decent hour of 11 o'clock. Just kidding. The mood is definitely somber today but we hold dear the memories and wish them well with their fundraising and finding a real job (dirty hippies ;)). 

We'll be done with map 10 today and moving onto our 11th and last map of the trip. Where has the time gone?!

Seek Adventure,
Chloe