Bicycling New England, the
Erie Canal, & around Lake Ontario 2005
Buffalo, NY to Tipp City, OH and back

July 15 to 20, 2005
Travel by Rental Automobile

We got up the morning of the 15th of July, ate breakfast loaded the rental car and headed west and south to Tipp City, OH where we visited with our daughter Katie and her husband John for a few days. It was just over a 400 mile trip that we made in hours rather than the days it would have taken traveling by bicycle. However, because Jim forgot to load all the correct maps for the trip, we got lost in the first mile because the GPS was not working. After finding our way, the GPS kept telling us to turn around and go back because it did not have all the maps it needed for our trip. We finally shut off the GPS and picked up a printed map and found our way the old fashion way.

We arrived Friday afternoon in time for a good home cooked meal, and visit. It was great to see Katie and John again. We spent most of the time the next few days reading, talking, enjoying great food and just enjoying talking and sharing.

Saturday eve we saw the movie Ben Hur at a local theater, we drove into Dayton where Jim had to jump out of the car in the middle of a heavy thunder storm to get the tickets. The theater ticket office was not yet open so they gave him 4 free tickets since he got wet trying to get to the ticket office. We then rode to a restaurant and had a great dinner while we waited for the movie to start and the rain to stop. This is considered a classic movie that was released in 1959. It is really something to see one of these old movies on the big screen instead of a small TV screen. The movie was in a play house so it felt more like a night out at a play then going to a movie. We participated in great sing-a-long organ music before the movie.

Sunday we attended Katie and John's church and afterwards we enjoyed great brunch and enjoyed talking and reading in their back yard. Below is the view of a small portion of the yard you can see while eating on their patio.

Monday we visited the Kitchen Aid assembly plant in Greenfield, OH. Both Katie and Mary Kay bought more kitchen utensils after the tour at their factory outlet store in downtown Greenville. It was fun to see how they assemble the Kitchen Aid mixers.

Tuesday Mary Kay and Katie enjoyed female time clothes shopping and we all want out for supper, it seemed like in no time it was time to finish washing clothes and prepare for the trip back to Buffalo.

Wednesday we got up early said good-by to John and Katie as they want off to work, and we headed to the car for a nice ride back to Buffalo. We arrived in time for another excellent dinner prepared for by Amber.