Bicycling New England, the
Erie Canal, & around Lake Ontario 2005
Orchard Park, NY

August 6-8, 2005
Rest Day

Friday was our last day of riding. Since June 7th we have ridden a total of 1,738 miles including 608 miles going around Lake Ontario.

Saturday all the guys except Jim went and played a round of golf. The ladies went shopping in the morning while Jim worked at getting the tandem recumbent bicycle into a box so it can be shipped back on the train to Washington State. This is a major operation because it requires that all the mirrors, pedals, and seats be removed. The chain between the captain and stoker must also be removed before the couplings on the frame are disconnected. This allows the bicycle to fit into an airline size bicycle box. The front of the bicycle slides past the rest of the bicycle into the box. However to protect the bicycle, a piece of cardboard is placed between the two portions of the bicycle. The two portions are then tied tightly together and slid into the bicycle box. The box is then sealed and ready for shipment.

After the ladies returned from shopping Jim and the ladies ate lunch. We then drove to Derby NY and visited one of the homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that is being restored. The name of this house is Graycliff because it sits on top of a 65 foot cliff on the shore of Lake Erie. Most of the exterior of the house has been restored but very little has been done at this time to restore the interior. It is a beautiful house with a great view of the lake.

After we returned to Bruce's home, Jim volunteered to take everyone to supper. His offer was accepted and we all headed to a restaurant in Buffalo where we had a great pasta dinner. On the way home we stopped and had ice cream for desert. Since we are not riding for the next several days, it will be necessary to cut back on the amount of food we are eating.

When we got back to Bruce's Scott loaded their bicycle into their Suburban while Jim finished sealing the bicycle box and put the bicycle seats into a large duffel bag.

Sunday, Amber made us another great breakfast for the second day in a row this time French toast. After breakfast, Scott and Barbara started driving towards Millwaukee and home. Amber and Mary Kay went to the store for material for Amber to make bedroom curtains and along the way they bought some Christmas presents. Around noon all four of us rode over to Canada and Niagara Falls to look at the tourists sights. When we returned we again had an excellent supper prepared by Amber. After supper Jim and Mary Kay want to the movies. Hard to believe our vacation is almost over.

Monday, Amber worked today and Bruce had to work for a couple of hours this morning. Mary Kay and Jim worked on washing clothes and packing up for our return trip on the train. Bruce returned in mid morning and he and Jim took the bicycle and checked luggage to the train station. Now all we need to do is eat supper finish the packing of the stuff we will use on the train. This evening we will eat supper and then catch Amtrak for home. We will leave late tonight, tomorrow spend a couple of hours in Chicago before we catch the train for WA we should arrive home Thursday morning before 6:00 AM.

Thanks for sharing the trip with us.

Mary Kay and Jim