We spent a lot of time in New York, none of it in a, or even "the", city. The weather was perfect for biking, the countryside green and rolling, and we picked up our rythym for the road. We also started seeing a lot of barns.
Naturally, each barn came with a farmhouse.
In the towns, we were amazed by the "center city", where people had actually left old houses in place. We passed through whole neighborhoods which were well established before the houses had ever been built in our state.
Crossing the Hudson was a turning point, for me at least. I went to college in New England, and met lots of kids who had literally never been west of the Hudson River. It was our first geographic way point, a substantial marker of westward movement. Things didn't get any less crowded on the other side though. And Will, who took this picture (posed with him sitting on the back of the tandem, to simulate a bike in motion), got lost immediately afterwards.
We spent several days following the route of the Erie Canal, but only saw the venerable (but not yet erstwhile) water route in fleeting moments. Here, Cheryl and Annie smile beside the Mohawk's sparkling waters.
At Lake Erie State Park, we spent one of the most memorable evenings of our trip. It started with mass confusion over which campsite to pick, but we ended up on a 100 foot high bluff overlooking the Lake on a cloudless day. Here's a picture of our campsite in action. Next to the RV, Cheryl and the kids are looking at our route on a map with Hiroyaki, a bike tourist from Japan, cycling from NY to BC.
Hiroyaki posed with the kids. This is one of the few times we could get all of them to pose together. That's Will to the left of Hiroyaki, with Cody, Shaine and Ann on the right .
The weather was just turning warm (the start of the Midwest?), and the northern summer sunset lasted forever. I took way too many pictures of the lake swallowing the dying sun, and I still can't pick among them. You choose.
