Wednesday, August 27

It's Wednesday and we have arrived safely in Binghamton. Right now we are in the Broome College Library where the kind desk clerk gave perimission for us to us the computers. Again, unfortunately we do not have internet access back at camp and will not have it for the remainder of our journey. Just a little bit frustrating, to put it mildly.

Today's ride was awesome, if I might use that word. We entered the Appalachians and the panoramic scenery is absolutely stunning. I can't imagine what it would be like in the autumn as the leaves are turning colour. We faced a lot of hills, some of them significant, though I must admit, having gone over seven major mountain passes out west, these are bunny hills by comparison. However, the view once you get to the top is majestic and breathtaking. Many of the places along the route, the huge maple and oak trees created a canopy over the roadside with their spreading branches. There were a number of vineyards along the hillsides and several wineries. Our group actually took a few minutes to tour one and even tried the taste testing samples. We must be of Dutch extraction.

Today we had Corrie, one of our SAG driver's riding with us for the day. He's the one who carts the port a pottie behind the van everyday. He's also the one who "lost" the port a pottie from off his trailer and a couple of days before entering Canada actually got the van and port a pottie stuck in the ditch. Guess who had to turn around to push me out. We were more than happy to do so.

Corrie is such a neat guy. You couldn't find a nicer person and everyone on tour would give their shirt to help him out. Anyway he so desperately wanted to ride at least one day on the trip and today was the day. He also wanted to ride with us, a real treat for us I might add. He did a super job. Yes he was very tired at the end of the day but we let him find his own pace and encouraged him all the way. Actually we didn't do too bad time wise, arriving in Binghamton at about 1:45pm, which was certainly very respectable. Corrie had a huge smile on his face, arriving in the front twenty percent of the group. Way to go Corrie!

Yesterday's ride was an excellent one as well. We ended up at Sampson State Park, former Naval and Air Base situated on Seneca Lake, one of the two lakes that comprise the Finger Lakes. For the last thirty kilometres (20 miles) we rode along the shoreline. The houses were beautiful, reminding me of the ride we had along Lake Michigan. It was like riding through a park the entire way. The campsite itself is well treed and very pleasant to camp in. We were situated right along the lake. One of the pluses were the ample bathrooms and showers that were available for us. In some of our campsites, there have only been a couple of showers. When you consider that there are about 140 males to shower, you can imagine the lineup not only for the showers but the bathroom facilities. With approx. seventy females on the tour, the wait is not as severe. However, we do manage quite well. We really enjoyed our stay there.

Seneca Lake is a very deep lake, almost reaching a depth of 800 feet. While only a couple of miles wide, it is one of the deepest lakes in the U.S. This explains why it was used for submarine training during WWII. There is a museum there as well but unfortunately it would not be open until today (Wednesday). (I did try to twist some arms to get it open for us but no luck).

Before I go, (time is quite limited here as we have to get back to the school for supper as the church in Binghampton is putting on supper for us soon), I also want to include a tidbit about Monday's crossing over the Rainbow Bridge from Niagara Falls in New York State.

We all made the thirty km.(20 mile) trek from St. Catharines into Niagara Falls in good time. After taking the scenic Niagara bicycle path from the mouth of the river to the falls (our group arrived shortly after 8:00am) we spent a little bit of time checking out the sights such as the Floral Clock, Tim Horton's (of course- one of our U.S. friends who has cycled the entire distance with us wanted to have a coffee before he went back into the U.S.) as well as the Falls itself.

We all congregated in a parking lot near the Rainbow Bridge and were ready to cross at 10:00am sharp. We all had our passports on the ready. Billy D. (DenHarder) led the way as we started across the bridge. We took up the entire left lane of the bridge. As Billy reached the other side, I looked back and there were still cyclists coming onto the bridge at the other end. It was IMPRESSIVE to say the least. We all slowed down as we entered U.S. customs to speak to the border guards and show our passports BUT (get this) they waved every single one of us through, no questions asked or passports needed at all. Apparently the Chief of Border Crossing was present as we crossed the bridge and he was so impressed with the orderliness of our entire group that he simply asked Billy D. (on the Canadian side) if everyone was present (they had the master list of our names in their hands as well as photocopies of our passports). When Billy said yes he phoned across and told the guards to let us all through, no questions. Isn't that amazing! That is a God Moment for sure. I have never experienced that ever before. God was sure looking out for us.

Well, time is really ticking on and I need to go. The tour is quickly drawing to a close and I hope to share with you some of the emotions I am experiencing as we near the end (if I am able to get to a computer with internet access). Until then, take care!