Got an early start today. I headed down the street looking for a place to have breakfast, and I almost ended up at McDonald’s until I saw a place called “Don’s Doughnuts” and the sign said “Best Coffee in the World”. Well, how could I pass THAT up? I’m not a huge doughnut fan, so I asked if they had anything else and she said, “Sure, have a seat and I’ll get you menu.” So, I sat down and got my usual 2 eggs over easy with toast and pretty soon I was the only woman in the restaurant with about 15 guys. Some of them were talking about the storm we had last night. Apparently there was major damage and hail. My earplugs blocked out the whole thing. These were the kind of people I love to chat with, but none of them seemed interested in talking to me, unfortunately, so I left.
I got everything packed up, and not very well, I might add. The lady at the hotel gave me back my “key deposit” and gave me directions to the bike path. She told me to take the Anthony Wayne Trail, but it meant heading north into Toledo first. I was fine with that, as long as it got me back to the bike path. I crossed a bridge with a nice view of the city and while I was getting out my camera to take a picture, my ChapStick with sunscreen dropped out of my bag and rolled off the bridge. That was something I would really need later…
I found my way to the Anthony Wayne Trail, only to find a sign saying “Bicycles Prohibited”. I had no patience for finding an alternate route at that point, since I had already headed completely out of my way to get there. I started riding on that road, and since it was early on Saturday morning, there wasn’t much traffic, but still a few people felt it necessary to beep at me and yell. Thankfully, no one pulled over to give me a hard time. I rode for quite a while, and it seemed to allow bikes at one point, but then the signs appeared again and it was clear that it would be dangerous for me to continue. I asked a man in the Rite Aid parking lot (hmmm…wouldn’t that have been a good place to get more ChapStick?) for directions to the park near the bike path, and he told me the best way to go.
I found the path, called the Wabash Cannonball Trail, since that’s the railroad that used to run there, and it was awesome. Nicely paved, plenty of restrooms and vending machines dispensing a bottled water called “Deja Blue” that was very cold and tasty. I rode on for a while until I came to a tree that had fallen across the trail in the storm we had last night. There was no way for me to get over it with my trailer. A very nice man came along and was trying to help me when another man showed up. His entrance was pretty dramatic; apparently he was new at clipless shoes, so he tried to “unclip” and it didn’t work, so he ended up on the trail with his bike on top of him. He wasn’t injured at all, and he said, “I knew that would happen when I had an audience…” The two of them carried my trailer over the tree and I was on my way. The first man warned me that the trail turns rough right after that, but I didn’t have any other way to go. I said I’d take my chances.
It was OK for a while, but soon I had to walk my bike, and with the heat and humidity, it became a little dangerous. Especially since I had no protection from the sun for my lips! I switched to the county roads and just headed west. There was no sign of a store or gas station for miles and miles, and it was really hot. I just kept riding for what seemed like forever, and I finally made it to Wauseon. I had been hoping to make it to Montpelier, where my friend Russell had found several hotels, but there was just no way. It was too hot. I asked the lady at a gas station if there were hotels in town and she pointed me towards Interstate 80. There were several hotels there, one of which was a Holiday Inn, which I love, so I thought I’d give them a try first. I told the lady at the desk my story and she kindly offered me a room for half price. The first thing I did after checking in was swim in the pool and it was HEAVEN. I’m hoping to get an early start tomorrow. The hotel offers free breakfast starting at 6:00.
Chuck will be heading out to meet me tomorrow. I’ll be so glad to see him and also glad to get rid of the trailer. Hopefully the weather will be a little cooler tomorrow. I did pick up another ChapStick, so I’m all set there!
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