Day Sixteen

Just a few more days until Chuck meets up with me. I’ll be so glad to see him! Yesterday was a very interesting day. I didn’t expect to like Cleveland so much, but I didn’t really know anything about it! I was amazed to see deer walking around in the city (I saw 2). I left the house at 10:30 and headed up to Route 283. It goes along the lake and I was thinking how easy it was to get through Cleveland, but I didn’t realize I hadn’t come to the actual city yet!

The route changed to the “Cleveland Bikeway” and the road was pretty rough in some spots, but generally not bad. The day had started out cloudy and cool, but the sun began to come out and it really heated up. Still I was glad I had worn my leggings so I didn’t have to worry about my legs getting sunburned again. I kept riding and the tall buildings of Cleveland came into view. I checked my phone and there was a message from Gino, inviting me to lunch. I had been planning on having a vanilla energy bar once I got past Cleveland, but lunch in the city sounded much more appealing! The section of Cleveland we went through was very clean and there were trees and flowers everywhere. I got a very positive vibe being there. I told Gino I’d love to come back someday with Chuck, and check out the nightlife with him! We went to a little mall with a food court and I had an excellent tuna sandwich (yes…I’m living on tuna and eggs over easy).

We walked over to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because I had to get a picture of myself in the same spot where Chuck had his picture taken with Rick Redington and the Luv. Hope I was in the right spot! They were featuring the work of Bruce Springsteen inside. Gino and I parted ways again, since he had to go back to work and I had to head west.

I had a heck of a time getting through the rest of Cleveland. People kept giving me the wrong directions, and I stopped to ask for help several times. The guys were so nice at one restaurant I stopped at, they insisted on refilling my water bottles with cold water and asked if I wanted something to eat. I definitely would have accepted if I hadn’t just had tuna. Finally I got through it and made my way to Lakewood. Unbelievable houses in Lakewood! The picture shown above is the typical house I passed.

I decided to make Vermilion my overnight stop, and since Gino had generously given me a gift card, I negotiated a motel room for the price of a tent site. I can be pretty resourceful at times! The motel room had a bathtub, much to my delight, but no stopper, so I used a Ziploc bag and it worked great. I enjoyed my packet of tuna with the last of my Panera bread for dinner and flipped through the channels trying to find something good on TV. No luck, so I went to bed. Gino told me there’s a TV station interested in me, so I may hook up with them in Toledo. Today I’m going off my ACA route, so I’m a little nervous, but I’m sure it will work out fine. It looks very sunny and hot already, so I'll be covering myself with sunscreen today!