Had the best nights sleep so far in a really comfortable bed. They have a lovely house right on the side of Lake Erie, we had use of the garage for our bikes as well as our own room.Amy and Mike made us a tasty omelette with onion, tomatoes and spinach just right for the day ahead.

We thanked them and said our goodbyes and set off again against the wind. There is a choice of two campsites for tonight. The 1st one is 31 miles away and the 2nd is 42 miles. The wind is strong against us so the 1st one it is.In just 5miles we cross the border into a new state, welcome to Pennsylvania.

There’s nothing on route for the 1st 20 miles until we find a petrol station for cake and coffee. It took us three hours to do the 20 it was hard work.

Refreshed we pushed on to do the last bit and arrived at the site 3:30 pm. Not a bad site with a pizza place so pizza for dinner.

Camp site left nice and early we found a diner 5 miles away for our usual breakfast.

We have another campsite ear marked 45 miles away the weather is hot. Lots of factor 50 today.

A day of heat, hills and headwind. What a day, both Mike and I were suffering. We followed the coast of Lake Erie. Nothing really on the road, we grabbed a snack bar from the one and only petrol station and was getting concerned that we were running out of drinking water and had nothing for food tonight. We were 10 miles away from the campsite but it had taken a hour to do the previous 5 miles against the wind. A couple of times the wind was so strong I just couldn’t cycle against it and come to a complete standstill. It was also over 88 degrees. Hard work.

A car in the opposite direction gave us a friendly beep we both waved back. A few seconds later the same car had turned around and came back to us. He pulled next to us and asked us where are we headed, we told him we were going to the next campsite 5 miles up the road. He introduced him self another Mike and said he was a warm showers host. We could stay with him if we want it’s just 100 yards back. We would love to we have definitely had enough for the day.

Mike introduces us to his wife Amy and son Jacob. They make us very welcome, we have a comfortable bed for the night. A en-suite and have had a lovely meal cooked for us. We can stay as long as we like and breakfast has been promised.

Sorry no photos today, to busy fighting with the sun and wind.

Back on the road. We left the hotel early and was over rainbow bridge before 7:30 am . We weren’t looking forward to today’s ride as we had to go through 2 cities, would of been so much nicer in Canada. Oh well just have to get on with it. It was a long day following the bike route. It was full of dead ends and detours, or in some places dug up with no alternative route suggestions. It manly followed the river Erie and was quite industrial.

We did 55 miles and rode into the campground at 4pm. There was no one in the office and the notice on the door stated that office open times were 8-3. Ridiculous who pulls into a camp site before 3pm! Anyway people were camping so the showers and toilets were all open we found a dryish pitch and set up camp. It’s not are fault there’s no one to pay.

We sat eating dinner, just cheese sandwiches and a bag of crisps, when a man come over for a chat. He’s name was Norman and was interested in our cycle ride so invited us over to his pitch later for some beer and sit around the fire. We thanked him and explained that we would have to come empty handed, not a problem see you in a hour.

Showered and a short walk to stretch our legs we end up at norms. He’s already drunk and his mrs has gone to bed, they’ve been drinking all day. He wakes up Mary and lights the fire, we fill awkward but he hands us a beer each and insists that we sit down. He carries on drinking heavily and Mary finally comes out of their camper. She starts to drink again. They were friendly enough and fire was good, Mike and I had 2 beers each but the conversation was getting repetitive. They were drinking heavily and kept forgetting what was said. At this point Norm couldn’t stand up. He told us about his life, it’s not been easy for him. His 1st wife died of cancer after 31 years of marriage. He’s family don’t approve of Mary his 2nd wife because it’s to soon. His 27 year old daughter is a heroine addict that still lives with them but is always in trouble stealing.

Mary’s life wasn’t that much happier. 2 failed marriages and 3 kids. We thanked them for the beer wished them all the best and left. I truly do hope that their life turns around for them.

In the morning packed up early and left without paying.