NB: This post has been updated, but is still being modified.

The first week was a trip across New York and the NE corner of Pennsylvania.  Two things were different from expected.  Jenn fell sick, and rented a car, joining me only part of each day.  But we still had fun.  The other was that navigation apps didn’t act completely as expected, so I ended up on unpaved roads more than I liked.  There was also a fair amount of rain, so lots of waiting periods.

Lodging was a mixed bag.  Day 2 ended at a motel in Liberty NY.  It wouldn’t pass the Fussy Girlfriend Test, or FGT.  This picture is not where I stayed, but pretty close.  Note the owner jumping on the dumpster.  Classy.

.

My cousin Gretchen drove her sister Jenn to Liberty and we all had breakfast together.  We mutually  concluded that Jenn was too sick to ride any longer.  This was very disappointing, as Jenn had been planning on this almost as long as I had.  After we parted with great sadness, we independently had the great idea of renting a car so Jenn could still follow along, and even do some riding as she began to feel better.

The next day started with rain, but soon cleared. One dirt road led me to a great little pond, and the sun was out, so I had to take a dip.

The day ended at a very nice place in extreme NE Pennsylvania, the Starlight Inn.  Almost empty, historic, v nice.  Jenn, visited a friend, and had not yet rejoined me.

The next day I made my way to Nichols NY.  It was a VERY hilly area, almost all either steeply up or down. It rained a few times, so i spent a lot of time waiting it out.  I eventually was on a dirt road in the rain, a real mess. But I finally pulled into Nichols NY, where I met Jenn at a nice B&B, the Elegant Lady.  The owners very kindly gave Jenn her own room for free. She also started the excellent custom of having refreshments waiting for me at the end of my long day of cycling.

We had dinner at a strange restaurant housed in an historic former jail.  Many booths were previously cells, with real bars separating them.  Jenn said the bathrooms had steel toilets.  Nice authentic touch.  Sorry, no photo,

Jenn was feeling well enough by now to want to ride some.  She tried to pedal back to meet me at the end of the day, but we couldn’t connect.  Instead she ended up at Watkins Glen, which judging from her photos is quite beautiful.

IMAGES TO BE ADED

From there we headed west to Bath NY.  The day was spent mainly on pretty wide roads, though traffic was not too bad.  Still, it lacked the charm of the smaller roads I had used before.  Jenn met me at the southern entrance to Letchworth State Park.  It’s a pretty amazing large gorge, with three huge waterfalls and a charming old hotel.

We cycled through to Perry, staying at a modest Bed and Breakfast.  We drove to a funny restaurant out in the country, which ended up having the BEST ribs I have ever eaten.  Not barbeque, but with an interesting spice rub.  Jenn was planning to visit Niagara Falls, while I cycled the next day, so we rented Niagara with Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten.  I’m not a big MM fan, but her acting/face twitching was pretty amazing to watch