Saturday 24 July 2010

Phew!

After the problems with uploading photos last night, Blogger is running quicker this morning, so here is my latest post from yesterday....

This was day 31 of the tour, which saw me in the states of Ohio and Indiana.

I saw this fire hydrant and it immediately reminded me of the fireman’s helmet I took a photo of in Rochester....(see here for comparison)....


























Coming from the UK, I had heard of drive-in movies before and on this tour I have seen a few old but sadly derelict ones. But today, in Oregon, Ohio, what a surprise – a shiny and obviously still being used drive-in movie theatre (US = theater)....



























I stopped for petrol (US = Gas) in Bowling Green, Ohio and this place gets my vote for the best looking gas station on the tour so far....





















Following the great advice from Jimmy to use Route 424 as it offers a much more scenic ride than Route 24 (and he was 100% right, so thanks Jimmy) my journey today took me through Grand Rapids, Ohio which is on the Maumee River. I looked at the rapids and I personally didn’t think they were very grand, but that’s just my opinion. The town does have a military gun at the site of the war dead memorial....





















The town also has a very old but great looking railway bridge over the river....




























The Leading Ladies having a rest from the sun. By now it was getting hot....



























I rode passed a very large soup factory....



























I cannot remember where this was – it was opposite one of the many places I stopped today to drink something because it was so hot. I liked it's grand looking appearance....



























Did I mention it was hot? This was my thermometer as I rode along. Of course, it wasn’t quite this hot because the thermometer was in the sun, but it was bloomin’ hot anyway!....




















I didn’t think I rode that far today....



























Cool old fire truck just parked on the street with its engine running....





















Is this a church? No it is a public library. Either the architect was very confused when the building was designed, or it may have been built as a church and had a change of use later? This was in Florida, Ohio....



























A small dam on the Maumee River....






Here is the sign for Indiana, the 11th state I have ridden in on this tour. I can see I am going to have to get one of those “these are the states I have visited” maps for my blog....





















As I left Ohio I reflected on the huge amount of road construction that I saw – no major new roads, but repairs and improvements were happening across the state. I saw signs indicating the work was being funded by the American Recovery and Re-Investment Act, which I am guessing is part of President Obama’s policy to inwardly invest to help maintain jobs during these difficult financial times. Great to see this investment, but can you please eliminate the grooved and stepped pavements until after I have gone through?

I have discovered something good on my Garmin GPS unit. There is a selection in the “Points of Interest” section called Lodging. This gives directions to the nearest hotels, motels, B&B’s, Inns and the like. It gives the name of the place, how far it is and in which direction. I used it today when I reached a certain point where I had had enough of the heat. I selected a nearby Holiday Inn, not because I wanted to stay at there, but it was near, would have air conditioning, as shower and maybe a pool. It had all of these and FREE WI-FI. Yeah!

Plus, it has a guest laundry. One of the things that is a pain when you are on the road is washing your clothes. Some riders use the wear it twice, throw it away and buy a new one policy, but I do not subscribe to this. I carry enough clothes for 9 or 10 days and after a week start looking for a laundermat. Simple things sometimes bring pleasure and I was delighted to see the Holiday Inn had a guest laundry. So, instead of washing my clothes in a laundermat as usual, my clothes are being washed upstairs as I type this, my blog. What a luxury!

7 comments:

Eve said...

Hot isn't the word for it Gary! Whew!! I think the hydrant does look like the helmet!
And the soup factory...that is great! Campbell's is very big.
So the Obama Recovery and Re-Investment Act is a real pain in my side. It's just a big government money grab some of the money creates a few temporary jobs and the rest spend millions of tax payer money to put up Obama's Recovery and Re-Investment Act signs and then pay to re-elect as many Progressive Democrats as it can. We wouldn't be in deep financial trouble if Government would just get the heck out of our life's, let bad businesses fail, and quit taxing us to death! And get those elite politicians out of office! There I said my rant! hahahaha
Figures, you come to the US and have to listen to me talk politics. Sorry. I think it's a good thing the UK is reversing course and not following the path that we are heading on!
Another great post...
Ride Safe!

Geoff James said...

Great post Gary. Liked the comment about laundry practise. In NZ, there's a saying among long haul riders that you can make underwear last 4 days. Right way round, reverse them, then turn them inside out and repeat the process. Mind you, I think it might be either urban legend or the technique has died out as I don't know anyone who will admit to it :-)

Safe travelling.

SonjaM said...

Gary, man you must be cooking. Your post radiates a lot of heat... I never carried more than a week's clothing, and survived even without going with Geoff's suggestion of making underwear last 4 days... brrrr... definitely TMI Geoff ;-)

Axel said...

Great laundry insights, in my (pedal)cycling days, the rule was: 1 T-shirt a day, "dinner" T-shirt was next days riding T-shirt, and a 2 day old dried one had to be pajama-top for the night. I also took great care about bright design, altering red and yellow on daily basis. Helped to give a fresh impression and identify the day of trip on photos later :) do you have a "Monday shirt"?

Gary France said...

Eve – Whoa! I only said I saw a few signs....! So my guess is you are not going to vote for a democrat at the next elections then? It’s just a feeling I have....

Geoff – I have never done it and I hope I never will....

Sonja – If I took more than a week’s clothing I would need a trailer.

Axel – That is the system I am using. Except mine are nearly all black. All my shirts are Monday shirts!

Farmer Jim said...

Glad to see you enjoyed Route 424. I got a laugh out of your pic and comment on the Florida sign as we say the exact same thing every time we roll through there.

BTW, that old building is the Henry County Courthouse in Napoleon, OH

Gary France said...

Jimmy - I have seen a few signs like that which have made me smile. East Berlin was my favourite along with Gary in Indiana.