August 1
Wednesday, August
1 Syracuse, NY to Utica,
NY 68 miles
I reckon them there are hills out yonder! About five miles from Utica, we got our
first glimpse of what lies ahead – THE MOUNTAINS. In
every direction. It will be impossible
to escape the Berkshires.
But what a glorious ride I had from
Syracuse over here to the Red Roof Inn on the outskirts of Utica. We are next to the Barges Canal. Part of the ride we followed on the road
next to the Old Erie Canal, as we did yesterday.
Since Doug T. is gone until next Friday,
Mike M. has taken over the Route Rap.
As we looked over the cue sheets last night for today’s ride he was
advising us to get going early as the morning commute traffic in Syracuse would
be heavy. Our first 13 miles was going
to be all city streets. But the luggage
truck wasn’t scheduled to open until 6:45 and breakfast at the hotel wouldn’t
be served until 7.
I was pretty nervous thinking about rush
traffic so I had juice, milk, power bar and banana in my room for breakfast and
I threw my luggage on right at 6:45 and headed out. Anthony, Francis and Mike were leaving at the same time too. After all the hype Mike had made about the
traffic it wasn’t bad at all. Got lucky with all the traffic lights too and
didn’t mess up with any turns. St
Christopher was right there watching over me.
Francis was just a few feet in front of me when a SUV coming from the
opposite direction turned right in front of her! WOW was that close. She swerved out just inches enough to miss
getting hit! He slammed on his brakes
just in time. I nearly ran into the
side but went around the back. We were
in clear sight of him but he tried to make that turn anyway. Creep.
We were warned about these crazy New York drivers. Actually, over all I have found them to be courteous
- except for that one.
After about 15 miles we were on the country
roads. It was a sunny gorgeous day for
our ride and the country roads were smooth and everything was quiet and
peaceful.
Update on Larry the luggage man. Monday when he hurt his leg loading luggage he was taken to the hospital in
Niagara Falls. He tore a ligament in
the leg and he is on crutches with orders to keep leg elevated and take pain
meds. He is still in lots of pain. He has had to give up the job of driving the
luggage truck – but will continue to travel with us to the end. He still takes care of business that needs
to be attended to with the offices at the places we are staying. Mike’s wife Barb is driving the big Ryder
truck getting the luggage to our destination before we all start arriving.
I had a swell ride today. Riding on high, having a grand time. That’s it for today on my cross country odyssey.
Dinner tonight is at the Pizza Hut up the
road. Some are pretty happy about that
saying they haven’t had pizza since Wyoming!
Have you signed
my Guest book? I invite you to say
hello by opening the guest book on my Homepage. Thanks everyone.
P.S. A special “Hello” to Wilson’s girlfriend. He
told me this morning you’ve been reading my web.