Comfort Suites Edinboro

... According to the Lonely Plant guide book, Ohio has a bigger Amish population than Pennsylvania (which I'd always thought they hung out in droves). Anyway, it was amazing! All these little towns with Amish cafes and bakeries and having to slow down behind an Amish person driving their buggy along the road! I saw a real Amish farmer working his farm using a hand-pushed cart thingie and horses. Although I ...

... for several hours: looking at exhibits, listening to retirerees josh, reading donated copies of Model Railroader, sitting in the caboose imagining trips, or watching freight trains pass by on the still working tracks next to the depot.













After the museum we headed over to the White Turkey Drive-In, a local institution and one that has become sort of a Mother's ...

... western shore where the coal would eventually be loaded onto ore boats. Down Walnut Street we vistited the Hubbard House Underground Railroad Museum. The 1841 house served as a stop on the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves making their way to Ontario. The museum also houses exhibits covering Ashtabula's contributions towards the Civil War as well as the Ashtabula Bridge Disaster of 1876 when a rail bridge over the ...

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Before the full force arrived, we took some time to further explore Conneaut, walking some more cemeteries in search of family headstones, oggling Federal and Victorian houses, and stopping by the City Center Market to pick up local organic produce for our Sunday meal. We chatted with owner Russ Coltman about gardening, organic farming and Conneaut in general while his daughter Zana helped select produce. They cheerfully ...

... the words and joined right in when the band broke into "Mairzy Doats", thanks to my grandpa and then my mom singing it to us kids years ago. As the sun sunk behind the bandstand, we walked back to my parents' house where we sat on the back porch again, watching the fireflies flit around the yard. After living west of the Rockies the past twenty years, I'd forgotten how much fun and relaxing they are to watch before we finally retired to bed.

... of downtown Erie – back along the beaches of the lake side of the peninsula. We had several short pleasant strolls, watching canoers, waterfowl, and trying to identify plants we saw along the way, but I forgot about the horseflies out this way. Afterwards we drove into Erie. We stopped by the Maritime Museum hoping to visit the Niagara, the replica of Admiral Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship from the Battle of Lake ...

... Well, yes, if you add up the time I spent summers at the grandparents on Buffalo Street over the years it would pale in comparison to anywhere else I have plunked my butt over the years. People ask me where I'm from and I struggle with the answer. Cleveland? Boston? I haven't lived in either place for years. Seattle? I've lived here more than anyplace else, but can't say it's become part of me. Maybe ...

I somehow find my way out of Cleveland and drive on down through Pennsylvania. Somewhere in there, I called my dad to ask him to start driving, because I am terrified. I probably good have made it all the way, but I just was not trusting this motorcycle anymore. I took a bunch of backways and filled some gas up just outside of Erie, PA. I meet a nice man who works for the county fixing the guide rails along different highways in the area ...

... Which in and of itself was a funny thing. I set up the appointment with her for 4 o' clock. She calls me at 2 while I am picking up my truck window and I let it go to voice mail since I wasn't sure who it was. Now you have to understand that for some reason she is scared to death of my dogs. So I listen to the voice mail to find out that at 2:30 she wants to go into the house to write down a list of things that need fixing with her workmen. Like where the ceiling fell ...

... the rehersal dinner... which cuts the journey to an ultra short 12 days. So much has happened while we hack and slash our itinerary. So we have come up with the following, I was not present for the final version and I have some questions myself about it. But here it is: -Day 1-2------------------------------------ --------------- Erie>>Durango, CO (Google: 1815 miles) Insanity. --Day 3-------------------------------------- --------------- Do ...