Books, bites and bike rides: You're Getting Warmer...

morning has broken in PA

When we were kids, my sisters played a game called "Hot and Cold" with me. While I realize this could have been a way to have me be entertained for hours, while going farther and farther away from them, has crossed my mind, I will hold in my simple heart their honest intentions.

You know the game.

Something is "hidden" or "chosen" and the hunt begins. As I would get farther away from the object, they would give the cue - "colder". If you were far afield, you were "freezing". As you got closer to the target you got "warmer...warmer...warmer..." until you were HOT - and hit paydirt.
This is what our ride was today. We entered New York, our eleventh state, and biked along Lake Erie, (yes Tom), and through wooded areas. The last cactus we saw was in Ohio, Pennsylvania was the beginning of a vegetation turning point, and New York -- well New York felt like the walkway to "home".

As kids we had learned that Erie was a lake in trouble, pollution threatened to destroy it.
Today is a different story - the shades of blue were brilliant,
against the cold-front clouds and crystal sky.
Concord grape vineyards were plenty, wheat and cornfields (much fewer) were having their last gasps, and there was nary a soybean field to be seen.

Rollings hills are pulling us northward, with each slope bringing us closer.
We leave shortly for Route Rap, where we'll hear about our ninety-four mile ride for tomorrow. We've been cautioned to remain vigilant, and focused...
keep our eye on the prize...