On the road again

Jul 2 - Niagara Falls ON to Rock Point Provincial Park near Stromness ON via Fort Erie: 61 miles / 96 KM

At the peace bridge

The day starts off at the hotel. We eat breakfast while packing up, decide if we want to go back across to the U.S. to drop off acquired ice wine rather than carry it for 4-5 more days (no), cram bikes and us into crowded elevator (none of the other guests even blinked at this), check out, find route out of town.

It's the clearest morning yet at Niagara for us and we can't resist making our way to the horseshoe overlook yet again where we also have 2nd breakfast at Tim Hortons. Side note: TH do not price gouge at this tourist spot 😊.

At 10.30 am on the morning after Canada Day, the Falls overlooks are relatively empty. The air is clear, the sun is shining, everything looks crisp.  So now I've seen this place in almost all states: crammed with tourists from all nations, walltowall with locals and tourists, drizzle, pouring rain, overcast, sun, morning, midday, late afternoon, evening, night.  

We can go.

Our path goes right along the Niagara River on a paved (no gravel, sigh) mixed use path which is lightly used. On the path near the falls we are treated with elegant stone and iron walls along the waters edge with occasional bridges crossing streams that are joining the Niagara river. This changes to a neighborhood path going by a mix of older small cottages and large new elegant (and some, enormous and ostentatious) houses along the Niagara river parkway.  Note: I wonder who really wants giant lion statues at the gates and front entrance of their home? Maybe they are royalty...?

When we reach the Peace Bridge that spans the southern end of the Niagara and offers us one last chance to cross back to the U.S. via Buffalo, we have our first view of Lake Erie!  Here we can see downtown Buffalo as well as some giant wind turbines in the distance on the U.S. side.

On to the historic fort Erie where we are just in time to catch the once-daily cannon firing. I think the blue uniforms means this was an American fort during the War of 1812. This is another earth berm fort with wood towers.

This is where we join the Friendship trail - again a mixed use path, lightly used. This part is a little monotonous; the path leaves the water, instead providing a kind of tunnel with bushes on both sides with the occasional opening to reveal farms and houses.  

The caloric demand of cycle touring catches up (again) by 1 pm where we run into a small town and I buy whatever I can from a small convenience store. The man in line ahead of me wins CDN$40 on a lottery card.

We use all our water to cook Mac and cheese plus canned salmon next to the path.  The locals are friendly, no one blinks at our array of cookware, and we field a query about whether we recommend the trail (not sure yet). No public water anywhere, must resupply with bottled water from grocery store. Argh.

Soon we're off the path and on roads, following the sun. 

Finally I'm in the last small town on the map before our destination and there's a small roadside ice cream, hamburger, fries joint right on the water. Good place to stop and wait before the final push. I can get ice cream and bribe heather with the same to go just a bit farther.

Here I have a conversation with another woman waiting for food that will repeat probably until the end of the trip:

 "Where are you headed?" "Today, turkey point, but the target is seaside Oregon" (skeptical look here) 

"Where'd you cycle from?" "Today, from rock point, but we've  cycled from Boston." 

(Eyes go wide now, skeptical look gone) "Really?" "Yes."

The ice cream bribe works out fine. I don't even think she needed bribing.

Our arrival at the provincial park does not start well. They've had a lot of rain and are only letting existing reservations camp here so that they can let waterlogged sites dry out. "You can try these other camping places... " (All 10 or so more miles). I explain that we've already done 100 km, and we don't want to go much (read: any) further. We sit outside to regroup and decide our course. 

We are rescued again.  The staff member approaches us outside and makes an exception: find a dry empty spot and come back and tell me which site you chose. HALLELUJAH!!

Settle in. Beach. Cool water on feet. Beach glass. Dinner. Bed.

Dipping toes in Lake Erie at our campground