Maumee Ohio

Halfway to Iowa-Maumee, Ohio, a suburb of Toledo.

Had a fairly uneventful trip here today although about 10 miles from home it started to rain, which quickly turned into a pretty strong thunder and lightening storm. That lasted about 10 miles, and we all slowed right down on the Thruway. The sun was out before Buffalo and it was heating up.

There were a couple of stretches of road work, but no major delays.

Before I left home, I went to the library and borrowed a book on tape and started listening to it today. I got Frank McCourt's Teacher Man-he is the author of Angela's Ashes(?). Teacher Man is very interesting, as he tells of his 30 years of experience as a teacher in the New York City high schools. I am about half way through the discs so I will probably finish it up tomorrow. Now I wish I had gotten 2 books so that I would have something for the trip home!

I arrived at my hotel about 3 PM and asked about places to ride my bike. The front desk people were not aware of any bike trails, but suggested I go ride on the road that parellels the Maumee River. So that is what I did and it was a wonderful suggestion! Some stretches of this road were named River Road and other parts were named Broadway, but it was mostly through residential areas with one nice stretch through a river park. The traffic was minimal and very manageable and it was fun to look at all the big houses overlooking the river. I ended up doing 21.8 miles and it was a great ride.

I walked to a Panera's for dinner hoping to get one of their Fuji Apple Chicken Salads and use their wireless internet with my iPod Touch. I was quite disappointed when I ordered my favorite salad and the server told me that that salad is no longer available!!! It was replaced with the Strawberry Poppyseed salad. So I decided to try that one and it was delicious. It had mixed greens with strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, pecans and a poppyseed dressing. I added some grilled chicken and enjoyed every bite!

That's all for now. Tomorrow I meet up with Bob and Sally in Rock Island, Il, which is near the RAGBRAI ending town of LeClaire. We will load our bikes on the charter shuttle truck and then be sure we are ready to ride the shuttle bus to the western edge of Iowa on Saturday morning.

Hope all is well.