Cooperstown NY to Lake Erie

June 3rd 2025

I awoke to a nice sunrise over the rolling hills. The cows were mooing and the calves were napping enjoying the cool morning air. I made coffee and took it on my walk to visit the cows. Takota woul have loved the grass, as it was higher than my knees along the road.

As I paked up my bike, I heard the wranglers on their side by sides. They were rounding up the cattle to move them to a different pasture. I am glad I stayed the night I did, or I would have missed seeing them.

I mount up and get the GPS ready to navigate. So far the GPS( I am still learning to use) has been great. I plug in my breakfast spot and start rolling. There is a haze to the air due to the wildfire smoke from Canada. The couldn't find the breakfast spot, so I pulll into a store parking lot and set the GPS to Rout D2 one that Rob had set for me to try. My first direction is take a right and then your first right. I miss the 2nd right so I go and turn around and try again. I immediately realize this is a Rob route. It is a back narrow road. I pass beautiful Amish farmsas I meander over the hills and curves. An Amish farmer is plowing his field with a 4 Belgian hitch. It is beautiful, but on an emppty stomachI was afraid I could be on these roads for hours. Except for the pavement, I had gone back in time. Luckily, soon after the road hit route 20 again. With no luck in finding a breakfast place, I opted for a circle K coffee, breakfast sandwich and bathroom break.

Today was a beautiful house day. Most of the road was 55mph and then 30 mph in the towns. Nate would have hated it.(except for some of the beautiful topiaries) Slowing down, which is what this trip is about, gives me a chance to see the beautiful houses. Big Colonials I wouldn't want to paint, Craftmans and Victorians with their wrap around porches and hanging plants. It was a pretty hot day, so I stopped a few times to get more water. When I came to a bigger town around 2 pm, I decided to stop at at Denny"s . The nice waitress laughing that it was Howdie Dooty time made my Chicken, Broccoli, and mash potatoes extra special. I carried on through the 85 degree hazy, but sunny afternoon. It was slow going, and by 4 pm with still 1 1/2 hours to go I needed coffee. I was in a bigger town, but didn't see anything. I said to myself " I could really go for a Tim Horton's right now." Well ask and you shall receive. Not a 1/4 mile down the road I see the pink and orange valences of a Timmies. I get an ice coffee and a glazed donut.

The rest of the trip was slowed down by a couple of wide loads that I had to follow for a bit. Finally they turned off and I turned onto Route 5. GPS says 11 miles to my Lake Erie KOA. I pull in to the campground, happy to be home for the night. It is run by a nice older couple. The husband gives me a nice golf kart escort to my tent site. It is close to the bathroom and easy to park the bike. As I am setting up my tent,(sweating profusely) a neighbor in an RV brings me a bottle of cold water. I say thank you so much. She says "and I thought I was roughing it." I set up camp and took a much needed shower. Being a tuesday night, the campgroung wasn't busy, so I had the bathroom bascially to myself. My only complaint is that the campgroung backs up to the highway. I am glad I brought earplugs. Not only trucks went by in the night, but the train every so often too. I almost laughed too hard when I also heard a jet sometime in the night.