We took a little ride. (Day 6 - North Canton to Home)

Ugh. Here it is. The last entry for this wonderful trip. Color me sad.  :(


We woke up around 7 Monday morning, got showered and dressed, and headed down to the lobby for the complimentary breakfast. At this hotel, the breakfast attendant makes the waffles although neither of us decided to partake of this particular breakfast delight. I just found it interesting...and I also approved of this move! I've seen my share of hotel waffle makers completely gunked up and/or otherwise operated incorrectly by unsupervised children and adults alike! We returned to our room, packed up one last time, and headed down to the bike. I left Chris to attend to the bags while I walked to the front desk to check us out. Once we were on the bike and ready to roll, I said to Chris, "Say it with me," and without hesitation we both said at the same time, "We're coming, Monkey!" (That's what we say whenever we're headed home to Oscar, be it from an 1,800 mile bike trip or a quick run to Wegmans.)


We passed the Pro Football Hall of Fame which, if we'd had more time, I would have liked to visit to see Troy's bust and display. Oh...Troy who? You must not know me very well, then. Troy Aikman, silly! I luuuuuurve him!!! I'll get there to see Troy, and Emmitt, and Michael...and hopefully Hines Ward and The Bus...someday!

Last night's dinner location...YUM!

We were on the highway briefly as we passed the HoF and then found our way onto back roads to worm our way through Ohio into Pennsylvania, including a pass through Historic Lisbon, OH.

Way to go, Ruben!

An Ohio barn!

Yuck...we're in Indians' territory!

Live, love, and grown in Lisbon, OH.

Constructed by Jacob Picking as a hotel.

This church has curb appeal!

The Penn-Ohio Model A Ford Club had a stop at the Hall China Company in East Liverpool, OH as part of their summer tour.

A Cobra attack helicopter at the VFW post in Midland, PA.

  

Approaching Beaver Valley Power Station.

The cooling towers at Beaver Valley Power Station.

We took a stretch and snack break at a Sheetz just outside of Beaver, PA.

Cannons across the street from the Beaver County Courthouse.

The Beaver County Courthouse.

King Cones Castle in Butler, PA.

We wandered along the back roads of Pennsylvania, commenting along the way that we were fairly certain we'd been through more turns and curves during our brief return to PA than we had in all of Michigan and Ohio! It was nice to be back on familiar, twisty turf! We wound up coming into Punxsutawney on PA 36 where we encountered the many Phils of Punxsy!

Tourist Phil

Bellhop Phil at the Pantall Hotel.

Groundhog Day Phil - the green awning says "Phil's Burrow" because he lives at the library all year.

Fireman Phil

Mailman Phil

We continued along PA 36 until it met up with US 219 to PA 879, which we took to Curwensville where we stopped for a brief stretch break and to decide where to have a late lunch. We were closing in on Clearfield and it was a Monday afternoon...chances were quite good that we'd be able to get a table at Denny's Beer Barrel Pub, so that's where we headed for our last on-the-road meal.

I saw this barn a few weeks ago when we were on our way to Kane.
This time I managed to snag a picture of it!

Welcome to Denny's!

Check out Chili among the pickle spears!

After our yummy late lunch at Denny's, it was just about 50 minutes to get home via US 322. That last stretch of the ride, I really had mixed emotions. I was sad that our six-day adventure was coming to a close, but at the same time, I was really excited to see Oscar!


FINAL THOUGHTS
I had an absolute blast on this trip! I kept saying (and keep saying to anyone who will listen) how much fun I had at Clay's BBQ and how great it was to finally meet and put faces to the names of some of the people I've chatted with here on ST.N. Heck, I say that about every ST.N event! There are some pretty cool people on there!


Some other observations: Canadian Heinz Ketchup is awesome, if I ever move to Canada I'll have to make my own unsweetened iced tea, Ontario would be a bitchin' place for a summer vacation on one of the many lakes, ditto for Traverse City on THE lake, central Michigan roads are a snoozefest, I overpacked (again), I can shower and be ready for dinner in 20 minutes but at home it takes me at least 45 minutes?!?, and Pennsylvania has the most attractive stop/slow sign holders of the four states we rode through plus Canada.


Thank you to Clay and his family for their hospitality! And to Daryl for cooking all of that delicious food. Everything was wonderful, but it was the camaraderie that I enjoyed the most.


To everyone we saw at Clay's house - old and new friends alike - it was great to see you, meet you, chat with you, etc. Ed, lay off the hooch and stay out of the back of your truck!


To Chris, thank you for another great trip! I had a fantastic time and I'm already looking forward to the next two-wheeled adventure!


TOTAL MILES: 1,804
TRIP LENGTH: 6 days
MOVING TIME: 36 hours
MOVING AVG: 50 MPH
AVG MPG: 46.5