Niagara Falls, Canada (5/27)

Our day started at Joe’s home near Poughkeepsie, NY with a wonderful breakfast prepared by Nancy, Joe’s wife.  However, our cycling trip did not really start until we drove 360 miles west to Buffalo, NY.   In Buffalo, we parked Joe’s van at his mother-in-law’s home. While a book could be written about this 103 year old sweet woman, let me just say she is a real dynamo and we wished that we could have spent more time with her.

About 1:30 in the afternoon, we got our bikes and gear organized and we headed towards the Peace Bridge that links the United States to Canada.  Mostly we cycled through residential areas but near the bridge we went through commercial districts.  Most of the ride was on bike trails though parks and along waterways.  It was very delightful and the weather pleasant

After crossing into Canada, we needed to find a place for dinner before we got to our hotel which had no dining places nearby.  We decided to stop at the first interesting place we found.  Of course we had not established any criteria, but knew that it would become apparent or we would not eat.  We passed several places that looked like they were closed or should be closed (permanently).  It was after 5 p.m. and things did not look so good.    

Then we saw a place called “He Is Not Here” which had an outdoor patio and a place for our bikes.  We parked our bikes next to one that was already there and walked onto the patio.  There we asked one of the customers if the restaurant had table service or did we need to go inside to order.  She told us to sit down and get comfortable and she went in to get a waitress for us.  When she returned it got interesting. She asked us lots of questions and made some questionable innuendos.  Then she introduced us to her friend who looked to be in her 60s and mellowed out from to much beer.  This woman was the owner of the other bicycle parked by ours.  She was wondering how she was going to get home on her bicycle after all she had to drink.  Another friend arrived and joined in our group conservation.  Her language was totally uninhibited.  We had an interesting introduction to Canadian women.

We had a local draft beers and sandwiches before heading to our motel, 5 miles away.  At 7 p.m. we arrived at our motel, seconds before the sky opened up with lots of rain.   Our motel room was tiny, and with 2 bikes in the room we did not have much room to move around.  However, it was the only motel within many miles and we were dry.

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