Day 66 Macedon, NY-Port Ontario, NY

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Jo Day 66 (Oct 5):  Nice sunrise at Mid-Lakes Marina, Macedon, NY.  I had to wake up John, he wore ear plugs to drown out the trains...but then he couldn't hear his alarm clock either, LOL!   No rain, but the condensation was thick...it was dripping from the metal building, which made it sound like it was raining.  John's tent was drenched, it looked like someone threw a bucket of water between his tent and rain fly and it stuck together like a wet plastic shopping bag.  Alan had to wring out his towel after he used it to wipe his tent.  A small bird flew into the van and Kevin helped it out.  FYI: The Choo Choo trains stopped around mid-night and started back up around 5:30am.  Update:  Alan said when the sheriff shined the flashlight on his tent last night the sheriff ordered Alan to "show your hands!" and then asked Alan the same questions he asked us.  Apparently Daniel in the blue boat was only one dry docked boat away from Alan's tent.  The sheriff made Daniel leave the marina and was told not to come back.  Janut and I just realized that the guy we talked to yesterday was Daniel in the blue boat!  He was friendly, but I got bad vibes about him so I walked away. Kevin, Alan and John took off for their 85 mile ride.  The plan was to ride to Texas, NY, which is very close to Mexico, NY.  No joke!  However, they had to ride an additional 5 miles to Selkirk Shores State Park, Pulaski, NY because the Yellow Rose campground in Texas, NY was closed for the season. Janut, Bob and I drove to the Palmyra Aqueduct Park in Macedon and watched the Erie Canal lock 29  fill up (the sidewall height will vary by lock ranging from 28 feet to 61 feet).  It was a nice sunny day to walk around the park, which has one of the oldest bow sting iron truss bridges in the nation (it was moved here).  In 1858 Squire Whipple designed the bridge with iron because he thought it would endure longer than wood (he was correct).  We went to the B. Forman Park and saw the home of Samuel Cuyler, which was used as terminus for the Underground Railroad during the slavery days. The home is on the shore of Lake Ontario, so we watched a couple sailboats glide across the deep blue water...and soaked up the warm sun, it was so relaxing!  The beach had smooth red clay colored rocks (we were good and did not add any to our rock collection). We stopped at a roadside farm market and bought a variety of fresh picked apples and pears. Janut took pictures of a lighthouse while Bob and I sat in the van.  Bob took over the driver's seat and barked at a golden retriever across the street. The golden retriever picked up a ball then sat down and proceeded to have a staring contest with Bob, which lasted at least 5 minutes.  We drove down a side street that had a house with a life size sculpture of a mermaid sitting in a dolphin under a gazebo...all behind two guard lions...stuck out like a sore thumb. As we drove through the village of Wolcott, we saw a huge mural with sites in Wolcott...we saw the apple orchards, and the water fountain, so let's find that big waterfall!  We found it about two blocks away in the Wolcott Falls Park...the waterfall looked nothing like the mural!  I guess they turn the faucet on low during the "off season".  In Oswego we saw a large public bus with a route that said "Walmart via Birch Lane".  Oh, I forgot to mention that we shopped at Walmart again to replenish our reserves that we lost during the frig incident yesterday.  And yes, we bought another bag of ice.  The two campgrounds that we were going to stay at were closed for off season (websites said they were open thru Oct 15).  Good karma....It's a good thing the guys rode an extra 5 miles to the Selkirk Shores State Park in Pulaski, NY.  We got a campsite with a view of Lake Ontario...another beautiful sunset...except for the nuclear power plant on the horizon!
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Kevin Day 66 Macedon to Port Ontario, NY 91 miles. My apologies-only one picture from the road today. Another great weather day, clear to start and warming up to the low 70's in the afternoon. A few miles along the Erie Canalway trail, then we left the trail and headed north towards Lake Ontario. Quiet rural roads led to Sodus Point for lunch. Only one place in town was open, and even then they weren't quite ready for lunch when we arrived so our lunch break was at least an hour and a half long. We had planned for an 80+mile day, so we were concerned that the delay would get us to camp late.  We made an afternoon stop in Fairhaven, and made the decision to get on state hwy 4, to cut a few  miles for the the day. The road was fine and traffic was light, but it still was highway riding so it was important to pay attention to riding-so no pictures! And we wanted to make time so no stopping.

The most prominent geologic feature on the landscape in this area of NY is "drumlins"-hills left from advancing glaciers.  Wikipedia has a great entry discussing the formation of these pesky hills and for an illustrative picture, it uses a relief map of western New York! What drumlins meant to us was that we were always going up or going down. No flat. Reminded me of riding on Bainbridge Island or Kitsap County. My GPS and Ride with GOS put total elevation gain for the day of about 4,700 feet. I dunno bout it's accuracy, but there it is.
Our ride took us through Oswego NY at rush hour so we were able to use or urban cycling skills too! Soon we made it to Texas, NY ( near Mexico) our destination, but both campgrounds there were closed for the season in spite of what it said on their websites, so we rode an additional six miles to our camp at Selkirk Shores State Park on Lake Ontario. It was a gorgeous sunset, particularly with the silhouette of a nuclear power plant in the distance!  Tomorrow I will endeavor to take more pix. Promise.