Day 67 Pulaski, NY-Boonville, NY

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Jo Day 67 (Oct 6): Slept in a few extra minutes and missed the sunrise at the Selkirk Shores State Park, Pulaski, NY.  Kevin, Alan and John took off for their 57 mile ride today, we saw them on the road later in the day.  This morning I met a woman named Mary in the campground...she and her husband have been riding with their two kids since June 24.  They also started in Anacortes, WA.  Mary said they tent camped next to a cyclist named Vince...too bad we didn't meet all of them last night, it would have been fun to chat with them.  We saw Mary and her family a couple of times today on the road (riding the same route as us).  And we met Vince at tonight's campground...small world.  Janut, Bob and I drove through downtown Pulaski, and came upon quite a scene on a bridge over the Salmon River...it was packed with fishermen...on the bridge, next to the bridge, under the bridge and down the river....fishing for Atlantic salmon.  I met a couple guys who caught a 20+ lb salmon, and they took a picture of ME holding their catch after I told them about my brother Mark and his Alaska salmon fishing trips. Fish On!  We drove on and saw some nice fall colors.  We had no sight-seeing plans so when Janut saw a sign with an arrow that said "Salmon River Falls 3 miles" she said "I don't know if that's a town or an actual water fall, but we're gonna find out."  Yay, it was a 110 foot water fall, so we walked on the trail next to the falls and to the top of the falls. Totally worth the detour.  Tonight we are camping at the Stysh's Brown Barn Campground in Boonville, NY.  Dan, the owner, is so nice and so friendly. His father had a dairy farm for 45 years and thought it was time for a change, so in the 70's his father sold the cows and turned the farm into a campground.  The barn is well used for weddings and gatherings, it's really something when Dan turns on the party lights inside the barn. Our camp neighbors came buy and offered us some tasty red jug wine...how nice!  Mary and her family didn't make it to this campground (they have been averaging 40 miles a day, so 57 hilly miles was too far, bummer).  Vince (the cyclist Mary told me about) rolled in and came over to chat with us, what a nice, funny, down to earth guy. Of course we invited him to join us for dinner...how could he refuse?  We made tasty Parmesan/sage/breadcrumb crusted pork chops, microwave baked potatoes, grilled corn bread chunks, and frozen veggies. We had a fun evening sharing stories with Vince...we had such a good time that we forgot to watch the sunset!

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Kevin Day 67 Port Ontario to Boonville, New York 57 miles, approx 3,500 elevation gain. A great day of riding-great weather and quiet back roads. This was our first day that we can really say the trees are starting to show fall colors.  It should only get better in the next 10 days to Bar Harbor(if all goes to plan!). A lunch stop in Osceola, where the food was good, and the "help" was not too interested in being there. We rode past the Mohawk Beagle Club-it looked like a really large property and of course it was all fenced-it's a beagle club!  There was a sign directing to a field trial, so I'm thinking that they do rabbit hunting/tracking events there.  In Boonville we took a break at The Pub.  I sampled an exotic beer favored by locals. It has been really interesting riding through so many towns that have been established since the late 1700's and early 1800's. All have cemeteries with all kinds of giant monuments. Many stone markers are so old they show the effects  of weathering and erosion that make them difficult to read the inscriptions upon them. We are camping at Stysh's Brown Barn campground outside Boonville- a great place with a friendly owner. A neighboring camper brought a giant jug of red wine to share, and we met another Northern Tier cyclist, Vince from Eugene, OR. He joined us for dinner that Janet and Jo prepared-delicious pork chops, baked potatoes, and broccoli!  I'm sure we will see Vince again, as he plans to finish up in Bar Harbor the same day as we are planning.