From Amsterdam, NY to Meadville, PA 
From Amsterdam, NY to Meadville, PA
Ending Mileage: 
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Distance (in miles)
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When I went to bed last night it was gray (well it was actually dark) and wet. This morning it is still wet, gray and dark. It is hard to get motivated but my friends at the Weather Channel suggest that the rain today will be intermittent. I go downstairs to the free deluxe continental breakfast for a stale bagel and some weak coffee. I take the first load out to the bike and I'm surprised to notice that the pavement under the bike is dry. Maybe it hasn't rained as much as my first glance would suggest.
The first thirty miles on the New York Thruway are wet on and off. Initially it is a very annoying drizzle / fog mess. After a few miles it transitions into intermittent sprinkles. Finally, things start to clear up. When the sun breaks through and I feel a lick of solar energy on my neck, I put both hands over my head and do a little happy weather chant. The goddess must be appreciated or she will surely smite you at some later point.
At the next service center, I pull off for gas and some hot breakfast. I think McDonalds has a place in your travel diet for providing good hot cooked breakfast items. The quality and consistency is much higher than most of the sit down restaurants. I'm hooked on Spanish Omelet Bagel sandwiches. I roll into the parking lot and park away from the other cars. It is warm enough that I'm going to take off the rain gear for a while. I am barely stopped when a car pulls up right next to me.
I hate that -- my first thought is "Why do they always have to pull up next to you? Aren't there enough other empty spots?" The woman in the car has her radio turned up loud. The car stops and she shoots out of the car doing a little dance to the tune that has just been cut off.
By now, I'm standing next to the bike, helmet off.
"You're on a bike, pretty neat!"
"Well it has been a little wet the past couple of days but it is a lot of fun"
"I've always wanted to have a motorcycle. I keep putting it off hoping that the urge will go away but it just keeps getting stronger."
"So why don't you get one?"
"Well it is just me and my daughter and I always said that I wouldn't get one until she was grown, just in case (usually unspoken). But she's nineteen and coming home from her first year at college, so......"
I have a lot of these conversations. She peppers me with questions and finally leaves satisfied.
Back onto the Thruway, I'm hurtling across New York state. There is so much history here. I pass the turn off for the Finger Lake district. Place names evoke Revolutionary and French and Indian War battle sites. The New York Thruway crosses the Erie Canal. The Underground Railroad is featured on historic signboards at several rest stops. Seneca Falls includes the Women's Rights National Historic Park.
The ride across the state is in very good weather. At Buffalo, the Thruway is interrupted for twenty miles or so and I'm dumped onto I-90. I have been told that Buffalo has a revitalized downtown that is very worth visiting. At Erie, PA, I turn south on Interstate 89 headed for my destination of Meadville, PA. Nothing special about Meadville -- its just a midpoint I pulled off the mapping software.
The clouds have begun to threaten so I pull over to put on the weather gear. The clouds get in a couple of licks before I find a motel.
Once settled, I decide I want to grab something to eat. I drive over to the local grocery store. The weather looks like it has cleared some, so I figure I should be able to make it the couple of blocks without getting wet. No chance. Sitting at the first stop light, the clouds open up like a hose has been turned on me. At the grocery store, I grab an orange, an apple and a deli sandwich. So nice to have some fresh fruit.
Around ten o'clock, I decide a beer would help me sleep, so I head down to the sports bar that is part of the hotel. There are maybe five patrons at the bar when I walk in. I join midway through an off-color joke. The punch line is being recycled to everyone's delight. I have a local brew called something like Quinyong -- but I can't find any reference to it on the Internet. It was really nice.
Eventually, the bartender cuts off one of the drinkers. He is the life of the party pretending to mow lawns or wash cars for a living when in fact he is a prosperous used car dealer. A couple join the party before Harry and son leave. The couple are staying in the hotel while fire damage to their house is being repaired. He looks a bit like Jerry Garcia complete with a bright tie dyed T-shirt. Deb, I can't remember his name, is attractive with a decidedly more conservative appearance.
Deb decides I remind her of Steve from Jerry Springer except that I'm more attractive, God Bless Deb! We get on a conversation about the reality content of Springer's entertainment. We move through a range of topics. At one point, the guy asks me if I'm gay. Well, I never waver when asked directly. He's cool with it as is Deb - she has a gay brother. It is also amazing to me how many times this conversation (about straight people with gay siblings) occurs.
I finally turn in, it has been a long day. The Weather Channel is fairly optimistic about tomorrow -- and that is good.
Continue reading: Oh Columbus!
Depart Amsterdam on New York 30 heading south.
Enter New York Thruway heading west.
Enter Pennsylvania
Transition onto Interstate 89 heading south.
Arrive Meadville, PA
(c) 2001 Thomas N. Engler Revision Date: 05/28/2001
