Chasing Rainbows

You know how rainbows are formed ... the sun reflects off of raindrops. That requires two elements: sunshine, and rain. This morning, we only had one of those two elements, and it wasn't sunshine.

The day started in Syrheated upacuse, where we stayed with WarmShowers hostess Keri Vito. She recommended a breakfast restaurant called Malts, since we wanted to get out of town early, and Malts opened at 7:00 am. The food was good, but maybe going in first thing in the morning was not the best time for them. I don't think they had the stove warmed up, and the waitresses were in no hurry, so the slow service was a bit of a damper on an otherwise good breakfast. But the real damper was the weather. Soaking rain. We had to pull out the rain gear for the first time, and rode all the way from Syracuse to Uttica without once seeing anything but pouring rain. Pat asked what we wanted to do for lunch, and we said, "Somewhere warm and dry." So we found a small pizza restaurant, feasted, and rode on.

The sun finally came out as we were approaching Herkimer, our original stopping place for the day, then we had a fast descent into Little Falls. There, were met at the outskirts of town by the chief of police and his assistant chief, and they led us into town with the lights flashing, through red lights and stop signs, across a bridge over the river and freeway, finally stopping at a beautiful boat house along the Erie Canal. Nearby, there is a 41-foot lock, and the main branch of the canal can be navigated from Syracuse to Albany, finally emptying into the Hudson River. Our route tomorrow will be along the canal again ... a wider path than the adventuresome trail we followed yesterday. And hopefully, the trail will be bathed in sunshine!

Anyway, the chief of police led us directly to the marina boathouse, where the American Legion and the Mayor were awaiting our arrival, along with others. We will sleep on cots in the boathouse tonight. Here's a view along the canal showing the boathouse.

In front of the boathouse / marina is a pleasant little park that pretty much marks the beginning of our morning ride tomorrow.

After showers and laundry, we went to the Little Falls American Legion Hall for a spaghetti dinner, and yet more fundraising. We were given the reserved head table, and were treated like celebrities by everyone. But alas, the evening had to end. Tomorrow morning, we have breakfast at 7:00 again, then off along the canal path.

Ad "Bikes" to the sign in front of the marina building, and we would be (we are) totally happy!