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A day of canals! I hadn't really put together my knowledge of the Erie canal and the location of said lake! We started the day in defiance. Karina, mary and I left early (7:30!!!) and went into town for good coffee and tourism.
We saw the lock that I missed yesterday- and revisited the fort and confluence of the rivers. After that it was back on-route (only half-hour late!) along the Maumee river on Hwy 424, which is apparently a favorite for motorcyclists. We looked at a dam and saw lots of great blue herons. We wondered why they built the dam, and found no plaques to tell us!
Midway along a dirt trail called the 'tow path' I had my revelation. "oh, that's the CANAL on the left! (river was obviously to the right). I'd vaguely known that the towing was for canal barge movement.. but somehow hadn't noticed the tidy body of water to the side.
Well, grand rapids made it clear. Two dams (seagulls instead of herons this time) and a canal. What a cute town.
The rest of the day was only 15 miles more. We were back in farmland, but more picturesque than the past week. The rivers and accompanying trees make a big difference! I ended up finishing the day with Jean an Carolyn. We paused to listen to some wind power turbines, and I reflected on this podcast I just heard about new discoveries of rare earth metals on the pacific ocean floor (200lbs per machine, all from china is what I heard)- and that we've been riding through corn and thinking about ethanol... and that I also heard a podcast about fracking in Pennsylvania a day before I came upon Sheri and Peggy talking about it.
Only so many topics in the world, I guess! I just finished a fun conversation with Susan. We wondered about the war of 1812, and as I emerged from my shower, she was wikipediaed with answers! I'm amazed I know so little about that war and time period in US history.
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