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A foggy morning!!! I pulled out my luggage and found my red blinky light. My sunglasses (and eye-rock guards) got so wet I had to remove them after a while. I started the day feeling sick of putting on sunscreen and scarfing down coffee and breakfast, but started to enjoy the foggy ride after a mile or so through lovely neighborhood in Huntington.
Nice ride with karina and a real full-service gas station market- we were TREND SETTERS by stopping. The 40 mile stop was at an empty house... But the lady came home. I don't think she witnessed any peeing.
Fog started to lift around then - and we zipped up the Ohio-Indiana state line. Ohio on the right, Indiana on the left! After crossing a big highway with fancy state line signs, we reached a stretch with many welcome to Ohio signs. FINALLY we turned right and crossed in.
A pretty sag stop by a preserve marsh at the black river near paulding. Miracle of miracles our route went through the town! Karina and I got ice cream sandwiches at a market- many others had lunch at a cafe. We sat in the town square which reminded us both of sonoma! Paulding was someone who turned in Benedict Arnold. I'm unclear on how Ohio is involved- but I trust the plaque.
The last 20 miles were fine. I noticed that the numbering system for Ohios highways makes little sense, but the intersections are REALLY well-labeled!
Karina zipped off from me as we got into defiance along the Auglaize river. I'm surprised she hung with me that long! I rode along with the intermittent companionship of this high school kid riding on the other side of the road. When I stopped to take pictures (cemetery-- one of many today, and field of clover or elderflower??) he had paused along the road ahead. I wonder if he was curious where I was headed?
I got to downtown and spotted a coffee place called cabin fever. I'm so glad I went in! A delicious cafe au lait perked me up as I looked at google maps on my iPhone. It was clear to me that the remainder of our route was yucky, and that the library was nearby. 'postcards!'
On my way i noticed the tourists bureau , and yippee, postcards and information about defiance abounded from a nice young lady. I headed out (a whole extra 3 blocks) to the park where ft defiance stood. The confluence of the Auglaize and maumee rivers was calming and lovely. It's difficult to think about the history of the US during the Indian wars- but this was a hot spot.
I also hit the Pontiac park on the other side of the river. A really nice walk with local history, community group monuments, and areas of healing was there. I saw a monument to Johnny appleseeds first tree ( huge and prolific - thank you visitor buearu lady!), and a good view of ft defiance.
I'm so glad I took the time to explore this town. It made me feel excited and cheerful about experiencing the world from a bike. My only sad is that no one explored it with me. I'm either too fast or too slow for most folks I guess.
Karina, Sheri and I went for beer and wings. Yum! Now I'm off to the state line margarita!
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