August 29 - 31: Erie, PA to East Avon, NY

August 29 - It is only 8:30 and Donna's rear tire went flat (#10) just at the east end of Erie. Probably surprising that it didn't happen sooner as the streets had a lot of debris.


We are starting to see more vineyards. Turns out this part of Pennsylvania and adjacent New York are the Concord grape epicenter of the country.


10:00 - Flat #11 - Donna's rear tire again. While we were changing it the UPS truck went by. Five minutes later he was back asking if we needed help. He told us about the bike shop in the next town and the best way to get there on bikes ... another angel of the road!


And Lake Country Cycle Shop had the exact tire we needed. Dave said that he gets lots of cross country tourers because their tires wear out by the time they reach his town, North East, PA. He also told us about the Pedaling History Museum in the Buffalo area.


Our next to the last state!


We are starting to see a lot of these roadside fruit and vegetable stands, ­tempting us to stop.


This Portland is quite a bit smaller than the one in Oregon. We spent the night in Fredonia/Dunkirk which was only 7 miles from here.


August 30 - Another really pleasant day for biking along Lake Erie. Donna thought this church was distinctive for its hexagonal towers.


This river is really typical of the stream channels in this area. Most are running very low too. It's been a pretty dry summer here.


Another Donna magnet with a cute theme and good ice cream.


And here we are at the Burgwardt Bicycle Museum in Orchard Park.


Doug with Carl, the owner and collector of all these bicycles.

Besides the wooden handles this a tandem that has the seats side by side - a truly social bike.


Just a few bike bells.


The Schwinn Black Phantom: Doug says that every kid on the block wanted one when he was boy.








Time to move on but we are so glad that Dave told us about the museum. Stayed the night on the outskirts of Buffalo. We decided to save Niagara Falls for the next bike trip when we go all the way around Lake Erie.


August 31 - It was very foggy for the first few hours today. Our sound of the day came first thing. A fellow guest at the motel serenaded us in the breakfast room with his guitar while waiting for his partner.

Haven't seen this sign before!


This is very typical of this part of New York.


Grinning his way up another little hill.


Our smell for the day was silage corn being harvested right next to the road. Made Donna hungry for more sweet corn!


Stopped in Avon to use the library's computer. Afterwards we had just passed the fire station when all the sirens went off. Spent the night in East Avon. Today was the end of Week 9 - 3200 miles!