days 26-30: Ohio

We left Ruth's house in Lisbon at 9:30am and hit the bike trail about a mile from Ruth's house toward Kent. I was pretty bent on seeing the May 4 Memorial at Kent State University.

After a bit of climbing in the morning the route finally flattened out. And it's been flat every day since.

Too many feelings to do the memorial at Kent State Justice. That night we stayed with folks outside of the University who talked over the shooting with us. One of them had been a student at Kent State when the shootings occurred. Said that the university felt like a military camp. Remembered when the school shut down.

Our wonderful hosts fed us incredibly well. I feel badly how much of their food I ate. After dinner they brought us in to downtown Kent to explore and then we walked back to their place. On the way home Ben and I went to a music store, Insomnia Cookies, and were given two dozen doughnuts. I ate an entire box of doughnuts.

We burn lots of calories. Might have an adverse effect on CO2 emissions. Still checking that one.

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Biked to Oberlin the following day where we stayed with a friend of a friend that put us up. Saw a free play in at Hall Auditorium, Anne of Green Gables, and ate dinner at a make your own burrito place.

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Morning coffee shop chillin' in Oberlin to do some sound editing. Left late in the afternoon for Sandusky, OH.

Spent night in Sandusky with an awesome family [thanks again Carol, Chris, Jordan, Char!] that welcomed us in, let us play their musical instruments, fed us vegetarian tacos, and gave us some hefty tastes of their home-brew.

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Toledo bound and thinking about my drive across the country with my father. My junior year of High School he moved to Alaska and I drove across the country with him and our dog, Neptune. We stopped outside of Sandusky and in Toledo on our third or fourth night together.

Biked into another cyclist going to Toledo on the trail, Daniel, who'd stayed with the same folks we had in Sandusky. Fast friends. Biked in to our warm showers host for the evening together.

Howard, who hosted us, was "liberated from owning a car." He and his wife finished a cross-country tour last year and he was happy to host a house-full of cyclists. Total of five came through that evening.

Soon after Daniel, Ben, and I arrived-- Paul and Joe got to the house. They're on their way to finishing their world tour and are on their last third of the US (biking West to East). They had some incredible stories to share.

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Yesterday we woke up at a leisurely pace and biked into Detroit. Half-way down the road we met up with Daniel and found our way into the city together.

Staying at the Brick and Mortar Collective in Detroit with a friend of mine, Valeriya. Went to dinner at a vegan restaurant and had some tasty fusion food.