Monday 6th July
It's very hot and humid this morning and the forecast for today is not good but we are hopefully moving ahead of the storm front. First stop was breakfast as the motel we stopped at was not offering a free one and had no fridge either so a bowl of cereal was out too. From there we had a short ride to the Harley Davidson museum, not a bad museum but not good for the price.

We had planned to ride down to Chicago and ride through the outskirts but we were getting absolutely nowhere and the temperature was now in the high 80's and very humid, so we bit the bullet and took the interstate through, that was mad as well. It was also a toll road and we had to pay 3 tolls one on entry one after we crossed the state line and one when we left the interstate, which wasn't soon enough. Once off the interstate we stopped for a drink then got back on our original route. We had only gone about 30 miles when we passed a road side motel with an outdoor pool. One emergency stop and a hard right and we were in. We got a good rate so unloaded headed for a supermarket then back to the pool for a dip. Wasn't long after our swim before the rain hit but it soon passed by think there will be a lot more tomorrow which is a shame as I am looking forward to a day off the bike tomorrow.

Tuesday 7th July
A good lay in this morning and it's been raining all night and is still chucking it down.
Rain stopped about 11 so headed off in to town then for a look at a light house museum, we got there just before 1 and it did not open till 1 so we went for a walk to the lake but when we got back it was now 12. We had forgotten that we were staying just the other side of the time line and it took a while for the phones to update. It didn't look that good from the outside so went for lunch then a lazy afternoon.

Wednesday 8th July
Overcast to day and a cool ride to Jackson. After checking in we went to Hanover Buffalo Ranch to get up close to a small herd of Buffalo and feed them

Later that evening we went to the Cascades, a man made waterfall. Originally built in 1932 has now been modernised with LED lighting and they have regular light shows to really sketchy music. Like the American national anthem sung by Witney Houston (don't understand why she was not lynched for that). A lot like Paul McCartney singing ours, he should of been hung, drawn and quartered for that one.

Thursday 9th July
Lazy day relaxing.

Friday 10th July
We had a great ride to Salem Ohio the weather was great and we missed all the rain. I got pulled over for speeding and got off with another warning. We arrived at Dave and Ruth's at about 5 (met them at Bob and Jude's) after unloading we went in to town as Salem was holding their first ever bike week. We met lots of people one of which happened to be the owner of the local KTM dealer and had thanks to Dave agreed to let me test ride the 1290 and 1190 on Saturday, we then had a few drinks in a club that Dave drinks at called the Italian Club. Very cheap booze.

Saturday 11th July
Woke up to the smell of bacon mmmmm. Ruth had cooked us all a lovely breakfast, Dave had loaded 2 of his bikes to show at the bike week show on to his trailer and was off early. He has a 1956 Triumph that was his first ever motorbike that he bought in 1958 his second bike was a 1985 BMW that he bought new.
Marcia and I drove in with Ruth who after dropping me off took Marcia to a local historic society.
After meeting up with Dave I took a walk around the bikes, not a bad collection for their first ever bike show but still mainly Harley's. There were a few Triumphs, BMW's, the odd Honda and Suzuki.
It was baking hot and was glad to get out on the KTM. First I took out the 1290 What a mental bike, full of gadgets and gizmos. Superb handling and braking and Way more power than needed for a road bike but heaps of fun. A real license looser. Later Dave went out on the 1290 and I took out the 1190 Dave's current bike is an 1190 and I preferred riding the 1190 but I don't think either of them would of been as good as the 800 has been as I probably would of had a lot of speeding fines by now and probably run out of money or been thrown out of the USA.
Later Dianne and John, Dave's brother who we also met at Bob and Jude's came over for a cookout with their 2 grand children Dillon and Hannah. They brought some sweet corn over that had been picked that morning and was the best sweet corn we have ever had. Ruth also cooked a cherry delight that was cooked with freshly picked sour cherries and was also very good.
Feeling very fat.

Dave with his BMW and Triumph

Dave,John and I shucking fresh corn on the porch.

Dave,John,Diane,Dillon,Hannah and I

Dave and Ruth's place

They have 2 very large garages and a huge barn one end is Dave's workshop. He has quite a few ongoing projects. He has a fully restored Studebaker Avanti which he bought in 1969 and got damaged in a flood but now looks as good as new. He has quite a collection of cars, trucks, tractors and bikes. He even has an old Triumph tiger cub.

Sunday 12th July
Dave and Ruth took us out to their favourite Sunday breakfast restaurant and then on for a tour of Salem. It was good to be driven around and have a chance to see all the scenery instead of having to watch where I'm going. We stopped off for a bit of a walk to see and old disused lock that was never actually completed as by the time it was built the railroad had also been built so the canal and its locks fell into disrepair and now lays in ruin. We were also being attacked by Mosquitos. I took the opportunity this afternoon to give the bike an oil change.
Later that evening we all met up with Tom and Karen who we also met through Bob and Jude for anther night of good food and drink. Marcia and I also suffered another attack from Mosquitos. They only seem to of bitten us, everyone else seem to be left alone.

Monday 13th July
Again woke up to the smell of bacon but also the itch from all the mosquito bites.
After breakfast with the bikes packed we said our fair wells and set off back on the road but this time we had some company as John was going to ride with us part way to Niagara Falls. After about 80miles I got stuck behind 2 lorries at a set of lights, I saw John turn left and as soon as I could get past the lorries I sped off after him not knowing that he had stopped in the petrol station on the corner.
Later on we were pulled over for speeding again, but this time by a very stroppy policeman, who was standing with his hand on his gun ready to draw it from his holster and as soon as I had removed my helmet in a very loud and aggressive manor shouted "I need to see your licence, registration and insurance now. You were doing 57mph in a 35mph speed limit." I said to him "as soon as I saw the 35mph sign I slowed to 35." But he snapped back that I had passed 2 others before and had not slowed. (Probably hidden behind the trees I thought) He told us to wait there while he got back in his car to check me and my documents out. We could hear him talking over the radio but could not make out what was being said, after a few minutes he returned my documents, said " I suppose you don't look like a friggin terrorist" gave me a lecture and sent us on our way.

Tuesday 14th July
Wet day today heading in to see the falls at Niagara, we took the trolley bus in and did the full tour, our tour guide was more concerned with how poorly paid he was and what a great tour guide he was and dragged the 4 hour tour out to five and a half hours. soaked and knackered we got on the wrong bus back. The trolley bus runs in a loop but they run it in 2 different routes using the same number, not sure how your meant to know there is no schedule or timetable at the bus stops. So we ended up going round in a circle for an hour and a half. Still it was a good day and my hatred for anything with more than two wheels has grown. Especially the grumpy bus driver who kept having a go at every tourist that got on the bus.