Taking a break in Cleveland

In addition to the luxurious accommodations at the Best Western (shampoo! Kleenex! hair dryer!) in Anderson, Indiana. the motel included a good breakfast, so that is where we ate. We got  back on US 36 East and were soon in Ohio. It was a pleasant, hazy, and warm day and the countryside was very green, the road going by farms, through small towns, and over rolling hills, with even a curve every now and then.

A big house with lots of trees in a small Ohio town

We navigated some road construction and a detour and made it to my niece's house on the northwest side of Columbus. She and her family moved there about a month ago and four day's later Kristen had a baby girl, Sachiko. Kristen fed us and we talked and played with her older daugher, Mariko, who is two-and-a-half.

Sachiko isn't too sure about Pete

We rode through the north side of Columbus and turned north on State Road 3, which goes all the way to the west side of Cleveland. That part of Ohio has hills and there are some curves, so it was a nice ride for brief periods out in the country.

Between the many small towns Route 3 is a fun road

However, there are many small towns on the route, and our progress was slow. Add in a detour that took us out of our way and I was getting anxious about our arrival time in Cleveland, so shortly after Wooster (where we had coffee and apple crisp at the Broken Rock Bakery and Cafe downtown - a very nice downtown area) I got on I-71 for the last 40 miles to Cleveland, and we rode to sister Linda's house in Lakewood on the west side, arriving conveniently just at dinner time.

Linda's house in Lakewood

We'll stay here until Friday, visit with family, get a service on the bike, and do laundry. On Friday we are off to the Pig in Grant Park, Illinois.