T1 Day 57 (Kayla)

August 2nd: Fayetteville to St Johnsville 



This morning we woke up at my grandparents house, after a wonderful relaxing day spent hanging out with them. My grandpa made us all a breakfast of eggs and bagels to get us well fueled for the day. They also made sure to give us lots of snacks for the road, then we were off. My Grandpa escorted us, by minivan,  to get back on the Erie Canal trail. He drove slowly in front or behind us with his hazards on while we biked and it was fun feeling like we were important people with a support car. At the trail we parted ways and then biked for a little l while along the bike path. Before long we saw grandpa again! He had dropped off my grandma and come back along the trail to wave us on. We took the opportunity to stop for a snack break. As I was biking away I biked straight into a Boulder! It turns out no amount of days can make me less clumsy! But I managed to stay upright and we biked a little while longer. Then there was grandpa again up ahead on the trail, waving and cheering, go girls! He will definitely be receiving the award for best cheerleader!  Later on down the trail we stopped to watch a boat go up another cool lock. For lunch we found a nice pavilion by the side of the canal and enjoyed our leftover veggie rigis which were awesome, definitely one of my favorite lunches we’ve had. After lunch keelin wasn’t feeling well so we stopped at a gas station to rest and recoup. We also considered our options for ending our day sooner if possible. A little further on down the trail we saw a campground right by side of trail. Luckily keelin was feeling better at this point so we were able to keep going further but we did some searching and discovered that there are free campgrounds for cyclists along the Erie Canal! Decided that’s what we would do for the night rather than paying to stay at a marina as originally planned. We kept biking and a bit further down the trail we came across the coolest lock on the entire canal. This lock has a lift of 40ft! That’s nearly 2x the height of most locks on the canal, and higher than any lock on the Panama Canal. We were able to walk up on top of the lock and see the massive drop, but unfortunately we weren’t able to see any boats pass through. Afterwards we biked the few remaining miles (which happened to be more miles than we realized due to a glitch in the garmin) and got in just 30 minutes before sunset. Luckily the campground was right next to the trail, which was very convenient. There weren’t any amenities (no water) but we had enough to make dinner, which consisted of curry with rice and naan for keelin and I and Mac and cheese for Liz. I was glad to finally eat that meal since I had been carrying it since our first day in Ontario! I was just glad the naan was still intact! Tomorrow we continue on (and finish!) the Erie Canal trail.

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