At last it was time to move on. For a whole week, we had been made to feel so completely at home, the prospect of climbing back on the bikes for the trip back to Boston, did not appeal one little bit!
We wanted to be on the road by 10am, so we set the alarm and were packed and ready to leave bright and early. One problem. Fred and Diane were nowhere to be found. Had we offended them in some way? We couldn’t just take off without saying goodbye! We had a cup of coffee while we considered our options.
In fact, all that had happened was that we had surprised them by actually getting up EARLY! (Remember, John doesn’t do mornings!) They had gone out to breakfast.
By the time we had finished our coffee, they were back. We said our goodbyes, and were soon on the road.
We had no particular plans for the route, and though we had to be in Boston by Friday evening, we wanted to see as much of the countryside as possible. We came off the turnpike slightly before the Ohio state line, and followed the minor roads through Amish country.
We stopped in picturesque Port Clinton for the night, where we stayed in the excellent Island House Hotel. The town was fairly quiet midweek, but the Tin Goose bar was open until late.