Another nice day. Up early and out loading the bike. Lots of couples, out going going to breakfast, stopping by to chat. Got out fairly early, 9ish. We headed out. Cloudy this morning. Cool air. Light traffic. Headed for home. Like horses to the barn. We headed a bit south then west on county roads. Hoping to bypass traffic. After a couple of hours we started heading into some storm clouds. We pulled into a gas station and checked weather.
Weather bug app. Best WX app out there. We were at the very northern edge of a colorful storm cell. Cars coming into the station covered with rain. We felt that if we scooted West, we would miss it. Decided not to put on rain gear.
Passed Oswego, Rochester. Avoided the downtown areas. Making good time. Beautiful rural areas. Paralleled the Erie Canal for about 100 miles. Right next to the road. Some of the original locks. Many towns with the name ‘Port’ in them. Still being used. Small tugs. Another place I would like to explore more. Aqueducts where canals pass over rivers etc..
Kept the bikes up to speed. Sometimes a bit too much. At one point when I was lead, I was in my Zen moment, probably pushing 70, I looked at my GPS and realized I was in a 40 zone. In my rear view mirror were the boys. About ½ mile behind. They had seen the signs. Later I got the well deserved feedback from them. Still avoiding rain cells. Some roads we were on, the rain had just finished and the pavement still wet.
Stopping for fuel, but not much else. Just riding. Hit Buffalo at rush hour. Was entertained by a truck next to me. Driver was texting. Kia in front braking. I went to the center lane. Driver looked up at very last second and engaged his driving skills. All good. Screeching tires is all. Fueled again just west of Buffalo.
Jon had picked up an ‘el cheapo’ motel, high google ratings, on a lake, just east of Erie, PA. Right on the NY / PA state line about 30 miles or so south of Lake Erie. I had the GPS set to keep us off interstates. Wow. I was really worried for a few minutes. In the middle of nowhere. It routed us to use a ferry to get across this lake but the ferry only operated on weekends. Ended up calling this place. All good. Stopped at a package store. Had to go into the side with liquor through one door. Small room. Basic but adequate selection. Pass what you want through a hole in the wall to the other room. Go outside and go through another door to the main store. They had everything else there. Well it works, I guess.
Found the motel. Nice, very nice. As I was unloading the bike, a bunch of ladies, sisters I am assuming w their mother. and from their accents, Brooklyn. I said ‘Hi ladies, Happy Thursday’. Then the exchange started. One said ‘Oh, Happy Birthday’, another said ‘Happy Thursday’, ‘Right, Happy Birthday’. ‘You moron, he said Happy Birthday’ Went on like that for about 30 seconds… It was pretty good. Nice ladies. Poor mom standing there trying to get done the steps. Everyone laughing. Mom almost fell. 
Two rooms right next to each other. Great deck to ourselves. Ordered Pizza and boneless wings (w Buffalo sauce of course). Sat out. Dark sky. You could see the Milky Way. Sorry for the lack of pics. We just hustled all day. Nice evening. Everyone pooped. Had a few drinks. Talked until about 10. I could feel Mr. Sandman calling.
The good new is we are only now about 300 miles from home. We should be able to make that easy tomorrow. Finishing this up Friday morning. WiFi spotty at best. Ducks out on the lake. Light fog. Doesn’t look like a cloud in the sky.
Life is good.