Day 60 - Thursday, August 28
Binghamton to Dalton —58 mi, 93 km
Today was a shorter ride, which was nice for us. So, I wasn’t in a hurry when I got up. Before leaving, I took time to make pictures of the new football field of the public school where we camped. This was a football field with artificial grass, complete with a track around it. Last night it was inaugurated and this morning it was on the first page of the local newspaper, just under the article about the Sea-to-Sea tour. Last night, I met one of the people of the education system, who said that similar projects cost about 8.3 million dollars.
This says something about the importance of sports in the American school system. A bit of a contrast with raising money for poverty elevation.
The biking went fine today. The first part was a bit hilly and then we had a stretch along a river (going downstream). At the end was the surprise: a series of short, but steep hills. We passed through Binghamton and several small towns, like Kingsley, Nicholson, and Hop Bottom.
Hop Bottom. We thought that the name of that town was funny. Imagine every time that people meet you, they always ask, “Where are you from?”. Then you have to answer “Hop Bottom”. What????
We saw a few railroad bridges that looked like gigantic aqueducts from the Romans, but made out of concrete.
Because we passed under these structures we couldn’t see what the use was. Later, when a train passed over the bridge, we understood that it was a railroad. We also saw some birds at the riverside, Kingfishers. The river was beautiful reflecting the trees and plants along the shore, but I couldn’t get the birds on the picture. They were flying fast, even under the bridge.
Somewhere along this route, we entered Pennsylvania.
The surrounding was mountains covered with forests and a few farms.
This trip has shown us nature in many different variations, from the desert to the forests, from the plains to the mountains, from sea to lakes and rivers. All God’s creation is magnificent. But we can’t always enjoy it, because cars are chasing the bicycles...
...or does this sign mean something else?
Only two days left of this tour.
THANK YOU!
Coming over the mountains in New Jersey, this was our first glimpse of New York. (The Empire State Building is on the horizon.)
A gift from my grandsons, Adrian & Louis.
The crocodile horn.
"Holland American Bakery" in Sussex, New Jersey.
The whole group bikes together to Liberty State Park.
Tire dipping ceremony.
With bike in the water...in the Atlantic Ocean.
With Mark.
Being interviewed by a lady from the Banner.
With Hanneke (daughter), Rebecca, Catherine, and Julianna (granddaughters)!
