GP Day 38 — If you ever navigated on…

… the Erie Canal! It’s flat. 25.7 mi, 673 ft of climbing (most of that on bridges).

I left Charile’s and Barb’s about 8 as I knew storms were coming in the afternoon. Even though it was a short day, I wanted to get to Weedsport and the Red Roof Inn before the deluge started.

Most of my route was along the Erie Canal trail, and the most interesting thing about canal trails, is the history of how it was built and used. I started my day going back through Little Italy in Syracuse and heading for the Biscotti Cafe. It was closed! What good Italian baker closes on Saturday!? Oh well. I snapped a few photos of Little Italy as it is and headed to the trail.

I’ve included pics below of the trail and some of the signage if you’re so inclined. The trail was OK, but almost singletrack in some spots, and because of the recent rains, muddy in others. It did allow me to get to Weedsport and get to my motel by 11. I pulled in and went into the empty lobby and eventually the manager came in. I said, “I know check in time is not until 3…” and I was going to ask him if I could leave my bags somewhere, but he asked my name and brought up the reservation and checked me in.

I had tried to find a Warm Showers host in the area, and I made the motel reservation as a hedge. No WS hosts came through though, and it’s just as well as I was looking forward to a day without socializing and being in somebody else’s space. It wasn’t 15 minutes after I got into the room that heavens poured for the first time. I can’t tell you how many times it rained that afternoon as I took a four hour nap. Heavenly. The new Valtrex generic I’m on seems to be making me more drowsy than the other one. During one of the breaks in the rain, I took a walk around town and got a salad for dinner and headed back to the hotel. I didn’t do much after that but veg, and went to bed again very early. I enjoyed the down time.

Tomorrow is another relatively easy day to Groton, about 12 miles outside of Ithaca.