Homeward Bound

I left Perth this morning after an evening of helping my father label a large number of photographs from the past fifty years.  Since it is a holiday Monday I decided to cross the border at the Ivy Lea Bridge at Gananoque so I could avoid the Toronto traffic. 

 I rode south to Syracuse, NY with a quick stop in Mexico, then to I-90 West past Rochester, Batavia, and Buffalo, with a side trip to Niagara Falls.  I've never seen the Fall before and this looked like the best opportunity I was going to get so I rode to Goat Island to see both the American and the Canadian Falls.  Both are impressive, but the size of the falls and the volume of water going over the Horseshoe (Canadian) Fall dwarfs the American side.



The American part of Niagars Falls

The Horseshoe (Canadian) part of Niagara Falls.

The American Falls

On the way back to I-90 through Buffalo I saw a large number of abandoned factories.  These were huge buildings which are just shells now.  Many are in disrepair with holes in the walls and they are totally empty.  It is sad to see that this once thriving industrial city has lost so much of its base.  When you hear about unemployment in the United States and realize that these scenes have been repeated all over the US, it is not hard to understand why so many people do not have jobs.

Tomorrow I will be passing through the corner of Pennsylvania and into Ohio, perhaps making it into Indiana.  Up to this point I-90 has been a toll highway. When you enter the highway you receive a card with the entry point and when you exit the highway you pay the amount charged for the distance you travelled.  This is only the second time (except for the Coquihalla) that I have ever had to pay for using a highway.  I don't like it.  Hopefully the tolls will stop when I leave New York State tomorrow morning.

The heat continues and temperatures were in the low 30s with high humidity again today.  I think that in the east this may be a summer with record temperatures.  When I stop for the day my jacket and jeans are damp with sweat.  If the temps were in the mid 20s I wouldn't mind at all.