Catharine & Rob wave goodbye to Liz, and set out to bike all the way back to the Atlantic Ocean by way of their home in Sergeantsville, NJ.

Day 85: Monday, September 27.
Liz saw off Rob & Catharine on the shores of Lake Michigan; the diminished "Yellow Team" headed south along lake front; through the industrial zoo of Whiting, East Chicago, Gary IN to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, our old stomping ground and site of the famed "fig newton disappearance" while we were biking east-west; didn't find the fat chipmunk; 55.0 miles. Liz boarded Amtrak heading back to SF.

Day 86: Tuesday, September 28.
Heavy rain overnight gave way to a muggy day; entered MI and crossed 4,000 mile mark in Galien MI; rainy ride to Union, MI's Hollywood Shores campground. 69.3 miles. (Liz's train crosses Colorado - snowing in the Rockies!- and Utah.)

Rob is welcomed to Michigan, but the camera's remote clicker doesn't work, so Catharine is behind camera, not under her helmet which Rob holds.

Day 87: Wednesday, September 29.
Rainy rainy rainy day; heavy rain overnight gave way to steady rain all day; missing member of "Yellow Team" blamed for inclement weather; new one-day record of being rained on in 3 states; woke up in Michigan (raining), breakfast in Indiana (wet) east into Michigan, then south to Pioneer, Ohio where we are camping in the rain within dripping distance of the border. 71.6 miles. (Liz's train crosses Nevada, the Sierra Nevada at Donner Pass, and arrives in the Bay Area - and Liz into Tom's arms and back home safe & very sound).

Catharine is welcomed back to Indiana, with Rob's helmet in the photo, but himself behind the camera.

Ohio welcomes Rob back a second time.

Day 88: Thursday, September 30.
Sun returned and the wind assisted a straight shot along the OH/MI border; encountered Holy Toledo! And watched the sun set by the Maumee Bay of Lake Erie. 72.9 miles.

Shamu and Flemington visit on top of a Ohio state line marker.

Bob discovers a yurt (normally native of Mongolia) in Maumee Bay State Park near Toledo, Ohio.

Day 90: Saturday, October 2.
A day heading due East; started slowly with email in Norwalk where we are now card-carrying members of the local public library; flat morning followed by slightly hilly afternoon which tuckered us out; luckily an average day - the shortest since Chicago; now in Brunswick at a happening RV park. 52.8.

A UFO heading for the Cleveland Browns game

Day 91: Sunday, October 3.
Morning cold and hills caused doubt in Eau Clarie; but full tummies, blue skies and higher temperatures after breakfast bolstered spirits. We planned out next few days with shorter mileage to account for difficult terrain. We ended up motelling it in Clarion, after a check out from the bike doctor who assures us our bikes are good health. 41.8 miles slow but steady.

Road closed...

...because bridge is well and truly out.

10/28/99