And the skies opened up - Sunday

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[Pennsylvania - I guess it counts because we ended up spending the night]

[Guido and Wilson our lunch stop after the rain]

[Seagull]

[The channel by our campground in Erie, PA]

[A view of the campground]

When we woke up Sunday morning we could see the storms brewing out across the lake. We ate breakfast, packed up, and began riding with hopes that once again we would luck out and the storms would miss us. Our luck had apparently run out. We hadn't made it 2 miles when it began to rain. It wasn't hard, but more than a drizzle. The winds were whipping at our backs so we continued. As we rode the skies got darker and the rain drops grew bigger. After about 10 miles we stopped underneath an abandoned gas station so that we could change/remove sunglasses. As we did the skies opened up and poured down upon us. The weather had quickly turned from a standard rainy day to an inland hurricane. After 20 minutes of deluge and with no signs of a quick end Ben and I decided to cross the street and ride out the storm in a local diner that was serving Sunday breakfast. Kevin decided to take a nap on the concrete at the gas station (the locals were very concerned, asking us several times if we were sure he was alright). Blueberry pancakes and orange juice have a way of brightening the day. After finishing our second breakfast and with the rain subsiding Ben and I rejoined Kevin and rode on towards Pennsylvania. No sooner had we started than it began to rain again, not hard, just a steady soaking rain. We reached Pennsylvania soaking wet, but the rain had finally stopped and we were eager to reach Erie. The rest of the day was uneventful except for the change in wind direction after the rain had passed. We reached Erie after 80 miles and 8 hours (it would have been 7, but we waited an hour for the morning storm to pass) and found a nice campground run by the Erie Port Authority down by the port right in the harbor. It was rather new, had great facilities, and although none of the trees were big enough to provide much shade, the weather had cooled to the point that shade was not necessary. The only problem with the campground was that it was 3 miles away from food. We had been told about a wonderful little restaurant called Ricardo's that apparently is famous for its cheap filet mignon. Excited we rode the 3 miles into town only to find that it was closed on Sunday evenings. So we ate pizza and fried food at Bull Shooters Bar and Grill instead. It wasn't filet mignon, but it kept away the hunger pangs. Sunday night we fell asleep to wonderfully cool weather and the sound of sirens and fog horns from the port.