Day 11: Geneva, OH to Brunswick, OH (J's Version)

Good morning!!! I love hanging at Starbucks whether it's blogging, studying, or even just reading. It's fun to people watch, too. You see such a variety of people. Most are business looking types that are in a hurry, while others are on their way to work, too and just need their coffee. I noticed more people that go to Starbucks use the SB app (It's a bar code and you scan it) than they do at D &D. Whenever I use the D &D app the cashier always gives me a weird look. Hey, it saves more time and can be quite handy like back in Vermont I forgot my purse in the car but low and behold I had my phone app on me.

Granted local coffee shops are nice, as well, but I feel more comfortable at a Starbucks for longer periods of time. The thing is, when I'm in a place that does have a SB or even D&D, I'm more likely to hang around there in the morning rather than venture off to find something completely new because I might be driving around aimlessly.

Yesterday, after I left the D&D, I did come across a super cute

Comfy couch in Chardon

little town, Chardon, that did have a lovely café. Even though I already had my coffee fix at D&D, I stayed there for a bit and got a salad and eventually met up with G on their town green. I'll be here in Brunswick though for a while because I have to wait for the locksmith to open at 9:30.

Locksmith you say? Well, the bike rack on the truck has two areas to lock the bike, and we only have ONE key. We have spares for everything else except that. My job yesterday was to get the key copied. Now, here's true love for you. Ever since I was a little girl, I've always hated going into Home Depot and Lowes type of stores. I don't know why. I think its the floor. I went into BOTH stores yesterday and walked around aimlessly looking like the stereotypical girl that doesn't know anything about hardware. (It's at times like these that I wished I paid more attention to what my father taught me about tools and stuff!)


Both stores told me that they couldn't duplicate the key because it has grooves on both sides of the key. Apparently most keys (aside from car keys) only have grooves on one side which makes it easier to copy. The Home Depot guy said to try a locksmith. Lucky for me there is a locksmith in town. I called the lady, and of course she was closing right as I called but will be open today at 9:30.

Quick side note: 3 state highway cops just walked in and look MAD intimidating. It's the hat. I don't think I ever saw a state trooper close up before.

G has been posting pictures from the road, but he might be doing that less. At least for today. His batteries (he has 2 spares) have been pretty crummy lately. Typically, he has the GPS on for

This is for our friend K! hehe

directions which drains it out, and then posting eats up the battery, too. He turned the GPS off at one point yesterday and ended up getting lost. He ordered more batteries, and they will be shipped to our next hotel.

Yesterday, he found a broken cell phone on the side of the road right as I met up with him at one point. Most likely it fell off of someone's car roof. Believe it or not that does happen! Right, LM???  The Siri function still worked, so I said, "Call home." It rang, and G left a voicemail explaining where the phone was, and if the people found it to let us know on our site but so far nothing. Yearssss ago in Atlanta, my girls and I were at a club and one of them dropped her cell phone in a swarm of people. She managed to pick it up though....so she thought. Once we left and got into the car, she realized it was not her phone. She used the phone to call her OWN phone and someone picked up. Apparently, another girl lost of her phone and assumed the one she found was hers. They talked for a few minutes and decided to meet the next day at a....Starbucks. Luckily, the girl was normal like us, and they switched phones back and lived happily ever after.

One of my girl's emailed me an article about a cyclist who is cycling coast to coast in EVERY
CONTINENT! It's a 5 year journey that started last summer. So far he's done Australia and most of Europe. He sold everything he owned to do this. Here's the article. Cross Continent Cyclist He doesn't have a roadie support crew. Just sayin'.

De Bruyn Joubert

Yesterday, was 90 degrees like ALL day practically. It was tough on G. Hard on me, too because I was worried about him. He didn't get to the hotel until almost 6, which he's usually done between 3-5 the latest. Plus, I hadn't heard from him at that point for several hours. (His phone died) I made the executive decision to go find him at 5:30 and put my foot down and say, "It's too hot. You're done!" I managed to pull out of the hotel driveway and saw him down the road anyways. Earlier that day, in Chardon, I did my half hour exercise of walking around town and was ready to die. I seriously cannot imagine riding a bike for hours on end in the heat. He still was in pretty good spirits.

We contemplated taking today off because the first stretch we did 5 days straight then rested the 6th day. Yesterday was the end of the 11th day. We decided that he would do today, and we will rest tomorrow which will be the 13th day. Upper Sandusky is our destination for this afternoon.

Ironically, Upper Sandusky is south of regular Sandusky. Regular Sandusky is the home of Cedar Point! My first recollection of Cedar Point was several years ago when it was featured on a Travel Channel special about amusement parks. It's super large. If not the largest in the US. I want to go there! I'm not a huge fan of roller coasters, but I like the amusement park environment, and they have a big water park. I don't think we'll go because it's our day off. Makes perfect sense, right? lol In all seriousness, G should rest. Maybe on the drive back east.

The picture below was in the Beans Coffee shop in Chardon. It's slightly hard to read, but please try reading it. Have a great day!