Day 55- Buffalo to Lockport- 57 miles

We met up with Ken and Emi today! I started my trip with them on July 1st, and we travelled together for two days before meeting Jamie and Jeremy. I split off to ride with Jamie and Jeremy because Ken and Emi were going to take a rest day- not because they were evil monsters. It was good to see them. They rode down from Ontario, where they were taking some rest days at Ken's mom's place, and we hung out and picnicked at Niagara Falls together.

Somehow I failed to get a picture of them. 

I did, however, get some mediocre pictures of the day.

Leaving Buffalo.

Crazy bridges with life-saving, albeit narrow, pedestrian paths. 

Not built for wide loads.

The rapids.

The falls.

Devil's hole whirlpool. 

Arrived in Lockport where we hit up a Rite Aid for groceries, because apparently if you don't shop at the hip food co-op that closes at 5 o' clock, you have to choose between Kwik Stop and Rite Aid. Rolled down to the public marina, having been told yes, you can camp there, to find what would have been an excellent campground, had the bathrooms been unlocked. And so with full bladders and only a few tablespoons of water left in our arsenal, we called the police department and asked if they could unlock them for us- not an uncommon request in many parts of the country. 

"No, I'm sorry, that's just not something we can call the parks department in for."

So we begrudgingly began setting up our tents by the pavilion, and I rolled back down the trail to where we'd spotted a faucet earlier. I pulled up on the handle, and not even a sputter of water appeared. I looked around indisgust and   desperation, and a van pulled up and honked. Out walks a cute lady. "Are you looking for a place to stay?" 

After explaining our situation to her, she gave me her address, and insisted we come on over. I booked it back to our site, spread the good news, and we packed back up and rode carefully in the dark and rain to Marie's house. She had showers, fresh water, tea, toast, and a beautiful backyard for us to camp in. 

After cooking up our Rite Aid loot and taking showers, we all crawled into our tents and crashed. Thank you, God, thank you, Marie!