Chasing the Sun

Chasing the Sun:  Days 1, 2, and 3
     When you are heading west, it feels like you are chasing the sun.  The sun remains higher in the sky and takes longer to set. Today on day three of our journey we are in central Michigan with a sunset around 9 pm on June 15th.
    Day one we started out from our home in Ephrata, PA around 1 pm.  With darkening skies we donned our rain gear and headed out, riding through heavy rain for the first hour.  North of Harrisburg, PA, the sun came out and it become warm and humid.  We stopped and took off the rain gear, then continued northwest toward State College.  North of State College on I-80 the skies again darkened, so we stopped and suited up again.
We continued through more rain, finally arriving in St. Mary's, PA.  We had a lovely visit with Kerry's brother Scott and his wife Sharon and their children.  They prepared a fine home-cooked meal and we caught up on all the news.  Scott and Sharon are wonderful hosts and always make us feel right at home.
     Day two we left Scott and Sharon's much later than we expected, about 11:00 am. and headed west, taking some back country roads instead of getting back on the interstate.  It was very cold for a mid-June day, about 58 degrees, and overcast.  By 2 pm the sun finally came out and it warmed up.  We stopped for lunch at a little ice cream stand, where there were already two Amish buggies stopped, both towing small home-made boat trailers on buggy wheels with small fishing boats mounted on them.   Even after living many years in Lancaster County among the Amish, I've never seen anything like this!   I was tempted to take a picture, but didn't want to be rude.  We finished our lunch and continued west into Ohio and picked up the Ohio Turnpike.  It turned into a nice sunny, but a bit cool, June day.  We finally decided to stop in Fremont, OH and found a cheap motel room for the night and had dinner at the Denny's next door.  We wanted to eat at 'Jimmy Gee's famous Barbecue' but couldn't find it.  We were very tired!  310 miles for the day.
 Day 3:  Sunday June 15th was a gloriously sunny beautiful day.  The air was dry and clear, with temperatures starting out around 68 and topping out at 80.  We road from Fremont, OH to Frankenmuth, MI, about 190 miles.  We arrived in Frankenmuth just in time for the Bavarian Parade.  We walked up and down main street, watched the parade, then got a room at the Drury Inn, a lovely hotel right in town.

This shop takes raw wool and uses it for quilts.

We had a late lunch/ early dinner at the Frankenmuth Brewery and had some of the local beers, bratwurst and macaroni and cheese.  The hotel hosted a happy hour with complementary adult beverages and snacks.  We have HBO, so we can still catch the last episode of Game of Thrones tonight,but I don't know if I will stay awake long enough!  Tomorrow we are heading for the Mackinac Bridge and the Upper Peninsula.  Looks like some rain in the forecast.