Ohio: Cornhole Capital USA. ( Also, Indiana and Michigan)

      Once we began our jog through Michigan it took three days to get across before we reached Ohio. We stayed right on the Michigan/ Indiana border on Hwy 12, then continued on Hwy. 120 into Ohio. 

       Other than the fact that you can seem to smoke anywhere in Michigan, including most restaurants too, there is quite a large population of Mennonite and Amish communities in the area. We saw many different members at Walmart or at gas stations. (The men will ride in cars to work sites if the Foreman who hires them drives). Occasionally we would pass a farm with a buggy in the driveway. The picture below shows a barn or house being built by hand with traditional tools used. Other than a few stops at gas stations and lots of farms, there wasn't to many amazing things that we saw in Michigan.

     We did stay in a really nice church in Lake View, MI. The pastor let us sleep in the youth center and allowed us to use the kitchen as well. The youth center had pool tables, so we played at least one game before passing out for the night. 

      The real excitement started in Metamora, OH. Our first day in Ohio; and  we make it about 40 miles, then stop in this small town's bar to see if it might be alright to camp in the local park. Well, we ended up there for hours, meeting locals and telling our story. Many of the patrons bought us beers and spent time talking to us. 

       The later it gets in a small town bar, the younger the crowd slowly becomes. By closing time we spent the last hour or so with a group of local friends in our age range, having a great time drinking on..... 

    They then proceeded to abduct us and take us back to one of their houses to play a local game called cornhole and drink beers.

      Cornhole is a bean bag toss game where the object is to throw the bags into a hole on a slanted board, getting as many in the hole as you can without going over 21 points. The game is played with two teams of two, or one on one. Its a lot of fun once you get the hang of it. Ryan's a great cornhole player. We stayed the night and ended up there the whole weekend drinking, eating great food, playing cornhole, and watching football. There was no logical reason or desire for escape. It was our first two full days of rest without biking at all since midway through Minnesota. We were so glad to have been able to meet fun people who wanted to host us for a weekend. We were just expecting to lounge in our tent, but this was far more worth it than that.

     Thank you to everyone in Metamora! Joe, Andy, Randy, Eric, Kilee, Six, Matt and everyone else who we spent time with. We had a blast and truly appreciate the hospitality.

Ryan and Allegra

    Lake Erie with a nuclear power plant in the distance.
    Huge flame at the top of a tower at an oil refinery in Oregon, Ohio.
                           Police car in Oregon, Ohio.
                                     Toledo, OH.
                              Bridge in Toledo.
          Pond at Jo and Andy's house in Metamora, OH.
              Cornhole land/ barn where we hung out for the weekend.
    Everyone on the porch at Jo and Andy's house in Metamora, OH
      The boys playing a round of cornhole.
                         Having beers outside of cornhole land.
               More cornhole!!! 
                                        Arriving in Ohio.

          Church we stayed at in Lake View, Michigan. 
   Turtle that we found in the middle of the road. We walked him across so he wouldn't get squished by a car. He is an ugly turtle!
       Mennonite or Amish farmhouse being built in MI with buggy off to the left.
                       Old grain tower for filling engine cars.
      Another nuclear power plant in Michigan.
   Old road we camped on outside of Gary, IN. in the National Dunes Wildlife Reserve.
     Old rundown building in Gary, IN, everything looks like this there.
                                                    Getting into Indiana.