11 SEP 05 - An auspicious day to leave Rochester, NY

Mike and OJ began with the most important meal of the day: angio-breakfast at Sullivan's Charbroil. It's two eggs, sausage and cheese on a grilled hard roll. On the side are deep-fried homefries with a ramekin of spicy meat sauce. And of course, great coffee. There were no great digital camera deals in the Sunday newspaper always found at Sully's, so OJ opted for disposable cameras. Rochester, NY is the home of Kodak and it was disappointing that Fuji cameras were cheaper.

We headed south of Rochester on a country road also known as Rt. 64. The morning was clear and sunny as we passed thru a bling-bling suburb known as Mendon where an outdoors car show featured a couple Ferraris and a Lamborghini. Without seeing classic bikes on display, we continued on. We cruised by Bristol Mt. skiing and the vine-surrounded village of Naples, the Grape Pie Capital of the World, at the south end of Canandaigua Lake. The route soon took us past several other of the Finger Lakes known for their deep clear waters created by the glaciers of the last Ice Age. The rocky slopes of the lakes are a perfect environment for vineyards. As we approached Seneca Lake on a long stretch of backroad, there was something ahead on the shoulder, maybe a farm cat. It turned out to be a hawk, lording over a freshly captured squirrel.

Southeast of Geneva, NY, we stopped for fuel and the Swedish Hill winery. Mike was generous to share his strategy of purchasing a lottery ticket at each gas stop in hopes of funding that next big ride. And how could we NOT avail our tasting services when 8 different samples were offered? A little further was the defunct Seneca Army Depot where the secure fences have promoted a herd of inbred white deer, but we didn't see any.


As we approached Ithaca, NY (and the ivy-covered halls of Cornell University), we didn't know there was a turn off for Podunk, NY, but we did stop to see OJ's friends Treg and Irving in the northern hamlet of Groten, NY. We brought Irving a bottle of Chardonnet from the winery as she recovers from surgery and Mike heard a lot about cows from farmer Treg.

We traveled in lazy loops all up and down the Finger Lakes until a colorful sunset found us in Auburn, NY, following the advice of an EXTREMELY friendly prison guard from the nearby maximum security lockup. Our newfound guide literally led us to the $50 Budget Inn with a gut-wrenching belly-busting Chinese buffet right across the street. Lights out.