A Morning on the Towpath

Sal and I had a very pleasant morning on the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath with two of our friends.  Sue is preparing for the Long Branch Half Marathon.  She had to run 10 miles this weekend for training purposes, so her husband and I rode our bikes while she ran.  I decided to see if I could figure out a way to attach Sal to my bicycle so I could take her along.  A bungee cord did the trick!  Sal's case rode very securely under the bar of the bike and I was able to unzip the case far enough to take Sal out for photos without removing the case and bungee cord from the bike.  Success!

Sue and Steve with Sal on the Towpath by the Canal.

As we rode, Steve and I came across this friendly volunteer who had set up a tripod with a viewer-thingy attached so that people could see the bald eagles' nest -- and the adult bird taking care of two babies!  Several people were there -- looking through the viewer and watching through their own binoculars.

The park volunteer next to his viewer.  The nest is in a tree pretty much where the viewer is pointing -- a triangular shaped brown thing among the lighter colored tree trunks in the background.

I decided to try to get a picture of Sal by a lock, but after last week's falls during the Lakeview Cemetery trip, I didn't want to put her too close to the edge.  If she fell into a lock, that would be the end of poor Sal!  I tried several things, but wasn't able to get a photo showing that Sal was obviously at a lock.  Here's one unsuccessful attempt.  Sal looks lovely, but you can't really tell she's at a lock.  Since I'm hoping to ride on the Towpath many times in the coming months, I'm sure I'll figure something out by the end of the bike season!  Steve and I ended up riding 15.5 miles today.  I had to stop a few times because this was my first longish ride of the year, but I'm happy to say that at the end of the day I'm not in pain, so I must not be as out of shape as I thought I was while huffing and puffing as we were riding! Sal is in no pain either, since she was safely transported and posed throughout the day!  :)

Sal at Lock 39