McKeesport to Connellsville 46 miles - 46 cum

Ready to go!

Am I sure I want to do this?

Dravo Cemetery

Keith and I met in McKeesport at 7:30Am and were on the trail by 7:45AM. It was a beautiful morning with temperatures in the low 70's. We enjoyed a leisurely ride to the Dravo cementary about 12 miles up the trail. We stopped and took a few pictures and marveled a the fact that there were 9 civil war casualties buried there. We thought that was a lot for one small community.

Civil War casualty

We continued up the trail to the town of West Newton and stopped for coffee at the store by the bridge. The restaurant was closed or we would have gone in as it was we sat on the deck and had our coffee in the morning sun. Have you noticed that we are  not really trying to set a speed record here.
We continued on the Cedar Creek Park and stopped to enjoy the view of the river with folks in kayaks and fly fishermen. In all my years of stopping to watch fishermen, I still haven't seen anyone actually catch something.
Our next stop was along the trail so I could tighten my kickstand which had come loose and to try and do something with the brackets that hold my front bag. I got the kickstand tight but gave up on the bag and just bungee corded it to the trailer. I think I just might leave it that way anyway.

Youghegheny River

We stopped again for the last time at the mile 92 cafe around 2:00PM for a late lunch. This is a cafe that is associated with campground about five miles out of Connellsville. There was an older woman with a couple of grandchildren sitting at the only table with an umbrella so we horned our way in. As usual, people want to know what we are doing, where we are going etc.. She said that she was planning to ride the trail down to PawPaw in Maryland with the grandsons and was hoping she could make it. They planned to ride about 30 miles a day so I am sure she can as she has already gone 30 miles. The youngest grandson then said he liked to run instead of riding and was working up to a half marathon. His brother then told us that the kid was also ranked as the 2nd highest in the US in boxing in his weight class and was shooting for the 2016 Olympics. Keith said if he doesn't get his brains knocked out before then. His grandmother was not happy about the kid being a boxer. It is unusual to meet an up and coming boxer these days.
We headed up the trail and arrived at the B&B around 3:00PM. When we first found it, we sorta of looked at each other and said what kind of place did we get into but it was a pleasant surprise once we got inside. The house was built in the 1920's and has been completely remodeled inside. It has the original hardwood floors and really looks nice, The owners upgraded us to a better room because of our good looks or more likely that we are the only ones here tonight. Anyway off to dinner.

Kayaks on the river