2011-06-17 Niagara Falls to Brockport, NY (72 miles)

Niagara Falls was a great place to visit, but riding out on a bike was interesting.  It was typical city traffic and streets, which got a little tricky in places, but it wasn't long before we were out of the city and following the Erie Canal.

It was Sara's turn to be Sag driver, and she dressed for the occasion.  She certainly brought a smile to our faces as we rolled into the Sag stop!

Soon we were cris-crossing the bridges and riding along side the Erie Canal.  I have not ever seen it before, and I am impressed by the length of it, as well as the fact that it was man made. 

We crossed one of the locks on the canal, and we could look down on a museum of it.  We did not stop, however.

 We went through some small towns, but at this point we were now on back country roads.

The Erie canal

Jeanette, Bev and I were almost at the motel, when we spotted this "General Store."  We may not have seen it at all except that we must have missed a turn, and ended up riding into Brockport on a parallel road.

Jeanette and I wanted to take a photo, and Bev rolled on for a ways to wait.

We walked onto the property, giving a "hello" to see if anyone was home before we trespassed on private property.  As it turned out, a gentleman named Jim Neuffer, came out of his barn to greet us.
He introduced himself, and explained that this General Store, with the 1930 car in front, has been used as a movie set, a set for Kodak commercials, and even as a backdrop for a country music CD!

The photos below will show all the fascinating things in the store, the cabins on the side, his home, (three floors) and even his tree house!  Jeanette and I spent an hour and a half there on our tour!

 Jeanette inside one of the cabins

                                              The corner stone of Jim's barn



                                                 

        Jim took us over to his tree house.  He goes up there to read his paper, and enjoy the quiet.

 Jim told us he bought this house after it was gutted in a fire.  He totally remodeled it himself, adding huge decks and porches all around the house.  He said it was abut 4,200 sq ft, and he did all the work himelf.

                   
                                      This is the upstairs porch.  The railing is all wood.

 He used the gas stove on the left, and although it is very old, it works just fine.  There is an electric oven under the island because he says the heat is more even.

The way Jim finds all these amazing antiques is by going to local auctions, buying the lot, keeping the most valuable, and selling the rest on Ebay and at an annual "garage sale" that brings in many  hundreds of people that just wait for it.

Below is a game table that he got because no one knew what was under the inlayed top.  It was just beautiful!  He showed us all the layers...

By the time we left, we had heard about the family that comes over for holidays to see "Uncle Jim" and we were calling him that by then!  What an amazing experience!  We could have been there for three days and not seen everything there!


Below are photos of typical dinner time, sitting in a circle, chatting about our day and eating the delicious dinner prepared by Sue Jackson!

                    Tomorrow we are riding to Sodus Point, NY, on Lake Ontario, 76 miles.