May 27, 2003 The rest day in Covington, KY has been good for both of us. We got lots of sleep, were able to catch up on some personal stuff and got out to see some of the town. We took the rear wheel over to Reser’s Bike Shop in Newport because it was a bit out of true from broken spokes. He had to stay late, but got it true for us, so we are ready to roll in the morning. We also picked up some extra spokes. Jason Reser is one of the “good guys”, so if you are ever in this area, give him some business. He is an interesting guy who used to race a lot, races a little now and at a young age, has his own shop – and, a good one. Thanks for your help, Jason! After dropping off the wheel, we went over to Newport at the Levee, a shopping center that sits on the Ohio River and overlooks downtown Cincinnati. It is a wonderful view. We had coffee and tea and bought maps to cover our riding to the Mississippi River and came back to the hotel to meet with Ron’s sister and brother-in-law. They took us out to where we will catch the Ferry over to Indiana tomorrow, and then we spent the rest of the afternoon catching up and in general conversation. It was nice of them to make the trip down from the Columbus area to see us during our trip. This evening we went back to the shopping center, and had a great dinner outside at an Asian Restaurant. We had a waitress (Katie) who also works in a bike shop. She was very interested in what we were doing, so there was a lot of good interaction. We were well taken care of. Meriwether Lewis has been busy while we have been riding along. He took several weeks to get into the Covington area because his boat kept getting hung up on sand bars. He would either have to dig it out, unload it or both to get going again. He is now in Cincinnati, where he will spend a week. He is in receipt of two letters from William Clark discussing the availability of qualified men for the expedition, and will soon cross the river to Covington to visit a site where Mammoth fossils have been discovered. He will write a report to Jefferson, and send examples of the finds (However, they will be lost in transit.). Tomorrow brings another new state, Ron’s home state, Indiana. Ron .....note from LaValle The weekly review, That Was The Week That Was, or May 18 through May 24 is now finished and can be seen by going back to that weekly page and scrolling down to Saturday. ... Ron spent the afternoon with his sister Carol and her husband Jay. They came from Columbus to wish him and LaValle well.