Day 13 - Defiance to Napolean - Two Far 2024 - Courthouse Tour

May 16, 2024

Day 13 - Defiance to Napolean

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We went out this morning and walked around downtown Defiance some more. Kerry managed to land right at the front door of the bakery he's visited every morning we've been here. We got into a short conversation with the owner and learned that the bakery has been open in that same spot since 1947 and now the fourth generation of the family is running it.

We also stopped by a small Defiance history museum that was closed yesterday. The exhibits were well done and informative, but they didn't allow photography, so no pictures.

After just hanging around the apartment until 2PM, we decided it was time to make our short ride to Napolean. We actually paid for the apartment tonight, but a likelihood of rain in the morning helped us decide to just move on. We really are wimps this year!

We rode north along the west side of the Maumee River, following it all the way to Napolean.

This is a Defiance city park on the river

A few miles north, we came to the Independence Dam State Park. The dam was built to supply water for the Wabash-Erie and Miami-Erie canals which were built along the Maumee River. (We learned at the museum this morning that Maumee is another spelling for Miami)

Copper was just chilling in the shade while her dad fished. She enjoyed some attention from Kerry.

Lots of little letters on these signs, but this is near the spot where the two canals joined.

What would you call an outdoor portable toilet? There are lots of terms people use, but I just learned a new one from a friend (Hi, Stan!) He calls them "Tupperware toilets". I think that's a great name.

Past the park, we rode on a nicely paved and very low traffic road up to Napolean.

We saw several big patches of these pretty wildflowers (I know it's not a good enough picture to identify them.)

In keeping with our plan to just noodle around these rural areas, we retrace some of the same roads on different routes. We were here just a few days ago.

If the first courthouse lasted 3 years and the second one 30 years, is this one going to last for 300? It's almost halfway there!

Kerry went inside and took a few pictures

Built in filing drawers and cabinets. Wouldn't it be fun to see what you could find in there?

Kerry thinks these floor tiles are original from 1882. I think he is completely wrong. We're going to find out.

Today's ride: 21 miles (34 km)
Total: 294 miles (473 km)

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