Day 55: Potions, Lotions, Funerals & Buttons

Quick update from us!  We are close to Pittsburgh and closing in on the end of the ride. Like many of you, we are watching the Olympics at night after Mark’s ride and marveling at what the human body can do.

As we near the end of this journey,  Mark is struggling with his, um, “under” wear.   Clearly it is not easy to sit on a hard bike seat for 6 to 8 hours a day for two months.   This stack of potions and lotions that we are traveling with doesn’t really help.  But in one week he will be done with this crazy journey.  Yes, just a week from today, we hope, depending on the weather, we should be in Washington, D,C. and then another 2 days to Delaware, where Mark will dip his tire in the Atlantic Ocean!  Mark will write more tonight, but just wanted to keep you all posted.

Yesterday I had a great time in Dover, Ohio while Mark was busy pedaling.

I discovered my new favorite “museum” which was not easy to find because it’s actually in a funeral home.   The “Famous Ending Museum”  which houses the largest collection of funeral memorabilia in the country, including items from the services of movie stars, sports heroes, U.S. presidents, inventors and historical figures. If you like pop culture and history, you will be in “heaven” here!  I actually arrived during a funeral and was shooed in to the small room near the entrance. As I wandered around, I could hear the funeral ceremony on the speakers.  Perfect!  I could have spent hours there.

Some of my favorite items include the funeral program and an inscribed flashlight that was handed out at James Doohan’s funeral, the actor who played “Scotty” on Star Trek, as a tribute to his famous the famous line, “Beam me up, Scotty.”

Funeral programs for Ghandi, King George and more. I love that you can see who the speakers were and the music choices for the services.

The inventor of the wireless remote and the etch-a-sketch share the walls with movie stars and historical figures

One of my favs is the program for Rosa Parks

I also stopped by the visit the Warther Museum and Gardens which Ernest Warther’s famous carving collection.  But my favorite part was the little cottage filled with artwork made of buttons by his wife. Love it.

Button art!

So while Mark  was chugging along on his bike (and had his first fall, which I will let him tell you about), I finally got a “day off” from my “sag wife” duties and enjoyed the town of Dover.

More to come!

Thanks for following along on our journey.

Melody and Mark

Morning departure face