This morning we awoke at the Petro “stopping plaza” in Tyre, NY to a gorgeous sunrise. Well, I awoke to that. Ross was asleep of course!  We loved it here! They cater to truckers but it was perfect for travelers and I slept like a baby too. 

We managed to pull ourselves onto the road by ten o’clock. Our first destination was the Harriet Tubman house in Auburn, NY, which has been designated a National Historic Site by President Obama. Our tour guide was phenomenal and accommodating, full of animation and humor. The house had been maintained by the African Methodist Episcopal Church which I found fascinating. After learning a lot, we headed to the Cayuga Museum and the Case Research Lab. The museum is cute, with rotating galleries in a gorgeous mansion, and we walked amongst Native American art displays and a fascinating prison exhibit highlighting Auburn’s prison and its roll nationally in the prison industrial complex. The mix of races and classes in Auburn for hundreds of years must mean we’ve only heard the tip of the iceberg in terms of interesting history here. 

The reason for visiting the museum was to check out the lab. Case actually was the first person to figure out how to put sound on film, literally, and Ross was especially excited to see the old equipment and learn about this rich man who achieved his life’s dream and then quietly sold it to Fox who continued using it on the West Coast. 

Our final destination was the House of Guitars in Rochester. Our two earlier visits had cost us $5 each, not too bad! The visit to this historic music store would have been free, but Ross finally found the loop pedal of his dreams…luckily he had set aside money specifically for it! 

We are hoping to pick up the pace to Iowa from here on out, but with a few fun stops along the way. Thanks for reading!