Oswego NY to Bowling Green OH - Long Hot Day

Friday I rode from VT to Oswego. Deb's dad lives in Oswego so I have been making this trip for 30 years. I went the "Hauge Route" this time just to mix it up. This was the test day to see if my knee would hold up. A few weeks ago I twisted my knee and after a week in pain, went to see the doc. She first thought it was something torn, but x ray'd it and said "Good news! It's just arthritis". Jeeze.. So she recommended Alleve, which my wife told me was on the list of pain meds that cause heart attacks. Oh the choices we have to make..
So the Alleve worked pretty well and Saturday I spent going to Debs grade school and high school re-union. It was fun to watch people re-connect after 40 years and I met some really nice folks and heard about all they had been doing for the last 40 years. Life kind of bumps everyone forward along different paths.
So Sunday I got a leisurely start with the goal being getting as far west as I could to avoid the congestion of the cities, which meant interstate. I did start with a nice lake run through the fruit belt. They grow cherries, potatoes (not a fruit, I know), pears, apples, and lots of stuff we do not grow in VT.
I decided to skip Buffalo and cut south instead. It got muggier as the day went on and the Alleve was working great (no heart attack yet). I had planned on going to Akron and then heading across the corn belt on 2 laners, but the radar showed big nasty thunderstorms down there so my only choice was staying as far north as possible which meant staying on Rt 90. So that worked but I got a 3 minute downpour, which I go my rain duds on for, so no big deal except it's 90 and muggy so it's best not to keep them on. And then Toledo. A giant ugly black front appeared and I got off the next toll exit and as I sat in the line to pay the toll, the boomers just rolled over us and I asked the toll guy how to go south, he said Rt 450, which I bolted on after finding it and high tailed it away from that mess. Once I got south enough to miss it, I turned west again. It's all flat and clean and friendly looking here. Big farms and people relaxing on their front porches I assume talking about how big the corn is this year (it sure looks big). I rolled into Bowling Green and got a motel, then went for a walk and found a sports bar where I had a tall sudsy one of the local brew, some so-so Mexican food, and then walked back to he hotel. I had to chase the polar bears out of my room and chip the ice off the shower head since they had left the air conditioner on full blast all day. My eyes were closed by 8:30. Long hot 550 mile day, but I'm here.