"There are bears all over the place." - Day 26

Today was a pretty lackluster day. Last night the tornado or fire alarm went off repeatedly, making it difficult to sleep. We woke up around 6:30, got breakfast at a convenience store and hit the road around 8:45. Highway 77 was ridiculously hilly, taxing me and slowing Travis down a lot. We finally made it to Corry a little after noon, where we hit Highway 6, which we'll be able to take Highway 6 across the entire state. The convenience stores are a lot more stingy about letting us use the restrooms out east, which has been frustrating.

We were making slow time when Travis got our first flat since South Dakota, a pinch flat from a rock. His repairing skills were a little rusty, but we made it nonetheless. It's interesting that we stopped about every other day at a bike shop out west, but the last one we visited was in Sioux Falls. We also continue to see a lot of roadkill. Travis remarked that he thinks we see one piece about every mile or so. I doubted him and decided to test it. No sooner had I commented we should test his theory when I spotted a dead bird. Perhaps one per mile is an underestimate.
We continued slowly through Warren where we got Subway, and through Kane where we got groceries. I was finally able to find some prunes, which was a welcome relief. We set a goal of making it to Smethport, since it looks to be about the only town big enough to have a bar. Travis and I both think that we seem more isolated here than in Wyoming where the population density was considerably less. Perhaps it's because the people are less friendly, or at least more backwater.
We grabbed a bite to eat at Hull's in Smethport, which was a little pricier than we would've liked and didn't accept credit cards. A gentleman there recommended that we head to East Smethport to an old baseball field to avoid the cops in the "borough." There, some local kids with a 2 x 6 board took interest in us as we were setting up the tent. They were ready to rumble with whomever was trespassing on their turf, but after realizing we weren't a threat, they settled down. They did warn us that there are bears everywhere, but we're taking our chances without a bear bag. Tally ho!

Time	Trip	Odometer	Average	Max
9:03:58	118.8	2934	13.0	39.9