Friday, September 25
9:30 a.m. Despite our desire to get home, it’s
been a slow start to the morning. And
soon we’ll be back on ‘fast time’…Eastern Standard Time. So we’ll lose an hour….if we’re aiming to
make it home today, we’d better get a move on.
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Day started a bit cloudy or maybe foggy, so I put on my jacket and gloves before we left
the hotel. But by the time we hit the
Michigan border, the sun had made an appearance, so I downgraded to my
fleece. Not long after that, as we rode along
the lakeshore on US 2, we encountered the fog again and lost the sunshine...and
I regretted my fleece decision. But,
blue skies prevailed and while there was a cool edge to the ride along the
lake, it wasn’t cold. In fact, when just standing around, it was hot…just not
so much when on the road. I dragged my
jacket out of the saddlebag a couple of times during the entire ride…wore a
long sleeve shirt or my fleece part of every day for the last week or so. Kim told me tonight that he didn’t wear his
jacket at all during this ride, only sleeveless or short sleeve shirts for him
the entire 3 weeks…but he took a long hot shower to warm up when we got home
tonight. J
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A haircut…I
need a haircut!! Only had my bangs
trimmed last appointment…decided to let the rest go while I was on the
road. But it sure seems like it’s
growing faster on the right side of my head…driving me crazy! I wondered if that’s possible, so I went to
Google. Here’s what hairfinder.com tells me: Not only do different people have
different rates of growth for their hair, but an individual person’s hair can
grow at different rates at various places on his/her head. The hair follicles
actually act independently of one another. Otherwise, when the hair starts to shed, a person would suddenly lose all his hair at once,
or a person might suddenly discover that all the hairs on his or her head are going
gray at the same time. So, it’s not
my imagination! Have an appointment with
Colleen next Wednesday…just have to keep the scissors out of my hands until
then. I’ve been known to trim….
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While we were still in Wisconsin this
morning, we were coming up to a logging company…and my heart skipped a beat when
I saw a pile of logs with snow on it. Not yet, not ready for snow!! Was I relieved when I realized it was a pile
of white birch logs….Whew! J **Footnote: No snow yet, but leaves are
changing already in the U.P.**
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When we were just moseying along from place
to place, following whatever route caught our attention, it didn’t matter so
much what day it was. But now that I’m back
home to my regular life, it’ll be more important because of appointments with
customers, deadlines for alterations, church meetings, etc. It’s
Friday, the start of the weekend but my brain is telling me it’s Sunday because
we just got home. This is gonna mess
with my head…
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While we haven’t been pushing ourselves as
far as miles per day, we have been riding every day, usually in heat, humidity
and wind. How incredibly fortunate that we
didn’t have to break out the rain gear this whole trip! Only had one day off riding…that fake rain day
back in Poplar Bluff. The forecast let
us down that day, that’s for sure….
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Kim
and I have both been getting calls for work already. While we were gone, I had calls forwarded from
the home phone to my cell, so I’ve been getting calls for alterations all along. Kim has had calls for additional lawn mowing,
so we need to get prepare ourselves as we’ll both hit the ground running on
Monday…or possibly even tomorrow.
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Stopped
at a rest area just outside of Naubinway…..sat around for a bit, just
talking. Then Kim noticed that a couple seemed
to be having problems getting their bike started. We sure could relate to that scenario. He wandered over, then came back for his
portable battery charger….but charging the battery didn’t seem to be the issue. By this time, I had wandered over…they were
from near Green Bay, making it a long weekend by riding around Lake Michigan. Doug (the
driver) called AAA to send a tow truck, but that was a slow process. When the phone call was over, Kim suggested pushing
it to try to pop the clutch…maybe it would start that way. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Voila! It worked, but don’t dare turn the
bike off. We followed them to Mackinac
City, where we suggested they ride to Petoskey…not only was it a bigger town
with a bike garage (Maxwell Brothers) but there were hotels on hills, in case a
clutch start was needed again. J So they followed us
and we waved good bye at the intersection of 31 and 131. I hope they get their issue resolved.
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Kim has
ideas about improving our camping trailer….he’s thinking about replacing the
two truck boxes with a single aluminum box. But that will be a winter project. There are more pressing items at hand, like
getting prepared for bow season which starts next week already.
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I hate to do it, but I’m going to have to
replace my boots this winter. During the
Alaska trip, the heels fell off but I had those replaced in Montana. Now the bottoms are getting slick…and the inside
is breaking down, too. Sounds silly, but
my boots are my friends…and replacing a friend is never easy. But I replaced Moxie after I lost her on the
Alaska trip…I’ll have the whole winter to find just the right boots. Pulling on the boots completes the
transformation from Betsy Ross to Easy Rider. J
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Observations from the road:
*I wouldn’t recommend sneezing
while riding a bike.
*A solid yellow line is not a
deterrent to someone who is determined to pass.
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It was
good to get away and good to get home. At
the end of a trip like this, riding those last couple hundred miles, I get to
thinking about where we’ve been…what we’ve done…who we’ve met…things we’ve
seen. It’s so easy to misplace the days,
places, and even forget some of it, as we experience it in the moment and then
move on to the next stop in our ride. It
all gets to running together in my head…and that’s the reason for a journal. A way to look back and remember accurately. J
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Arrived home about 7:30 p.m. This great adventure has come to an end...but I look forward to the next one, whatever that may be. J
.----------Today’s miles: 282 miles Total stats: Rode 4,453 miles through 12 states over the course of 22 days.
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| Back home but ready to ride again! |
