No Regrets (The Walker Brothers)

   In November 2021 when Kim was diagnosed with prostate cancer and before we knew anything more than that, we had a discussion about living in such a way that we had no regrets at the end.  So right away I mentioned taking a bike ride to Rocky Mountain National Park in 2022.  Kim agreed so we started making a very hazy plan.  First thing to do was nail down a time.  Since the summer was shaping up to be cra-zee busy with work for both of us, we began eyeing the end of August/beginning of September for a 2 week getaway.  That would be enough time to head for Colorado.

   As it turned out, getting two weeks away was a bit optimistic but we managed to block out 9 days…which wasn’t enough time to get out to RMNP and back.  So we had to look at other destination options.  Custer State Park in South Dakota?  Tail of the Dragon? The Pig Trail in Arkansas?   And were we going to stay in hotels or camp?  Staying in a hotel would maximize our time on the road which would allow us to go farther but camping has always been part of our adventures.  Oddly we had a hard time making a decision about this trip.

   But it all fell into line when we invited Larry, a good friend whose son recently lost his battle with pancreatic cancer, to go with us.  We got together to talk about it and ultimately decided that we’d head in the direction of Custer State Park along state roads.  Making it to a specific destination wasn’t as important as just enjoying the time away and the time on the road.  We also decided to camp because sitting around a campfire at the end of the day sounded much better than just hanging out in a motel room.  So…we might not make it all the way out to Custer SP and we might have to hotel it if we can’t find a campground but it’s all good. No regrets!  😎    

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   Got the trailer hooked up and realized the lights weren’t working; Kim tried a couple of quick idea to no avail.  It was already later than we had anticipated due to Kim working later than expected and last minute packing; he decided that we should get going and that he’d deal with the light problem when got to the Newberry campground where we had reservations.  Left home about 5 p.m and arrived at the campground just after 8 p.m.  Since setting up camp before it got too dark and finding something to eat was the priority, the lights will have to wait until the morning.

**Update: At about 11:15 p.m. Kim decided to investigate the trailer light issue with his trusty new flashlight
and got it figured out.**

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   It was a balmy 79^o in the middle of the Mackinac Bridge at about 6:30 tonight.

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   On our way to meet Larry I was bit perplexed as to how to track our mileage because I forgot to reset one of my trip meters.  I usually have one track the daily miles and the other track the total miles.  I forgot to reset the total miles…it still had all the miles I’d ridden in Arizona. Shoot! Making the mathematical adjustment each night seemed too complex so I reset it when we met up with Larry.  Not too hard to convince myself that’s when our trip really started anyway. 😎    

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Miles from Charlevoix: 129

Miles starting when we met Larry: 104