Mile 9138

This morning we brace ourselves for the last stint back home for which heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecasted.  We don't care, put our rain gear on and hit the road, i.e. Interstate I-80.  We leave Lock Heaven, PA and drive along the Bald Eagle State Forest and the Pennsylvania State Game Lands No. 13 & 58, and the Little Mountain, and have an incredible spectacle this morning.  The rain over night and in the early morning hours creates a steaming forest with clouds rising from the woods, and the sun poking through the dark rain clouds and mist, illuminating the whole scenery in a picture fit to be the background of any Tolkin story.  But as nice as it is, it reminds us that per forecast we will get drenched today, at about Scranton, PA it shall hit us.  So we enjoy every mile we can ride in the dry, and push to get as many of those as we can under our tires.  We pass Scranton, PA and join I-84 to bring us home.  Not the best, not to say in miserable condition, highway, but thus far we haven't had any rain.  A quick stop for gas, a coffee to waken the senses, and on we go again.  Useless to say the highway got worse entering New York state, and going through Danbury, CT and Waterbury, CT are also definitely not my highlights of this trip.  But it hasn't rained on us yet, and it shall stay that way all the way home (can't trust those weathermen neither anymore).  Nevertheless, we are drenched from inside our rain suits (no water in, no water out), but who cares we are home, and after the bike is parked a long shower is awaiting us.  So the trip comes to an end, time to unpack, take care of gear and bike, and then over some inspirational drinks reflect on this cross country trip.  But this is for another entry.

"Because in the end, you won't remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn.  Climb that goddamn mountain."  - Jack Kerouac, American Novelist and Poet of French-Canadian descent

Mile 8802

Today is another day of raking up miles towards home.  The route we travel today might not be the fastest, nor the shortest as suggested by Google Maps or Garmin, but definitely the one which keeps us away from the big, dark clouds above our heads, ready to download all their water on us.  So we follow the slim light shimmer in the sky and avoid, or at least try to avoid, the rain falling on us.  Leaving Dundee, MI this morning we follow Hwy 23 south around Toledo, OH until it merges with Hwy 20 going East.  But progress is slow, and we have to make miles to get Elke home on time, so near Cleveland, OH we decide to join the OH TPK and hit Interstate 80 to move forward.  That idea worked great till Youngstown, OH as shortly after near Mercer, PA we were making the incredible progress of 6 miles in two hours because of road construction and reducing the highway down to a single lane.  When the first exit came into reach we left I-80 and detoured around on Rt. 58.  Joining I-80 after the construction site gave us good traffic again, and we continued on till Lock Heaven, PA. So our luck today was to avoid any heavy rain shower, the downfall was loosing two hours due to that road construction.  But we shall be home tomorrow, just in time.

Unfortunately no interesting pictures today, as Highway/Interstate views never change.

BMW, Honda, Harley Davidson, doesn't matter, we're all happy to be out of the rain

"Today is the first of August.  It is hot, steamy and wet.  It is raining.  I am tempted to write a poem.  But I remember what it said on the rejection slip: 'After a heavy rainfall, poems titled "Rain" pour in from across the nation.'  Sylvia Plath, American Poet (1932 - 1963)

Mile 8388

The best-laid plan of mice and men got changed this morning when we received a text message that Elke has to show in a couple of days for a job interview.  This of course changed everything, and after we submitted the req’d application, resume, etc. during breakfast, the plan got altered to bring us home asap.  We packed the bike, and made our way over the Mackinac bridge to the other side to follow along Hwy 23 the shoreline of Lake Huron.  Even though this highway is not as good as Hwy 2, we enjoy the ride along the many beautiful beaches on this side of the lake.  Another mark in our road travel book to return as the beaches don’t give the impression you are on a lake, but on an ocean.  Hwy 23 joins Interstate 75 at Standish, MI, and this is welcome as we have to make miles to be on time for Elke’s job interview later this week.  But also this plan is not without obstacles as we run in a severe rain storm near Saginaw, MI and getting drenched down to the bone.  So we decide to run some more miles to get dry again, and just as we almost reached that goal we are getting watered down again near Ann Arbor, MI.  We continue on, but as more dark clouds move in, and more rain is coming down, we call it the day at Dundee, MI and look for a motel with a dryer.  Enough is enough, and with two more days left in our schedule we should be able to make it on time home.

Mackinac Bridge, MI

One of many beaches at Lake Huron

“Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.”  -  Allen Saunders, American writer, journalist and cartoonist