Mile 10,351

 Today is my last day on the road.  I’m leaving Toledo, OH early to make my way toward Cleveland, OH.  Of course it is far to early to pay a visit to the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, but with music from my iPod I take the split from I-90 onto I-80 into Pennsylvania.  I follow the Interstate through some forested areas which keep the air cool and make riding this morning easy.  The more I move eastward the heavier the traffic becomes, and finally in Wilkes-Barre, PA onto Scranton, PA I get hit with the heavy traffic entering I-84.  I continue and cross the Delaware River at Port Jarvis, NY, the Delaware valley we visited last year and definitely a must if you enjoy a nice river valley, and continue through the hills down to the Hudson River to cross at Newburg, NY to the other side.  From here it is old territory through Danbury, CT up to Waterbury, CT and then back home.  The circle is closed after 15 days and 10,351 miles.  Now the bike will be parked, cleaned and repaired where needed, I will have a nice, long shower, a cold beer and a good night sleep.  And then in the next days, when all slowly sets in, I will realize what I have done, re-live some sections of it, and reflect on the many conversations I had with the folks I met, the sceneries I have seen.  Then the whole story will be completed.

“I think the motorcycle is best because it puts you so much in contact with everything.  You experience much more closely the nature of the terrain and almost taste the cultures’ that you’re riding through, but exposes you to the climate and to the wind and rain and it’s a much more complete experience.” - Ted Simon, British travel writer noted for circumnavigating the world twice by motorcycle, author of ‘Jupiter’s Travel’