We left Belvidere, IL under cloudy and extremely humid conditions after a terrific barbecue of steaks, salads (of all kinds), fresh rolls and whatever beverages we needed. Kathy's family took us in and treated us like long lost and much beloved wayward sons and we really enjoyed our time with them.
But, like most things there is a time when they have to end and you move on to other adventures. The ride back to Michigan was fairly uneventful and we survived the heavy truck traffic in the Chicago area. We did have one interesting incident as we entered Indiana with a stray rock (more like a boulder). It seems Ralph collects big rocks from each state we visited and put them in the trailer to haul back to South Carolina. Well one of them decided to make a grand escape as we were traveling down I-94 in Indiana. I managed to avoid it but Jim took a direct hit in the front wheel. He managed to keep it under control and there was no apparent damage to his bike and we continued our journey home after removing the rocks from the trailer and re-stowing them in the bed of Ralph's truck.
Now we're trying to figure out if the "fore-endy" was MOT on the Marine or Ralph had enough of Jim's stories and told Blue "if that jarhead tells one more story about his mule rustling grandfather, Jim, I'm going to chunk a rock at him".
Whichever is true (if any of it is true) the end result is that we made it safely back to my house.
Now it's time to upload and sort the photos; reflect on the adventure we just had and savor the memories.
I'm not sure there will be any more posts so thank you to all who have followed along and encouraged us.
Special thanks to the members of SSMC who joined us for the Ride in Sandpoint, Idaho and gave us the ride of our lives through the mountains and valleys of Washington. Also, I'm remiss for not acknowledging and thanking Bob McManus and Dave and Terry Stoops for flying to Seattle to help us live out this adventure.
I now have fulfilled another item on my "bucket list" and will never forget the people I've met, the things I have seen and the bonds of friendship that have been forged with: Jim, Ralph and Blue
Doc
Bravo Zulu, my friend.
ReplyDeleteNext adventure: Eastward bound!!! (At least we won't throw rocks at you.)
Thanks; it was a blast. Maybe I'll do Rolling Thunder next year and then head north before going home.
ReplyDelete