Monday 6/14 - We got an early start from the motel and ventured forth into another dreary and threatening day. After about 450 mind-numbing miles on the Interstate, we located a very nice campground near Van Wert Ohio, and popped the tents. And then the rain began in earnest, pouring down most of the night.
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Tuesday 6/15 - I awoke about 6 AM to the sound of Jay starting up his bike. Peering out the window of the tent, I saw that he had packed up his rig and pulled up off of the grass onto the pavement. As I rolled off of the bed and stepped down on the floor of the tent, I realized that it was floating on 3 or 4 inches of water. The grassy area around the bikes and the trailers was pretty much completely flooded. The incredibly humid morning air was oppressive, and with the water 4 to 6 inches deep around me, I could see that this morning was not going to be much fun. Unzipping the tent, I slogged out onto the grass and went about packing up my water-logged rig.. Thankfully, my boots were indeed waterproof as advertised.
Jay finished buttoning up his rig and drove up, stating that he was going down to the coffee shop on the corner and would wait for me there. It took me quite a while to get ready to roll, but I finally had the waterlogged trailer hooked up and ready. I changed into some dry clothes and headed down to meet up with Jay for coffee. Not finding Jay inside the place, I asked the waitress if there had been another motorcyclist in earlier, to which she replied in the negative. I then stepped outside and tried to raise him on the CB, then called his cell, leaving a message to the effect that I was going back to the RV park to wait for him there. Parking next to the office at the park, I got my laptop out and checked Jay's SPOT location. What the hell.... he is in the next town about 20 miles away. I called him again and left another message, and watched his SPOT moving on the map. After about 20 minutes of this I called again and Jay answered, stating that the coffee shop was closed when he arrived and that he had gone down the road in search of a McDonald's. He located one in Decatur but was not sure how to direct me there. Meet me in Peoria at McDonald's there says Jay. Punching it up on the Garmin, I see that Peoria is about three hundred miles from my current location. I pull into the McDonald's at about 3:00 and Jay is in the parking lot talking to a guy on a KLR. Considering that Peoria is a good-sized town and that we approached on different routes, its pretty amazing that we both stumbled upon the same McDonald's.
After a quick sandwich, we head up I-74 towards I-80. We had left I-80 yesterday and looped south to Fort Wayne to avoid the Chicago area. That part of the mission being accomplished, we merged back onto I-80 well west of the metropolis. Oh yes, another day, another downpour on the interstate. We are making good use of the new raingear we purchased at Razee's in Rhode Island.
As we pulled in to Iowa City, the clouds kind of vanished. Blue Sky! First time we have seen that in a while. We motor down at the Motel 6. The tents are open and drying in the parking lot, and my clothes are washing as I type this. Jay says he's done camping and just wants to get home.
2 comments:
The Reactions boxes at the end of your blog do not begin to describe my feelings at reading about your trip. Such HORRID weather you have encountered makes my heart BLEED for you two! I'm glad your boots are waterproof and you are getting your money's worth out of the raingear purchase.
This is one EPIC adventure! I can't wait to hear about everything and see all the pictures! In case your interested, I have acquired a 1990 Honda Accord and am hopefully pulling the motor this weekend for a rebuild! Should be fun!
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