Today’s trip was a long trip but very successful, as I arrived safely. The highlights of the trip were an early morning departure on a ferry to cross Lake Michigan and a surprise kiss on the lips from my darling sister.
My day started at 4:00 am when the wake-up call requested from the hotel didn’t come but I was awake nonetheless. I packed quickly and very quickly was lost in downtown Milwaukee. GPS programs don’t know how to deal with closed roads very well it seems. At the ferry terminal, I met a very nice couple – he was a retired Lutheran minister with his wife on his way to a reunion at a church he was pastor at when he was 25 years old. He met his wife there, as well. We had a grand time talking about MGB’s (which he owned at the time he met his wife) and Miata (1995 model he still owns). The ferry boarded on time for a 6:00 am departure and besides burning my hand on the hot muffler, no issues.
Arriving at Muskegon, MI, I had already lost one hour and so it was now close to 10:00 am EST. For unknown reasons, probably due to fat gloved fingers, the bluetooth refused to communicate to the GPS for the rest of the day. The GPS screen is almost impossible to see in bright light, so I was flying blind. I stopped for coffee at a place I stumbled upon and was told of a road parallel to the the interstate that would be much more pleasant to drive. the interstate is windy, hot, bumpy and noisy (but fast). So, I lost about 1/2 hour driving every which way trying to follow instructions given to me by a bicycle shop owner to locate the road and finally give up.
I drove through the Sarnia border crossing with as few stops as possible and was on the highway 401 when I couldn’t stand the stabbing pain in my back any longer. I get that from long hours of poor posture, I believe. Pulling off my helmet at the Service Centre, I was greeted by a tremendous kiss. Donna had spotted me driving in and she was sure it looked like my bike. Wow, what a great surprise. When I arrived at home an hour later, Art and Ro were waiting for me and we celebrated my home coming and Ro’s birthday with a BBQ dinner and birthday cheesecake.