Day #30 Aug 22, 2007

Day 30
Wednesday August 22, 2007

Coloma, MI to Symsonia, KY
493 miles today (19,907 – 20,400)
6290 miles total

3 new states today: IN, IL & KY
15 states total

Wow! What a day today. 493 miles of nearly all freeway. To me,
that is the worst kind of riding. Sure, I can make great time and
cover a LOT of miles, but it is just so dull and boring, kind of lifeless.
And I am back in the heat again. Marion, IL at 5PM (gas stop)
showed 103 degrees on one bank thermometer.

I was awakened about 2:30AM this morning with thunder and then
lightning! Got up, looked at the sky, saw stars, but thought I better
try to check the weather. I hauled the laptop out and packed it to
the front door of the store at the KOA, probably 75 yards away.
Ah ha, a wireless signal finally, but protected by a password!
Grrr…why didn’t the lady at the desk last night tell me that?! So no
internet, and no weather update. I went back to bed, thinking the
storm was out over Lake Michigan. I was awakened again at 5:30 by
the pitter patter of rain drops on the tent. Oh oh! I hustled out to
get the stove and coffee pot into the tent and to cover up the bike
with the tarp. I began to pack away all the gear inside the tent I had
gotten out the night before. By the time I got all the gear put away,
and ready to tear the tent down, the rain picked up. I put my dry
clothes, towel and shower bag under the tarp with the motorcycle. I
folded the tent up, in the rain, and of course everything got put away
wet. Didn't want to do that, but hey, that's the way it is sometimes.
I showered, dressed, then put on all my riding gear and rain gear, and
headed toward Chicago about 8AM.

The sky was heavily overcast, and the roads were wet. The trucks
were spraying me as they passed by, but there was not any rain
falling from the sky, thankfully. About 10 AM I pulled into a truck
stop to try and check the weather channel on my laptop. No signal,
but the weather channel was on a TV in the truck stop. I saw a
national map with Doppler radar and saw Iowa, right where I was
headed, covered in rain. Right then, I decided KY would be my
destination. So I got the map out and wrote the route #s down on
paper so I’d know where to go. When the weather is nice, I’ll write
the route #s down on my mirrors with a dry erase marker. When
the weather is not so nice, I’ll record them on paper and slip them
in my tank bag so they show through the clear map case.

I wanted to go to Chicago and drive down the South Lake Shore Drive.
When I got about 30 miles out of Chicago, at 10AM in the morning
(already missed rush hour) the traffic was so heavy. And reader
boards showed construction at the intersection of two major
interstates. I wasn’t even close to downtown yet, and wasn’t about
to detour in and around Chicago, so when the turn off to I-57 came
up, my route to the south, I peeled off and took it. This proved to
be a good decision. I didn’t pull into KY until after 6PM. It would
have been a LOT later if I’d detoured to downtown Chicago.

Once I got here, I called Nat. The lawn is burnt up, the bushes
nearly dried up, and dead leaves all over the back yard. It looks
“dead” and it saddens me. I called Nat and told her I’d arrived.
The air conditioning was on, the hot water was on, and the house
was in MUCH BETTER SHAPE inside than outside.

God really protected me again today. Where I would have been
heading in Iowa is receiving record rainfall. What a disaster I
avoided. The rain has “chased me” since I left Fargo on Saturday
morning. This morning, it finally caught me!

I’ve unloaded the trailer, put my food in the fridge, set up the tent
to dry, and put the bike away in the brick building. Tarps are hung
on the fence to dry out. That should be quick, as the high
tomorrow is forecast for 101 degrees! Friday is to be 98. Rain is
forecast for Sat-Tuesday. I’m wore out tonight. Tired.
My rear end hurts after nearly 500 miles! I should sleep well.