Skip ahead from Kansas to home

As you can see by the date, we made it home and then I went into my post trip decompression phase. Since I am also in my post trip insomnia phase, I'll finish what I should have done several days ago.

Monday, April 18 - Wichita Kansas to Long Grove Iowa

It was a windy Kansas morning. Nothing new here. The Weather Channel doppler showed a storm system near Topeka so we hightailed it up I-35 towards Kansas City. Mostly tailwinds, and we slid by the system as we approached KC. Stopped briefly for gas and it almost caught us, so we kept on making miles towards Des Moines.

The right turn onto I-80 at Des Moines meant that the tailwind turned into a brutal crosswind. At one point, we got hit by what would, in the south, be called a dust devil. Here, it was more of a bark devil and peppered us with little bits of organic shrapnel.

The temperature was warm in Iowa. About 85 degrees. Not bad for April.

We rolled into Long Grove about 5:00 PM after covering 562 miles. Auggie was there and we loaded the bike into the trailer right away. BTW, the bike now has a name. Quicksilver. I was thinking Mercury because it is silver and is also a god with winged feet, but Sandy said no and Quicksilver means the same thing.

We spent the evening chatting. After the ladies went to bed, Auggie and I kept it up until about 1:00 AM. Then we gave up and retired, too.

The one downside to the day was that we found our friend Sherm, who we were supposed to see again in lake Lure in a couple of weeks, had caught a cold and had decided to return home to Oregon. This was a disappointment, but we will be seeing him again later in the season in Utah, Nevada and Arkansas. Travel safe, Sherm.

Many thanks to Auggie and Sue for the hospitality and looking after the van and trailer while we were away.

Tuesday April 19 - Long Grove Iowa to Sault Ste Marie Ontario

Nothing special to report for this trip. 662 miles towing a trailer behind a Dodge Caravan. We got through Chicago without getting hung up in traffic and crossed the Mackinac Bridge under high wind warnings. The border crossing was easy as pie and we were at my Mom's house in the Soo about 8:30 Eastern time.

We spent the evening visiting and then called it a night.

Wednesday April 20 - Sault Ste Marie Ontario to Sudbury Ontario

I was going to unload the bike this morning and take Mom for a ride, but the weather had turned cold and wet overnight so we agreed to an IOU for that. The trip to Sudbury was uneventful, although I noticed that there were a lot of cars with Ontario plates. This always surprises me for a couple of days after I get home from a trip.

Once home, we unloaded the bike and moved the trailer into its customary place in the driveway. I hope we don't need to use it before next fall unless it is to haul someone else's bike.

The odometer on Quicksilver said 8,411 kms. Not bad for a three week old machine, but only a taste of what is to come. This motorcycle is everything I had hoped it would be and more. It's going to be a great season.

Just to spite us, this was the scene this morning in our driveway.

The travel blog will resume about May 2nd or 3rd when we head out for Lake Lure, North Carolina. To those of you who have been reading this, I hope you enjoyed it and you are welcome to ride along with us on the next trip. Until then, be well.