Departure Day Minus One

We leave tomorrow for what I calculated on my fingers and toes to be the 18th Annual Vulcan Riders and Owners Club Eureka Springs Reunion in Arkansas. I have a query out to the Powers That Be to see if my digital calculations are, in fact, correct.

It has been a busy week. Larry installed a Class III hitch on the new (to us) 2017 Equinox. I've been working on a number of initiatives for several organizations I belong to. As Chapter Treasurer, I convened the monthly luncheon for the Ontario Provincial Police Veterans Association Chapter 13. There was a mass Emailing to Safe Ride Home 2017 volunteers informing them of the inaugural Grab The Wheel Run/Walk Against Impaired Driving being held October 21st. Somehow, I have found myself in charge of event registration. It was also time to begin doing some prep work in anticipation of the Safe Ride Home Sudbury 2018 campaign, where I have scaled back a bit and will now just be the Volunteer Coordinator. Right. I finished the Freedom Riders August Treasurer's report but came up short on the overhaul of the Constitution and Bylaws. Plus there were all the usual month end tasks covering our and mother-in-law Jan's affairs. Typical retired life. I haven't stopped working, just stopped getting paid:-))

As the week went by, what were originally essential tasks on the To Do list were reconsidered and some were shuffled to a date after our return.

So here we finally are. The list has been cleared one way or another except for this blog post. The trailer is hooked up and the bike is loaded. Suitcases are on board. The three cameras are ready to go. All we need tomorrow is to throw a few toiletries and meds into the overnight bags, have breakfast and head out the door.

Early departure will not be a necessity. We are only going 350 miles to Grayling, Michigan on the first day. We'll push it on day 2 and, hopefully, roll into Eureka Springs early on Monday afternoon.

We'll leave ES a week from Sunday morning and arrive in DuQuoin, Illinois on Wednesday afternoon for the Gold Wing Road Riders Association Southern Illinois Ride In, organized by our own Willie Wonka and The Lovely Carlene. On the way, we will swing by Cape Girardeau, Missouri and pick up a GL1800 final drive for a friend. This is one of the weak spots on the 1800 but new final drives are regularly discarded when bikes are converted to trikes. We depart DuQuoin the following Sunday and should be back home on Monday the 24th.

One of the goals on this trip will be to streamline these blog posts. Spending hours every night sorting photos, reviewing notes and writing stories is getting old. The other goal will be to not fall behind. We have to work and let the pictures (a thousand words each) tell more of the story. That means emulating Sherm, Linda G and others in capturing more descriptive shots. We'll see how that works out.

You may have read in my previous posts that I have been fairly successful in reducing my blood sugar by essentially eliminating starchy carbs from my diet. Before I went back to that regimen in early July, my morning glucose readings were over 13.0 (230 for my American friends) with bread and potatoes being the only real offenders. Now they are consistently in the low 7's (around 130). My readings four hours after meals during the day are consistently around 6.0 (108). So bread (or rice or potatoes) have not crossed my lips in almost two months. That was until noon today, when I had a three cheese and bacon sandwich with curly fries  for lunch at Arby's (we took Sandy's Mom). Four hours later, I dreaded the glucose reading. Much to my surprise, it was 4.8 (86). What? I guess I still don't understand what is going on here because I haven't seen a number this low since I can't remember when. No matter. I will be back on the carb restricted food in the morning. Hell, I had roast beef and salad for supper.

So we are out of here in the morning. Stay tuned if you want to see how the journey unfolds.

By the way, my conversation with the organizers and final arbiters of all things ES has informed me that the first World Reunion in 2000 in Durango, Colorado (Hey, Bucky), commonly known as V2K, is being counted and that this is officially Reunion Number 19. That works for me.