Birthday on the Road

Today is my birthday. I am 54 but it doesn't feel like it.

The sun rises really late when you are on the far west end of a time zone, particularly eastern. Also, the temperature dropped overnight resulting in a huge amount of dew on the bike and trailer. Good thing we tore down yesterday. So I spent some time outside in the cool dark wiping down the bike. Then we hit the continental breakfast and hit the road before 7:00 for the 550 mile trip to Cambridge.

As we headed north on SR 37 towards the Circle City, I noted that (to paraphrase Robert Duval) I love the smell of dead skunk in the morning. There is something visceral in the pungent odor. The sun peeked above the horizon like the Red Rubber Ball in the song as it wrestled with the haze. As we hit 465 south of Indy, the sky clouded over and the temperature dropped some more. I am amazed that, two years later, the I-465/SR 37 exchange is still under construction.

We stopped at a Love’s/McDonalds and fueled. We were looking for some food but this Mickey D’s was so screwed up and the large girl taking orders looked so miserable that we moved on up the road. There was a much better one in Warren Indiana. After the usual light breakfast, Sandy broke out her rain pants and electric gloves.

Just south of Marshall Michigan, the odometer rang up 77,777 kilometers, an auspicious number, while Garrison Keillor was in the middle of reciting The Raven on PBS. Spooky. While moving through Lansing Michigan, a young lady in a mini-van decided to move into my lane without signaling. I moved just enough to keep from getting hit and leaned on the horn. After about ten seconds, she got the idea and moved back, but she gave me a look that suggested she though all this was my fault. Just another menace on the highways. At the next gas stop, I put on my rain pants and both of us added sweaters to our layers.

Near the border, the sun came out again. We had a quick border crossing. The headwinds, cold and higher (130 KPH) speeds really hurt the fuel economy. We arrived in Cambridge about 5:15 PM.