Sunday, July 15th, 2002
Start: Iowa City, Iowa
End: Dearborn, Michigan
491 Miles
In the morning, we just want to get home...
We share a quick breakfast in the hotel lobby.
We shower, and then load the bike while scanning
the Weather Channel. Forecast is for good
weather today, we should have clear sailing
into Dearborn, Michigan.
At Sharon's insistence, we take the scenic
route through Iowa City. Yes, there is a
scenic route. It's not an official scenic
route, basically we meander our way through
an older section of town with grand old homes.
I have no idea how the wealthy in Iowa City
made their money, but the homes are nice.
Then it's back on I-80 eastbound, and watching
the scenery go by. In Iowa, the scenery consists
of large farms overlaid on a rolling landscape.
It's pleasant, but not awe-inspiring like
the Southwest. It's also too familiar, too
much like the farms back home, to be really
interesting to us. Iron the land out a bit,
and it's just like Ohio or Indiana.
After 100 miles or so, we cross the Mississippi
and enter Illinois. On the Illinois side
of the river, we pull off into a roadside
rest / park. The roadside rest is up on a
bluff, overlooking the bridge and the river.
The view is very scenic, with various types
of ships and boats passing by now and then
under the bridge, and auto traffic crossing
above. Now and then you'd hear a Harley or
a truck on the bridge, but most of the traffic
passes in silence. We fill our water bladders,
talk quietly about the view, and continue
on.
Riding through Illinois eastbound on I-80,
and the farms get smaller and closer together,
the small towns more numerous, and the traffic
more dense. We have lunch and fill the bike's
fuel tank in Morris, Illinois; then we continue
on to Chicago.
Chicago is a bit of a blur eastbound. We
don't hit any construction snags, so it's
relatively smooth sailing. But like always,
it is busy - very busy. We jump onto I-94
eastbound after passing through Chicago,
and continue into Michigan.
Shortly after crossing into Michigan, we
stop at a roadside rest. While Sharon uses
the restroom and collects pamphlets, I lay
down in the grass under a tree near the bike.
It's nice to be somewhere that you can simply
lay down in the grass, without worrying about
fire ants or scorpions or plants with thorns...
Michigan is pretty much domesticated, especially
compared to the Southwest.
Parked next to my bike is an early 1980s
Yamaha Venture, and the left-hand saddlebag
is leaking something. The owner comes out,
I mention it to him, and he tells me its
ice. For the beer. Do I want one? I ask if
he has any cold pop, and the answer is no...
I politely decline the beer.
We talk a bit. His Venture is in nice shape,
low miles, and he loves it. It's amazing
how many older bikes there are here in the
north that never accumulate big miles due
to the winter weather. Old bikes are much
more rare in Phoenix than in Detroit or Chicago.
We continue west on I-94, grabbing a bite
to eat in Paw Paw, Michigan at Coyote Creek.
Just a bite, we want - no, we need - to be
home tonight. No time to dawdle...
Back on I-94, and a couple miles later traffic
comes to a crawl. There's a smell of paint,
and as we move forward we get to see the
problem. There's a pickup truck in the median,
with a trailer behind. The trailer is twisted
around, and there's paint scattered all about.
There's rescue equipment there, and since
traffic is moving we catch only that glimpse
and whiff. We've no idea what happened, but
we hope the driver is OK.
We continue on, with a pause to re-fuel the
bike in Jackson.
I-94 through this area is normally boring
for us, simply because it's so close to home.
But having been gone for over two weeks,
the familiar sights are welcome and noted.
We pass Willow Run airport well outside Dearborn,
then Detroit Metro at the edge of Dearborn.
Exit Telegraph Rd. / US-24 northbound, and
a few miles later we're at Sharon's home
in Dearborn.
Entering Sharon's house, and her cats are
about as affectionate as cats can be - which
means they meow and rub against us a little
bit more than normal. Either they missed
us, or they're hungry. It's so hard to tell
with cats...
We unload the bike and go to bed - I need
to get up at 5:00 AM Monday morning in order
to be at work at 7:30 AM; 95 miles away in
Clyde, Ohio.
It's good to be home; or almost home in my
case...
Best,
Doug Grosjean
Pemberville, Ohio
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