We woke up to a cool perfect Midwest morning and headed out. We had I-70 almost to ourselves for quite some time before traffic began to pick up.
As we headed east, it began to look like we might actually be able to pick up the dogs before the kennel closed at 1:00. Seeing this was possible, I kicked myself for not getting going earlier and it caused the throttle hand to twist a little more than usual. We needed fuel as we were getting near Indianapolis, and got off the interstate at a stop with several gas stations, including a truck stop. Unfortunately, there was a pretty bad accident at the top of the off-ramp which left us sitting, not moving. Keeping it in perspective, this was much, much worse for the people in the accident than for us.
Eventually, I took the shoulder of the off-ramp past the two trucks in front of me and the kind woman directing traffic let me loop around and get right back on the freeway. A few more exits up and I got off again, successful in getting gas.
SO's phone wasn't working well so I gave her mine and she called the kennel. With the delay it was going to be close, but getting the dogs should still be doable. While talking with the kennel, we found out that they now offer 5:00 pickup on Wednesdays. They used to be closed on Wednesdays all day, but this is a very welcome change. This makes the decision to use our vet/kennel much easier when we might get home near a Wednesday.
After getting gas and making sure we had arrangements to get the dogs, we were off on the last leg. We got around Indianapolis and headed straight home. Once at home, everything was as we left it and since it was the middle of the day, it was almost scary quiet.
I started this trip thinking about how it is 10 years since the first trip out west. In retrospect, I think more is different than the same, and trying to recreate in my mind that first trip is wrong. This trip should have been called Texas by way of Idaho but when we left I really wasn't sure what the destination after Salt Lake City was going to be. Confirming the circular nature of life, our last night on the road was within a few miles of our first night on the road in 2004.
And, I guess that also marks a really big difference. Last year we completed the goal of riding through the 49th state and our riding trips can change now. While this might bring us more freedom, one of the things I really liked about this trip was that we had a plan daily and (mostly) stuck to it. We slowed down in places where there was something interesting we wanted to see and made sure to do them. We remained flexible to go where we wanted after visits with family that needed to be choreographed.
Sometime recently, possibly during this trip I likely surpassed 200,000 miles on a motorcycle in my lifetime. I don't see that as an accomplishment as much as a stepping stone to the next 100,000.
What a great Adventure!
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