I was up before anybody else and found a way to make coffee. It is funny how little things like where the coffee filters are stored can sometimes seem so personal. I'd never heard of Vanilla Life Cereal before, but it was pretty good too.
We were on the road around the same time as my sister left for work, heading south. Traffic was heavy but tolerable, especially near the interchanges that led to Chicago. But with a mix of Wisconsin and Illinois drivers, it wasn't too bad. The Illinois drivers weren't even trying too hard to kill each other.
SO paid our toll at the most hateful toll booth on I-39 just across the border into Illinois. Traffic lightened up considerably around this point. The weather was cool but comfortable, mostly sunny with periods of clouds.
Making our way to I-74 felt like we were getting close to home. As usual, traffic on I-74 was very light, even through some construction zones. We passed a few more wind turbines and a couple trundling military convoys throughout the day.
We were making good time, so we decided not to stop for a real lunch, grabbing some food at a gas stop. The bacon cheddar dogs sounded good to me, but the first slippery one I grabbed bounced off of the counter and onto the floor. There is absolutely NO 5 SECOND RULE AT A TRUCK STOP - that hot dog went into the trash and I grabbed one of the dogs from the "Still Cooking" line on the automated meat roller.
Soon enough we were on two-lane roads familiarly close to home.
We got home in time to get the dogs and they seemed happy enough even if the older dog did seem to be in wandering mode. Things will settle down to normal soon enough.
All my motorcycle adventures have been amazing. Some of them are about the journey, some of them are about the destination. This adventure was about an event. The event. Two minutes and thirty-seven seconds of darkness.
At one point on the way home I starting thinking about how fortunate I was to be able to do these things: motorcycling across the country, seeing fantastic scenery, meeting interesting people, staying with family, seeing a bit more American history and kitsch, and having everything work out to witness a rare celestial event - the 2017 Eclipse.
Oh dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon,
Irrecoverably dark, total Eclipse
Without all hope of day!
— John Milton
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