I woke up in end-of-vacation mode which means it was time to head home. After getting up and making coffee, I started picking stuff up and putting things away (my Mom later complained about the noise of putting dishes away).
As it started to get light, people started filtering downstairs. Everyone was eating breakfast, talking and starting to pack and clean and get ready to leave.
SO even found a few minutes to watch the sunrise through some hazy Huron clouds.
SO even found a few minutes to watch the sunrise through some hazy Huron clouds.
I kind of liked the fishing pole I bought at the garage sale, and rigged up a way to take it home. I took the reel off and packed it away. I strung the pole between the helmet holders on the back bag, using zip ties to secure it in place. It worked much better than I anticipated even though the pole halves stuck out a little bit to either side.
It seemed like there was more dithering than there needed to be. And dithering was definitely not compatible with my being ready to leave. First thing in the morning on the road is always best. And it was a long drive home.
My younger sister and Mom were the first to leave. My sister was dropping off my Mom at home, and had the longest drive.
My older sister and two nephews were next. They had to fly out.
My older brother, his wife and my youngest nephew (the now master fisherman) were last to leave. Little kids do take time.
Once everyone was gone I took a few minutes to make sure the house was left how it was supposed be. The letter from the landlord asked us to put the garbage out at the far left of the property opposite the leaning trees. I didn't see any leaning trees (only some crooked stumps?) and left is ambiguous - left from where and while looking at the house or from the house? Hopefully the garbage cans were left in the right place. They are at the NW corner of the property - which is a much better description than on the left corner of the property.
We were on the road around 10:00. The trip south started out well enough. We caught a few glimpses of Lake Huron, but it was time to go home.
The area around Detroit was lousy with construction, including an I-75 closure. If there is any benefit to leaving on Sunday it was that traffic wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. But it would have been better had I left at first light...
The drive went well enough even though I did start to get quite tired. We got stuck in one traffic situation which lasted about 15 minutes. It wasn't too bad but wasn't too good either.
As we neared Dayton, I remarked to SO that it looked like rain off to the East. She checked her phone and said it looked like a few miles of "green" rain - meaning the radar was green which usually means light to at most moderate rain.
Nope, it was several miles of the worst rain I've ever ridden through. Cars were pulling off the road or slowing down (slowing down was fine with me). Idiots were even using their hazard lights. Water was pooling over the interstate. The tractor-trailer next to me was throwing huge amounts of water onto us. I could tolerate this as it was also blocking some wind and hail. Yes, hail. It was hailing, and not lightly. At one point I looked down and between my leg and the bike was a small pile of hail. We wear open-faced helmets and the hail hurt my lips.
Pulling off the road would have been the smart thing to do, but I plugged along. The heavy rain waned and for the rest of the trip home it was anything and everything from hot sunshine to more rain and wind. Both SO and I were completely soaked through. But we did eventually get home.
The home alarm had a SNAFU, so it may have been screaming for a time while we were gone. I'm a little disappointed the neighbors didn't notice. Or maybe they did. But everything else looked good.
I got dogs from beagle jail. SO made a quick grocery trip, and we unpacked, getting ready for another work day in the morning. I hate not having a recovery day after a vacation, but that is how it works sometimes.
For a short vacation, our trip to Chicago a few days ago seems like a very long time ago. It was definitely not a motorcycle tour about hauling for miles and miles across the country or about crossing many state lines. The SS Badger across Lake Michigan was a lot of fun. It was good to see family at several stops as was spending several days with my siblings and Mom.
The dogs are back at home so things can get back to normal - for at least a few weeks.
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