June 17, 2007 - Day 1

Yesterday was William’s Birthday Party, then today being Father’s Day, my son and his son took the better part of the day to tour the Wild Animal Paradise and give William his first introduction to some very large animals, close up. After getting back and finishing the packing we headed out around 5:30 pm. Our goal was to get a good start on the trip so that tomorrow we will be able to spend more time seeing the sights instead of making time. So we headed out on the road on a bright, beautiful, sunny, warm day. Making sure we had plenty of water to keep us cooled down seemed important at that moment. We had only ridden about 15 or 20 miles when we started passing many Amish buggies go in both directions. Everyone seemed out to enjoy the day. Passing them one couldn’t help but envy their simple lifestyle and the way they took the time to actually see what they passed through. Still it would be hard to make a trip like this one in a buggy. Since it was only 90 miles to our overnight location, it seemed that it would be a trip without incident. About 10 miles before we arrived, the sky darkened, the wind whipped up so hard I thought several times I was going to get blown into another lane. Then as we topped a hill, here comes the down pour. The valve was opened and it looked that we would have maybe a minute or two before it hit us. We pulled over and covered our packs, and before we could get into our rain gear, we were in the thick of it. Once geared up, we just got back on and rode on through it. We made it into town and got to the motel, and of course, it stopped. We got checked in and dried off, then headed over to Shoney's, the only restaurant we saw coming in, and even though it was not yet 8 PM, their closing time, they were already closed and gone. We went back to the hotel and noticed that right on the other side was a Huddle House. I thought they were a breakfast place, but the were open. We found a table and found that they actually had steaks, pork chops, and even salad style meals. We had the chops and to my surprise they were very good. Had it not been for the full glass of water I knocked off the table, talking with my hands again, it would have been a very nice meal. Still I was fed and dry, so I was happy as pig in a poke. So for now it is time to get this on the web site and get some sleep. Tomorrow will start our trip for real, so we'll see you on the by-ways....