Part XV "Homeward Bound"

Saturday, September 17/11

Good morning. Today I departed Georgetown, Ontario just before 7:00 AM and bee-lined it down Trafalgar Road to the 401. After some deliberation I opted for a route through the U.S. so I could skirt the Great Lakes from the south.

Riding time was great with a small delay at the Sarnia / Port Huron boarder crossing due to traffic volume. Once I got to the barrier it was a friendly Good Morning, a cursory glance at my passport and I was on my way. At this point in the trip the routes home, both via Canada and via the U.S. are cases of "Been there, done that" so I'm running fairly quick and a tad eager to get home so I can enjoy a few days of R&R before going back to work.

Michigan is flat and fast but the roads suck. Potholes, washboard heaving, sunken truck ruts. They have it all. I got fed up and hopped off the "slab" for some parallel running county roads just to lessen the constant thumping on both the bike and me.

After an afternoon of this abuse I was soon in Indiana passing through the cities of Michigan City and Gary. The stretch through Gary is very industrial with foundries and refineries lining both sides of the road. The road is fast but there was lots of construction areas where everybody still drove fast. Again, "When in Rome do as the Romans." Within half an hour I'm entering Chicago and getting ready for the last big city experience of the tour. Here's a tip for anyone considering driving through Chicago on any of the north/south highways. Bring change. Lots of change as the entire length of I-90 and I-94 are rife with toll booths. Some tolls are sixty cents while some are fifty cents. There's an eighty cent toll; there are a couple more that cost a dollar each and one is a hefty $3.50. When it's all added up you will need about $8.00 - $10.00 from the south end city limit north to the Wisconsin state line. The tolls really aren't the issue as the roads are in great condition and I assume the tolls go towards keeping the maintanence up; it's the constant nickle and diming it takes to collect the tolls. Why not just have a flat rate that takes you from one end to the other? Pay it once and keep moving, not the constant scrambling for change and crumpled dollar bills. Do it once and get it over with!

Riding through Chicago I had a close call and was almost side-swiped by a merging motorist. Not much to say other than he wasn't looking, didn't appear overly concerned and sped off into the distance. It did leave me, however; a tad shakey as this was the closest I came to getting smoked on the trip so far.

I'm pretty much bagged out at this point but I keep pushing north to Rockford, Illinois about and hour and a bit north of Chicago. That was another 900 km+ day.

Time for bed.


Sunday, September 18/11

Guess what? It's raining and I mean raining. It's coming down briskly as I load and suit up. Rolling up the on-ramp and into the traffic the visibility is poor with the cars and trucks throwing up lots of spray. Luckily I have a good rain suit so I am oblivious to the car-wash conditions.

There's not much to talk about other than it rained through Wisconsin and all of Minnesota too. The only highlights were crossing the Mississippi River and entering South Dakota when the rain stopped, the sun came out just before it went down. I pushed on another 100 km to get another 900+ wrapped up. I scored a motel in Mitchell and calling it a night.

That's all I have to say so good night.