The second day on the road - going and coming home - is purposely a few extra miles since we've had one day of riding to get acclimated. In this case, we were facing about 590 miles to get to our hotel. And, with the threat of rain lingering over 2 of the 3 routes Google proposed for us, I chose the northern route (ranked 2 of 3) as the weather showed the rain moving off through the other two more southerly routes. That was my first mistake of the day.
You see, though, it's all good because my wife is truly one of a kind, and the absolute best. Let me tell you why. . . . first, both of us missed our turnoff this morning leaving Sioux City, IA as we thought we were on that northern route rolling along. She was singing out loud to rock and roll and not paying attention, and I just wasn't paying attention. The result was a trip headed toward Minnesota, and a total of about 90 miles out of the way.
The weather was gorgeous and it was Iowa and its true countryside. . .tons of corn, lots of dairy cows, lots of beef cattle, the scent of manure wafting from both, and the occasional road kill not to run over.. Finding our way back to the route we were supposed to go on was a bit trying and we went through towns I'm not even sure you can find on the map. And, at least a couple times we ended up at a stop sign with an unmarked left or right turn available to us, or as Cheryl called it "at the intersection of wheat and corn". And, that's a second reason why she's the best. .. . . she keeps her cool when my head was about to explode for causing us a 2+ hour delay in what was already a long way to go to get to Danville, IL.
We finally got back to Route 20 after the 90 miles and 2+ hours of lost time. Of course, it was also mostly a two-lane road with one big detour. Wish I had paid more attention to Google when I was researching those routes. It finally turned into a four lane highway about 50 miles from our endpoint on this segment, the first part of the trip today, i.e., Waterloo, IA. And yet, Cheryl was still in a good mood! (I figured this can't last forever)
We barrelled down I-380 toward Cedar Rapids, and eventually onto Route 80, and finally onto I-74. That meant, at 6:00 p.m., only 220 more miles to go. And, this is where Cheryl's bubble started to burst. At a gas stop she temporarily lost it because she was cold (and so did I because we were both tired). The local guy 80 miles away at the final gas stop did nothing to lift our spirits when he said "Hell, you've got 80 more miles to go! It's on the other side of Danville." Finally, at 10:15 p.m. we arrived in Danville, IL and our hotel.
A happy drunk guy met us in the parking lot and offered us two spare beers, but we passed on this overt hospitality. Happily they had a hot tub so, for the second night in a row, we threw on our swimming togs (or whatever they're called) and headed down for a quick soak. A hot shower later and we're both good as new. And it is here where I offer my final observation on my wife.
She's tough as damn nails. Imagine a 50+ year old woman (I'm 54 and she's older than me) climbing on a motorcycle, riding 1350 miles one way, and then the same (or more) back to Columbus. She never complained - well almost never - and mostly kept me happy and upbeat. How'd I get so lucky?
Tomorrow we have a mere 270 miles back to Columbus. We're looking forward to being home, and hope that Montgomery Scott (the Full Monty) hasn't forgotten who his mother and father is. Thanks for joining us on our trip.
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