There's no place like HOME!

We made it back home, safely, on Friday morning. We were up very early and on the road at 5:50 determined to beat the heat. We were greeted by our German Sheppard, Sadie, who did not hold a grudge for us leaving for so long. She never did come out of hiding when our neighbor came to check on her.It felt great to get back, and begin collecting the dogs. We unpacked and headed to town to restock the fridge, and then to Lynette and Tim's to pick up Winnie and Bert.. Both remembered us and were happy to see us. Once we got them settled, we went to Luray to pick up Ernie. He had a great vacation with the kids!! Later that night, Adam brought Maggie home from Roanoke, and then we were a complete family once again.

Five weeks is a ling time to let the grass grow and wisteria to go untamed! We spent all of Saturday weeding, mowing and pruning.Our neighbor did a great job taking care of our flower boxes and watering the plants, so we came home to living plants!!

Check out this wisteria plant- it is out of control!! It looks like it is reaching out to grab something!!

Sadie was so happy to see us.

Winnie was grinning from ear to ear!!

This is a map showing the trip. It is missing s few details but shows the majority of  the places where we traveled. Final mileage was near 8,000!! A huge thanks goes to Adam who did this for us- love you and thanks!!

BMW rally

We are somewhere under the "heat dome" that many others are under. We did get to the rally and it was hot- 101 degrees is what our motorcycle registered. We spent several hours checking out vendors, and looking at cool old motorcycles. Then, we made a decision- it is too hot, and we are ready to get back home. We miss our dear little dogs, and Sadie too. We miss sitting on the back porch, going for walks to the pond, watching T.V. with the dogs in our recliner chairs, and central air. I could go on and on, but you get the picture! Tomorrow will be five weeks exactly and we  are are ready for home. Our plan is to be on the road home by 6:00 am and beat the worst of the heat. It is two days ahead of schedule, but we are ready!!

 

  It is a sea of tents- thousands of crazy people camping in the heat!

 

Poolside after returning from the rally!

 

This is much cooler than walking around at the rally!

 

Fremont, Ohio to Shamokin Dam, PA

Eight hours of mostly mid-90 degree heat, and we have learned some tricks to make it more bearable. I have a bandanna like thing that I usually wear to stay warm. I get it really wet and wear it around my neck to say cool. I keep a bottle of water handy and pour small amounts on my gloves and dribble it on my riding pants. Also after about three hours of straight riding we begin stopping more often-like every hour! And we drink lots of fluids. McDonald's has an awesome iced coffee that really hits the spot!!

So we made it the Shamokin Dam in Pa and came partly on interstate 80 and then on route 45- beautiful farms and cute towns along the way. We began seeing more BMW riders as we left Ohio and came into PA- all heading to the rally in Bloomsburg. We are just 15 miles south of the rally location, but are ready to head home at this point. The heat index over the next few days will stay over 100 degrees and we have been gone almost 5 weeks now.

No photos today- will keep you posted.

Chicago to Fremont,Ohio

I have one thing to say- hot! It was soooooo hot today. We started by having breakfast at the Perfect Cup, a cute little neighborhood coffee shop. We then said our goodbyes to John as he got on the train and then to Ella and Peggy. By 11:00 we were on the road and the temperatures rose to the mid-90's. Our goal was to make to the other side of Toledo, which we did. We are in a Travel Lodge and it has a pool.The first thing we did was get in our suits and jump in- what a relief it was to be submerged in cool water. We have not had to ride in that kind of the heat for a long while- the heat factor was 102 or some crazy temperature!! We ride in full gear no matter the weather, so we were nearly melted by the time we got to our motel.

Tomorrow we are off the Bloomsburg, PA to attend the BMW rally which starts on Thursday. We don't have too far to go, so with an early start we should be able to beat the heat before it gets too hot.

Cleve and Ella made a new friend at the coffee shop!



Chicago sites

Since my last post, we have been spending time doing lots of walking, visiting the park, heading downtown and one more visit to the beach on Sunday that was unsuccessful due to a crazy amount of traffic! It has been much hotter these past two days so keeping cool has been a challenge- searching for sprinklers while on walks helps!

This puddle was a great find- Ella took off her shoes and waded in it for a while.

View of downtown from Lake Shore Drive

This is where John works downtown.

Check out the address of John's building- from Madison, VA to Madison St. Chicago!

We went to see John's office.

Here is the view from his office- 39th floor.

John at work!!

Near the end of the Magnificent Mile, there is a newly erected sculpture of Marilyn Monroe.

View from behind- complete with lace undies!!

This sculpture is huge- she makes Cleve look tiny.

The river running through the city is beautiful.

Here is the city girl at Starbucks in downtown Chicago.

We have one more night here and then we are off to Pennsylvania to the BMW rally. I have to say that I am really looking forward to getting back home.  Once there, I will have about 3 weeks before heading back to work- what a fast summer!!

Chicago- Friday & Saturday

We have been having fun being in the city and taking advantage of all that it has to offer- beaches, parks, festivals, food...etc. Yesterday we went to the beach in perfect weather- not too hot, not too cold and not too windy! Ella loved the sand and water until a small wave went over her head and temporarily submerged her! She stayed on the beach after that. From there, to the grocery store for cookout supplies. We went to Winnemac Park and cooked over the grill- it was yummy!

Ella and Peggy returning from the beach.

Time for a diaper change and back into clothes.

Cleve and Ella are heading to the park.

Cooking out- Chicago style

Celebrating my 35th b-day (right!)

Saturday afternoon- heading to a festival in Lincoln Park

This little fellow was at the festival- his name is Johnny Cash!

Here comes our train!

Back by train to one of our favorite spots- Lincoln Square

That is all for now.

Iron Bridge, Ontario to Oconto, Wisconsin, USA!!

It has been a couple of days without wifi so I have several days to catch up on. Right now, we re in Chicago with John, Peggy and Ella. We spent most of Wednesday getting back into the states, and then most of Thursday getting to Chicago. Again, great weather- it is hard to believe how fortunate we have been for all of our trip. Our miles so far are at 7,300- that's a lot of mileage!

It is hard to see but this is the border crossing at Sault St. Marie, Ontario & Michigan

Point Iroquois Lighthouse in Hiawatha State Forest- the lighthouse in the background was built in the mid- 1800's and we able to climb it to the top- what a beautiful view of Lake Superior!

   Lake Superior- This lighthouse above, is on a point known as the Graveyard of the Great Lakes- The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last ship to go down here in 1975.

We are back to sandy beaches- no more rocky shore lines

We stayed in Oconto, Wisconsin at the Oconto Motel on Wednesday night

We got into Chicago early afternoon on Thursday. John and Peggy had made plans to get massages and then have dinner and stay at a B&B- we had Ella all to ourselves for the night!!! We went for a  walk in the park nearby and watched a baseball game and then to the playground. Ella brought along her baby for the walk.

Here we are watching the ball game. Ella's and her baby loved it!

Cheese!

This morning we headed our to Andersonville for coffee- John and Peggy do not drink coffee or even have a coffee pot. It has become tradition to make early morning treks to the coffee shop, because, I can not go without morning coffee! So we headed off with Ella to Starbucks- John and Peggy would be returning later on in the morning. We were not planning on being gone long, so I did not bring a diaper bag. We had only just gotten our coffee when we needed to change the diaper- oops! We headed back towards the apartment only to find that the  door lock was broken and we could not get in. We tried all different ways to get in but couldn't. Finally we saw a phone number on a sign posted in front and called it and explained our dilema- messy diaper, no diaper bag, grandparents in charge, locked out...etc! In the meantime,  John and Peggy came back and eventually the building repair person arrived and with a ladder John could climb in one of his apartment windows. Ella meanwhile, played in the sprinkler that had been set out to water the grass -totally oblivious to  the fact that we had been locked out for 1-1/2 hours!! (yes, still wearing the dirty diaper)

More later- we are thinking about heading to the beach- not sure yet. Ella is napping so we will see what do do once she is up.

Quebec City to Iron Bridge, Ontario

Not too much happening during the last two days. We have spent hours on the road traveling 800 miles. We are near the Michigan border and will be in Chicago by mid-day Thursday. Yesterdays trip was uneventful except for the very dark storms in the area that we managed to dodge! We stayed just east of Algonquin PP, at the East Gate Motel.

Cleve is planning our route.

Today was perfect riding weather, mid 70"s to low 80", partly sunny- excellent. We traveled west through the park-there is only one road that you can go through on. Still no moose sightings in spite of all the warnings about them in the area.The town we are in tonight is very small. Two restaurants, two motels and that is about it!

Algonquin PP has so many rivers and lakes- water is everywhere!

That's it for now- tomorrow we will be back in the USA!!



Touring Quebec City

This city  is great- the old city is so quaint and full of shops and restaurants. It is built on hills and there are some very steep climbs and descents. Today was a busy day for tourists as bus loads of  people were unloaded. We started with a 9am tour of the Citadel which ended at 10 when we were able to watch the change of the guard- it is just like they do it in England. Here however, there is a live mascot in attendance, a goat complete with gold painted horns and a cape! The rest of the day was spent walking, an walking and more walking- I wish I had a pedometer to keep track of the miles!

Parliament building

Views of the Citadel below

Changing of the guard

View of the old city- below

After a long day of walking, we headed for our very cozy motel- The Manoir Charest

Tomorrow we leave Quebec City and head east to Ontario. It will be nice to be riding, not walking. I have a few blisters from today!!