Sunday, August 10, 2003 - Jefferson, Ohio
I slept, but not very well. I was awake and stirring around 6:30 a.m. I
was again sticky and cramped in the small tent. I dressed, packed and
loaded the bike, no thanks to the mosquitos, then helped others clean up
the campsite area. The first time I looked at the thermometer, it was 72
degrees.
Evidently Hemipower had arrived very late last night and had left very
early in the morning, so I never got to meet him.
Banker Bob counted the money from last night and was pleased to report
that nearly $800 had been donated to Eddie's charitable trust.
Goodbyes were said all around as people got on their way.
I left at 9:10 a.m. and rode out OH 307 and OH 534 before eventually
getting onto Interstate 90 and heading west.
At about 10:00 a.m., 76 degrees, I took exit 193 and stopped at a Shell
Station and True North Store in Mentor OH for fuel.
Back on the highway, in order to skirt Cleveland, I turned south on
Interstate 271 for a while, then west on Interstate 480. Then, when that
ended at Interstate 80, I continued west on U.S. Highway 20.
About 11:45 a.m. I stopped at Roeder Harley-Davidson Shop in Monroeville
OH for a rest and to check the porcelain. It was 80 degrees. I talked to
a couple riders out front, and they shared route tips. The shop had no
Fat Boy logo tee-shirts, but I was intrigued to see a sign that (I
think) said that from May through August, Service was open from 11:00
a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sundays.
I continued west on U.S. Highway 20 through Bellevue, and decided that
since I was back on a "good old numbered two-lane highway" ("GON2L" tm
Redbeard Emeritus), it was about time I started taking pictures of U.S.
Highway signs, so I stopped for a Hy 20 photo.
Later I stopped at Tim Sherman's Signature Harley-Davidson in Perrysburg
OH, near the outskirts of Toledo, where it was 82 degrees. I checked the
bargain table but didn't find anything I couldn't live without. They did
not have any Fat Boy logo tee-shirts.
I got onto northbound Interstate 475 as it circles Toledo, then
continued north on U.S. Highway 23 toward Michigan, stopped at the state
line for a photograph at 1:55 p.m., and took exit 1 at 2:00 p.m. It was
90 degrees as I stopped to call Dave C. to tell him that I was in his
home state, but the network was busy. I tried again and finally got him
on the 3rd attempt.
From there I turned back and headed south on U.S. 23, then west on U.S.
20 again. It was very rural and I needed fuel, so I stopped and asked
someone at U.S. 20 and OH 108, and was told that I'd find gas another 1
or 2 miles down the road.
Sure enough, at 2:55 p.m. I pulled into a Citgo Station, 80 degrees,
about 6 miles east of Fayette OH.
After refueling, I continued west for about an hour and crossed into
Indiana at 3:52 p.m. Eastern Time. About 20 minutes later I stopped at a
Best Western in Angola IN, 80 degrees, in the southwest quadrant of U.S.
20 and Interstate 69.
After some negotiation, I managed to get a non-smoking, first-floor
room, where I could park in front, and used my AAA discount.
Unfortunately, the room smelled awful, so I asked for, and got, a room
change. Room 138 was much better, no smell. I unpacked, changed clothes,
and took some of them over to the laundry room.
Here's another touring tip: In this case, soap was 75 cents, the washing
machine was $1.25 and the dryer was one dollar (in quarters). It's a
good idea to carry a few dollars worth of quarters, because motel
personnel are not always willing or able to make change. A small plastic
tub full o' quarters from a casino could be just the right size to fit
in the saddlebag. In this case, I had it covered.
Between laundry trips, I talked to a young man staying in a nearby room,
who reminded me that since we were in Indiana, and since Indiana does
not observe Savings Time, it was not 4:30 p.m., it was only 3:30 p.m.
This guy, named Brad, was a field worker for a testing company, and he
was going (the next day) to a fire department to periodically test some
of their safety equipment. He was kind enough to give me a few route
suggestions, between laundry runs.
Later, a family rolled in, parked next to my bike, and went into a
nearby room. They had a small son about 7 or 8, and an extra-large
daughter with loud pink or red hair, about 16-19 years old, who didn't
like _anything_ any of the rest of them were doing. I'll bet it was fun
riding in _that_ car!
At one point I rode across the freeway to get some dinner, then came
back and ate in my room, while finishing the laundry and watching TV
Land. I also packed some clean tee-shirts to take to the post office the
next morning.
While taking a shower and getting ready for bed, I discovered several
mosquito bites, mostly from when I was taking down the tent, and they
had become quite annoying, but I put some aloe vera lotion on them and
that helped a lot.
Miles for the day = 274. Miles for the trip = 3804.
Tomorrow: heat, rain, construction, repeat; another long day of travel.
Dave S.
1996 FLHR-I Road King
BS#146, DOF#181, NEWT#4, KOTOR#1, SENS, CVNS G&W
--
Dave6592 at accesscom dot com - - -
http://www.accesscom.com/~dave6592
Home of "Experiences at Fry's Electronics" & "Please Use Turn Signals"
Dave Schultheis, San José, Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County, CA, USA
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