It starts again.

Catching Up, well sort of?

I can't believe that it's been 2 years since I've posted a blog. It's not like I've not been doing

anything, so time to catch up and let you know what I've got coming up. The first thing is my

company allows you to save some holiday weeks and defer them to the next year. So with a big trip

planned for 2019/20, 2018 became the sacrificial year of not doing a lot.  I also changed one

of my remaining weeks to single day, which allows you to take a day off here and there (great

for scooter runs.


So the first week went towards a cross country train ride, Disneyland and Vegas. Here are some

pics.

Me chilling out, on the train

This time  I took the Empire builder, and as I  found out, not much to see until you get

over to the west coast. Plus they kicked us off the train in Spokane, WA and bused us

the rest of the way to Portland.

So my 8 hour layover to look around Portland became a  hour layover, just enough to

hit Bose and replace my broken headset cord :-((

But it was all worth it when I hopped on the Coast Starlight overnight from 

Portland, WA to Los Angeles. 

Space X @ Vandenberg Air force base from the train

A great train ride and I will do it again.

             If you only have one day in Los Angles, where do you go? Disneyland is the answer!

Then on to Vegas.



Anyway, the day has come where it's time to go, well, the day before as I'm updating this blog.

I'm getting my shit together on the couch, before taking it all down after work to pack the scoot.

From there it's activating the XM radio account, and with all the please come back offers, it's cheap

enough. Then to loading up the T-Mobile account and getting around to updating this blog, and yes,

I've forgotten to add Niagara and the Buffalo run to the blog, but I've been busy.  It's 4 pm and I think

I've done

everything, but as with all of my blogs, as long as you have your Passport and credit cards, and Id,

everything should be ok.

The high mileage day

Today is one of those high mile days, covering roads that I've been on before and nowhere where

I really have to stop. So today's destination is Ludington, MI. Which happens to be the Port of the 

Lake ferry SS Badger. 

SS Badger Lake Ferry

The fun has already begun,  when I went to the SS Badger website, and they've canceled Tuesday's

sailing/trip

due to thunderstorms. Wednesday looks ok. So this one we'll have to take as it goes. There's always

the Lake Express to Milwaukee, WI. But unlike the SS Badger, it sails twice a day with a second

sailing at

4:45pm, so we shall see. As I'm writing this the night before, we shall see on how the weather goes

and how far I make it. I guess I'm going to be buying that raincoat sooner than later!

The day has arrived.

Since I could not sleep, I woke up early. It usually happens to me before a big trip. So I decide to 

reorganize a few things and compact them more in the trailer. I go back one last time and since I did 

not want to take my keys, I did not bring them this time. No problem as I can get back in using my 

phone. The problem is I left it in the apt. So now I spent the next 1/2 hour trying to break into my 

building, unsuccessfully. Though I do have a neighbor who comes in late, but no sign of him. Finally 

I notice

a window partly open to the storage locker room. It took a couple of tries, but I squeezed in (finally). 

At least it was a warn night, and I only lost a 1/2 hour, but it seemed way longer.  

Ok, Finally I'm packed up and ready to go. It's 3:30 am and it's  great time to hit the road. With the 

thunder 

storms coming in the afternoon, I'm heading out early. At this time of night it's just mostly trucks and

a few cars. It was a bit foggy around London, but otherwise it was an uneventful drive. The temp 

dropped down to the low 50's, but the seat heater and grip heaters took care of that. I stopped once to

stretch and once to fill up on the on the 402. 

                                                     401 near Cambridge rest stop

                                                                 Nice foggy effects


I hit the border just around sunrise, and it makes driving easier. The problem getting to the border

during

the early morning, is that not too many posts are open. My luck has it only one car lane is open. The

line

is around 20 cars, but it's almost 7 am and I'm hoping US Customs will open some more lanes. Just

after 7 am, another lane opens up and I'm the first one there.

Yes, I really was that far away from the booths. Sorry for the poor quality, but this guy isn't getting

pinched for taking pics at the border.


It's now just past 7 am, and they've let me in, so a Diner breakfast is now in order. I did look into it

the night before, so off to the Diner 5 minutes from the border.

Off to breakfast I go!!

As you can see, it was from Anne's Diner, $10 included tip, so now I'm good to go. So I'm back on

the road by 8 am. I'm trying to make it to Grand Rapids, MI before the thunderstorms start. I get a

couple of rain drops, but nothing to worry about. The Interstates in Michigan have improved with

a bit of construction, but with little traffic, there's nothing to slow you down. I make it to Flint and

blow on through. So a few miles outside of Flint, the fun (problems) begin.


Someone pulls up beside me and gestures to behind my bike. I know enough to pull over and see

what is up. Guess what, the trailers gone. I'm kind of stunned. A 5 ton truck pulls up behind and let's

me know that a gentleman in a pickup pulled over and dragged the trailer over to the side of the road.

So I turn around and head back. A mile back I pull a U turn and see my trailer at the side of the road.

Who ever you were, thanks. One 18 wheeler, and it's my stuff all over the Interstate. Thanks again!

Just in case you were wondering, I didn't feel a thing when it let go. I've got CAA for the motorcycle,

so I'll give them a call. A get put in the list for a call back for service. So time for another plan.

The good thing about leaving after Labour day, is that everything is open. Lucky for me (ya, I know,

I

don't feel lucky) is that the off ramp to the town of Durand, MI is 500 feet down the road. Google

says

the town has some storage lockers, and a U haul rental place. So time to hide the trailer in some

bushes at the side of the Interstate, and head to town.


Second try I hit a storage locker place with some lockers, but he closes at noon, so I'll have to act

fast. Then over to U haul. The only thing they have is a 25 footer. Not the cheapest, but not overly

expensive.

 Anyway, back over to the storage locker to rent the locker. Then back to the Interstate to

pick up my trailer. Yep, it's still there and hidden. I like it when a plan comes together. I unload

the trailer and load it up the ramp into the cavernous truck. Then I drop it off the trailer

at the locker. That wasn't too bad. Now for the next part. I call the hitch manufacture to see if they

have another hitch piece in

stock. I tell him what happened and he said it's never happened, anyway I don't want to get into the

blame game. He has one in stock and can FedEx it next day.


So now comes the third problem, I have to get a hotel room to be able to send the FedEx parcel to.

There's

a Quality Inn down the road, so I ask if they'll accept parcels. If your a guest, it's not a problem. So

I think you can guess where I'm spending the night. Actually they were very nice, they allowed me

to check in at noon. I check in, and order the hitch for am delivery tomorrow. Then I get a chance

to relax for a few minutes.


Now on to the next problem. After the trailer detached from my bike, it slid down the road sideways,

So if I want to still use it, I've got to patch it. So time to go buy a fiberglass kit, and time for my first

lesson on patching fiberglass. Well it looks easy on TV, so what can go wrong. I hit up a auto parts

store and buy a kit.

It looks like it went well, so I'm giving it overnight to cure. Time is one thing that I have. So now I

have some time to kill and it's time for a late lunch and stock up on some drinks for now and

tomorrow. Supermarket wings.

I've spent enough today, so cheapo wings it is . Also there isn't much in this town to eat.


So time for some TV and to unwind from the rather interesting day. Hopefully everything will come

together tomorrow and I'll be back on the road.



Today's mileage 296 miles