Back home to Indy

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John's Journal

Day Twentytwo

Mileage- 404

Route- I-76 East. I-71 South, I-74 West, Hwy 52 West, I-465 North, I-70 West to Indianapolis

It took all night to dry some of my gear out, As soon as I got into the hotel room, I cranked the heater up all the way. Most everything dried out pretty quickly. I awoke to see clear-ish skies and was looking forward to a drier and hopefully warmer day.

Well, it is drier, but not warmer. There is a wind out of the west, I believe, that makes it seem much colder. And it does make it more work when riding. Since I ended up a bit farther North than I wanted, I felt a bit off course and wanted to make up some time. It would be a nicer ride along the bottom of the state along the river. Oh well, I will still go to Cincinnati and see the river there, then take the long way to Indy.

As I come up on a beltway around Columbus, I have realized that I have not been taking any of those around any city, opting instead to go right through the city. I might have saved some time, but I like the idea of just going right in to the center of town. I will do the same with Indianapolis.

There is not much to say about the route so far, some farms along the interstate, but I have just been preoccupied with the wind and chilly temps. The terrain should get more interesting as I get further south.

Wow. Coming back to a place you used to live can be a bit strange. It is sort of familiar, yet not. I got turned around coming in to Cincinnati, but got straightened out easily enough. I went to the neighborhood I used to live in, Mount Adams and walked around a bit. It hasn't changed too much. It is a wonderful neighborhood overlooking both downtown Cincinnati and the Ohio River. It is built on several hills and reminds me of San Francisco. I can't help but want to re-live some of the things I used to do; hear some great live acoustic music at the Pavilion with its 5 outdoor decks, have a drink at the Blind Lemon and sit outside on their patio cozying up under the stars overhead, head down to Eden Park to purposefully walk in the opposite direction from everyone else (I was an anarchist then, what can I say), grab a few chili cheese coneys at... hey wait that place is gone, no fair. Ahhh, so many good memories. Now, why did I leave?

Oh, yeah, San Francisco is like this all over the city, not just one neighborhood.

I got more excited the closer I got to Indianapolis. Since I was arriving in plenty of time to make dinner with Mom and Dad, I decided to swing by where I used to work, Sanders & Company. I was smiling very broadly when I pulled into their parking lot in a not so good part of the city, expecting them to be checking out this maniac on a motorcycle parking in their front lot. Well, the joke was on me, for most of them had left already and the front door was locked. What is this, it's only 5pm on a Friday night...oh yeah, never mind, I remember this, we actually got out of there early some days if there were no clients, right. I did see a few familiar faces, Denita was still hanging around so was Larry, Tony, Mike and some other new guys. I love going back there, that was a great time in my life, gave me a great start.

I made it to Mom and Dad's while there was actually some sunshine. I, of course, believe that this was planned, the sun, that is, or at least the lack of rain. It brought a smile to my face! It is very different coming here on my own mode of transportation and as part of this trip rather than flying in for Thanksgiving or Christmas. This means more.

We sat around and talked for a while, I showed them the part of this web site that Jan and Brad brought with them last weekend. I have to show them the full spectrum while I am here. Plus, I have not seen it for a while, either. We had a great home-cooked dinner, to boot. There is nothing like coming home! I love being an adult around my parents being able to talk to them as friends and listen to them the same way. We laugh about things and get caught up on other family. I started getting tired actually earlier than they (my, that's a switch!) and am looking forward to sleeping, so bye!