The truck and trailers are cleaned out. The things that were so thoughtfully packed have been unloaded and put away, waiting for another trip. I’m back in my normal daily routine of a part time job that helps keep my sanity between adventures. The trip home was uneventful (unless you count me leaving my Kindle in the hotel room in Iowa). I like uneventful when I’m trying to get home.

All in, the truck showed 2,483 miles and the bike showed around 800 miles. The original idea was to hustle out to the Black Hills ahead of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, spend a week enjoying the amazing roads and sites of that area, and get back to the Henry Ranch in time to go back to my part time. A couple of the guys are still full timers and only had a week. Going 1200 miles from central Indiana and back would have been difficult to do riding the motorcycles so trailers and trucks were employed. One other motivation was for our small group to be together and celebrate our friendship.

Truck and trailer mission – accomplished. Ride some of the most beautiful roads America has to offer – accomplished. Celebrating friendship – accomplished. (Kindle retrieved from Iowa hotel – accomplished.) My summary of the trip is – almost a total success.

I say almost because I originally thought I would come home with a decision about continuing to go to work 6 days a week. I didn’t make that decision. The cabinets that I installed in the trailers to hold our helmets didn’t quite work out – OK – the doors fell out. A new door plan is already under way. There isn’t as much video as I had hoped for. My Innovv camera / DVR system died half way through day 1. That issue is still under investigation. The only other misstep is the story of the cake on the bathroom floor. That is not my story to tell – we’ll have to ask Red. Max being out of action for a day is something we all want to forget.

Anyway, I’m back to sitting on my deck, watching hummingbirds buzz around, and having my own coffee. I missed my home-life while I was gone, maybe more than I have in the past. Would I do a trip like this again? I think you already know the answer. I’m investigating big rental houses and Max is putting together some riding possibilities in the area we’ve discussed (to be announced at a later date). So – bottom line is the truck is full of diesel, the trailer is empty, the bike is somewhat clean and full of gas. When do we leave?

Thanks for following along.