I had a lot to do to get ready for “prime time”. I was not really pressed for time as I had the day off. The weather forecast included a severe heat warning. And of course this is the day that the air conditioner decided to quit working. I have a good guy that is familiar with the my A/C and he said he would be over and would call when he was on the way to make sure someone was home. I didn’t feel like I could be too far away from the phone. If I missed his call, he may assume I’m gone and he would go to the next person on his list. I really needed to mow before the day got hotter.

In the corner of my garage, it sat there. It’s red and has a yellow nozzle on it. Unfortunately it was empty. I couldn’t mow without heading to the local gas station for the stuff that powers my mower. Once again I had to be by the phone so I couldn’t go get gas. Ugh. Finally the service guy showed up and had added enough refrigerant to fix the issue with my A/C. It was too late to mow and I still needed to get gas. The solution was to wait until after my 4 hour shift on the day we were supposed to leave. I’d be finished at work by 9:00 AM which would still leave time to take off by about noon. Sounded like a solid plan.

I got to the gas station and filled the red container with the finest lawn mower gas that money could buy. By then the temperature was in the “very unpleasant” zone. I mowed even though the local news station said stay inside because of the heat. Now I needed a shower but had to hook up the trailer and get the bikes loaded. There was only 1 injury as I scurried to get the bikes onboard and strapped down. I was still wearing shorts from my lawn mowing experience. I never wear shorts on the motorcycle. I managed to burn my leg as I put one of the bikes in the confined space of the trailer.

That red, blistered area is evidence of why I don’t wear shorts around hot exhaust. Bikes were finally settled and strapped. Now it was time to shower and load the luggage in the truck. I’ll spare you any pictures of those activities and just say we pulled out of our driveway 165 miles from our destination at 3:07 PM. I was tired and ready for a nap but still needed to get us through the mess that is Indianapolis. It really is challenging given that we were in a truck, pulling a medium size trailer, and trying to deal with rush hour crazies and road construction. There is no way to take a good picture of that mess. Did I mention that there was no nap? Also, you should avoid driving the interstate highways around Indianapolis for the foreseeable future.

Once we made it onto I-74 It was time for a potty break. Mrs Henry volunteered to drive which I very much appreciated. It’s been a while since she drove, pulling a trailer but she handled it just like she just graduated from Truck Masters. (I used to get their matchbooks all the time – “Be your own boss, sigh up for truck driver training with “Truck Masters”.) About 7:00 PM, we pulled into the Holiday Inn at Champaign Illinois. A welcome sight.

I was glad this hotel had a restaurant and a bar. We parked the truck in their “oversize vehicle lot” and found seats at the bar. Some nachos and flatbread provided some welcome nourishment and the beer was coldish. Tomorrow is another day.

The beautiful view from our hotel room included a glimpse of the Fighting Illini football stadium. Not great but it was something.

I’m not sure why hotels think using the sliding “barn door” style to separate the bathroom is a good idea. My experience with this style is not good – just ask our son Spencer.

Hope to have more pictures tomorrow as we continue to head west. Thank you for following along on our recent expedition. I am currently taking a nap.