Day #4 - Getting the Bike Serviced and Moving On!!!

Today started off at 8:00 AM as I left our daughter Kristie's house and headed to the Harley Davidson shop in Madison. It was foggy and I had to take a side rode since the bridge on US-14 got washed out during last month's flood.

Traffic flowed pretty good and I arrived around 10 minutes early. They were able to get the paperwork done and the bike up on the lift by 9:00 AM. They had it finished around 12:30 and everything checked out on the 70,000 maintenance. I took off headed for Chicago but changed my plans due to the late start. My original plan was to go through downtown but because I would be hitting it at rush hour eliminated that.

The drive from Rockford to O'Hare was one that I drove hundreds of times in the late 70's for work. There are several new exits on the tollway and plenty of new buildings to see where corn fields once existed. When I got into the Rolling Meadows area as I was looking for the Sears Headquarters was that I worked at in 1997-98. I noticed that there was a Duluth Trading Company store. I love their gear and wear much of it while I am riding. One of the things they sell are safety glasses that have built-in reader lenses built in. Last year when I collided with the deer, my clear lens fell out of that pair of glasses.  I have been popping it in on several occasions, and three or four times yesterday. I pulled off and stopped in the store to buy a new pair. Since I brought the broken pair in they gave me a new pair in exchange. What an awesome company!!!

I stopped to see my brother Bill but didn't spend much time since it was late. I arrived at 4:30 and left around 30 minutes later. I was out of town and back on the road. Unfortunately, I was unable to see my brother David because of timing.

I stopped near Benton Harbor, MI to grab a bite to eat and let the sun set. I changed into my cool weather gear since I figured it was going to get into the 60's when darkness sets in. I arrived in Lansing, MI and got checked into the motel at 10:00 PM.

Today was an easy 395 miles, however, I hit heavy traffic on the bypass around Chicago, Compared to other rush hour encounters, this was not horrible. Tomorrow is 475 miles as I cross the border back into Canada and head through Toronto and end the day in Kingston. Kingston is where Lake Ontario ends and the St Lawrence River begins. This should take 9-10 hours.