Slabbin' It...

Post date: Jun 12, 2016 1:43:41 AM

In the motorcycling world, the interstate is affectionately known as the slab. I say that with tongue in cheek. I spent all day on it riding around the southern shore of Lake Erie, up through Detroit, along Lake Huron to a place called Point Crescent State Park on the thumb of Michigan. When I arrived I took a moment to reflect on the day.

First, my wonderful comm system flaked out again this morning. I determined that the passenger push-to-talk button had somehow become stuck in the transmit position. In the five years of operation that has never happened once. While troubleshooting the issue, I jiggle some wires and managed to break the wire to the left speaker in my headset. For the cost of this setup I could fly to Australia. Why did they use cheap, aluminum wire in their product? That's a rhetorical question obviously. I stopped at a Flying J outside of Toledo, OH and spliced the wiring together using a Posi-tap connector, a genius invention.

Second, the weather was superb. I had to travel to the Midwest to get it though. All of New England was mired in horrible weather, and almost every plan was ruined. As I was leaving Buffalo, NY, a storm was rolling in, and I was a bit concerned about beating it out. Thankfully, I only hit a few drops. By the time I reached Cleveland, OH there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the thermometer on the bike read 100 degrees. At one point it registered 106! That's a far cry from 40 degrees and pouring rain when I left Stowe, VT two days ago.

When in Cleveland, one must pay visit to Slyman's. Its a deli thats only open for breakfast and lunch, and one had best be prepared to wait in line because I've seen it stretch out the door, down the street, and around the corner. They have the best corned beef I have ever eaten. Their corned beef beats Katz and Carnegie Deli in NYC hands down, in my opinion.

Lastly, I am a proud squatter in a dry camp site in Port Crescent State Park along the shores of Lake Huron. That's right, I said dry, camp, and site in the same sentence. I wish that I could say the same for my tent though. It's still wet and has managed to collect dirt, debris, and other stowaways from saturated camp sites abroad. Maybe tonight it will dry out a little. The first chance that I get, I'm going to wash it clean. Where is the question? TBD.

I arrived late, and after setting up camp, I looked to the west and realized that I could almost catch the sunset over the lake. However, I was a bit too late, but I did manage to snap this shot.

Overall, today was pretty boring. The Eisenhower Interstate System, fashioned after the Audubon, was created to move troops & supplies quickly and en masse. Scenery and twisting, winding curves are not part of the package.

I did 12 hours in he saddle today. Night.