I rode back from TC yesterday without stops, and it took me right around 4 hrs, and only one tank of gas, which I thought was really impressive for a big bike like mine (it took 5 hrs on the trip up, but I stopped to have a packed lunch on the way). I brought all my stuff in & unpacked, and immediately got a call from the service manager saying that my Honda was ready to be picked up (and he had a set of used handlebars to give me, free of charge, for a project I'm going to have done). By then I was ready for a nap, but they've had that bike for over 3 months now & I really wanted to get it back, so I had to stay awake for another 3 hrs until he could come pick me up (so I could ride it home - I still have no friends whom I can ask for a ride). By the time I got back, I figured it was too late for a nap as it would ruin my sleep for the night, so I forced myself to stay awake for another few hrs...
I had a great ride up to see floodtide (although it was a little cooler than I'd have preferred). Flood matched the impression I'd had from reading his journals, aside from the fact that he was much taller than I realized! It was great to finally meet, and I immediately felt comfortable around him. I met his husband later that evening, and he was just as nice, and we had some good, although brief conversations. I do wish there would've been more time to talk, but traveling mid-week isn't really conducive to visiting, as people usually have to work. Regardless, I had a great time getting to know them, and their city a bit.
I did manage to get a couple of sight-seeing rides in while there too. The actual rides to/from the various points-of-interest were absolutely beautiful (riding along the coast of the bays), but the sights themselves? Well, a bit of a let-down. I'm not much of a lighthouse guy, so I was hoping for some amazing scenery, but the views on the ride up to Mission Point Lighthouse were much better than being there. The same with the lighthouse at Leelanau state park. I actually did enjoy that coast moreso than the previous, and even managed to get my feet in the water for a few minutes. My last stop was to be the Pierce Stocking scenic drive that led to the Sleeping Bear Dunes overlook, but found out that the driving route was closed for the season due to construction! Man, I was pretty bummed out about that, enough so that rather than continue on to Empire and Frankfort, I just decided to head back to Flood's to relax a bit. I sat on the community deck along the river twice this weekend and enjoyed my packed lunch. I'm not sure what it is, but I always feel more at peace when I'm near a large and/or moving body of water; big lakes, flowing rivers, streams, creeks... I think part of it might be the sounds/scents, because the only time I see them is when I'm traveling/on a road trip.
Probably won't be doing any long trips again this year, but I'd like to head north again next spring/summer, to try to visit the overlook again, and maybe venture across the bridge & cruise along the northern coast, along Route 2. I can imagine there are great little spots nestled all over the countryside up that way, and it'd be great to find some of them, maybe even swim for a bit!
Again, thank you floodtide, for your generous hospitality which made this trip possible. Hopefully we can find a bit more time to talk next time!
3:51 p.m. - 2020-09-03
My profile
Archives
Notes
Email Me!
Random
others:
linguafranca
bantenhut
dangerspouse
loveherwell
catsoul
alethia
annanotbob2
life-my-way
fairybones
misfitstray
swordfern
warpednormal
comebacktome
elusive-you
lust-
silver4
kelsi
ahopeinhell
stepfordtart