Hanging out in the Land of Lincoln!

Hi kidz!  I'm back!!!!!  

We woke up bright and early at 5 am today! After re-packing a little (my Bluetooth speaker got left behind...it was the straw that broke the Carmel's back!) we did a last-minute clean up of the house and we were ready to hit the road!  After loading the bikes and saying tearful good-byes to my furry boys were were off!  

We met up with our pals Bill & Sue for breakfast at the Bob Evans....yummo!!!!!  After filling our bellies and filling our gas tanks we hit the road.....westbound!!!!

I wish I had some fun stories about today's happenings.....especially the scenery, but it IS western Ohio, Indiana and Illinois we're talking about here!  Turnpike, no less!  BLAH!

The day was pretty uneventful!  Tom mapped out an excellent lunch spot in Elkhart, Indiana called the Five Star Dive Bar!  

Great food and friendly service!  Tom amazed Bill by playing the TouchTunes juke box from his phone! Gotta love technology!!!  Everyone there was most friendly and welcoming!  The old-timer sitting at the bar commented several times about how much he liked our bikes!  When we got ready to roll after lunch, Bill borrowed one of Sue's head-wrap thingies......they both looked more ready for the ski slopes than the highway!  HAHAAHAAAAHAhaaaa!

There was a little excitement when the western-most toll plaza in Indiana let Tom go through on his EZ-Pass but locked me & Bill out! After determining the EZ-Pass was not so EZ there, Bill & I rode around the gate!  I hope I don't have any warrants out for my arrest now!  I've NEVER had a problem with that thing!  What the Hell?!??! The most excitement is always the I-80 & 94 area just east of Chicago in the Gary, Indiana area!  I HATE riding through there!  Holy trucks, Batman!!!!  

After escaping from the craziness of eastern Illinois traffic, we found ourselves amongst the corn. And more corn. Pretty boring! I was hoping to see some bad cows amongst the corn!  Sigh. No bad cows today...

Our stop for the night is in a town called Annawan, Illinois. There's NOTHING around here but corn! We're at a Best Western that looks and smells brand new!  In fact, there wasn't a listing on Yelp yet....so I made one so I can "check in"!

We took a quick dip in the refreshing pool and then ordered pizza delivery. We sat outside and ate while we chatted with a guy from Louisiana who is here doing railroad work. Poor guy will be here in Annawan for a few weeks before work takes him to Peoria!  His girlfriend back home scopes out all the good eats for him on his travels though in the Yelp and the Google!  Nice guy!  Nice chat!

Well, we're all turning in early tonight!  We plan on a 5 AM wake again. Ugh!

Over all it was a pleasant day!  Decent weather, nothing too bad in the traffic department, bikes humming along just fine!

Hopefully tomorrow will bring more excitement. But we're talking Nebraska so I wouldn't hold my breat if I were you!  

Talk to ya soon!