Sep 21 - step 2

I certainly picked the correct days for driving.  Through Toronto on Saturday was a good thing.  Even better was Sarnia, across the Bluewater Bridge to Port Huron, down through Detroit and then into Ohio -- Toledo, Dayton and the north end of Cincinnati which is the town of Monroe, where Ken and Janet live.   At the border I pulled up to an empty slot; the traffic moved and never slowed.  Today, Monday would be a whole lot different !

I got to K&J's about 3:30 and Ken was standing in the driveway waiting for me.  He'd checked SPOT just beforehand and knew that I was just about there.  I'd have probably beat him had I not stopped for fuel (good diesel prices here) just before getting to their street.

Janet had made snacks so we had a beer and chatted.  Janet's three year old grandson Tyson and son Aaron were here as well.  Janet has custody of Tyson ... I didn't realize that until we were sitting around later and talking.

We exchanged family stories, good, bad and sorrowful.  She lost her eldest son in a car accident many years ago; her second son lives in Dayton and her youngest, Aaron, is staying there and coming daily to be with Tyson.  We both understand that you cannot possibly understand someone else's loss of a child, grandchild, loved one.  She too heard all the well meaning but stupid comments from people trying to put themselves in your shoes.  Sara has heard it all. It's just about three years since Alexander's passing but I can still hear Jeffrey's voice on the phone ...

Moving on ?  No, you never really move on.  Within a few days of the Natchez ride muscle memory will forget any pain that I go through but that's not the case with the loss of a loved one.

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Janet is Basque.  I didn't know that before.  I told Ken that I'd thought that her last name was Native American, having never really thought about it before.  She has a number of interesting Basque decorations.  Hey, with Scotland not having won its referendum, that means that the Basques will have to be content to stay a part of Spain :).

Ken finally sold Breaking Away, the trawler that he sailed the Great Loop.  That's good news.  It's been three years.  We saw Ken at the beginning of the trip, in Parry Sound and in Florida.  He's had his blogs printed and bound and there we were in pictures, including Jerry when we went for a bike ride in Florida with Ken.

Ken rode the Natchez Trace south-to-north earlier this year but of course Ken stopped for all the historical markers.  That's Ken.  It was a running joke when we rode across the country together.

Well, it's time that I had a shower.  Today's going to be busy -- drive to Nashville, attend mixer for riders and have bike checked, get organized for ride and then, of course, a short night with not much sleep, as usual.  Then we ride ... well, after first having driven to the ride start location !

Onward ...