Escaping Illinois & Visiting Old Haunts-Thursday June 30

I drove 369 hot miles today. It was hot when I left my brother's place in Antioch, IL and I crossed some side roads to get to 94S. I had to gas up & lather up with suntan lotion at an Oasis north of Chicago. I watcheda guy standing in line for McDonalds actually yell at the counter help since they messed up his order. Must have been having a bad day. Traffic was heavy & moving fast. I had to pay 4 tolls on the way to Chicago, but luckily it was only 80 cents each time (my only tolls of the trip). Stopping to pay tolls on a bike is a nuisance. I don't have a change holder on the bike so I have to dig it out of my pocket each time. Then you have to put change back in your pocket while wearing gloves, taking the bike out of gear & making sure the whole time you don't drop your money. All the while cars are zooming around and it's hot. I finally got around Chicago on 294 & headed for Indiana & east. I passed that lovely city of Gary, IN & turned north into Michigan & followed 94E. I passed Kalamazoo, Paw Paw, Texas, skirted Ann Arbor, passed Superior & hopped on 275N to 696E. Caught a big traffic jam near Ann Arbor & cooked in the sun. After getting on 94N I got off at Garfield Rd. & followed that to 19 Mile Rd. to my friends' Lou & Carol's place. The roads in Michigan seem like they've been bombed with all the holes & bumps in them. Very hard on the bike and dangerous. I parked the bike & we went out to dinner. Lou recently had shoulder surgery so we decided not to get in any fights while we were out. I had a lake perch sandwich & a Michigan Salad that included dried cherries, pineapple, mandarin orange & greens. I was ready to rest for the evening & dream of coming home.