We were up early and had the tent down in short order, allowing us to leave before 8 AM. Although it was cool, the sun was shining so we just donned jackets and headed out, after saying our good-byes. We only got maybe 30 miles down the road when it clouded over and got cold. Then rain hit right around Lincoln. I saw a sign for a Cracker Barrel restaurant, maybe 25 miles short of our goal of the Dixie truckstop in McLean. I pulled over at an exit and asked CrowDog if we should go for the Dixie truckstop or head for Cracker Barrel. He said Cracker Barrel and we roared the 8 miles there in the rain. It was a good thing that we stopped when we did because it rained pretty hard the whole while we were eating. By the way, I had grits with my breakfast and they were good!

The parking lot was drying off when we left the restaurant and headed over to fill up with gas. I put on my chaps and my gloves to keep me warmer and we rolled down the road again. We ran in and out of drizzle for the next hundred miles or so, finally stopping in Mendota for gas and a snack. I was pretty cold by this time. We had pie and got back out on the road. I added a sweatshirt and my neckwarmer this time to my ensemble. The further north we got, the colder and wetter it got with temps finally settling in the low 50s.

At our last gas stop I realized that my entire body hurt from tensing up trying to stay warm. I didn't even get off the bike at this stop because I knew I'd never get back on.

We arrived home around 5 PM, cold and tired. I threw some laundry in the washer, turned on the heat, and crashed on the couch.

It was a great weekend, as usual, but the ride home sucked. I can't wait until next year!