The long drive home is never as exciting as the initial drive to your destination, or at least I thought. Albeit a sleepy adventure from my various vodka induced Minneapolis musings, I was ready to take on the road and head out to visit Chicago. The road however had a different plan for me that lead me away from my initial destination only to return a day later on the back of a tow truck.

As I drove down I94 sleep began to take over me, it was around a 7 hour drive to Chicago from Minneapolis and I was only about half way there. I already had a sleep induced mishap when I was traveling to Minneapolis, where a little gravel and not all my wits about me caused me to take a spill on an off ramp as I was headed to get gas. I was startled and slightly embarrassed as two gentleman came over to help me pick my bike back up, this is not something I wanted to repeat.

I’m not sure of all the things Wisconsin is known for but camp grounds should be one of them, that or the fact that Wisconsin Dells seems to be the prime Google search suggestion or better known as the water park mecca of the world could have helped. It was a sign, no literally a big sign that said Camp Grounds and then had like 20 names listed under it. So I veered off and searched for a place to call home for the night. Boondocking.org wasn’t coming up with any suggestions – that or I wasn’t doing it right but either way I was too exhausted to really care and found myself camped out near a bar which was a stop on a bike tour. I rested my head on the firm ground and listened to the roars of Harley’s and the sweet sounds of classic rock as I drifted off to sleep.

The next day I was fully charged and ready to take on the road again, that is until I got stuck at the Belvidere Oasis in Illinois. I started to come up onto the Illinois turnpike and needed to get some cash to pay the toll, so I decided to head off to this rest stop to eat and find an ATM. As I perused through this large fully stocked rest stop I checked every plug until I came across an available one to charge my phone with, ate my sandwich and then prepared to take off and hit the road. What I failed to realize was that my key hit the floor somewhere, I think.

As I strapped down my helmet and put my earplugs into place I went to grab my key, but couldn’t find it anywhere. After searching high and low, asking around, talking to maintenance and waiting for about an hour I gave up and called AAA. Boy, was I glad that I included my motorcycle before my trip because it definitely paid for itself by the end. I was towed the 71 miles to Cicero were I could store my bike for the day then intruded on my friends family dinner, as he put me up for the night. I stayed at his place in  downtown Chicago, but spent little time there because I felt bad about having to be driven around to find a place that would make me a new key. After waiting around next to my bike, enjoying a few delicious snacks at a nearby Mexican restaurant and grocery store I finally had my new key. That is after I paid the man $75, which was all that was left after AAA covered the first $100.

I swung atop the bike said my many thanks and farewells and headed off towards Toledo, OH where I would spend the night until my final ride to my hometown of Lorain, OH where I could return the bike to my dad. Nearly 2000 miles later I was finally able to relax and recuperate, or so I thought. It was time to help out at the local festival – The Lorain International Festival and Bazaar, so that I could earn back some of the gas money spent on my trip.

The destinations weren’t what I had initially expected but the journey itself was more than I could have ever known. The people I met, the lessons I learned and the sights I saw as I rested atop 2 wheels completely exposed to the elements have given me more than I could have ever asked for. I could have spent my month of June many different ways but none better than what I experienced. I can only look forward towards future adventures and hope that the feelings and memories from this trip tide me over until the next.

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Tags | Belvidere Oasis, camping, Chicago, Cicero, IL, Illinois, Lorain, minneapolis, minnesota, MN, Monkey, motorcycle, Motorcycle Diaries, ohio, Travel, Trip, WI, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Dells