and it's on to Michigan

After spending two days with my old buddy Bud it was time to continue my trip. Bud and I had a grand old time catching up, sharing, remembering (and not remembering) and consoling. We tried out a number of restaurants, some open, some not. I got my laundry done and eventually remembered to pull things out of the dryer. We watched the fire works in Fairport Harbor. Bud was even nice enough to take me out to All Souls Cemetery to see my daughter Kelly, who is finally able to spend time with her mother. We looked through all (!) of my pictures and he sat and listened to my stories like only a good friend would. About the only thing we didn't do was think to take a picture of the two of us! Our wives never would have let that happen!

The Harley dealer could not get me in for a new tire until Thursday, which would mean not leaving for all points west unto Friday which did not appeal to me.

So about 10 a.m. I hit the road, heading west on highway 2 into downtown Cleveland. I stopped by the company I had worked for from '77 to '87 (Commercial Electric) to see a co-worker, only to find out he had retired about two years ago. But the gentleman that was there was one of my hires so we chatted briefly before I swung through downtown to see such sights as the Terminal Tower

Tall pointed building in background is Terminal Tower, looks different without King Kong, doesn't it?

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 

and the new stadium home of the Cleveland Browns, First Energy stadium

From there I took a combination of highways 2, 6 and 20 through the west suburbs and into Lorain County and beyond. I saw a couple of things that caught my eye:

Lisa, did you know that May was Lupus awareness month?

Then I spotted several Fifth Third Banks. It wasn't until I saw the Seventh Fifth Third that I thought for the First time to ask what the prime rate was.

In Vermillion I stopped at the historical Soda Grill which opened as a Pharmacy in 1900, then began to serve soda and ice cream awhile later. Today you can get a table on the Pharmacy side

which still has the old drug cases, filled now with antiques, or sit on a stool at the Soda Counter for ice cream

After lunch I continued along the lake front and past Cedar Point

then past the nuclear power plant

Eventually I made it to Toledo where I was finally able to reach Andy Pressman, Bev and Scott's youngest who was one of my Eagle Scouts and is now a ER doctor outside Detroit. 

I rode north, into Michigan

Guess why the guy with the Georgia plates was pulled over at the same spot!

where I continued a half hour north to Ann Arbor to rendezvous with Andy and we met up with his lovely wife Katie as she got off work. We went to Nichols Arboretum for a pleasantly cool walk with their dog Auto, then went to dinner at Zingerman's Road House. We then went back to their home where we took another walk down to the nearby lake. It was great to be able to talk to Katie and get to know her a little bit, and to chat with Andy who is still the great young man I remember giggling and laughing with his tent mates on Scout camp outs as they had Sleeping Bag Wars!

It's getting late and I need to sleep. Tomorrow I'll ride through Detroit and up the east coast of Michigan near Lake Huron.