AH, HOME!

Morning Dahlia

5:57

I know I say it every time we return from a trip but it's wonderful to be home, in our own beds, enjoying this morning's sunrise on our porch. I was up once again, way too early, at  5:40 on a warm, 73º morning. The sun has risen but is hidden behind a dark cloud bank so I am still able to sit on the front porch. It's 8:15 as I finish this after an hour of paddling, and photos of both a heron and osprey. 

Kayak Morning

The Sun Hides

Osprey

A Great Blue Heron

We left Traverse Bay with only good memories, a beautiful wedding, in a spectacular lake setting, with many friends we haven't seen in a few years. So we left at 9:00 somewhat reluctantly but we wanted to get home. Evie thought it might make sense to take our time, drive four or five hours, stay in a motel, then come home on Monday. I wanted no part of sitting around in a hotel room from 4:00 on and was willing to marshall on for nine or ten hours just so we could spend the night in our own bed. It would have been nine hours if we hadn't spent an hour in a McDonald's, finishing up the blog and publishing it after losing all the photographs the first time we published. I was not happy. 

Darkness In Cleveland

So we left at 9:00 and did not walk in the door until 7:45, 545 miles of driving. Evie drove a good part  of it, and I did the rest. It was an uneventful and easy drive until we got on #71 and drove through Cleveland, when torrential rains hit, making it not only difficult to see but to drive. It lasted until we passed through Euclid. 

Our Windshield

Of all the difficulties one might anticipate on a road trip, this was not one of them. We stopped, as usual at Love's, the last gas station in Ohio, filled up our car and bought dinner, two chicken sandwiches from Mc Donalds. 

We unpacked, walked out on the dock, then watched the first episode of Season Five of Seaside Hotel, disappointing because a number of our favorite characters did not return. We were in bed by 10:00, whooped from our drive but happy to be home.