Ohhhh Ohio

I have to say Ohio and I were not friends.  I went thru Ohio the same day I went thru West Virginia so it was cold and rainy.  I should of known it wasn't going to be fun when the wind picked up and I lost my temporary plate on my trailer... must of been soon after crossing into Ohio.  Guess it wanted to stay in Ohio where it came from.

I stopped at a gas station to dry off and have some lunch and the cashier kept telling me I was almost out of the rain... like everyone had been saying all day.  Well when I got to Columbus it was still raining and cold and the wind picked up tremendously.  It had to be a constant wind around 20mph with gust up to 40mph.  With a motorcycle heavy winds are difficult and pulling a trailer I wasn't sure what was going to happen.

As I was driving around Columbus on the I-270 in the rain and wind and I started to hydroplane.  No joke... I was going 55mph and my front tire was going all over the place.  I wasn't scared, I wasn't mad... it was more of a disappointment.  As my front tire was going side to side and Blue was leaning from side to side all I could say was "Oh F%@&!" and then thought "are you serious... I haven't made it 600 miles in my new life and I am going to die."  and then I said in complete disappointment "Jesus Christ"... As soon as I said that I regained control and was driving like nothing happened.

The key to not dying... was pure luck... I have really great guardian angels... and not panicking.  I didn't slow down but kept my speed and kept my arms firm... I didn't let the bike take my arms all over the place.  Staying calm and taking control is what saved me.  Whoever says a woman can't ride can just kiss my rear... I pulled that back together as good if not better than any man.

So of course after that experience I took the next exit to take a breath.  I was really exhausted at this time and was thinking about spending the night where I was and heading out again the next day but the weather was not going to get better but worse.  So I had to get back on the horse and get myself out of the weather.

I was still a bit timid from my earlier experience and the wind was getting worse.  So I went about 50mph and got off at every exit.  Finally about 30 miles down the road I just couldn't get back on the interstate.  The wind picked up and was constant and the rain was coming down more and was colder.  I thought again I should stop for the night but at the gas station I was at they were talking about getting feet of snow... right then I knew I had to find a way out.  Luckily at that point I finally was at a place with a back highway I could take.... so I took it.  The great thing about the back highway I could go a bit slower and the wind was a lot less.  It went thru towns where I could relax a bit.  Finally just outside of Cincinnati the rain had stopped.  I finally had enough courage to get back on the interstate.  The first few cars that went by when I got on gave me a thumbs up.  You have no idea how much I deserved and took in those thumbs up.

It sure felt like a beating today and I was so happy to hit Kentucky.  I only went another hour or so before I stopped north of Louisville for the night.  I only had about 4 hours to my parents house the next day... but of course life is never that easy.....