It was a select group, with two visitors from far, far away -- Ioway, as a matter of fact, or points in that general direction. (It's a wonderful state, they have Hy-Vee supermarkets*).
The Tamara, dutifully studying hard at gun school, was, sadly, not in evidence; I was hoping she'd be able to race through the final exam but she is nae so much for shortcuts.
Here's who she missed:
John MXL, the second long-distance (by my lights) motorcyclist to drop in at a BlogMeet. He gets extra points for having done so in a nasty rain. (He's also one of the brave lads going Kilted To Kick Cancer, though not on two wheels at highway speeds in the rain).
The genial host of The Travis McGee Reader -- and his friendly dog, who (perhaps having read my blog today) spent the BlogMeet in the truck. Anyone who reads John D. McDonald starts out ahead of the pack in my opinion.
Shermlock Shomes, who volunteered to pinch-hit for Og, but alas! He did not eat freshly road-killed deer on the way in. Tsk.
Nathan, the Fuzzy Curmudgeon, a man with excellent taste in coffee cups. I'm just sayin'.
The Jack, who's been running introspective of late. Some rather interesting thoughts on the use of Habit, in particular.
And Yr. Crspndt., q.v.
Conversation was, as ever, wide-ranging, everything from local TV history to gun laws of various states (or "Why you must stop and rearrange things before entering Illinois," though we have high hopes for the dedicated work being done to start fixing this) (not to mention, "Your carry permit is good in Indiana no matter where it is from") and well, all over the place. It was a spot of warmth on a chilly, rainy afternoon.
Next one will be in late October -- maybe we can (once again) hold it the same Sunday the Brew Pub is having their pumpkin-carving contest. Small children with nearly-sharp pointy things and hapless vegetables, how could it not fail to be fun?
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* Last time I was near one, they still had the most astonishing hot-food setup, a cross between a first-rate diner and a small-menu cafeteria, genuine home-cooked Midwestern food like you can hardly find these days -- and inexpensive, too. That, we don't got around here, and we otta.
Ah yes, Ioway, the land of my birth.
ReplyDeleteI'm a long way from home...
It was great to meet you and the others at the table.
ReplyDeleteI found my way to I-465 and thence to I-74. The mapping program on my phone routed me to Lebanon and then across on IN-32.
Would have been a nice ride except for the rain...and the person making a left turn behind a blind curve that caused traffic to stop suddenly. I was following a Pilot Travel Center tanker that suddenly loomed large in the windshield. Braking on a wet curve is NOT a fun thing. Fortunately there was no oncoming traffic and I was able to stop next to the trailer's left side tires.
I decided it was time to reconsider continuing and stopped for the night in Crawfordsville IN. The rain was beginning to let up but my next opportunity would be in Illinois and for ethical reasons I try to avoid spending money there. Sometimes it's better to be in the hotel wishing you were on the bike than to be on the bike wishing you were in the hotel.
I'm dry (well, drier) and rested and ready to roll shortly.
$DEITY willing I shall join you all at table in the future!
Excellent to hear you made it -- and a good time and place to stop, IMO!
ReplyDeleteThe run across 32 is nice but holds one or two what-the-dickens turns and that whole stretch appears to be the land of the sudden stop.
I was certainly thinking of you when I went to work last evening -- wet roads well-plastered with wetter leaves do turn one's thoughts to matters of traction and safe stopping distance.
Looking forward to your next visit!
John, glad you stopped for the night. When you left it was ugly and getting uglier...
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun time. And the Oktoberfest lager was tasty. Good to be with y'all.
I'm a HyVee rat. Well, there and Bomgaar's (another Iowa based biz, but of the farm/truck/tractor variety), is where I do most of my trading.
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed-- and dang, more new folks to greet. Well, better luck next time.
ReplyDeleteMark me as one too dumb to come in out of the rain: I was late getting out of SC, and wound up driving up I-74 from Cincinnati in the rain in the dark, listening to the Colts on KMOX (Westwood One) 'cause the scanner couldn't find anyone in the tristate carrying the Colts' net. Probably should have stopped, but after 11 hrs on the road was too close to home. Not a lot of fun at any rate.
I wish I could have made it this time, Roberta (I'd ask if I was welcome of, course), but reality intruded (Started with me mouthing off to a lawyer "You know what you can do with your f***in red flags" and ended with a variety of other issues - rather funny from a distance, btw...)
ReplyDeleteWon't see the light of day for the next... oh... couple months. Oh well.
I'll try for next year... sometime in April, May or June. :(
Back to the anvil.