SUNDAY July 25th

Woke up early, like most any other day on this trip. However, I was soon to learn this day was going to start with a bit of a low. Sometime during the night Mike’s wife, Laurie, called (I heard it ring once, then went back to sleep – it was about 2 in the morning here) and informed him that our dog, Lulu, was missing. I checked my email and I had an email from Tammy to the same effect, except for the bit about she was having a rough time.

Lulu had been to the Laughery’s farm for the day while the family went and played at the motorcycle rally in Ocean Shores. When Laurie came home she was driving up their road to the house and heard Lulu kind of bark a couple times and then Lulu went tearing up the road toward the house. However, she was not to be seen. Tammy went out until about 11 PM looking for her and then went home. I know last night had to be very rough for Tammy as Lulu is her baby and my heart ached for my darling wife. But I won’t keep you in suspense, Tammy called around 11 AM her time to let me know she had found Lulu, or actually, Lulu found her at Laurie’s house. They have no idea where she was, but she wasn’t hurt. Thank God for answered prayers.

So, with Lulu missing and my love hurting, I headed to Key West with Mike. It was a fairly pleasant drive but nothing like I expected. I had this picture in my mind of this long bridge over the ocean but in reality, it is just short bridges from one key to the next. The longest one was 7 miles long. One thing you notice right away about the bridges is that there are foot bridges as well and on every one of them, you see people fishing and they have multiple poles. There was one guy that looked like he had 7 or 8 poles out there. The water along the route is so beautiful with that robin egg sort of blue.

Once we got to Key West, it took us a little bit of running around on the bikes in the heat to find what we were looking for. By the time we found the marker for the southern most point in the US, we were dripping with sweat. Very lovely. We parked our bikes and got in line, yes there was a line, to take pictures in front of the marker. While in line, this young lady (late 30’s probably) asked if the Ultra Glides were ours. We said yes and she said she rode her Road King down to Key West. When we asked from where, she said Friday Harbor! (It’s in Washington State). She rode all the way, by herself, camping, on the Road King. What are the chances we would meet up with someone from our home state waiting in line at Key West. She is retiring from the military and this was her retirement ride. Good for her!

We got our photos done and made the turn for home. We are now officially on the way home. On the way back to the hotel, we had several opportunities to take a shower, WHILE STILL ON THE BIKE! By the time we got back to our hotel, we were pretty soaked but boy did it feel good. Every time it would rain, the temperature would drop about 10 degrees, then the sun would come out and it would go back up again, but evaporation of the moisture in our shirts kept us cool.

So, one major milestone was accomplished today and we are on our way home. More and more I find myself thinking of my wife and getting home and taking her in my arms and just holding her. It is going to be a long two weeks I think. Oh, I should mention the giant lobster we saw.

Well, another day gets put to rest. Good night, sleep well and God bless.