“I love you.”

“I love you,” said the little guy.

That was a great start to a spectacular day, first half anyway.

I packed up and said my farewells to Brad and Debbie White, put the lakeside mansion in my rearview mirror, and rode the twisty asphalt path out of the excluded hideaway to their son Josh’s house.  I walked in and was greeted by Tanner (the almost-four-year-old) who gave me an enthusiastic hug, kiss, and then said, “I love you.”

I love you, too, Tanner White.

That morning, I tried something different with the TomTom GPS, I programmed it for a 370 mile “Thrill Ride.”  I never thought that I would have my best riding day in Ohio—that flat state, prone to tornadoes.   It was absolutely incredible!  I never saw any flats worth mentioning, no straightaways sufficient enough for cruise control, in fact, I spent the whole morning clicking through the gears, rolling on-and-off the throttle, and braking hard.  I felt like a Moto GP rider (that European motorcycle racing circuit on par with Formula One).  I was the only one on the roads for three *&$%ing hours!  0930-1230 I saw only one semi-truck pulling out of a feed store.  What ended this amazing motorcycle Valhalla, was a 6 mile stretch of loose gravel/dirt road.  Thank goodness April is tracking my Iphone, which gives me a little sense of security on these out-of-the-way treks.  I was zooming along, with all the synapses firing in unison, when I missed a turn.  I came to a fast stop and saw two BMW riders taking a break.  They came over to me, thinking I had stopped for them, and asked where I was headed.  I told them, “Home, Bend, Oregon.”

The white bearded one told me the road my GPS directed me down was just a narrow country road, the main road was straight ahead about seven miles.  I told them I didn’t want the main road.  The the younger one seemed to get it, but the older white beard insisted that I go straight and avoid the narrow road.  I acquiesced, until my GPS offered an alternate route to get back to that narrow country road.  On this morning route I stumbled onto something that astonished me; I have visited Custer Last Stand several times near Gerry Owen, MT, and I’ve read a couple of books about Custer and the battle, and I’m sure I glossed over Custer’s birthplace….Bang!  I grabbed a handful of brake and came to a stop so sudden it felt like a human catapult had released me.  There in a village of about 50 was a large bronze statue of George Custer.  It didn’t quite top the “I love you” from a 4 year old, but for a military historian, it was golden.  Another milestone on this great adventure.

Later, I stopped at a gas station/beer drive-thru/bait shop with a yeti door greeter on the outskirts of Cambridge, OH.  I wolfed down a $14 roast beef sandwich wrapped in plastic, and relaxed my Moto GP tension.  I sat in the shade of the gas station/beer drive-thru/bait shop with a yeti door greeter and contemplated my next move.  I probably used a week’s worth of data trying to come up with a plan, but finally said, “screw it, let’s see what happens.”

I didn’t exactly see as much as felt what’s happening.  In the short time I sat under the shade somebody must have twisted the oven nob to broil mode, the temperature, which had been a comfortable 72 all morning, was now 92 F.  How the heck did that happen?

Like a ship wreck survivor on an inflatable, drifting in an equatorial current, I let the bike go where it wanted.  I was losing it, I need to drink more water.  I had plans to reach a KOA, or any campground up ahead, but instead came to, out of my haze, facing a 19 year old across a counter in a Hampton Inns & Suites lobby.  What the &@#% just happened to the last three hours?  Another thing I lost in the last three hours, was all my music on my Iphone.

I just spent the last hour trying to communicate with the Uzbekistan Apple tech to recover my blasted missing library of songs.  I have another month and a half to survive, I would rather go without clean underwear than music.

SOS, if someone finds my missing music, please send it to Care Of: Matt Walker, Uzbekistan Apple Technical Support Center.