We woke about 6:30 after sleeping soundly. The rain was gone and the weather channel said dry but cloudy travel. That was good news.

We packed our things and were glad to see that our clothes had dried quite a bit. We went downstairs to check out and have a bit of breakfast before heading out on the road.

When we went out to load the bikes, we were shocked at how cold it was--upper 40s, with high winds. I sort of bundled up, but wore my baseball cap, and we hit the highway. Our goal was the Dixie Truckstop at McLean.

Once we got going, it didn’t feel so cold, but I kept feeling like I was going to lose my hat due to the high winds. Finally, at the Minonk exit, I pulled over. CrowDog wondered what was wrong and I said I needed to bundle up a bit more. We both dug out our leather “snoopy” hats and put on our heavy leather winter riding gloves. I was finally warm and toasty and the riding was much more pleasant from then on.

We hit Bloomington, and surprise! The interstate was under construction for what, the 50th consecutive year? There were cops around, so everyone slowed down to the speed limit and we got through without much trouble.

We got gas at the Dixie Truckstop. I was able to find where to pay for the gas this time without touring the entire store. But I had difficulty getting a clerk to notice me. Am I THAT short? Anyway, I went back outside and we parked the bikes and headed in for some chow. We were both hungry so opted for the buffet. It was good and filling. I went back to have some strawberries that didn’t look so good at first. Boy, was I wrong. They were delicious! I could’ve eaten the whole bin of them.

After brekkie, I decided to leave off a few layers since the sun had finally come out. Back on with the baseball cap.

The remainder of the ride was nice. Litchfield was less than 100 miles away, but when we got there, the exit was closed! We ended up taking a 17 mile detour down to the next exit (where the original MITM site was back when I first attended in 1995) and back to get to the Baymont Inn. When we pulled in, Frank was there in the parking lot with his new-to-him Goldwing. He said he was going over to pick up his new cargo trailer, but when he returned in about a half hour, we could ride over to the farm together. We agreed and went in to register and stow our things. Our room was really nice. We had a king size bed with a Jacuzzi next to it! After unpacking we went downstairs to wait for Frank. And wait for Frank. And wait for Frank. Another MITM couple pulled in on a bright yellow new Goldwing they’d named Big Bird. They introduced themselves as Sam and Gail, and we chatted a bit. Then decided not to wait any longer and headed out.

It was about 15 miles to the farm and all good roads until you got to the driveway (this picture doesn’t show it very well). Deep, big gravel! YIKES! It was pretty scary, especially that last patch where I did some serious fishtailing. Everybody was talking about it, but nobody went down on it during the weekend.

When we came though the gate, we saw what appeared to be a welcoming committee. Or maybe they were just working their way toward the beer wagon. I dunno. We parked our bikes and immediately ran into Steve Reyer. He was wearing underpants on the outside of his jeans! Frillies for a Sportster rider. Scary image, but here it is, so you can, er, “enjoy” it too. We got our wristbands and t-shirts--very nice design this year! But then every year has a nice design. Then we wandered around and talked with people. Butch and Pam have a nice farm and it’s the perfect place for MITM (except for that damned driveway).

Around 4:30 Red’s Ribz served barbecues and they were really good. When we were just about finished, Frank finally showed up.

Redbeard Emeritus came on his “custom shovel.” A skateboard with a flame-painted shovel mounted to it! It was hilarious. His t-shirt said “I rode my custom shovel to Motel in the Middle.” Later on, he had another, er, "lovely" shirt on.I got to see Lew Eckert riding his own bike, a Kawasaki 454. I remembered he was just a little kid the first time I met him and now he’s riding his own bike! It was great to see.

We got to see Penny and Skiv roll in. Penny and I got going on her lovely garbage bag luggage and how there were different versions for different occasions. CrowDog added that for Halloween there was the orange pumpkin-face version.

While heading back to Litchfield that evening we could see a line of clouds coming. We knew it was going to be a rainy night. When we pulled into the lot, there was a small group of Harley riders there. They asked where we were going, and we said “we’re here,” which seemed like an odd answer to them. I tried to sort of explain that we were at a party with friends. They were on their way to Branson, Missouri.

We got to the room and I jumped into the Jacuzzi. It felt great on my tired legs and feet. We fell asleep about 9:30 and I slept well, only waking briefly to realize it was storming. CrowDog said there was lots of wind and rain.