.....can we do this EVERY weekend?

It's slightly after 10:00PM that I'm typing this & made it back an hour ago.
We decided to leave early this morning & see if we could hightail it back to the land of the frozen before this weekend's storm hit.
After leaving the BBQ last night I noticed I had but one headlight. At first I thought of blaming Max figuring that he probably swiped my bulb in some type of desperate move to keep his HID clinic (make your reservations NOW for his upcoming HID clinic sessions during October's Dragon Run! ) record 100% spotless but decided that I didn't have any actual proof. He gets a pass.
Our plan was to get as far north as we could before the predicted 4 - 6 inches of snow started falling. We left at 6:15 this morning, with the morning sun just starting to light the sky, down the Dragon with one headlight, not really sure if it would be a wise idea to drive with the brights on & take the chance on blinding an opposing driver.

Interesting drive............

Only one pick-up on the road until we reached the 4 lane.

As fun as the drive was it was frustrating because the entire Dragon was mine, all mine, not another soul on it, & I COULDN'T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT !
It's killin' me!

We stopped only for gas & bathroom breaks. Deb drove from Knoxville through Kentucky; I drove the rest. Beautiful sunny warm weather, 80 - 85mph cruising down Sunday highways, about as stressful as breathing until we hit

INDIANA

Actually the Hoosier state did well until Indianapolis, when it started to rain & thunder & then pour & pour & pour some more until we reached the NW Chicago 'burbs. The temps. dropped from 73 in Indianapolis to 34 when we stopped for gas outside of Gary; wind blowing so hard my as_ got wet just from standing & pumping gas.

Oh, & I forgot to mention the traffic jam that took a hour to get through on I-65 northbound.

We were kicking as_ & taking no prisoner's until

INDIANA

By the time we got to the NW Burbs around Chicago it was snowing to beat the band & we started to think about scoring a motel room & hanging out until the morn.
But, after all, I'm a guy; it's my sworn duty to do stupid shi_ so I had to keep driving. After all, we had made it to Chicago; another mere 3 hours & we'd be home !

After cruising through some more Chicagoland construction on I-94 we reached the Wisconsin state line & voila', it was like someone had dropped a curtain down over some invisible line somewhere. The snow ceased to fall & we encountered not one single flake from Kenosha to Clintonville. Dry pavement, typical Sunday evening traffic (meaning like none) & other than for the wind, a nice easy drive back.

I figure it must be good juju from meeting all of you in N.C. !

This was beyond a blast & it was truly fun - can I say illuminating - meeting all the faces behind the screen names. I regret that I didn't meet all of you or can remember everyone's names. I missed pestering Woody about "voodoo" magnets & TPM's (I will swear on any of my relation's graves that I saw it work with my own 2 eyes on my SRT!).

Gary, for ALL of your work, you deserve a huge round of applause.

Jane, thanks for leading the aggressive drivers; we all know you weren't overly thrilled with the responsibility but you did a GREAT job & therefore, know you are doomed from this point forward to forever lead us around next time!

Thanks everyone for making this an adventure & a heck of a lot of fun.

Kurt & Deb