My plans to update the Transition Tour page daily has failed. The Gallery has been well fed though.
Day One was a long day. After arriving safely at a friend’s house near Windsor, Day Two was about exploring Detroit. We visited two coffeehouses and two rock’n’roll way stations. The Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co. (pictured left) was a nice spot, but a staff shortage denied us a full meal. The americano and pastry were good. The Roasting Plant Detroit (pictured right) had a high-tech roaster/delivery system which was central to their concept; pretty neat.
Rock’n’roll way station one was Jack White’s Third Man Records, which is a masterpiece and I highly recommend a visit. The second way station was Kid Rock’s Made In Detroit eatery. On our way home, we kept our plans and stopped by WolfHead Distillery for a drink and snack, and left with a couple bottles of coffee whiskey for a night by the fire. A great time all around and masterfully hosted by a long-time friend and his amazing family.
Day Three, the second riding day, started later than planned. A 4-hour ride turned into 7 after a 2-hour border crossing from Windsor into Detroit. Detours around construction are mostly to blame for the rest of the additional time. It made for a long day, but the last couple hours in central Ohio, and especially trough Holmes County were an amazing ride. Dinner and drinks with a good friend’s dad made for an engaging and relaxing evening. The cool evenings in Holmes County make for comfortable sleeping.
Day Four started with construction detours again. Another 4-hour time estimate became ten in reality. It did include a nice coffee break in Loudonville, Ohio at Loko Bean on the main street of a quaint little town I could have thoroughly enjoyed exploring; if not for the lost time to detours and many miles still to cover.
The day ended in Terre Haute, Indiana at a KOA campsite where a hot meal was had, a warm 
shower was enjoyed, and a night of hot and humid discomfort was broken at 2 am by a steady rain. My beloved Eureka tent made it through another night. This tent has been with me for 25 years and has traveled the world. Two years ago in Iceland it was leaking pretty bad, but it appears my silicon job and TLC successfully reinforced ‘Little Blue.’
It was then off to St. Louis where ironically, the worst weather yet – an outright lightning storm and downpour – didn’t prevent me from meeting the estimated ride time of 4 hours.
A day in St. Louis followed, with typical site seeing and then the Triumph Grill restaurant/motorcycle store/museum; amazing!
Another day in St. Louis coffeehouses will be the farthest west I get on this trip as a course correction is required to address the realities of time and distance and to deal with some issues that have arisen.
