Ian’s 18th Birthday

Today, July 8, is Ian’s 18th birthday (Happy Birthday to you) and we were hoping to celebrate, in a great big way, to make it a memorable one. But, he caught the flu bug a couple of days ago and doesn’t feel like doing much today either. What a bummer. But, on a more positive note, we decided we’ll all celebrate when we get to West Lafayette, IN. (Not only will we celebrate his birthday but we’ll celebrate his mom’s as well.  Mom/daughter Julie (who had her own birthday on the 3rd of July….not 18 though but still looks young and terrific)! will join us as will our son Eric, wife Karen, and their kids, Kirsten and Cameron (all the way from Texas). It will be a reunion of sorts and anytime we can be together is a very special time. Eric intends to ride a couple of days too even though he’ll be involved with some kind of tri-athelon competition right before. Good time for the gals in the family to be together.

We will also see old friends and neighbors when there. (Once we cement the dates, I’ll be phoning all of you soon about this)! Can’t wait for that too. And to see our Marilyn Ave house will bring back wonderful memories for all of us. We’ll have to make a toast or something in front of the old place. We had great times there with wonderful memories and fantastic people. (The more I write about this the more excited I become)!

In the meantime, a nephew of ours, Alex, who is working in Rockford, will be joining us for one day of riding sometime this week. His dad, Harry, from Madison, Wis. (who, by the way, designed this website and is always there for us) will be Alex’s van driver so he and I will be following the riders while they trek the eastern part of this state. That will be fun too.

Then on to eastern Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and then Delaware and the dip in the Atlantic. It’s unbelievable that we’re reaching the end. It really doesn’t seem possible – probably because we are having a great time with lots of laughs, much kidding, yet knowing all our individual idiosyncracies are accentuated and exposed. But noone cares. Each of us is threatening to write our own book about this bike trip. Mine will definitely have something to do with living with three men on an impossible journey.