Day Twenty Five (last day on the road)

All good things must come to an end but today was looking like a great day to ride. Sunshine, a little wind and tonight I would be sleeping in my own bed. Woohoo!
The temperature had risen since my days out on the coast so just my jeans and jacket kept me very comfortable for much of the ride. I was having some problems with my GPS unit which I have depended on for weeks to get me through places I'd never been before. I can't actually imagine a trip like this without one. The issue was the route it was selecting to get me home. I have mine set up to select the shortest drive time which is not always the shortest distance. I got to Ottawa, Ontario without a problem but that's where it all started to fall apart. I had checked my map and it looked like I needed to take Hwy 417 west toward Renfrew which I did. Unfortunately it didn't instruct me to get on Hwy 60 at this way point and by the time I realised the problem I was a good 50 kms. out of my way and heading around the top of Algonquin Park. I checked the map, backtracked to Petawawa and eventually got back on track.
The clouds had started to build and I knew the weatherman was forecasting rain in the evening but his timing was off slightly. At a gas stop just east of the Park it started. I quickly donned my rain gear and pushed on. My front tire was practically bald so I was nervous about all the corners in the rain. Being a Sunday afternoon everyone who had come north to vacation was trying to get home so I ran into all kinds of slow going RV's and motorhomes which just made a difficult situation even worse. Riding in a bit of rain once in a while is just part of motorcycling but spending hours sitting there straining to see through your windshield or fogged up face shield can be quite a stressful and dangerous experience. As the cars rolled past me I could only imagine what the people inside must have been saying. "Honey, does that look fun to you?" "I wouldn't be caught dead on a bike in this weather!" etc.
Well, I made it back to Chez Monet about 4:40 pm and King and Ellie were there making dinner preparations and had a vodka tonic in my hand as soon as I'd shed my soaking rain gear. I just left the bike and camper sitting out in the rain where it remains at this writing. It continued to rain hard through the night and I was grateful to have made the effort to return today rather than Monday.
There you have it, another very safe and successful adventure for 2013. Now I wonder where I will explore next year?