From Ottumwa, Iowa. 569 miles and 1 hurricane from Lexington. That should take only TWO days if the hurricane stays out of my way.

Have you missed me? I've been in suspended animation for six days. Waiting. Waiting. And waiting. I arrived in Norfolk, Nebraska for the first time last Sunday late. Then I left Monday morning, hoping to make 400 miles toward home, but was back in Norfolk within two hours. But you read that story, didn't you?

I left the motorcycle at B & B Cycle for the needed repairs. They told me it would be Friday when it was done. That left me to pace back and forth in a motel room for four days. As Carol suggested, I wore a path in the carpet.

During the first two days, I walked around town A LOT. And I happened upon this sign post:

It turns out that Johnny Carson went to high school in Norfolk, Nebraska and they have named a street for him. He was not born there, but he moved there when he was eight years old and graduated high school before joining the Navy, then attending the University of Nebraska for college.

I found this information on Wikipedia, so it must be true:

"Carson grew up and began developing his talent for entertaining. At the age of 12, Carson found a book on magic at a friend's house and immediately purchased a mail-order magician's kit. After the purchase of the kit, Carson practiced his entertainment skills on family members with card tricks. He was known for following his family members around saying, "Pick a card, any card." Carson's mother sewed him a cape, and his first performance was staged in front of the local Kiwanis Club. He debuted as "The Great Carsoni" at age 14 and was paid $3 a show."

After high school, he joined the Navy, where he looked like this:

Now THAT'S funny. I knew you would want to see that.

While walking around town, I also found these flowers in a traffic circle:

It was nice walking around town, and I did that a good bit the first two days. But then the rain set in, and it was wet, cloudy, and ugly for the rest of my stay. It rained three inches!

In fact, my bike was available Friday morning, but it was raining. I caught a dry hour and walked to B & B Cycle to get the bike, but it was raining by the time I rode back to the motel. I, of course, was eager to make some miles, but this was in my way so I had to stay an extra day:

Finally, this morning about 10 the weather cleared, and the sun came out. I still had to go two hours due south to drive around the rain storms. But I had a lovely ride today after the sun finally came out. The bike ran great. The skies were clear. And I was welcomed to yet another state:

And I even got to see the wood carving of the Indian Chief Osceola in the picture at the beginning of this blog.

Now Lexington is supposed to get up to five inches of rain on Sunday into Monday. I am hoping that it moves through quickly so that I can arrive home on Monday. We'll see.

Thanks for your interest in this prolonged journey. I must admit that I am ready for it to be over! After all, I left for the West Coast on September 3! It's time to be home!