Cruising Lake Erie

John decided to call Dan, an old high school friend, out of the blue--they haven't seen each other in 40 years! Dan was 2 years older and quite an entrepreneur --even in high school. He started the tree service that John worked for in high school and college. John was a "climber". Well, I think the last time he saw Dan was at his wedding to Marg. Dan went from high school entrepreneur to a hugely successful business career...owns and runs about 20 companies and is still going strong in his business ventures to this day. He suggested we meet at the "Sunset Grill" on the shores of Lake Erie on a little island called "Whiskey Island". Turns out that he used to own the island- and donated it to the county for a park. It was a very hot Cleveland summer day and when we arrived, Dan tells us that we're going out on his boat for dinner. We got some wine and cheese and took off to see the Tall Ships. It was a lovely way to see the ships--and the Cleveland skyline.

They were a charming couple. They aren't your typical Americans --very well traveled-- they've been all over the world. Every two years, he takes a motorcycle trip--the last one was a trip from Xian, China to Istanbul. (We checked out the tour company coordinating these trips--a mere $30,000 -but, as John reminded me, it does include transporting your motorcycle to China and back from Istanbul. I told him not to get any ideas...there's no way I'm being a motormaid on a 3 month motorcycle trip!). Dan's next trip is from Cairo to Cape Town! Marg joins him--in the city of her choice-but not for the entire trip. Smart woman.

It's been a fun stay here in Cleveland--only a week left before we head off. We have to make a stop in Indiana --the wires on our transfer switch started smoking again. Fortunately, John had put a smoke detector in the compartment and heard it chirping. When he went to check it out, he found the wires starting to smoke- a short developed because one of the contacts came loose. John was able to get it fixed-thank goodness--the temps here have been in the 90's and humid and it was a long hot afternoon waiting for him to get it fixed. The short did damage the box --so the company is sending us a new one and we're going to have it replaced at a repair place in Indiana.