Dodging raindrops

12 May - Pemberville OH-La Salle MI: 40s and wet; 8:40-12:20, 35.3 miles
The rain pounded down all night, continuing as we crossed the street to breakfast with Larry (who grabbed the check) and crossed back to the fire station. Ten minutes later, after Bill Smith (owner of PhotoSmith, a professional photographer) had taken our portraits in front of the fire trucks and starting down the road, the rain had paused. For thirteen miles we rolled north through a semi-rural landscape down wet roads.
Two miles later, the moment we entered a stretch of strip malls and chain stores outside Toledo, the rain started anew. For another ten miles we fought heavy traffic through the city, with spray from the passing vehicles mixing with the water from the sky to keep us plenty chilled. Finally we left the city and entered Michigan, the terrain returning to rural. We now endured intermittent rain and continuing cold up to La Salle, where Tim arranged for his sister-in-law Carol to pick us up. We had envisioned cycling directly to Tim's door, but the miserable conditions (and my freezing wet toes) convinced us that we didn't really need to cycle another forty miles.
The rest of the day I relaxed at Tim's before his mother, his brother Tom, and Carol came over for a barbecue. Now I must psyche myself to re-enter the 'real world' tomorrow.
After all, if your vision of America is colored by the 6:00 news, you probably never believed the America we discovered really exists. And that would be a shame...