cleveland rocks!

says the song anyway. in truth, it's not that bad, but to say it rocks? i'd have to spend a little more time here.

i am, however, spending a longer-than-usual layover here (well, not longer than recently, but longer than planned), with some much needed gear-updating and some touristy things. the ride this morning was fine, though slightly damp. it didn't rain again, just much of my gear wasn't quite dry yet from yesterday. the turnpike continued with the construction, though it did wind through some more lovely hills and midwest-y forests. turns out i was pretty damn close last night, and it only took about 2 hours to get to lakewood OH, just outside of cleveland.

after a quick shower and change of clothes, we went looking for a new jacket. now i actually like my jacket quite a bit. sure it's a little short in the sleeves, but it is very comfortable and i've grown attached to it over the last 10 years. however, it is letting the water through like a sieve, and that will not do for a trip home that may very well include increasing rain as i go. so i reluctantly agreed to replace it.

we started with a harley dealer close to our lunch place (which was an amazing sandwich with coleslaw and french fries in it!) and quickly struck out. not that i expected anything other than HD gear at the dealer, but i guess i expected that harley would have at least one kind of good all-weather jacket in their lineup. nope. harley riders are a fair-weather bunch apparently, or they just throw rain suits on over their leathers (which i do on occasion myself).

the only other place i could find online was a suzuki/victory/polaris place called all ohio powersports. i think they mean they serve the entire state, because there literally weren't any other listings in cleveland except for harley dealers. we finally found the place after about 45 minutes of driving around and almost struck out there as well. their gear was almost exclusively name-brand stuff, victory or suzuki, and all performance gear. they had exactly one jacket that fit the bill and exactly one left in my size. go figure. not having much choice in the matter (and spending a little more than i wanted to), i purchased my new jacket (photo credit: tyler whidden):


ok, not what i would have picked given a wider selection, but i'll be seen, right? overlooking the asthetics, though, it's actually a very nice jacket. the outer shell is mesh, and it has separate zipouts, one water/windproof and one quilted for warmth. so as long as i don't keep anything in the outside pockets, i should be dry and warm. it fits quite well, too, a little better than my old one (i hate to admit it). the sleeves fit well and should keep the water from dripping into my gloves. i think it will be a very good, versatile jacket not only for the ride home, but for commuting this winter.

after we found that, where else is there to go in cleveland? why, the rock and roll hall of fame, that's where! we did the full tour, including the special exhibit on "women who rock". it was a pretty cool place, definitely on par with the EMP in seattle in terms of the exhibits (though not as interactive). there was some cool stuff on the roots of rock, and on how the scenes developed in specific cities (they had a grunge section, of course). and they had quite a bit on jimi, which surprised me a bit, since there's a lot in seattle as well. i guess he had a lot of things to go around. a favorite of mine (and for other seattle-ites) was a childhood drawing of his of a hydroplace race. can't get much more seattle than that.

unfortunately they didn't allow pictures inside, but here's one of me and my cleveland experience:


that's the rock and roll hall of fame, the great lakes science center and cleveland browns stadium in the background. all on the shores of lake erie. yeah midwest!

tonight it's mexican for dinner, before a relatively short day to chicago. hopefully i won't have any more problems. or anything else i need to buy. i knew there would be unexpected expenses, but between the jacket and the tires, it's been a pricey few days.

i guess you could call this the home stretch? i'm pretty much heading west from here on out, which feels good. i still have a week on the road, but i've been gone for 3. anyway, it feels good to be pointing toward home. i still have a few stops to make first, though.

rftc,

scott