"WAHOO!"
Ironhide sighed. Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Hot Rod were enough to drive any Mech batty. Especially when they were racing down the freeway at eighty miles an hour. He figured, though, it wasn't too bad. Speed limit on Michigan freeways was seventy.
"YEEHAW!"
Ironhide winced some as Hot Rod and Sideswipe veered dangerously close to each other.
That's it, he thought.
"Enough, you guys," he barked out. "You've had your fun, now it's time to cut it out before someone gets hurt."
"Spoilsport," Hot Rod grumbled.
"Come on, Ironhide," Sideswipe groaned. "We're just having some fun! There's no one around for miles!"
"That can change at any given moment," Ironhide retorted. "You know that."
"All right, all right," Sideswipe grumbled. The three Mechs complied with Ironhide's 'request' and slowed down o the speed limit of seventy.
Once they had done that, Ironhide began to relax a little and let his mind wander some.
Michigan, like so many places he'd been to, was unique and he couldn't help but take in the green trees and very warm weather. He had been anticipating this for some time now.
A drive across the state of Michigan, he thought. Who would've believed I'd be doing something like this.
When he began making these plans months ago, Ironhide had originally intended on being alone, but word got out that he was going to Michigan. Sideswipe and Hot Rod had practically begged to come along, and, of course, Sideswipe had dragged his twin along as well. He had feared it was going to be a nightmarish trip.
"Boy, it's warm here!"
Sunstreaker's voice brought Ironhide out of his reverie and he chuckled to himself. What did Sunstreaker expect? It was nearly June, after all.
"Yeah, it is," Sideswipe echoed. "Weather forecast from Teletran said it was only going to get as high as seventy-five degrees for this area."
"Possible Decepticon activity?" Hot Rod piped in.
"I don't think so. Weather is subject to change," Ironhide pointed out.
"But like this?" Sideswipe inquired. "It's getting warmer."
Ironhide checked his external thermometer and saw that Sideswipe was right. It was getting warmer, by almost fifteen degrees. They were getting close to Cadillac and to his rendezvous with Autumn "Liana Bluestar" Ronk. She was from there and she'd most certainly know what was going on.
"Reaching the city of Cadillac," Hot Rod called out.
"Not much of a city, if you ask me," Sunstreaker grumbled.
"Just follow me," Ironhide stated as he took the first exit into Cadillac. The other three followed suit and within moments nearly became entangled with midday traffic.
"Oh great," Sunstreaker griped. "Just what we needed!"
"Hush, Sunstreaker," Ironhide growled. "We're almost there."
"Almost where?"
"To the lake front."
Ironhide turned left at the movie theater, driving to where he saw a young, blonde-haired female standing next to a dusty, black Ford Ranger.
"We're here," he announced as he parked next to the truck. She walked over to him and climbed in.
"I can see that," she grinned. "It's about time you got here. What'd you do? Take the scenic route?"
"Something like that," he replied. "Air conditioning?"
"No. Don't like it, really. Makes it worse to go outside."
"Ahh."
"Why is it so warm here?" Hot Rod immediately inquired.
"It's suspicious," Sunstreaker added.
"Anything unusual happening here?" Sideswipe asked.
Ironhide watched as she frowned at those questions, as if they were baffling to her.
"Other than it raining an hour ago, no," she replied. "Nothing unusual."
"Why is it so hot, thought? Teletran said it was only going to reach seventy-five degrees."
"Did Teletran take the heat index, the lakes, and any possible rain showers into consideration?"
"No . . ."
"It rained here an hour ago. After it rains, it cools off some but, as the sun comes out, the water is heated and rises back up, creating humidity. It gets warmer."
"So what do the lakes have to do with it?"
"They can either cool things off or make them warmer. Just depends on how warm it gets outside."
"No Decepticon activity?" Sideswipe sounded a little disappointed.
"Uh, not that I'm aware of. . ."
"Oh."
"Can we go looking for Decepticons?" Hot Rod asked cheerfully.
"Why? So we can dunk them in the lake?" Autumn shook her head. "You're better off to just enjoy the weather. There's not much in Michigan that they'd want."
"But the weather . . ." Sunstreaker started to protest.
"Is just fine," Autumn stated. "However, if you're that worried about it, we do have a saying here. If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes. It'll change."
"That's not funny," Sunstreaker grumped.
"But it's true," Autumn said. "The weather around here is never exact and sometimes is never what meteorologists predict. There are times we'd like to lynch them because we don't always get the weather that we want."
"Do you like this weather?" Ironhide asked.
"I love it," Autumn grinned. "It's beautiful out, warm . . . perfect to be outside."
"And dehydrate?"
"Only if you're not careful," Autumn winked. "Anything else you guys want to know? If not, I need to get going. I'm going over to a friend's house to do some visiting. Haven't seen her and her husband in a few weeks."
"Only a few weeks?" Ironhide teased.
Autumn smiled.
"I'm getting better about visiting her. It's hard when we both have our own lives. But I'm not about to throw out thirteen years of friendship or forsake her simply because our lives are different now. It's been an interesting time as well."
"Then we'll get moving ourselves so you can spend some time with her," Ironhide replied warmly. "Is everything else all right?"
"Oh yeah. Keeping busy, as usual. And thanks. Let me know when you'll be going through again. Maybe we can go cruising sometime, okay?"
"Sounds like a plan. Glad to hear everything's all right. Take care."
"You, too," Autumn called out as she climbed into her Ranger and drove off.
"Let's go," Ironhide said and they took off, Hot Rod, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe debating as to whether or not there were Decepticons in the area. He chuckled to himself as they continued on their way. Some things simply would never change.