Another rough day for us. We were up and on the road back to Jameston Harley, first thing this morning. Unbelievably, the temp here was 47 when we rolled out of the sack. 47 degrees!!! It’s August!!! 47 degrees on the bike is cold, especially when you’re on vacation!!
So when King said he was taking the Jeep, we agreed that this was the smart thing to do, and we quickly jumped in before he could take off without us.
We loaded up, got there and picked up the things that King had ordered and were back here with plenty of time to kill. Our only concrete timetable was to stop over to see Jerry and Barb sometime after 1, since Barb works 3rd shift and would be sleeping in the morning. So while King mowed the lawn, we made breakfast, did some rock exploring with Alyssa, and did some weeding in Pat’s rock garden (she’s a slave driver, what can I tell ya?).
Before we knew it, it was time to swing over to 4-mile road and say hello. We got to see Jerry’s new trike (he’d broken his last one – probably by doing those Evel Knievel jumps on the back roads). King and Lynner showed up, we shot the breeze for a while and then saddled up for our trip to see the fallen brothers.
Jerry joined us and we rolled up to say hello to Dana and leave this year’s mementos. (No Massachusetts quarters this time around – see last year’s post to see how well that worked out for me before!) From there, we slid over to Gapper’s grave, and then Chuck’s.
The setting sucks, but it’s nice to share fond memories of lost brothers with close friends. We brought a few beers with us as usual, and we used these to toast the memories, and to share a drink with each of our brothers.
From there, we rolled over to Danny’s house to check out his newly constructed abode. It sucks. 3-sided farmer’s porch, a driveway that’s probably a mile long, winding into the woods, and more land than you could walk across in one day with a good map. He’s still got some work to do on the house, but it’s coming along very nicely and I’m only a little jealous. (Ok, I’m very jealous.) He even brought out pics that he’d taken of the wildlife in the area. A mama fox and her pups, rolling around in the field; wild turkeys within coin-tossing distance, deer aplenty on all sides (one doe chose to give birth to her two fawns between his porch and his chimney), as well as multiple pics of bears. Yep; bears. Bears in his yard, bears on his porch, etc. I commented that there’s nothing to stop the bears from just walking through one of his windows if they have a mind to. His reply? I’ve got plenty of guns in there that will stop them. Ok, I guess he’s got things covered.
From there, we rolled to – drum roll please… Mickey’s!! Oh, the succulent steak & cheese subs that this guy creates. *Drool*! The other guys had wings and pizza, but I always have the same thing; pure delectable heaven. Once I’d finished it and was stuffed, I wished I was hungry again so that I could order another one. I inquired as to the cost it would take to have three of these shipped to my house each day, and Tommy responded that the mere fact that I lived in New England, would put it far out of economical reach. (He’s a Yankees fan – go figure.)
From there, we parted ways with Danny and King (we’ll see them again soon enough), and Zig and I shot up to the (shocking surprise) VFW. We shared more laughter with the folks there, consumed a few beers, toasted each other with shots of Harley Oil, and we even recited “The Toast”.
Now it’s back at King’s Taj Motor Home” and I’m wired. I can never sleep on the night before rolling out for a ride. And while technically Zig and I have been on ‘a ride’ for the past two weeks, we’ve been on relaxation time for the past two days. Tomorrow we roll out towards our Labor Day destination, and to be honest; the past two days have been exceptionally fun. Just kicking back and soaking up the serenity. But I’m getting antsy again, and sleep will be hard to come by. It’s going to be frikkin’ awesome to start rolling up more miles again...
Even though they’re calling for rain tomorrow.
But that’s tomorrow - and tomorrow is the start of another adventure. So rain be damned. There’s fun out there to be had, and we’re going to find it. Or, more correctly; it’s going to be with us from the start, because we pack fun times wherever we go.
To be honest, it’ll be bittersweet. We’ll be continuing the event which was started so many, many years before now. And we’ll be remembering many fun times that have been shared with many, many friends. Some of whom have passed along before us.
Get ready Dana & Russ (and the rest of you who’ve passed); we’re coming up to repeat the fun and frivolity that you guys started so many years ago. And you’ll be there with us. No doubt.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Ahhh, Sweet Relaxation!
Zig and I woke up at the crack of “whenever” this morning. (Being on vacation is nice!) We rolled out of bed, rolled into town to have breakfast, only to find that the breakfast place we had in mind had closed. No worries, we stopped off at the food mart, picked up supplies and came back to the castle and cooked up a feast worthy of two road weary riders.
After that, we did laundry (Thanks again Pat!!) and bummed around a bit. Pat surprised us by finding a Dremel in the basement, so we took turns carving up the rocks we’d brought out (from South Dakota) for Pat’s rock garden.
After that, Alyssa challenged me to a super-soaker fight, which of course I accepted. We both wound up quite soaked, and we even managed to bring Zig into the fun as well. (But no getting Pat wet!!)
We wrapped up our hectic day by shooting back down to the VFW to meet up with more friends and share some more laughter. It was a kinda-quiet night, as some folks still need to work one more day before they get to join us in vaca-land. (But Zig and I still did an admirable job of depleting their stores of Bud Light…) We wrapped things up by hitting the beer store and getting subs on our way back - which we just finished. We’re rockin’ out in the motor home, the tunes are cranking and we’re about to set into the cards again.
Tomorrow will be finalization of plans, saying our goodbyes to fallen brethren, and, since Thursday morning is our departure-for-Maine, we'll be sure to get a good night's sleep...maybe.
I could get used to this lifestyle.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
After that, we did laundry (Thanks again Pat!!) and bummed around a bit. Pat surprised us by finding a Dremel in the basement, so we took turns carving up the rocks we’d brought out (from South Dakota) for Pat’s rock garden.
After that, Alyssa challenged me to a super-soaker fight, which of course I accepted. We both wound up quite soaked, and we even managed to bring Zig into the fun as well. (But no getting Pat wet!!)
We wrapped up our hectic day by shooting back down to the VFW to meet up with more friends and share some more laughter. It was a kinda-quiet night, as some folks still need to work one more day before they get to join us in vaca-land. (But Zig and I still did an admirable job of depleting their stores of Bud Light…) We wrapped things up by hitting the beer store and getting subs on our way back - which we just finished. We’re rockin’ out in the motor home, the tunes are cranking and we’re about to set into the cards again.
Tomorrow will be finalization of plans, saying our goodbyes to fallen brethren, and, since Thursday morning is our departure-for-Maine, we'll be sure to get a good night's sleep...maybe.
I could get used to this lifestyle.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Monday, August 25, 2008
Olean!
This’ll be a quick summary for the day. We only rode about half the day before arriving where we were looking to be, and then spent the second half of the day catching up with great friends. So; from the beginning;
We got a good start on the day – maybe it had something to do with knowing that we were close to our resting point (Olean)? We rolled out the final miles of Pennsylvania and soon found ourselves at Jamestown HD, where Zig stocked up on fluids for his bike.
From there, we shot to the Olean VFW to meet up with some of the crew that would be riding with us out to Maine. Most-welcome hugs and handshakes were exchanged and laughs were shared throughout the afternoon. Over the passing hours, folks we hadn’t seen since last year (or longer) strolled in to see the two poor slobs from Boston, and more hugs ensued, etc. Many rounds were shared and good times were had by all. We even managed to suck in the folks who had no idea who we were – now they're our friends, too, and we’ll be sharing renewed laughter with them next year when we make it out again.
All good things must come to an end, even if only temporarily. Zig and I still had yet to make it up to King and Pat’s for our official welcome, so we bade farewell to the crew and headed out (stopping to pick up beer and subs).
Arriving at King & Pat’s Castle, we found the garage door open and beckoning for us. We rolled in and were dismounting when who should appear at the door, than the King, himself. More hugs and laughter, followed by some quick summaries of the past days, before heading in to see The Queen. And they had company! Their grand-daughter Alyssa was staying over, and she is a ticket and a half. She is smart beyond her years – which makes her entertaining as heck to talk to - if you notice, there aren’t any bad words in this post – that’s because she’s been talking to me as I type this (she’s already pulled up a chair). In fact, she just showed me how to defeat the monster on level 3 of Custom Robo Arena on Nintendo DS. Which was quite important, considering I’ve never played, nor do I expect to ever play, that game. However, should I ever be presented with such a challenge in my future, I feel confident in my newly acquired knowledge base.
That wraps up our Monday. We hit the miles hard in the morning, but the rest of the day was spent the best way possible; good friends, lots of laughs, and some beers mixed in along the way.
We don’t head out on our Labor Day trip until Thursday morning, which means we have two days to unwind and relax, which we’re actually looking forward to. We’ve been hitting the road hard for the past few days, without taking much time to enjoy the scenery flowing past us. We’ve now reached the part of this adventure where we can relax. From here on out, it’s King’s show and we’re more than happy to hand the reigns over to another road captain. He’s going to treat us to a new route up to NH, going via Mass this year and we’re looking forward to it.
I’ll try to get updates posted for tomorrow and Wednesday, but there won’t be a lot going on. We’ll probably go on a ride with Marshall Jerry at some point (who’ll ride too fast for the roads he’s on, and we’ll do our best to keep up with him), and he’ll have some great sights to show us. Beyond that, we’ll be hitting Mickey’s for one of Tom’s famous steak subs, as well as stopping by the Parkwood for a beer.
Without a doubt, we’ll be doing the circuit to say hello to Dana, Gapper and Chuck. Even though they’re always with you in your heart, you still have to say hello to your fallen brothers when you’re in their neck of the woods.
Ok, time to wrap this up - King needs to get some sleep. (Not everyone is lucky enough to be on vaca yet, and he has to get up at 4:30. Zoinks.)
Ride Hard, Take Chances
We got a good start on the day – maybe it had something to do with knowing that we were close to our resting point (Olean)? We rolled out the final miles of Pennsylvania and soon found ourselves at Jamestown HD, where Zig stocked up on fluids for his bike.
From there, we shot to the Olean VFW to meet up with some of the crew that would be riding with us out to Maine. Most-welcome hugs and handshakes were exchanged and laughs were shared throughout the afternoon. Over the passing hours, folks we hadn’t seen since last year (or longer) strolled in to see the two poor slobs from Boston, and more hugs ensued, etc. Many rounds were shared and good times were had by all. We even managed to suck in the folks who had no idea who we were – now they're our friends, too, and we’ll be sharing renewed laughter with them next year when we make it out again.
All good things must come to an end, even if only temporarily. Zig and I still had yet to make it up to King and Pat’s for our official welcome, so we bade farewell to the crew and headed out (stopping to pick up beer and subs).
Arriving at King & Pat’s Castle, we found the garage door open and beckoning for us. We rolled in and were dismounting when who should appear at the door, than the King, himself. More hugs and laughter, followed by some quick summaries of the past days, before heading in to see The Queen. And they had company! Their grand-daughter Alyssa was staying over, and she is a ticket and a half. She is smart beyond her years – which makes her entertaining as heck to talk to - if you notice, there aren’t any bad words in this post – that’s because she’s been talking to me as I type this (she’s already pulled up a chair). In fact, she just showed me how to defeat the monster on level 3 of Custom Robo Arena on Nintendo DS. Which was quite important, considering I’ve never played, nor do I expect to ever play, that game. However, should I ever be presented with such a challenge in my future, I feel confident in my newly acquired knowledge base.
That wraps up our Monday. We hit the miles hard in the morning, but the rest of the day was spent the best way possible; good friends, lots of laughs, and some beers mixed in along the way.
We don’t head out on our Labor Day trip until Thursday morning, which means we have two days to unwind and relax, which we’re actually looking forward to. We’ve been hitting the road hard for the past few days, without taking much time to enjoy the scenery flowing past us. We’ve now reached the part of this adventure where we can relax. From here on out, it’s King’s show and we’re more than happy to hand the reigns over to another road captain. He’s going to treat us to a new route up to NH, going via Mass this year and we’re looking forward to it.
I’ll try to get updates posted for tomorrow and Wednesday, but there won’t be a lot going on. We’ll probably go on a ride with Marshall Jerry at some point (who’ll ride too fast for the roads he’s on, and we’ll do our best to keep up with him), and he’ll have some great sights to show us. Beyond that, we’ll be hitting Mickey’s for one of Tom’s famous steak subs, as well as stopping by the Parkwood for a beer.
Without a doubt, we’ll be doing the circuit to say hello to Dana, Gapper and Chuck. Even though they’re always with you in your heart, you still have to say hello to your fallen brothers when you’re in their neck of the woods.
Ok, time to wrap this up - King needs to get some sleep. (Not everyone is lucky enough to be on vaca yet, and he has to get up at 4:30. Zoinks.)
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Sun-day, SUN-day, Sun-day!!
So what to post for today. Well…we got up. And we hit the road. And we rode. We put Indiana behind us, shot through Ohio and West Virginia and are now in Pennsylvania, just about one hour north of Pittsuburgh. Just under 500 miles for the day, so not too shabby, considering the directions we were using to locate the Biker Memorial weren't very reliable and we got turned around on some deep, back roads and lost some time there.
The sun was frikkin’ brutal today, which was surprising. Here we’ve just spent a week out in South Dakota with temps which ranged between 95 – 100 daily, and we fared better in that, than we did in one morning, today. It was humid as hell, but how that caused the sun to be so much more intense is beyond me. We both have some burning as a result, despite each having SPF 50 on. Weird. But it started to cloud up a little after 1 or so, but I’ll get to that later.
We did manage to locate the aforementioned Biker Memorial (in Hopedale, Ohio) and snapped some shots of it. I’ll do a full write-up on that later when I have…say it with me…a better connection, so that I can post the pics.
We passed a pretty bad accident today – one car was banged up and off to the side, a mini box truck was spun around backwards in the median…and there must have been a third vehicle of some sort, because right where the accident happened, we were on a bridge and when we passed by, a State Trooper was putting out a fire on the slope of grass, leading down below our range of vision. If someone did indeed go down there, it couldn’t have been good for them.
Something on a lighter note; we were going past a huge field of corn at one point (I know; a field of corn! What were the odds of finding one of those??), and there was a road passing right through the middle of it. There was an 18-wheel rig (no trailer) going through the field, but because the corn was so high, all you could see was the top 1/3 of it. So it basically looked like a shark fin, gliding through a field of corn. Which was a pretty cool sight, actually.
Oh yeah; at one point, we were idling along at a measly…oh…85 miles an hour (in a 55 zone) when we came around a corner and there was a Statie on the side of the road, radar going. As soon as we passed, he put his lights on and started to pull out. The road was curving fairly hard to the right, so no sooner had we seen his lights go on, than we lost sight of him in the bend. Figuring it’d be better to just pull over and not risk pissing him off any more, we rolled to a stop in the breakdown lane. And waited. And waited some more. Several cars passed us…but no cop?!? We looked at each other, shrugged, and kicked the transmissions into gear and blasted off again. Even now, we have no idea why he didn’t come around the corner, tickets in hand, but we aren’t complaining.
Rain. We encountered our second rain storm of this trip, and because we seem to enjoy this kind of nonsense, we played tag with it several times. The only problem with playing tag with a thunderstorm is that the storm doesn’t care about who is ‘it’, it only wants to soak you. And it always wins. It was raining so hard that just about all the traffic was pulled over into the breakdown lane with their flashers going. There were so many yellow flashing lights that it looked like we were riding in a construction zone. We managed to find a spot under a bridge which had already been claimed by one biker (thankfully, there was room for a couple more – us!). When the rain finally passed, we fired the bikes up and headed back out…only to have the storm swing in and nail us again within two miles. So we found another bridge to hide under, etc., etc. When we were finally convinced that it had indeed passed us for good this time, we rolled out again – only to find the temps soar back up into the 90’s. High humidity again…oh boy, what fun. And not to have our previous rain adventure (up in Canada) be outdone, we managed to have the storm catch us a third time, about a half-hour outside of our current location. So we were pretty drenched when we checked in – earning us some sympathetic looks from the owners.
But not all was lost. We managed to find a KOA again, unpacked and shot off to a pub that Zig noticed on the way in. The food was good, the beer was cold…and the best part? They sold beer to go!! So now we’re back at the site and enjoying some cold frosties.
Chatted with Pat a bit ago and our plan is to arrive in the Olean area around noon, noon-thirty. We have to stop at Jamestown HD along the way and pick up some fluids so Zig can do the next service on his bike. Aside from that, I imagine we’ll be catching up with Lynner and kicking back for a bit. Although, we’ve had enough sun for a while – we may opt to find some shade to hang out in. We’ll see.
I think that about wraps things up for today’s events. So until next time…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
The sun was frikkin’ brutal today, which was surprising. Here we’ve just spent a week out in South Dakota with temps which ranged between 95 – 100 daily, and we fared better in that, than we did in one morning, today. It was humid as hell, but how that caused the sun to be so much more intense is beyond me. We both have some burning as a result, despite each having SPF 50 on. Weird. But it started to cloud up a little after 1 or so, but I’ll get to that later.
We did manage to locate the aforementioned Biker Memorial (in Hopedale, Ohio) and snapped some shots of it. I’ll do a full write-up on that later when I have…say it with me…a better connection, so that I can post the pics.
We passed a pretty bad accident today – one car was banged up and off to the side, a mini box truck was spun around backwards in the median…and there must have been a third vehicle of some sort, because right where the accident happened, we were on a bridge and when we passed by, a State Trooper was putting out a fire on the slope of grass, leading down below our range of vision. If someone did indeed go down there, it couldn’t have been good for them.
Something on a lighter note; we were going past a huge field of corn at one point (I know; a field of corn! What were the odds of finding one of those??), and there was a road passing right through the middle of it. There was an 18-wheel rig (no trailer) going through the field, but because the corn was so high, all you could see was the top 1/3 of it. So it basically looked like a shark fin, gliding through a field of corn. Which was a pretty cool sight, actually.
Oh yeah; at one point, we were idling along at a measly…oh…85 miles an hour (in a 55 zone) when we came around a corner and there was a Statie on the side of the road, radar going. As soon as we passed, he put his lights on and started to pull out. The road was curving fairly hard to the right, so no sooner had we seen his lights go on, than we lost sight of him in the bend. Figuring it’d be better to just pull over and not risk pissing him off any more, we rolled to a stop in the breakdown lane. And waited. And waited some more. Several cars passed us…but no cop?!? We looked at each other, shrugged, and kicked the transmissions into gear and blasted off again. Even now, we have no idea why he didn’t come around the corner, tickets in hand, but we aren’t complaining.
Rain. We encountered our second rain storm of this trip, and because we seem to enjoy this kind of nonsense, we played tag with it several times. The only problem with playing tag with a thunderstorm is that the storm doesn’t care about who is ‘it’, it only wants to soak you. And it always wins. It was raining so hard that just about all the traffic was pulled over into the breakdown lane with their flashers going. There were so many yellow flashing lights that it looked like we were riding in a construction zone. We managed to find a spot under a bridge which had already been claimed by one biker (thankfully, there was room for a couple more – us!). When the rain finally passed, we fired the bikes up and headed back out…only to have the storm swing in and nail us again within two miles. So we found another bridge to hide under, etc., etc. When we were finally convinced that it had indeed passed us for good this time, we rolled out again – only to find the temps soar back up into the 90’s. High humidity again…oh boy, what fun. And not to have our previous rain adventure (up in Canada) be outdone, we managed to have the storm catch us a third time, about a half-hour outside of our current location. So we were pretty drenched when we checked in – earning us some sympathetic looks from the owners.
But not all was lost. We managed to find a KOA again, unpacked and shot off to a pub that Zig noticed on the way in. The food was good, the beer was cold…and the best part? They sold beer to go!! So now we’re back at the site and enjoying some cold frosties.
Chatted with Pat a bit ago and our plan is to arrive in the Olean area around noon, noon-thirty. We have to stop at Jamestown HD along the way and pick up some fluids so Zig can do the next service on his bike. Aside from that, I imagine we’ll be catching up with Lynner and kicking back for a bit. Although, we’ve had enough sun for a while – we may opt to find some shade to hang out in. We’ll see.
I think that about wraps things up for today’s events. So until next time…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Shhh...
We have a cricket inside the cabin. Zig is outside on the phone, I'm trying to locate it. But every time I think I've narrowed down it's location, naturally it stops making noise. So I have to distract it...make it think (like a cricket can think) that I'm just a harmless guy, blogging away. Hey, look at that guy, he's just working on his laptop. He's harmless. I can go ahead and start making all kinds of noise again. C'mon little fella, start making noise again...make noise again, dammit!!
*Sigh* Better have another beer while I'm waiting.
*Sigh* Better have another beer while I'm waiting.
Frikkin' Amish!
We hit the road around 9am this morning and (taking into account the hour we lost/gained by coming back into EST), were on the road for about 11 hours today. 630 miles. Not bad, not great. We hit traffic in the Chicago area…again. Rte 80 was actually closed down due to an accident so we peeled off to look at the maps – only to be told by a passerby that the highway had been reopened. Sure enough, we look back over our shoulders and see vehicles beginning to move again. We were torn – hop back onto the highway and hammer out another hour+ to get to Auburn? (Paul had recommended a great bar out there.) Or…stay in the KOA which happened to be right where we’d turned off? We left it to fate; I called the one in Auburn and they didn’t answer. F ‘em. I called the one that was where we were at, and they answered with a cheerful hello, and had a cabin available. Sold.
After we’d checked in, we asked where we could get a bite and a beer. And we were informed that since we’re in the middle of AMISH country, alcohol is pretty tough to find. She directed us to a bar that might still be open (at 8:30 on a Saturday? It MIGHT be open?) so we gave it a shot. Thankfully, they were open and we were able to chow down on pizza and BL’s. The hardest part was squeezing the bikes in between the horses which were tied up out front. Ha ha, funny, right? But seriously, there really were horses and buggies tied up out front. (Can you imagine if we’d needed a cab ride home? What would have showed up? Or, what do they do around here if their horse won’t start in the morning? Who do you call for something like that?)
But the best part of the trip to the bar was that we actually passed a mini liquor store on the way! (Lady at the KOA registration desk was holding out on us!!), so I’m happy to report that we are both holding frosty beerverages as I type this.
What else. Not much from today. No pics were taken; there wasn’t much of anything to see. Even though we’re already ahead of schedule, we opted to take the highway to speed things up even more. Why? Well, we already know what the back roads look like, and we already know what cornfields look like. And the highway doesn’t have small towns every 15 miles that make you slow down to 30 mph. So it was an easy choice for us.
But we’re really looking forward to getting to Olean and seeing some friendly faces soon. Don’t get me wrong; we’re having a blast, and if we could, we’d turn the bikes around and head right back out to South Dakota. Being out there is awesome. But the ride out there, and the ride back? It’s long days in the saddle, man. Long days in the saddle.
We did get a text from Lynner, inviting us to hang out at her pad on Monday (our expected Olean arrival day). Hanging poolside, grillin’, chillin’, and beer swillin’. Sounds like a marvelous plan to me.
“More pics?”, you might be asking? Sorry folks, the signal here is pretty bad. I guess the Amish aren’t big on phone/cell/internet coverage (among other things…like BEER!). I’m hoping this will post without probs, and then Zig and I are going to see if we can make some friends with the crew a few cabins down. They’ve got a fire going and a bus full of Amish strippers just showed up. Maybe these Amish aren’t so bad after all.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
After we’d checked in, we asked where we could get a bite and a beer. And we were informed that since we’re in the middle of AMISH country, alcohol is pretty tough to find. She directed us to a bar that might still be open (at 8:30 on a Saturday? It MIGHT be open?) so we gave it a shot. Thankfully, they were open and we were able to chow down on pizza and BL’s. The hardest part was squeezing the bikes in between the horses which were tied up out front. Ha ha, funny, right? But seriously, there really were horses and buggies tied up out front. (Can you imagine if we’d needed a cab ride home? What would have showed up? Or, what do they do around here if their horse won’t start in the morning? Who do you call for something like that?)
But the best part of the trip to the bar was that we actually passed a mini liquor store on the way! (Lady at the KOA registration desk was holding out on us!!), so I’m happy to report that we are both holding frosty beerverages as I type this.
What else. Not much from today. No pics were taken; there wasn’t much of anything to see. Even though we’re already ahead of schedule, we opted to take the highway to speed things up even more. Why? Well, we already know what the back roads look like, and we already know what cornfields look like. And the highway doesn’t have small towns every 15 miles that make you slow down to 30 mph. So it was an easy choice for us.
But we’re really looking forward to getting to Olean and seeing some friendly faces soon. Don’t get me wrong; we’re having a blast, and if we could, we’d turn the bikes around and head right back out to South Dakota. Being out there is awesome. But the ride out there, and the ride back? It’s long days in the saddle, man. Long days in the saddle.
We did get a text from Lynner, inviting us to hang out at her pad on Monday (our expected Olean arrival day). Hanging poolside, grillin’, chillin’, and beer swillin’. Sounds like a marvelous plan to me.
“More pics?”, you might be asking? Sorry folks, the signal here is pretty bad. I guess the Amish aren’t big on phone/cell/internet coverage (among other things…like BEER!). I’m hoping this will post without probs, and then Zig and I are going to see if we can make some friends with the crew a few cabins down. They’ve got a fire going and a bus full of Amish strippers just showed up. Maybe these Amish aren’t so bad after all.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
BADLANDS!!
Nice! The Badlands!!
This place is amazing.
Rattlesnakes? Snoop ain't afraid of no rattlesnakes!
This place is amazing.
Stop showing off, Snoop, and get down here.
Ok, that's it. No beer for you tonight.
The Road to South Dakota
Here are a few shots of our ride from Michigan to South Dakota.
Pretty sweet bridge here, I forget the name of it, though...
Long stretches of highway...
Pretty sweet bridge here, I forget the name of it, though...
Long stretches of highway...
Whaddya think, Snoop? Whole lotta wide open space out here, huh?
Fields and fields (for as far as you could see) of sunflowers. These pics don't do justice to the colors!
What's better after a long day, than a nice cold beer?
More pics to follow...
Friday, August 22, 2008
PICS!!!
(This posting will be just pics and comments. Below this post is a summary of today's events.)
Packed up and ready to roll out!
Got my mascot (Snoop!) all set up, directions are taped to the windshield, and the tunes are velcro'd to the dash. Let's get this party started!!
Here's my bike at Spitzie's, in Albany, after gimping it there with no clutch. But no worries, she was fixed and back out on the road in no time!
We met up with Paul and Mark, had a burger and a beer (or two), then Paul took us on some sweet side roads. But he had a trick up his sleeve; here's another reason why it's good to ride with Paul - he packs cold beers!!
The night before Zig and I were heading out for Sturgis, Paul & Bettina & Zig & I went out for dinner. Snoop tagged along and when I turned my back for a second, he helped himself to my margarita. Rat Bastard!
Bettina, Paul, myself, and Zig
Guido and myself in the back, Starr, Zig, Paul and Bettina in the front. And Snoop! He's sneaking a drink of Paul's beer!!
Out on the river. This was our first stop (the sand hill in the background. This pic was an over-the-shoulder shot taken by Zig after we loaded back into the canoe and headed downstream.). Apparently we just missed seeing someone slide a canoe right down the sand hill. They didn't make it into the water, though...which means it must have been a pretty funny sight to see, slamming into the dirt at the bottom.
Starr and Guido - kicking back and doing things right.
Back at the campground. Bettina, Zig (background), and Joerg
Mark, Bettina, Paul, myself (I don't know what I was doing - maybe asking permission to ask a quesion?), Joerg and Guido
Bettina and Trace, getting the food ready for the troops!
Diek and Maria. Maria doesn't look like she's on-board with whatever plan Diek has in mind...
Here's some free advice for all the kids back home; it's not a good idea to soak the bottom of a beer case in lighter fluid, light it, and then put it onto your head. It doesn't matter if you've been drinking all day, it's still not a good idea to do this.
Hanging around the campfire after a long day of drink...er...paddling.
They threw us onto the ground and poured alchohol down our throats!!!
Changing my oil in Paul's Motorcyle Repair Shop.
On the road!! Windmills! Tons and tons of them! Too bad most of them weren't working. (We asked about this and it seems the original motors that were shipped out with these things were defective, and now over half of them need repair/replacing.)
Packed up and ready to roll out!
Got my mascot (Snoop!) all set up, directions are taped to the windshield, and the tunes are velcro'd to the dash. Let's get this party started!!
Here's my bike at Spitzie's, in Albany, after gimping it there with no clutch. But no worries, she was fixed and back out on the road in no time!
We met up with Paul and Mark, had a burger and a beer (or two), then Paul took us on some sweet side roads. But he had a trick up his sleeve; here's another reason why it's good to ride with Paul - he packs cold beers!!
Zig, Paul, Dave, Mark
The night before Zig and I were heading out for Sturgis, Paul & Bettina & Zig & I went out for dinner. Snoop tagged along and when I turned my back for a second, he helped himself to my margarita. Rat Bastard!
Bettina, Paul, myself, and Zig
Guido and myself in the back, Starr, Zig, Paul and Bettina in the front. And Snoop! He's sneaking a drink of Paul's beer!!
Out on the river. This was our first stop (the sand hill in the background. This pic was an over-the-shoulder shot taken by Zig after we loaded back into the canoe and headed downstream.). Apparently we just missed seeing someone slide a canoe right down the sand hill. They didn't make it into the water, though...which means it must have been a pretty funny sight to see, slamming into the dirt at the bottom.
Starr and Guido - kicking back and doing things right.
Back at the campground. Bettina, Zig (background), and Joerg
Mark, Bettina, Paul, myself (I don't know what I was doing - maybe asking permission to ask a quesion?), Joerg and Guido
Bettina and Trace, getting the food ready for the troops!
Diek and Maria. Maria doesn't look like she's on-board with whatever plan Diek has in mind...
Here's some free advice for all the kids back home; it's not a good idea to soak the bottom of a beer case in lighter fluid, light it, and then put it onto your head. It doesn't matter if you've been drinking all day, it's still not a good idea to do this.
Hanging around the campfire after a long day of drink...er...paddling.
They threw us onto the ground and poured alchohol down our throats!!!
Unfortunately, we did have some rain move in, so some shelter was needed. Guido and Becky hiding out under the overhang.
Changing my oil in Paul's Motorcyle Repair Shop.
On the road!! Windmills! Tons and tons of them! Too bad most of them weren't working. (We asked about this and it seems the original motors that were shipped out with these things were defective, and now over half of them need repair/replacing.)
I'm afraid the signal isn't proving to be as strong as I'd hoped. It's still taking several minutes for each pic to load, so I'm afraid this is going to be as far as I get tonight. Besides, I'm out of beer. Er...I mean...it's late and I'm *Yawn* tired. Hopefully I'll have more time tomorrow. And more beer. Definitely more beer.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Departure
Not a lot to report from today. We had..uhm…a bit of a late start you could say. There really isn’t any need to dwell on WHY we had a late start, so let’s just move on, shall we? Once we did get moving, we hit the Badlands again for a few more loops and pics.
From the beginning of this trip, our itinerary has been very loosely assembled, as we generally just fly by the seat of our bikes. As such (and having seen everything in the Sturgis area that we’d set out to), we had no problem with starting our return trip a bit early (our original plan was to start heading back tomorrow, Saturday). That decision being made, we pointed our tires Eastward and left the amazing scenery to fade slowly in our side mirrors.
We sliced along Rte 44 through the desolate plains leading away from the Badlands and picked up Rte 83, down to Rte 20 and we hammered things hard. We were making good time (and making up some lost time), and actually made it to our ‘scheduled’ first layover location; Neligh, NE. And we found ourselves with a two-fold dilemma;
A) Neligh, Nebraska is basically a non-town. If I’d had to guess, I would say the population of Neligh, Nebraska is teetering at about 15 poor souls.
B) We weren’t ready to stop yet. Hey, those of you that ride, know what I’m talking about. When you’ve got some serious throttle twisting going on, it’s tough to bring things back down when there’s still daylight left to burn.
So we kept right on blasting. Oh yeah; since Nebraska is one of the dumb-ass states which requires you to wear helmets, we figured it’d be worth a shot to see if we could tear right on through to the border, into Iowa, so we could lose the lids again. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite make it, but we have landed in Omaha. We can pretty much see Iowa from here…ok, so it’s too dark outside to see much of anything. But it if were sunny out, I’m sure we could see it just fine. 461 miles on the day - not too shabby for not having gotten onto the highways until about noontime.
For those of you keeping track at home; we're more than a full day ahead of schedule. We weren't supposed to leave until tomorrow, and we were only thinking of going as far as Neligh. Well, we left today, and we pushed about 130 miles beyond that non-town. So Olean; get ready. If we don't come up with a plan to kill some of this extra time, we're going to be landing in your backyard sooner than expected. (But we'll call ahead.)
We located another KOA for the night and have just unloaded our stuff. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, but the signal here seems to be pretty strong so I’m going to cross my fingers and see if I might be able to get some PICS loaded!! (Loud roars of applause from the audience.)
That wraps up today’s events. Now on to see if I can post some of the pics…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
From the beginning of this trip, our itinerary has been very loosely assembled, as we generally just fly by the seat of our bikes. As such (and having seen everything in the Sturgis area that we’d set out to), we had no problem with starting our return trip a bit early (our original plan was to start heading back tomorrow, Saturday). That decision being made, we pointed our tires Eastward and left the amazing scenery to fade slowly in our side mirrors.
We sliced along Rte 44 through the desolate plains leading away from the Badlands and picked up Rte 83, down to Rte 20 and we hammered things hard. We were making good time (and making up some lost time), and actually made it to our ‘scheduled’ first layover location; Neligh, NE. And we found ourselves with a two-fold dilemma;
A) Neligh, Nebraska is basically a non-town. If I’d had to guess, I would say the population of Neligh, Nebraska is teetering at about 15 poor souls.
B) We weren’t ready to stop yet. Hey, those of you that ride, know what I’m talking about. When you’ve got some serious throttle twisting going on, it’s tough to bring things back down when there’s still daylight left to burn.
So we kept right on blasting. Oh yeah; since Nebraska is one of the dumb-ass states which requires you to wear helmets, we figured it’d be worth a shot to see if we could tear right on through to the border, into Iowa, so we could lose the lids again. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite make it, but we have landed in Omaha. We can pretty much see Iowa from here…ok, so it’s too dark outside to see much of anything. But it if were sunny out, I’m sure we could see it just fine. 461 miles on the day - not too shabby for not having gotten onto the highways until about noontime.
For those of you keeping track at home; we're more than a full day ahead of schedule. We weren't supposed to leave until tomorrow, and we were only thinking of going as far as Neligh. Well, we left today, and we pushed about 130 miles beyond that non-town. So Olean; get ready. If we don't come up with a plan to kill some of this extra time, we're going to be landing in your backyard sooner than expected. (But we'll call ahead.)
We located another KOA for the night and have just unloaded our stuff. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, but the signal here seems to be pretty strong so I’m going to cross my fingers and see if I might be able to get some PICS loaded!! (Loud roars of applause from the audience.)
That wraps up today’s events. Now on to see if I can post some of the pics…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Spearfish Canyon and Devil's Tower...and BAR!
Not a lot of detail for today. Why? Uhm…well…we’re cocked. And by cocked, I mean drunk. Ya see, we had an excellent day of riding, followed by an unexpected surprise at a bar just up the street from where we’re staying tonight. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s how the day rolled out…(352 miles for the day, total).
We checked pout of Mt. Rushmore KOA, rode Spearfish Canyon and then hit the highway to go check out Devil’s Tower. But I’m getting ahead of myself again. So let’s try and slow things down a bit.
Frikkin' crikey. If any of you could see me typing this right now, you’d either bust a nut laughing. Or shake your head in sympathy. Did I not mention that we’re cocked? Typos abound! If I could type normally, I’d have this little ditty done up nicely in about 5 minutes. But try as I might to sober up, Zig keeps feeding me more beers (that we bought from the bar! Wait til I tell you about how cool this bar is!)
So anyway, we hit Spearfish Canyon and what an amazing ride it was. High rock outcroppings, sharp left and rights, long curves…and three dudes skateboarding. A river long-dried, which was a mystery to us until we located an info center that explained the river actually was ‘swallowed’ by sink holes. So a river that was quite strong and forceful to begin with, vanished and became a dry bed of stones. (But the stone selection was quite extensive.) Wait, I skipped over the skate boarding guys. There were three dudes, just sailing down the roadway, nice and easily. We caught up to them at one rest area and asked them what do they do when they reach the bottom. Turns out they’ve put some thought into this; they leave one car at the bottom of the canyon and have another car at the top. When the get to the bottom, they drive up to the car at the top and then are on their way again. Not too shabby a plan at all. Ok, maybe I didn't explain it so well, but the plan they had seemed pretty sound.
From there, we jumped back onto Rte 90 and kicked our bikes in the arse once more, to get them rolling along at a respectable pace (+90 mph). Making good time, we soon found ourselves at one of the exits for Devil’s Tower…
Which was frikkin’ amazing!! Once you take the exit, you ride and ride and ride, and you think “how can they stick a ginormous stone outcropping into the middle of nowhere and not see it coming? Guess what? They can’t! You get about 20 miles away and all of a sudden; you take a corner and HEY!, there’s a big stone thingie sticking up in the air! So totally cool. We did the photo thing (many times)l, and the opted to turn the bikes towards the main Mecca of this whole thing called the “Black Hills Rally”; Sturgis.
We made it there…only to find out that there isn’t a service dept there. I know; big scam. Anyway, we shot off from there and headed to their sister location; the Black Hills HD shop. Only to have them tell Zig that the problem he’s having is indeed a main problem inside the radio and there’s nothing they (the dealership) can do for him. Another example of customer service at it’s worst. (Ok, the customer service guy was cool, and his hands are tied by The Factory, which still stand by the statement that “All our bikes are 100% perfect)…BULLSHIT!!!
Anywho, from there, we set out sights onto Rte 44 East, through the badlands, and just rocked out. The map said this stretch was only 32 miles long, but when you’re riding through desolate stretches of nothingness, time just stands still. Sounds completely cliché’, but it’s entirely true. All you can see for miles in front of you….and miles to the left and right of you…is nothing but barren, foreboding stretches of land which seem to go on forever.
We finally managed to make it to the KOA we’re staying in tonight. They had one cabin left, which we thankfully took possession of…for about 4 minutes. At which time we shot back out to a bar we’d passed on the way in. Ya see; we needed food and beer, and we weren’t to be disappointed as it turned out. The bar owner was working the bar and he fed us whikked yummy pizza, and also fed us very cheap beers. And then he had friends show up. Soon the place was hopping and they were all loving that we were from Boston.
We’d had quite a long day and were kicking around the idea of heading back to the cabin and getting a good night’s sleep - but that sure as hell didn’t happen...Shots, laughs, all-around good times. Every time that Zig and I started/tried to leave, someone else was buying another round. And of course; it would be rude to depart and leave a brandy-new beer behind, so our ‘quick beer and food’ plan evolved into something which devolved into harmless debauchery. What a great group of folks there. The “Horseshoe Pub” was the name and if you’re ever in the area, just tell Greg (owner) that Dave and Zig are buying you a drink.
So, now that this ‘short’ post is running quite long, I won’t bore you with any more details. Suffice to say that we made it safely back.
And the wind is frikkin amazing!! There are no clouds in the sky tonight. Zero. Zilch. Amazing viewing of the stars. But the wind is like we’re about to have a hurricane. It was blowing Zig and my bikes all over the place on our way back…the only thing missing is some Lightning Strikes!!
Ok, it’s time to turn in. ‘Member when I said that this post wasn’t going to have a lot of detail? Apparently, I lied.
But I am beat. And Zig turned in a short while ago. So now I’m going to follow his lead and wrap things up.
Hope all are doing well. We’re having a blast!! (And look at the time that I posted this! It’s late!!) HEY!! Zig just came back!! He didn’t abandon me. But it is late, and we have a 12-pack to finish. Oops, disregard that last part.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
We checked pout of Mt. Rushmore KOA, rode Spearfish Canyon and then hit the highway to go check out Devil’s Tower. But I’m getting ahead of myself again. So let’s try and slow things down a bit.
Frikkin' crikey. If any of you could see me typing this right now, you’d either bust a nut laughing. Or shake your head in sympathy. Did I not mention that we’re cocked? Typos abound! If I could type normally, I’d have this little ditty done up nicely in about 5 minutes. But try as I might to sober up, Zig keeps feeding me more beers (that we bought from the bar! Wait til I tell you about how cool this bar is!)
So anyway, we hit Spearfish Canyon and what an amazing ride it was. High rock outcroppings, sharp left and rights, long curves…and three dudes skateboarding. A river long-dried, which was a mystery to us until we located an info center that explained the river actually was ‘swallowed’ by sink holes. So a river that was quite strong and forceful to begin with, vanished and became a dry bed of stones. (But the stone selection was quite extensive.) Wait, I skipped over the skate boarding guys. There were three dudes, just sailing down the roadway, nice and easily. We caught up to them at one rest area and asked them what do they do when they reach the bottom. Turns out they’ve put some thought into this; they leave one car at the bottom of the canyon and have another car at the top. When the get to the bottom, they drive up to the car at the top and then are on their way again. Not too shabby a plan at all. Ok, maybe I didn't explain it so well, but the plan they had seemed pretty sound.
From there, we jumped back onto Rte 90 and kicked our bikes in the arse once more, to get them rolling along at a respectable pace (+90 mph). Making good time, we soon found ourselves at one of the exits for Devil’s Tower…
Which was frikkin’ amazing!! Once you take the exit, you ride and ride and ride, and you think “how can they stick a ginormous stone outcropping into the middle of nowhere and not see it coming? Guess what? They can’t! You get about 20 miles away and all of a sudden; you take a corner and HEY!, there’s a big stone thingie sticking up in the air! So totally cool. We did the photo thing (many times)l, and the opted to turn the bikes towards the main Mecca of this whole thing called the “Black Hills Rally”; Sturgis.
We made it there…only to find out that there isn’t a service dept there. I know; big scam. Anyway, we shot off from there and headed to their sister location; the Black Hills HD shop. Only to have them tell Zig that the problem he’s having is indeed a main problem inside the radio and there’s nothing they (the dealership) can do for him. Another example of customer service at it’s worst. (Ok, the customer service guy was cool, and his hands are tied by The Factory, which still stand by the statement that “All our bikes are 100% perfect)…BULLSHIT!!!
Anywho, from there, we set out sights onto Rte 44 East, through the badlands, and just rocked out. The map said this stretch was only 32 miles long, but when you’re riding through desolate stretches of nothingness, time just stands still. Sounds completely cliché’, but it’s entirely true. All you can see for miles in front of you….and miles to the left and right of you…is nothing but barren, foreboding stretches of land which seem to go on forever.
We finally managed to make it to the KOA we’re staying in tonight. They had one cabin left, which we thankfully took possession of…for about 4 minutes. At which time we shot back out to a bar we’d passed on the way in. Ya see; we needed food and beer, and we weren’t to be disappointed as it turned out. The bar owner was working the bar and he fed us whikked yummy pizza, and also fed us very cheap beers. And then he had friends show up. Soon the place was hopping and they were all loving that we were from Boston.
We’d had quite a long day and were kicking around the idea of heading back to the cabin and getting a good night’s sleep - but that sure as hell didn’t happen...Shots, laughs, all-around good times. Every time that Zig and I started/tried to leave, someone else was buying another round. And of course; it would be rude to depart and leave a brandy-new beer behind, so our ‘quick beer and food’ plan evolved into something which devolved into harmless debauchery. What a great group of folks there. The “Horseshoe Pub” was the name and if you’re ever in the area, just tell Greg (owner) that Dave and Zig are buying you a drink.
So, now that this ‘short’ post is running quite long, I won’t bore you with any more details. Suffice to say that we made it safely back.
And the wind is frikkin amazing!! There are no clouds in the sky tonight. Zero. Zilch. Amazing viewing of the stars. But the wind is like we’re about to have a hurricane. It was blowing Zig and my bikes all over the place on our way back…the only thing missing is some Lightning Strikes!!
Ok, it’s time to turn in. ‘Member when I said that this post wasn’t going to have a lot of detail? Apparently, I lied.
But I am beat. And Zig turned in a short while ago. So now I’m going to follow his lead and wrap things up.
Hope all are doing well. We’re having a blast!! (And look at the time that I posted this! It’s late!!) HEY!! Zig just came back!! He didn’t abandon me. But it is late, and we have a 12-pack to finish. Oops, disregard that last part.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Iron Mtn, Custer State Park, Crazy Horse & Needles Highway
Despite having closed the bar last night (like you’d expect anything different from us…), we were up and rolling pretty early. We grabbed a quick breakfast, rolled down to Keystone for gas, and then set our sights on the Iron Mountain Road.
A sharp left turn brought us off of Rte 244 and onto the famous Iron Mountain road. We were soon banking hard lefts and rights as we slowly climbed higher and higher along this thin ribbon of roadway. There were some single-lane tunnels carved through the living rock, tons of switchbacks, and amazing scenery throughout.
Reaching the end of that roadway, a quick right and then left, brought us smack into Custer State Park, and onto the Wildlife Loop roadway. This place was amazing!! Wide open plains and rolling hills. I tell ya, this almost looked like an African safari kind of terrain. High grasses for as far as you could see, with small groupings of trees here and there. Very cool.
There’s all kinds of wildlife in the area, but our main goal was to locate and photo some wild buffalo. Those proved to be elusive, and we’d managed to photo plenty of antelope, deer, and donkeys before we finally located a herd of buffalo. Sounds grand, right? Well, the herd was at least a half-mile away, at the bottom of a valley which had no access roadways to it. So we took some long distance pics and kept rolling. Next, we spotted a single guy, off walking by himself and we got as close as we dared and snapped some more pics. Rolling further on, we managed to find the motherload; a second herd and this one was actually crossing a road. We rode up to a safe distance, turned the bikes around (to facilitate a quick exit if need be) and walked up to where they were. We got some real good up-close pics and then, seeing as how they were heading right for us, we decided it was time to mosey along.
We grabbed a quick lunch in Custer and then checked the maps to see how far we had to get to the Crazy Horse memorial. We were surprised to see that it was less than 5 miles away so we blasted over there and took some photos (again, from the parking lot, and opting not to hand over the entrance fee).
From there was on to Needles Highway, a very similar roadway to Iron Mountain Road. Roughly in the middle was a grouping of huge rock formations, stretching high into the sky. The largest of these has a sliver of rock on it’s side, attached at the top and the bottom, but with a slender hole in between. It gives the impression of a needle, with the hole being the eye of the needle (hence the name of this spot; the Needle’s Eye). Zig and I climbed over much of the rocks and actually managed to not fall to our deaths. From there, we hammered more lefts and rights, eventually landing in Custer State Park again. This put us in grand position to take Iron Mountain Road again, leading us back toward ‘home’ (the bar…er…the KOA). We grabbed a quick dinner and then rocked and rolled back into the campground. Showers have been completed and now we’re knocking a few beers back while I get this typed up. Then it’s off to…
Wait for it…wait…for…it….
The Bar!!
Tomorrow we’ll pack up and head on out through Spearfish Canyon on our way to Devil’s Tower. From there, it’ll be back to Sturgis to check out “The Town” that started it all. There’s a Harley dealership there so we’ll have to swing in; Zig’s having troubles with his MP3 jack on his radio so he’ll talk to Service about a fix while I peruse the T-shirt selection. After that – who knows. We don’t have any place picked out to stay yet, we’re winging it and have several options. There’s a place deep in the woods back in Custer State Park that a ranger was telling us about. No water, no electricity, basically you walk into the woods/plains and throw your tent down. And hope nothing eats you during the night.
And that folks, is that. For today, anyways. It’s Bar time once again!
Oh, pics? Yeah. You know the drill. Hopefully sometime before we get back, but the more time that passes (and the more lack of success I have at trying to post them), it seems likely they’ll have to wait until I’m home and have a decent connection. Apologies, but I do promise they’ll be up as soon as possible.
So, as mentioned previously; it’s Bar Time.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
A sharp left turn brought us off of Rte 244 and onto the famous Iron Mountain road. We were soon banking hard lefts and rights as we slowly climbed higher and higher along this thin ribbon of roadway. There were some single-lane tunnels carved through the living rock, tons of switchbacks, and amazing scenery throughout.
Reaching the end of that roadway, a quick right and then left, brought us smack into Custer State Park, and onto the Wildlife Loop roadway. This place was amazing!! Wide open plains and rolling hills. I tell ya, this almost looked like an African safari kind of terrain. High grasses for as far as you could see, with small groupings of trees here and there. Very cool.
There’s all kinds of wildlife in the area, but our main goal was to locate and photo some wild buffalo. Those proved to be elusive, and we’d managed to photo plenty of antelope, deer, and donkeys before we finally located a herd of buffalo. Sounds grand, right? Well, the herd was at least a half-mile away, at the bottom of a valley which had no access roadways to it. So we took some long distance pics and kept rolling. Next, we spotted a single guy, off walking by himself and we got as close as we dared and snapped some more pics. Rolling further on, we managed to find the motherload; a second herd and this one was actually crossing a road. We rode up to a safe distance, turned the bikes around (to facilitate a quick exit if need be) and walked up to where they were. We got some real good up-close pics and then, seeing as how they were heading right for us, we decided it was time to mosey along.
We grabbed a quick lunch in Custer and then checked the maps to see how far we had to get to the Crazy Horse memorial. We were surprised to see that it was less than 5 miles away so we blasted over there and took some photos (again, from the parking lot, and opting not to hand over the entrance fee).
From there was on to Needles Highway, a very similar roadway to Iron Mountain Road. Roughly in the middle was a grouping of huge rock formations, stretching high into the sky. The largest of these has a sliver of rock on it’s side, attached at the top and the bottom, but with a slender hole in between. It gives the impression of a needle, with the hole being the eye of the needle (hence the name of this spot; the Needle’s Eye). Zig and I climbed over much of the rocks and actually managed to not fall to our deaths. From there, we hammered more lefts and rights, eventually landing in Custer State Park again. This put us in grand position to take Iron Mountain Road again, leading us back toward ‘home’ (the bar…er…the KOA). We grabbed a quick dinner and then rocked and rolled back into the campground. Showers have been completed and now we’re knocking a few beers back while I get this typed up. Then it’s off to…
Wait for it…wait…for…it….
The Bar!!
Tomorrow we’ll pack up and head on out through Spearfish Canyon on our way to Devil’s Tower. From there, it’ll be back to Sturgis to check out “The Town” that started it all. There’s a Harley dealership there so we’ll have to swing in; Zig’s having troubles with his MP3 jack on his radio so he’ll talk to Service about a fix while I peruse the T-shirt selection. After that – who knows. We don’t have any place picked out to stay yet, we’re winging it and have several options. There’s a place deep in the woods back in Custer State Park that a ranger was telling us about. No water, no electricity, basically you walk into the woods/plains and throw your tent down. And hope nothing eats you during the night.
And that folks, is that. For today, anyways. It’s Bar time once again!
Oh, pics? Yeah. You know the drill. Hopefully sometime before we get back, but the more time that passes (and the more lack of success I have at trying to post them), it seems likely they’ll have to wait until I’m home and have a decent connection. Apologies, but I do promise they’ll be up as soon as possible.
So, as mentioned previously; it’s Bar Time.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Badlands, Wall Drug & Mt. Rushmore
Zig and I arrived at the Badlands and proceeded onto the Badlands Loop. This route is a mere 39 or so miles long. So why did it take us two and a half hours? Because the scenery is beyond amazing. We hadn't gone 1/4 mile before we pulled off into a viewing area, set the kickstands to the pavement and did a bit of a walkabout. (I'd love to show you the pics we took, but the signal strength is an overwhelming 0% right now - I don't even know if this post will go through when I send it.)
We stopped a few more spots along the way, then rocked and rolled our way out to the other end. We could easily have spent the rest of the day there, but today's itinerary included checking out Wall Drug and Mt. Rushmore, so we mosied along, and we'll hit the Badlands again on our way home.
We took some videos of riding through different twisty areas...but, like the pics, they'll have to wait until a later date...maybe not even until I get back home. Sorry! I know a lot of you really have no interest in my babbling and only want to see the pics. And I'd love to oblige. Unfortunately, the main push of technology hasn't reached this far west yet. Or maybe it's just because we're choosing to stay in the boonies...
So we made it over to Wall Drug. I've heard about this place for years, but I guess I didn't realize that it's nothing but a bunch of mini stores, selling all kinds of touristy stuff. I guess I can now say that I've been there...but I can also say that I don't foresee ever going there again.
Next was Mt. Rushmore. Rather than pay the fee to enter the 'official' entrance/viewing area, we pulled to the side of the road to take our pics (we weren't the only one with that plan) and then checked into the KOA we're staying in tonight. Zig is still unpacking, I'm getting today's update done, then we're going to shower (not together - that's how rumors start), then we're going to hit the on-site bar.
That's right; Bar! Now before you go thinking "What kind of bar can there be at a KOA?", lemme assure you; this place is like the Taj Majal of KOA's. Clothes stores, mini-mart, two pools, breakfast place, (mini) water park, etc. etc. etc. So, when I say there's a bar here, there's a bar, and it looks to be decent.
404 miles on the day. Not a lot, but most of them were hard-won. 85+ on the highway again.
Tomorrow is Crazy Horse, Custer National Park, riding in the Black Hills, etc. But not necessarily in that order.
Ok, we just cracked our first beer. Which means shower and bar. So until next time, kids...
Ride Hard, Take Chances
We stopped a few more spots along the way, then rocked and rolled our way out to the other end. We could easily have spent the rest of the day there, but today's itinerary included checking out Wall Drug and Mt. Rushmore, so we mosied along, and we'll hit the Badlands again on our way home.
We took some videos of riding through different twisty areas...but, like the pics, they'll have to wait until a later date...maybe not even until I get back home. Sorry! I know a lot of you really have no interest in my babbling and only want to see the pics. And I'd love to oblige. Unfortunately, the main push of technology hasn't reached this far west yet. Or maybe it's just because we're choosing to stay in the boonies...
So we made it over to Wall Drug. I've heard about this place for years, but I guess I didn't realize that it's nothing but a bunch of mini stores, selling all kinds of touristy stuff. I guess I can now say that I've been there...but I can also say that I don't foresee ever going there again.
Next was Mt. Rushmore. Rather than pay the fee to enter the 'official' entrance/viewing area, we pulled to the side of the road to take our pics (we weren't the only one with that plan) and then checked into the KOA we're staying in tonight. Zig is still unpacking, I'm getting today's update done, then we're going to shower (not together - that's how rumors start), then we're going to hit the on-site bar.
That's right; Bar! Now before you go thinking "What kind of bar can there be at a KOA?", lemme assure you; this place is like the Taj Majal of KOA's. Clothes stores, mini-mart, two pools, breakfast place, (mini) water park, etc. etc. etc. So, when I say there's a bar here, there's a bar, and it looks to be decent.
404 miles on the day. Not a lot, but most of them were hard-won. 85+ on the highway again.
Tomorrow is Crazy Horse, Custer National Park, riding in the Black Hills, etc. But not necessarily in that order.
Ok, we just cracked our first beer. Which means shower and bar. So until next time, kids...
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Monday, August 18, 2008
Stage Two
Not much to report for today, just a long day of riding, so I'll do a quick summary and then try to post the pics taken to date.
Up, showered, fed (thanks again Paul & Bettina!) and on the road at 7:30. Paul led us to the highway we wanted and off we went. We picked up 90 and hammered the throttles hard. I love riding out this way! Everyone speeds like crazy! Speed limits varied from 70 down to 55, but everyone drives at least 20 mph over the posted limit. We only saw 2 staties so far and neither of them gave us any trouble. Oh wait, we did see a pack of 4 of them, but that was at a rollover accident (car was on it's side in the median), but the driver seemed not too seriously hurt, which was good.
Anywho, there was a ton of traffic through Chicago and also we hit many areas of road work, which also did nothing for us. At the end of the day, we'd logged 13.5 hours on the road, but only just under 800 miles. Oh well, we got as far as we wanted to for today, leaving about 400 miles for tomorrow before we arrive in Sturgis and the real fun can begin.
That about wraps things up for today. On to the pics!!
Dammit!! The connection here is too poor to load pics. Each time I try, it times out. Stupid Frickfrackennaggle internet!!!!!
Anyway, Zig needs to use the PC and I need another beer...er...I need to take a shower. So if I'm feeling particularly ambitious tomorrow morning, I'll try posting pics then. But for now; "I'm out Jerry". (Hey, it's 11:30 right now and we've been hammering the throttles since 7:30 this morning. A little compassion please?)
Tomorrow? STURGIS!!
Til next time;
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Up, showered, fed (thanks again Paul & Bettina!) and on the road at 7:30. Paul led us to the highway we wanted and off we went. We picked up 90 and hammered the throttles hard. I love riding out this way! Everyone speeds like crazy! Speed limits varied from 70 down to 55, but everyone drives at least 20 mph over the posted limit. We only saw 2 staties so far and neither of them gave us any trouble. Oh wait, we did see a pack of 4 of them, but that was at a rollover accident (car was on it's side in the median), but the driver seemed not too seriously hurt, which was good.
Anywho, there was a ton of traffic through Chicago and also we hit many areas of road work, which also did nothing for us. At the end of the day, we'd logged 13.5 hours on the road, but only just under 800 miles. Oh well, we got as far as we wanted to for today, leaving about 400 miles for tomorrow before we arrive in Sturgis and the real fun can begin.
That about wraps things up for today. On to the pics!!
Dammit!! The connection here is too poor to load pics. Each time I try, it times out. Stupid Frickfrackennaggle internet!!!!!
Anyway, Zig needs to use the PC and I need another beer...er...I need to take a shower. So if I'm feeling particularly ambitious tomorrow morning, I'll try posting pics then. But for now; "I'm out Jerry". (Hey, it's 11:30 right now and we've been hammering the throttles since 7:30 this morning. A little compassion please?)
Tomorrow? STURGIS!!
Til next time;
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Details, details, details
Zig and I rolled out just before 10am on Thursday morning. Traffic wasn't too bad, the clouds were minimal and our spirits were high. That was soon to change...
We got about halfway down the Pike when suddenly we saw signs for road work ahead. Okay... Then the signs started saying there was a 2 hour backup. Ouch. As it turns out, we were stuck for only (only?) an hour. Bike stopped, feet down. Bleah.
After we got moving again, we were just about at the NY border and went through the tolls. I clutched down, passed through (Fast Lane) and went to shift back up...except, the clutch lever went right to the handle. No Clutch! And an 18-wheel rig coming up hard on my tail. Zoinks! Managed to turn quickly into the entrance to the parking area (toll booth employees?), and the bike lugged to a stall.
WTF? Busted clutch cable and we're not even out of the state yet? Oy. Well, let's get the tools out and start taking the old one off. Hey...the cable isn't broken...so it's gotta be something inside the trans. Not good. Called the closest HD dealership (40 miles away) and advised that we were going to try and gimp the bike there and they said ok, they'd be waiting. Hmmm...how to get moving? If I start in Neutral and drop into first gear, it'll stall. Zig tells me to start it in first, the bike will kick forward enough until it finally catches and I should be good to do. Hey, look at that...I'm moving! (It was an ugly, ugly start, but it was still a start!).
Power shifted up to high gear and rolled out the miles. Managed to get through a few more toll booths, too. Took the turn off the highway and onto the street the dealership was on. Oh lovely. A main drag, complete with lots of traffic lights. I am unable to stop, people!! Luckily, all the lights were green for us!! Oh wait..the last one was red. So I got stuck doing tiny circles, turning out of traffic into a VERY small sidewalk area, looping around back into traffic, sliding by on the right side of the cars that were waiting, passing Zig, turning into the sidewalk area again, back into traffic, around and around. I'm doing all of this at a dizzying 4 mph, too. ("Look kids, Big Ben...Parliament".) I think I made about 6 circles before the light finally went green and we were on our way.
Got to the dealership (Spitzie’s, in Albany) and they rolled us right in. After advising them that another dealership had had the primary off, just the day before, they said they had a real good idea what the problem was. Sure enough, it was the nut on the tranny mainshaft. They even brought us into the service bay area and showed us the problem. The tech simply rolled the nut back onto the shaft, up tight against the backing plate, took a wrench and gave it a twist. That was it. That was all that was needed. That was all that the tech back at Paramount had needed to do. F’ing retard.
Back onto the road, we started making up for lost time. We crossed into Canada without incident and pressed hard for Brantford (the town we were staying in that night). The daylight was fading quickly and we could see a storm in the distance ahead of us. The lightning was limited to the clouds for a while, but then we started seeing strikes, and that was when we knew it was closing in. However, we knew that we were breaking off onto a different highway soon, one that would steer us to the left – and hopefully away from the storm. If only we could get to the turnoff before the storm did.
We lost the race. When the wind suddenly picked up, almost leaning us into 45 degree angles, we knew it was time to pull over and hit the rain gear. No sooner had we donned it than the skies opened up on us. We pulled back out and continued on, and eventually the storm started to abate a bit. Apparently we’d made it through to the other side of it. Oh look, here’s our turn-off. But it was more than just a turn-off, it was a grand, sweeping bend – which took us back into the storm again, briefly. Hitting the same storm, twice? What are the odds? Oh well, we only caught the edge of it, it seems to be letting up a bit.
We settled into the new highway…just in time to find the rear edge of the storm again. And our speed must have matched the storm’s, because we rode with that stupid thing the whole way to our destination. Three passes through the same storm. Not a good plan, I recommend against it.
We found the hotel, cleaned up and headed across the street to Moose Wanooski’s, the aforementioned bar. Great beer, a funny bartender, and a few hours to unwind from the day. That was Day 1.
Day 2 had us back on the road and back into the USA in good time. We met up with Paul and Mark in Michigan and they took us to a great eatery (Jumbo’s Burger Bar). Beer & burgers and then back onto the road for a tour of some of the roads in the area.
Mark had to break off towards the end, and the remaining three of us blasted off to Paul’s house to get cleaned up again, then pack and head off for the canoeing weekend.
We made decent time getting there, but we were still playing with the last vestiges of daylight as we scrambled to set our tents up. Everyone got set/settled and the party kicked into high gear.
The Michigan Crew! Guido & Star, Joerg & Becky, Diek & Maria, and a new couple (for us); Trace & Bev. That was just on our side of the road. On the other side were the rest of the party animals. I only remember a fraction of their names…Craig & Jill, Mark, T-Bone, Paula…uhm..yeah, I think that’s all I can remember. But they had quite a setup going. They had a real bar; all wood and done up with lights and a working disco ball. A disco ball! In the middle of the woods. Too funny. Because we’d gotten there late in the day, most of the good booze was gone, but there were a few bottles of rotgut kind of stuff available. At one point, one of the women said we all had to do a shot together, so we grabbed a bottle of no-name whiskey. Zig said he didn’t like whiskey, so he couldn’t do a very big shot of it. Ok, the lady pours him about half a finger’s width and he says “Oh, I can drink more than that!” (Bad move - she filled his shot glass to the rim.) The fun and frivolity continued long into the night.
The next morning we packed coolers with food and beer and hopped onto a bus which rode us up the river a fair way. We disembarked, grabbed canoes and kayaks and hit the water. What a day! Nothing but sunshine, a nice breeze, and a decent current which allowed for just kicking back and floating if we wanted to.
We spent about 6 hours on the river, ending up right back at the camping area. We got the campfires going again, set to cooking, and did a repeat of Friday night’s enjoyment.
This morning we packed up camp, headed to breakfast with the crew and now we’re back at Paul and Bettina’s house. Bike’s oil has been changed, showers have been taken, and our gracious hosts let us wash our laundry here, too. We’re now kicking around the table, discussing driving routes that Zig and I can take when we head out tomorrow morning. I think the rest of today will be spent doing some riding and then finding a nice place to chow down for dinner.
Not much else to report - the connection strength is low/slow, so I'll have to wait to post pics until later. First stage of the vaca is complete, now on to Sturgis!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
We got about halfway down the Pike when suddenly we saw signs for road work ahead. Okay... Then the signs started saying there was a 2 hour backup. Ouch. As it turns out, we were stuck for only (only?) an hour. Bike stopped, feet down. Bleah.
After we got moving again, we were just about at the NY border and went through the tolls. I clutched down, passed through (Fast Lane) and went to shift back up...except, the clutch lever went right to the handle. No Clutch! And an 18-wheel rig coming up hard on my tail. Zoinks! Managed to turn quickly into the entrance to the parking area (toll booth employees?), and the bike lugged to a stall.
WTF? Busted clutch cable and we're not even out of the state yet? Oy. Well, let's get the tools out and start taking the old one off. Hey...the cable isn't broken...so it's gotta be something inside the trans. Not good. Called the closest HD dealership (40 miles away) and advised that we were going to try and gimp the bike there and they said ok, they'd be waiting. Hmmm...how to get moving? If I start in Neutral and drop into first gear, it'll stall. Zig tells me to start it in first, the bike will kick forward enough until it finally catches and I should be good to do. Hey, look at that...I'm moving! (It was an ugly, ugly start, but it was still a start!).
Power shifted up to high gear and rolled out the miles. Managed to get through a few more toll booths, too. Took the turn off the highway and onto the street the dealership was on. Oh lovely. A main drag, complete with lots of traffic lights. I am unable to stop, people!! Luckily, all the lights were green for us!! Oh wait..the last one was red. So I got stuck doing tiny circles, turning out of traffic into a VERY small sidewalk area, looping around back into traffic, sliding by on the right side of the cars that were waiting, passing Zig, turning into the sidewalk area again, back into traffic, around and around. I'm doing all of this at a dizzying 4 mph, too. ("Look kids, Big Ben...Parliament".) I think I made about 6 circles before the light finally went green and we were on our way.
Got to the dealership (Spitzie’s, in Albany) and they rolled us right in. After advising them that another dealership had had the primary off, just the day before, they said they had a real good idea what the problem was. Sure enough, it was the nut on the tranny mainshaft. They even brought us into the service bay area and showed us the problem. The tech simply rolled the nut back onto the shaft, up tight against the backing plate, took a wrench and gave it a twist. That was it. That was all that was needed. That was all that the tech back at Paramount had needed to do. F’ing retard.
Back onto the road, we started making up for lost time. We crossed into Canada without incident and pressed hard for Brantford (the town we were staying in that night). The daylight was fading quickly and we could see a storm in the distance ahead of us. The lightning was limited to the clouds for a while, but then we started seeing strikes, and that was when we knew it was closing in. However, we knew that we were breaking off onto a different highway soon, one that would steer us to the left – and hopefully away from the storm. If only we could get to the turnoff before the storm did.
We lost the race. When the wind suddenly picked up, almost leaning us into 45 degree angles, we knew it was time to pull over and hit the rain gear. No sooner had we donned it than the skies opened up on us. We pulled back out and continued on, and eventually the storm started to abate a bit. Apparently we’d made it through to the other side of it. Oh look, here’s our turn-off. But it was more than just a turn-off, it was a grand, sweeping bend – which took us back into the storm again, briefly. Hitting the same storm, twice? What are the odds? Oh well, we only caught the edge of it, it seems to be letting up a bit.
We settled into the new highway…just in time to find the rear edge of the storm again. And our speed must have matched the storm’s, because we rode with that stupid thing the whole way to our destination. Three passes through the same storm. Not a good plan, I recommend against it.
We found the hotel, cleaned up and headed across the street to Moose Wanooski’s, the aforementioned bar. Great beer, a funny bartender, and a few hours to unwind from the day. That was Day 1.
Day 2 had us back on the road and back into the USA in good time. We met up with Paul and Mark in Michigan and they took us to a great eatery (Jumbo’s Burger Bar). Beer & burgers and then back onto the road for a tour of some of the roads in the area.
Mark had to break off towards the end, and the remaining three of us blasted off to Paul’s house to get cleaned up again, then pack and head off for the canoeing weekend.
We made decent time getting there, but we were still playing with the last vestiges of daylight as we scrambled to set our tents up. Everyone got set/settled and the party kicked into high gear.
The Michigan Crew! Guido & Star, Joerg & Becky, Diek & Maria, and a new couple (for us); Trace & Bev. That was just on our side of the road. On the other side were the rest of the party animals. I only remember a fraction of their names…Craig & Jill, Mark, T-Bone, Paula…uhm..yeah, I think that’s all I can remember. But they had quite a setup going. They had a real bar; all wood and done up with lights and a working disco ball. A disco ball! In the middle of the woods. Too funny. Because we’d gotten there late in the day, most of the good booze was gone, but there were a few bottles of rotgut kind of stuff available. At one point, one of the women said we all had to do a shot together, so we grabbed a bottle of no-name whiskey. Zig said he didn’t like whiskey, so he couldn’t do a very big shot of it. Ok, the lady pours him about half a finger’s width and he says “Oh, I can drink more than that!” (Bad move - she filled his shot glass to the rim.) The fun and frivolity continued long into the night.
The next morning we packed coolers with food and beer and hopped onto a bus which rode us up the river a fair way. We disembarked, grabbed canoes and kayaks and hit the water. What a day! Nothing but sunshine, a nice breeze, and a decent current which allowed for just kicking back and floating if we wanted to.
We spent about 6 hours on the river, ending up right back at the camping area. We got the campfires going again, set to cooking, and did a repeat of Friday night’s enjoyment.
This morning we packed up camp, headed to breakfast with the crew and now we’re back at Paul and Bettina’s house. Bike’s oil has been changed, showers have been taken, and our gracious hosts let us wash our laundry here, too. We’re now kicking around the table, discussing driving routes that Zig and I can take when we head out tomorrow morning. I think the rest of today will be spent doing some riding and then finding a nice place to chow down for dinner.
Not much else to report - the connection strength is low/slow, so I'll have to wait to post pics until later. First stage of the vaca is complete, now on to Sturgis!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Friday, August 15, 2008
Quick update
Zig and I are in Michigan. We had some issues with traffic on Thursday...we danced with a heavy lightning storm (not once, but three times), and had a breakdown, courtesy of Paramount HD. The dealership that worked on my bike on Wednesday.
Oh yeah; when I went to pick up my bike, they delighted me with the news that they had been able to fix my primary leak. How wonderful! Too bad the guy that did the work, neglected to tighten the nut that goes against the backing plate of the transmission mainshaft. So when I depressed the clutch, the thrower assembly had nothing to push against, so the clutch didn't disengage. Lovely.
Anyway, we made it to out destination in Ontario, found the bar that Michigan Paul had recommended, and proceeded to forget about the long day we'd had.
Today, up and on the road, met up with Paul and are now packing to head out for the weekend canoeing/camping weekend. Hence; this is a short post. I'll-be-back (thanks Arnie) on Sunday and will post a more detailed listing of our adventures to date, with some pics, etc.
Hope everyone had an excellent end-of-week and I'll be catching you up, soon.
Until then;
Paddle Hard, Drink Fast
Oh yeah; when I went to pick up my bike, they delighted me with the news that they had been able to fix my primary leak. How wonderful! Too bad the guy that did the work, neglected to tighten the nut that goes against the backing plate of the transmission mainshaft. So when I depressed the clutch, the thrower assembly had nothing to push against, so the clutch didn't disengage. Lovely.
Anyway, we made it to out destination in Ontario, found the bar that Michigan Paul had recommended, and proceeded to forget about the long day we'd had.
Today, up and on the road, met up with Paul and are now packing to head out for the weekend canoeing/camping weekend. Hence; this is a short post. I'll-be-back (thanks Arnie) on Sunday and will post a more detailed listing of our adventures to date, with some pics, etc.
Hope everyone had an excellent end-of-week and I'll be catching you up, soon.
Until then;
Paddle Hard, Drink Fast
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Itinerary!!
Getting itchy to hit the road - hoping the weather will give us a break. We're going on three weeks of almost constant rain, either morning or afternoon...or both. We've already gotten 3X the normal rainfall for the whole month of August and we're only halfway through. Flooding, dams failing, etc. My basement is still dry, which is a wonder to me as I'm in a real low spot (the town wells are actually UP the street from me). I guess it was a good day for foundations when they poured mine. I suppose if I had to find a positive note it would be that my lawn looks good. 'Course, it also means I gotta mow it all the frikkin' time.
K. 'Nuff bitching. Vaca is around the next bend and it's almost in sight.
I dropped the bike off at the dealership this morning to have them do the safety recall repair (fuel pump housing) and also take a look at the leaking primary. Turns out that I got the LAST replacement fuel filter housing available at this time (the Factory only sent them nine. NINE! Oy...). The service manager looked at the primary and said it was an inner primary leak, and that they would not be able to get that fixed and still get me the bike back today. *Sigh* So I said just fix the fuel filter housing and I'll catch up with them when I get back (and I'll keep a stock of primary fluid with me on the trip...) But anyway, I should have the bike back in my possession this afternoon and then it's home to pack.
Here’s our itinerary!!
Thursday, 8/14; We depart around 10am tomorrow morning, and our first night’s destination is a place recommended by Michigan Paul; Moose Winooski’s, up in Brantford Ontario. "Is that a hotel?" you might ask? Hell no, it's a bar! We're hitting the bar, first, and then we'll worry about accommodations, later. (Ok, Paul says there's a hotel right across the street from the bar.)
Friday, 8/15; From there, we continue on to Michigan on Friday morning, where we’re meeting up with Paul for a beer (or three) and some lunch, then off to his and Bettina's abode. We’re joining them and their crew (The Michigan Crew!) for a weekend of canoeing and camping on a river. Should be a blast!
Monday, 8/18; Monday morning, Zig and I are scooping up whatever brain cells are left from the weekend, and heading off to South Dakota.
Tuesday, 8/19 - Friday, 8/22; Checking out South Dakota, Montana & Wyoming. Badlands, Devil's Tower, Crazy Horse Memorial, Mt. Rushmore, etc. Miles and miles of riding!
Saturday, 8/23; Depart Badlands and point our tires towards Nelligh, Nebraska.
Sunday, 8/24; Depart Nebraska and arrive in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
Monday, 8/25; Depart Iowa and arrive in Plymouth, Indiana.
Tuesday, 8/26; Depart Indiana and arrive in Hopedale, Ohio, to check out a biker memorial. (I’m going to see about having two or three names added to the memorial while I’m there.)
Wednesday, 8/27; The day we meet up with the NY Crew! We’ll meet up with them in Jamestown, NY, roll back to Olean with them and make the rounds, saying our hello’s and catching up with long-time friends.
Thursday, 8/28; I believe that we’re rolling out of Olean on this day and taking our time winding along a different route than usual. I think we’re going to follow the route the NY crew usually takes on their return path, but I’m not certain. At this point of the trip, Zig and I will be more than happy to let someone else take the reigns. We’ll just fall in behind and enjoy their camaraderie. I believe we’ll find some place to crash somewhere in eastern NY or maybe VT
Friday, 8/29; Friday we’ll continue our jaunt, finally meeting up with Joe and Kathy to party at their palace in NH.
Saturday, 8/30; This morning finds us on the final leg towards our Labor Day destination; Maine!, where we’ll party the hours away with more long-time friends over the course of the holiday weekend.
Monday, 9/1; *Sigh* and then it’ll be back to reality. Monday will find us saying our goodbyes and then taking the long, boring ride home to Mass.
And then work on Tuesday. That day is going to suck…
But that day is almost three weeks away! So I’m not going to worry about it now!!!
Bring on the vaca!!!
(We’re gonna) Ride Hard, Take Chances!!
K. 'Nuff bitching. Vaca is around the next bend and it's almost in sight.
I dropped the bike off at the dealership this morning to have them do the safety recall repair (fuel pump housing) and also take a look at the leaking primary. Turns out that I got the LAST replacement fuel filter housing available at this time (the Factory only sent them nine. NINE! Oy...). The service manager looked at the primary and said it was an inner primary leak, and that they would not be able to get that fixed and still get me the bike back today. *Sigh* So I said just fix the fuel filter housing and I'll catch up with them when I get back (and I'll keep a stock of primary fluid with me on the trip...) But anyway, I should have the bike back in my possession this afternoon and then it's home to pack.
Here’s our itinerary!!
Thursday, 8/14; We depart around 10am tomorrow morning, and our first night’s destination is a place recommended by Michigan Paul; Moose Winooski’s, up in Brantford Ontario. "Is that a hotel?" you might ask? Hell no, it's a bar! We're hitting the bar, first, and then we'll worry about accommodations, later. (Ok, Paul says there's a hotel right across the street from the bar.)
Friday, 8/15; From there, we continue on to Michigan on Friday morning, where we’re meeting up with Paul for a beer (or three) and some lunch, then off to his and Bettina's abode. We’re joining them and their crew (The Michigan Crew!) for a weekend of canoeing and camping on a river. Should be a blast!
Monday, 8/18; Monday morning, Zig and I are scooping up whatever brain cells are left from the weekend, and heading off to South Dakota.
Tuesday, 8/19 - Friday, 8/22; Checking out South Dakota, Montana & Wyoming. Badlands, Devil's Tower, Crazy Horse Memorial, Mt. Rushmore, etc. Miles and miles of riding!
Saturday, 8/23; Depart Badlands and point our tires towards Nelligh, Nebraska.
Sunday, 8/24; Depart Nebraska and arrive in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
Monday, 8/25; Depart Iowa and arrive in Plymouth, Indiana.
Tuesday, 8/26; Depart Indiana and arrive in Hopedale, Ohio, to check out a biker memorial. (I’m going to see about having two or three names added to the memorial while I’m there.)
Wednesday, 8/27; The day we meet up with the NY Crew! We’ll meet up with them in Jamestown, NY, roll back to Olean with them and make the rounds, saying our hello’s and catching up with long-time friends.
Thursday, 8/28; I believe that we’re rolling out of Olean on this day and taking our time winding along a different route than usual. I think we’re going to follow the route the NY crew usually takes on their return path, but I’m not certain. At this point of the trip, Zig and I will be more than happy to let someone else take the reigns. We’ll just fall in behind and enjoy their camaraderie. I believe we’ll find some place to crash somewhere in eastern NY or maybe VT
Friday, 8/29; Friday we’ll continue our jaunt, finally meeting up with Joe and Kathy to party at their palace in NH.
Saturday, 8/30; This morning finds us on the final leg towards our Labor Day destination; Maine!, where we’ll party the hours away with more long-time friends over the course of the holiday weekend.
Monday, 9/1; *Sigh* and then it’ll be back to reality. Monday will find us saying our goodbyes and then taking the long, boring ride home to Mass.
And then work on Tuesday. That day is going to suck…
But that day is almost three weeks away! So I’m not going to worry about it now!!!
Bring on the vaca!!!
(We’re gonna) Ride Hard, Take Chances!!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Rock, and Rolling out
Monday morning – only 3.5 more days of work and then Zig and I are rolling on out to the Badlands. Work has been straight-out for the past few weeks so I haven’t had much free time to dwell on the upcoming trip. I’ve got one more presentation to do (tomorrow) though, and then full-vaca-mode will be kicking me in the arse.
One of the stops we’ll be making is an overnight out at King and Pat’s house, in Olean, NY on our return trip. That’ll be when we’re meeting up with the NY crew for the annual pilgrimage to Maine for Labor Day weekend. Pat and King have always been quite gracious in letting us Massholes stay with them whenever we’re out there, and one way to say thank you is to bring a rock with us, for Pat’s rock garden.
That whole tradition started…oh…I don’t even remember how long ago it was. We were all up at Russ’ house for Labor Day and Pat brought a rock around to have all of us sign, so she could bring it back to her rock garden. Ever since then, I’ve tried to bring a rock out with me each time.
Anyway, the last rock I brought out, I tried doing something a little special to it; I used my Dremel to carve out the year, the names of those who were staying, and a ‘thank you’ to Pat.
This year, it’ll be Zig and I, so I found another decent rock and carved it up (King, you can’t tell Pat about this ahead of time!);
Starting out; trusty Dremel, some new bits, and a nice, flat lavender rock. (I know the rock doesn’t look very colorful in these pics, but it does have a nice lavender hue to it.)
Finished product. Hey, what can I say – no one will ever accuse me of being a craftsman, but I don’t think it came out too bad.
Yep; rockin’ and a rollin’. I’ll get another post up here before Zig and I headout on Thursday, then I’ll try and post little blurbs here and there as the trip unfolds. Getting close! Can’t wait…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
One of the stops we’ll be making is an overnight out at King and Pat’s house, in Olean, NY on our return trip. That’ll be when we’re meeting up with the NY crew for the annual pilgrimage to Maine for Labor Day weekend. Pat and King have always been quite gracious in letting us Massholes stay with them whenever we’re out there, and one way to say thank you is to bring a rock with us, for Pat’s rock garden.
That whole tradition started…oh…I don’t even remember how long ago it was. We were all up at Russ’ house for Labor Day and Pat brought a rock around to have all of us sign, so she could bring it back to her rock garden. Ever since then, I’ve tried to bring a rock out with me each time.
Anyway, the last rock I brought out, I tried doing something a little special to it; I used my Dremel to carve out the year, the names of those who were staying, and a ‘thank you’ to Pat.
This year, it’ll be Zig and I, so I found another decent rock and carved it up (King, you can’t tell Pat about this ahead of time!);
Starting out; trusty Dremel, some new bits, and a nice, flat lavender rock. (I know the rock doesn’t look very colorful in these pics, but it does have a nice lavender hue to it.)
Finished product. Hey, what can I say – no one will ever accuse me of being a craftsman, but I don’t think it came out too bad.
Yep; rockin’ and a rollin’. I’ll get another post up here before Zig and I headout on Thursday, then I’ll try and post little blurbs here and there as the trip unfolds. Getting close! Can’t wait…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Harley Safety Recall & Running for Soldiers
I rec'd a safety recall on the new Harley; it's for the fuel filter shell. Hmmm...apparently it can crack, causing a loss of fuel pressure. This would be a pain in the ass if it happened when trying to start your bike (Do we know anyone that happened to? Hmm....ahh, yes; Zig!). But just imagine how bad it would be if you were cornering on a highway and suddenly your bike just died? Yeah. Bit of a problem there. So I'll call the dealership later when they're open and see about setting up an appt to get this fixed. Hopefully it'll happen before we take off for our trip.
The other item for today is a benefit event that my friend from DC (thanks K!) tuned me in to;
http://info.runforthefallen.org/ A team of people are running across the country - one mile for every soldier lost in the war so far. Pretty impressive.
All donations go to a variety of charities dedicated to helping wounded soldiers, and the families of lost soldiers. Overall, some very good organizations.
Only takes a few minutes to check out the site. Even if you don't donate, there are other ways you can help out if you have the time.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
The other item for today is a benefit event that my friend from DC (thanks K!) tuned me in to;
http://info.runforthefallen.org/ A team of people are running across the country - one mile for every soldier lost in the war so far. Pretty impressive.
All donations go to a variety of charities dedicated to helping wounded soldiers, and the families of lost soldiers. Overall, some very good organizations.
Only takes a few minutes to check out the site. Even if you don't donate, there are other ways you can help out if you have the time.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Monday, August 4, 2008
Customer Service at it's...Finest
Happy Monday, oh yes.
Just got off the phone with my credit card company. I'll try to abbreviate this as much as possible;
7/15; I received a call from fraud dept that my card may have been compromised. We reviewed 4 charges and they were all fraudulent (cash advances, done out in CA). Ok; card # cancelled, new # issued, all fraudulent charges will be removed. Also; no need to worry about auto-payments that have been set up on this card, they will be updated/switched to the new # for you.
7/25; Received notice from auto-pay recipients that July payments failed, due to credit card not being active (so much for my cc company updating those for me). Updated payment info and payments processed.
8/2 (Saturday); rec'd statement, all fraudulent charges are still listed, along with new, cash-advance finance charges.
This morning; call cc company. Speak to someone named "Shawshum" (that's my best guess at spelling the name of this INDIAN individual). We run through my ID's, my passwords, etc, then I went through the entire history of what has transpired, from the 7/15 phone call, the reviewing of the charges, the assurance that these charges would be removed, the new statement showing all charges plus related finance charges, etc. He says I need to speak to an account manager and transfers me.
I am now speaking to "Shawma" (again, this is my best guess - my phone call is obviously still reaching all the way to INDIA). I again identify myself, going through all the security checks and passwords, ad nauseum. I then proceed to go through the entire history as well. The phone goes apparently dead. I check the counter on my phone display and it's still counting, so the call is still active. No lie; almost TEN minutes later, "Shawma" comes back on and says I need to speak to customer service. Which I found to be interesting, as I'd CALLED customer service to begin with. Anyway, I'm transferred again.
Bonnie. All right, an American! Maybe I'm getting somewhere now. I run through my ID/password process, then going through all the history again. She asks me what about the balance transfer question that I had. What? What are you talking about? Oh, it seems the only thing "Shawma" had entered into the system prior to transferring me, was that I had a balance transfer question. (WTF???) Anyway, Bonnie said I needed to speak to Account Disputes. Transferred again.
Pam. Well, another American at least, so let's see where this takes me. We go through the whole ID/password/fraud history dance once again...and she informs me that I need to speak to the fraud department. Are you kidding me? I asked Pam if this next person would indeed be the person that I needed to speak to, as she (Pam) was the 4th person that I'd already explained all of this to. She apologized and assured me that yes, this next person would be the one. Cue transfer.
Kathryn. Again; ID/password/history. (One of my passwords is a certain maker of motorcycles that I enjoy riding - she had the audacity to tell me that I'd spelled the name wrong. Which of course, I had not, but I was too worn down at this point to bother correcting her.)
Moving on; she said it’s possible that the fraudulent charges hadn’t been removed from my account because the billing period hadn’t closed yet and as such; the charges hadn’t officially been posted to my account. (Uh-huh.)
She marked the bad charges as fraud and said a form that I had to sign would be mailed out to me in 7 – 10 business days. Fantastic. The only problem is that I’m leaving on vaca for almost 3 weeks so if that form doesn’t show up before I leave, it’s not going to get signed and returned. She made notes in my account and said that if I don’t receive the form within 7 days, to call and they’ll fax the form to me - apparently a case # hasn’t been created/assigned yet, so there’s no form that can be faxed to me right now. I asked why no case # had been created yet when they were aware of this problem 3 weeks ago, but she had no answer for that.
At any rate, she gave me the phone number to call if I need to have them fax it over to me. I thanked her and hung up, glancing at the phone timer once again. 42 minutes and 43 seconds. Unreal.
Now if I could only get my hands on the d’bag(s) that somehow got my cc info and made those charges…
Just got off the phone with my credit card company. I'll try to abbreviate this as much as possible;
7/15; I received a call from fraud dept that my card may have been compromised. We reviewed 4 charges and they were all fraudulent (cash advances, done out in CA). Ok; card # cancelled, new # issued, all fraudulent charges will be removed. Also; no need to worry about auto-payments that have been set up on this card, they will be updated/switched to the new # for you.
7/25; Received notice from auto-pay recipients that July payments failed, due to credit card not being active (so much for my cc company updating those for me). Updated payment info and payments processed.
8/2 (Saturday); rec'd statement, all fraudulent charges are still listed, along with new, cash-advance finance charges.
This morning; call cc company. Speak to someone named "Shawshum" (that's my best guess at spelling the name of this INDIAN individual). We run through my ID's, my passwords, etc, then I went through the entire history of what has transpired, from the 7/15 phone call, the reviewing of the charges, the assurance that these charges would be removed, the new statement showing all charges plus related finance charges, etc. He says I need to speak to an account manager and transfers me.
I am now speaking to "Shawma" (again, this is my best guess - my phone call is obviously still reaching all the way to INDIA). I again identify myself, going through all the security checks and passwords, ad nauseum. I then proceed to go through the entire history as well. The phone goes apparently dead. I check the counter on my phone display and it's still counting, so the call is still active. No lie; almost TEN minutes later, "Shawma" comes back on and says I need to speak to customer service. Which I found to be interesting, as I'd CALLED customer service to begin with. Anyway, I'm transferred again.
Bonnie. All right, an American! Maybe I'm getting somewhere now. I run through my ID/password process, then going through all the history again. She asks me what about the balance transfer question that I had. What? What are you talking about? Oh, it seems the only thing "Shawma" had entered into the system prior to transferring me, was that I had a balance transfer question. (WTF???) Anyway, Bonnie said I needed to speak to Account Disputes. Transferred again.
Pam. Well, another American at least, so let's see where this takes me. We go through the whole ID/password/fraud history dance once again...and she informs me that I need to speak to the fraud department. Are you kidding me? I asked Pam if this next person would indeed be the person that I needed to speak to, as she (Pam) was the 4th person that I'd already explained all of this to. She apologized and assured me that yes, this next person would be the one. Cue transfer.
Kathryn. Again; ID/password/history. (One of my passwords is a certain maker of motorcycles that I enjoy riding - she had the audacity to tell me that I'd spelled the name wrong. Which of course, I had not, but I was too worn down at this point to bother correcting her.)
Moving on; she said it’s possible that the fraudulent charges hadn’t been removed from my account because the billing period hadn’t closed yet and as such; the charges hadn’t officially been posted to my account. (Uh-huh.)
She marked the bad charges as fraud and said a form that I had to sign would be mailed out to me in 7 – 10 business days. Fantastic. The only problem is that I’m leaving on vaca for almost 3 weeks so if that form doesn’t show up before I leave, it’s not going to get signed and returned. She made notes in my account and said that if I don’t receive the form within 7 days, to call and they’ll fax the form to me - apparently a case # hasn’t been created/assigned yet, so there’s no form that can be faxed to me right now. I asked why no case # had been created yet when they were aware of this problem 3 weeks ago, but she had no answer for that.
At any rate, she gave me the phone number to call if I need to have them fax it over to me. I thanked her and hung up, glancing at the phone timer once again. 42 minutes and 43 seconds. Unreal.
Now if I could only get my hands on the d’bag(s) that somehow got my cc info and made those charges…
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