Pictures

We didn't put pictures in the Blog Last year. There were some links to our Yahoo album, but it didn't have the same impact as having the pictures right there. I'm playing with the Blogger options to try to figure the best way to do this. If you click on these pictures, you will be able to see them in their original size.

Jack Foree took the picture of us in front of the large saguaro cacti on a the ride down from Holbrook Arizona to Mesa in April, 2005. These were awesome plants and are the first thing I think about when the Southwest gets mentioned.


Sherm took this shot of us a few days later as we were riding back to Mesa after a loop of Prescott, Jerome and Cottonwood. This was the last trip for the old leather jackets since we went to textile Joe Rocket Alter-Ego jackets on our return home.

I don't know where this was or who took the picture, but it looks like we were having fun.

So hopefully, the Blog will be richer for the photos this season. Now we just have to slow down long enough to take some:-))

First Ride

Doug Dandeno came over yesterday to pick up a tour pack I was selling and shamed me into unleashing Quicksilver. The Wing fired up immediately and I put the appropriate covers on and checked the tires and oil. A quick shaedown ride to Falconbridge proved everything was working and then Sandy and I made a short loop.

Today, a warm and clear day, I headed out to Garson and then down the Garson-Coniston Road. This is a fun stretch with a few decent curves. I was following a new Victory 8-Ball that turned onto the road just ahead of me. At the end of the road, we fell in together and made a forty mile loop out to Whitefish and back to Timmie's on Lorne Street (where the bikes hang out). The rider, Joe Cecchetto, and I spent some time talking bikes and things before I had to head home.

Sandy and I rode to the Freedom Riders monthly dinner tonight.

It's good to be back in the saddle again.

It Isn't Spring Yet, But.......

Although spring hasn't arrived yet, we're planning our 2006 itinerary now. After not sledding since January due to tendonitis in my elbow, I'm getting the itch.

This year, we're going to try to take more time and see more sights as we wander around North America. This was a promise we made to ourselves last year and, after years of being focussed on the destination, we're going to try to appreciate the journey more. As a result, the blog this year should have a lot more details and local colour.

We decided to skip the April Arizona/Texas trip for a couple of reasons. It was a motel trip which put a strain on the budget and, instead of being one week apart, the AZVROC run in the Phoenix area and the Hill Country Rally in Fredericksburg, Texas are now separated by a month.

The annual spring SEVROC rally, to be held for the first time in Maggie Valley, North Carolina will be out as well. The weekend was moved to our Victoria Day weekend, which conflicts with a gathering we have been attending in Eastern Ontario for the last twenty years. Many of the people we join are old rally partners from many years ago and, for some, this is the only time we see them. In case any VROC people hit North Carolina early, we will head down to Kickstand Lodge in Stecoah for part of the week before Victoria Day.

So here's the tentative schedule:

May 13-17 Kickstand Lodge, Stecoah NC
May 19-22 Fry Guys Rally, Combermere On
June 1-4 VROC at KSL, Kickstand Lodge, Stecoah NC
June 6-7 Americade, Lake George NY
June 15-18 NEVROC, Laconia NH
June 22-25 VROC Roving Reunion, Custer SD
June 30 - July 3 French Connection Rally, Ottawa On
July 20-23 High Sierra VROC, Topaz Lake NV
August 4-7 Freedom Rally, Sudbury, On
August 10-13 MIVROC Interlochen Mi
August 18-20 Freedom Riders Bash, Red Hill Pa
September 1-4 Cyclefest, Waterloo On
September 8-10 Gnawbone Rally, Bloomington In
September 15-17 NEVROC Maine Ride
September 20-24 VROC ES Reunion, Eureka Springs Ar

It's going to be a busy season. I just went out and fired Quicksilver up in the garage. He started right away so things are looking good.

Grayling Michigan to Sudbury

It was still unseasonably warm in Grayling when we climbed on Quicksilver for the last day of the trip. I didn’t realize that the south end of town fed directly into the southbound I-75 so we took a little warm-up run down to the next exit before flipping over and headed north.

The leaves are changing colour in a sporadic manner. Some areas between Grayling and Gaylord were ablaze with reds, oranges and yellows, but most trees we saw were still green. I guess the 80 degree temperatures have them confused. I know I am.

We stopped for fuel at Mackinaw City and then assaulted the Big Mac. As usual, the outside paved lane was closed for maintenance and we were forced onto the steel grate centre lane. However, as I have found throughout this trip, the last vestiges of my anxiety when riding are gone. This is the first time in a long time that I have crossed this bridge without having a single twinge. Life is good.

They are doing a lot of work on I-75 in the Upper Peninsula. This was badly needed since this road had been making me think of the cowpaths that Sudburians travel on. Someday soon, it will be a fine place to travel. As we approached the Soo, we came under some serious looking cloud cover. Fortunately, the border crossing was quick and trouble free. This is the 16th time we have crossed this year.

As a strange tie-in with Sherm’s trip home, the passed through Albuquerque, New Mexico while the balloon fest was in full swing. The big news in the Soo was that a balloon from the festival, trying for distance, had come down near Ranger Lake north of town when they ran out of burner fuel. Apparently another one came down north of Thunder Bay. The crews were fine and I guess both bush locations beat a descent into Lake Superior.

We stopped at Mom’s for a bit for coffee, lunch and catching up on some details. Dave is doing well and has made it back to Edmonton. Keeping and eye on the weather, we left after noon.

Forty miles east, the clouds let up and we found blue sky again. Near the old round barn, I saw this clump of brightly coloured trees surrounded by green.

We stopped at the OPP detachment in Blind River looking for a friend, but she wasn’t there. Then there was another pit stop at the scenic picnic area alongside Serpent River.

The rest of the trip was uneventful but a little bittersweet since we won’t be riding anywhere else, other than a few local rides, until spring.

The ES trip took eleven days and covered 5,102 Kms or about 3,000 miles and averaged 40.1 MP(US)G on the highway at 75 MPH or more. After almost not going, I’m glad we did. Old friends, new friends and (now) twisty roads.

This will probably be our final bike post of the year. This Blog was intended to just cover 2005, but I just changed the title bar and will continue to use it next year. I’ll spend the winter re-reading what I wrote this year. Also, stay tuned because I expect I may add some snowmobile trips and other winter travel to the Blog in the meantime.

Eureka Springs Arkansas to Grayling Michigan (Two Days)

We headed out of ES about 8:00 AM Central Time. With the sun in our eyes, we threaded our way back up to Branson via 21, 13 and 86 taking care because it was deer time. Didn’t see a thing this time.

We hauled up Highway 65 with a brisk tailwind and swung east on I-44 at Springfield. After fuel and a Mickey D breakfast, it was a straight and uneventful haul to St. Louis. I normally cruise about 125 KPH (75 MPH), but that wasn’t fast enough for this road so I hiked it up to 130. It was warm enough that we stopped briefly to remove the jacket panels and go to mesh.

In a gas station near St. Louis, we met a couple from Michigan on a ’05 Wing. They had a ’03 but won this one at the Honda Hoot. Not bad. Straight through St. Louis with clouds threatening to the north and on across Illinois. There was a brief shower at one point but it cleared. We stopped for the night in Terre Haute Indiana at another Drury Inn. I had been listening to the NASCAR race on the radio and was able to catch the last 30 laps on TV after we checked in. Then it was off to Cracker Barrel for supper.

This morning was warm and clear. We had the hot Drury breakfast and then loaded up and continued east. Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Lansing. Traffic was still not bad and moving briskly. One thing we did notice as the radio kept reporting near record high temperatures was that the leaves had not changed as much as in prior years.

We decided to stop in Grayling, Michigan for the night. This is a small place with several hotels and restaurants. At 6:00, the temperature reading in front of the bank was still 81F. After supper at Patti’s Restaurant, with good food, large portions and friendly service, we watched some TV and then turned in for the night.

Eureka Springs Day 5

We held the Memorial Service to remember fallen members at the Iron Horse this morning. Dino Hutchings presided over the service and Piper played Amazing Grace. Sherm has some photos in this new Blog: http://estrippart4.blogspot.com .

After the service, Sherm and K&P took down their campers and prepared to head out. We headed for the Smokehouse Restaurant on the far side of town, but they were busy and it looked like we wouldn’t have seats for our nine people anytime soon. We headed back across town through what was now sever thousand Corvettes to the Sheraton Buffet. Breakfast was great. Near the end of the meal, the Oregonians slipped away and hit the road.

Sandy decided to take a nap back at the room to see if she could shake a headache, so I went riding with a group on some twisty highways south of ES. Some of you may remember my difficulties with corners. I’m happy to tell you they are behind me. The last stretch, I rode second behind Brillo. There are two versions to this ride. Snake contends Brillo tried unsuccessfully to shake me off his tail. I maintain that Brillo and I took a leisurely ride and, for some reason, the others didn’t keep up.

After getting back, Eagle gave us a scare as he started having bad chest pains. He has a coronary history. I’m grateful that Ron “Buck” Prior was there since he has been through it and took charge. Six Pack Jack Ward, our motorcycling MD, was called down and checked Steve out while an ambulance was summoned. After an evening in the Berryville medical facility, Steve was released with a diagnosis of angina. He was back at the fire before bedtime. He has been under a lot of stress this week as Kelly’s right hand man. Steve is a good friend and a great guy and we’re glad it was only a scare.

We spent the evening talking around the fire. The last night is always bittersweet as we know the end of the gathering is upon us. Much of the time is spent talking about when we will get together again. There was a NANMRA run. This is the North American Nude Motorcycle Riding Association, and this was the first time I cane ever remember a two-up ride. The riders shall remain nameless, but rest assured they were NOT on a GoldWing.

Finally, about midnight, we bid the remaining people good night and turned in.
Tomorrow we head east.

Eureka Springs Day 4

It was a warmer Friday morning. I was a backup as a checker for the poker run so I wandered over to Ride On’s room at 8:45 but all the checkers showed up on time. I missed some excitement as the checkers, while on their way to their various checkpoints, were first on the scene of a single vehicle motorcycle accident. They acquitted themselves well and the last word we had was that the riders, although with some serious fractures, were doing well.

I spent the day wandering around the Iron Horse chatting with people and working on the agenda for the banquet this evening. Dinner was scheduled for 7:00 with a cocktail hour starting at 6:00. We got there at 5:00 to make sure everything was in place. It was.

I asked Sherm in he would take some photos and post them to a Blog as the evening went along. We didn’t have a webcam, so this was the best we could do to share the evening with those who could not attend. He did and excellent job, as you can see here: http://esbanquet.blogspot.com .

We had Croft Long, Product Manager for Kawasaki’s cruiser bikes, join us for the evening. I had met Croft in Durango back in 2000 and it was good to see him again. The dinner was excellent and the speeches were short. At the end, the ROK guys drew for a few items including leather jackets and bike covers. Not too shabby. And the MC didn’t step on his tongue too badly so it was a good evening.

After the cold night Wednesday, I never thought I would be riding back from the banquet at night in shirtsleeves. I threaded my way through the gathering Corvettes back to the Stables where we listened to a DJ with a spectacular singing voice and some Karaoke singers who did not. Lucky Al did well with the mike and so did Kopperhed.

After the music ended, it was time to turn in.

Eureka Springs Arkansas Day 3

It was cool this morning, even by my standards. JT Pendleton was serving coffee to the huddled masses in front of their room as we waited for the sun to rise high enough to make it worthwhile to dry off the bikes.

Kelly, Eagle, Sandy and I headed up for breakfast with the Riders of Kawasaki representatives, Channing and Brian, at the historic Crescent Hotel (link). ROK is the Kawasaki sponsored club for people who ride their bikes and the Crescent is the most haunted building west of the Mississippi. We’ll be having our banquet there tomorrow night. We covered details of the Reunion and it looks like everyone is on the same page.

After breakfast, Sandy and I took our turn in the registration barrel making sure everyone who was arriving had meal tickets and had a chance to participate in the two raffles we have going on. This is a good job because it is an excellent chance to meet new people.

After registration, we spent the afternoon milling around socializing with old friends and making new ones. I took a short hop down to the AlpenDorf to download my messages and post the Blog. No problem with the weather today since the sun was shining.

Oldman from Texas ran over a deer with his Vulcan 2000. The deer fell down and he ran RIGHT OVER it. Coyote tells me the only sign on the bike was deer hair on the tire. I wish they could all turn out this well, although Bill says he was shaking for quite a while.

Back at the Iron Horse, members were gathering as mealtime approached. The Iron Horse staff were preparing to serve us as the sun went down. The BBQ included chicken, pork, beans and salad. We sat with Thomas ‘Wiliedog’ Gates and his wife Pam from Shreveport, Louisiana. Chunk Keisling of Wisconsin joined us with a lamp so we could see what we were eating.

After the fine dinner (thanks Phil and Janie), we adjourned to the parking lot for the first raffle giveaways. Eagle did a fine job announcing and he, Kelly and Lucky Al from New Jersey managed to give away a whole table of donated goodies as we stood around shivering. Did I mention the temperature dropped severely at sundown? There will be more goodies at the dinner tomorrow night courtesy of ROK.

After the raffle, the parking lot cleared out quickly, leaving those of us residing at the Iron Horse sitting around the firepit chewing the fat until we turned in for the night.

Eureka Springs Arkansas Day 2

We woke up early and visited with some of our fellow HIS residents for a while. Then Sherm, K&P, Sandy and I made the obligatory daily visit to the WalMart Supercenter in Berryville.

From WalMart, we headed back through downtown Eureka Springs and north on 23 until we turned off on a side road to a place called Beaver. We stopped at a General Store that was built in 1901 and visited with a pair of Harley riders from Oklahoma. Continuing on, we rode until we reached Highway 62 where we headed west to the Pea Ridge Battlefield.

Pea Ridge was a critical Civil War battle where 26,000 soldiers met to decide the fate of Kansas and access to the Mississippi River. The Confederate general made a critical mistake on the second day when he boldly moved to attack the Union forces but neglected to bring up his supply wagons. Low on ammunition, they lost the battle and were eventually driven all the way back to the state of Mississippi. With weather threatening from the west, we didn’t take time to drive through the seven mile battlefield but the Visitor Center was very informative and the Ranger filled us in on a lot of details.

Here is Sherm taking one of his famous pictures in front of the Center.

As mentioned, there was a serious cold front moving in from the northwest, so we headed back down Highway 62 towards ES. The roads here sweep and wind through the Ozarks and the riding was excellent. We stopped to check out Blue Springs but didn’t get past the gift shop since they wanted $7.25 to enter and we felt this was a little steep.

Continuing on, we stopped at the Glass Church, a privately built non-denominational place of worship built with wood and glass and set in a beautiful grove of trees. It was also free.

Here’s Sherm in a penitent moment.

We returned to the HIS with Sherm while K&P went back into downtown ES to shop. Sherm sorted his pictures and I wrote yesterday’s Blog entry and then Sherm and I headed back to the AlpenDorf to get on-line and do our updates. As we worked at the picnic table out front, I could see the cold front approaching while thunder rumbled in the distance. Then the lightning started flashing. Finally done, we headed back the four miles towards the HIS as fast as our two plus two wheels would carry us. The rain was starting to spit and severe wind gusts were blowing debris onto the roads. Coincidentally, we caught Karen and Preston who were returning from downtown. Then we passed them and continued on at Warp 9. As we pulled into the HIS, gusts were blowing plastic chairs around and I was hit with an empty beer box. We beat the deluge by no more than thirty seconds.

As a precaution, we moved the bikes under the overhang.

This didn’t matter much since the rain was coming sideways but we figured it would help if we caught hail. Then we stepped back in the room and watched a mini storm surge as the water rose to within an inch of flooding the room.

Fortunately, the violent storm was brief and we were able to adjourn to the deck while a light rain fell and then abated.

We ate in the HIS restaurant with Six Pack Jack Ward and his riding companion Randy from Savannah, Georgia. They rode to ES via Kansas City so the could qualify for an Iron Butt Bun Burner certification. This involved riding 1,500 miles in 36 hours. Jack shows up many different places and is one of the serious trans-continental VROC members.

After supper, I took the computer to the deck to catch up on the newsgroup messages I had downloaded earlier. There were a number of friends there and we discussed things, swapped stories and met new people until about 10:00 PM when I decided to head for bed. Sandy was already in the room where she had been catching up on the Wednesday TV programs.

Anyone reading this Blog might wish to check out Sherm’s pictorial account of what we’ve been up to. You can find it at http://estrippart3.blogspot.com/ .

Rolla Missouri to Eureka Springs Arkansas

It was a little cool this morning in Rolla, but we weren’t in a hurry. The hot breakfast at the Drury was a buffet with biscuits, gravy, sausage and pancakes plus an assortment of yoghurt , juice, cereal and pastries. We enjoyed it before mounting up and continuing west on I-44.

Down the road, we encountered some low lying cloud that misted on us so we stopped in a rest area to put on the rain pants. As we came back out onto the highway, we found ourselves behind a red 1500 Wing with Missouri plates. He was running about our speed so we tucked in behind and followed him to Springfield where we both turned south on Highway 65. He got off a few exits down and we waved to each other as he went down the ramp. This is one of the pleasures of motorcycling, sharing some miles and moments with a total stranger of kindred spirit.

As we approached Branson, we stopped in one of the tourist information places to get a list of upcoming shows in case we want to stop there for a few days after the Reunion is over. Then we cruised the main strip to see what had changed. There are new places every time we go through here. At the end, we cut down over Table Rock Dam, the structure that created the massive, man-made Table Rock Lake, and took a winding road back to Highway 65.

A short distance south on 65, we cut off on Highway 86, a favourite winding road that would take us to Berryville, Arkansas. Not too far down this road, we were carving through turns and catching up to a white Cadillac when a large buck with many points on his antlers decided to run out between the car and us. I hit the brakes hard in case there was anything else following him but I guess he was alone this day. Not really close but a reminder to be vigilant.

We entered Arkansas in the middle of the small, somewhat rundown town of Blue Eye, Missouri and then followed a pair of log trucks into Berryville, which interfered with our enjoyment of the remaining curves.

The Iron Horse Stables is a small motorcycle oriented motel and campground located between Berryville and ES. This will be our home until Sunday and will also be Reunion Central. Sherm, Karen and Preston from Oregon were setting up their camper trailers when we arrived. Janey checked us in and we unpacked. A variety of early arrivals trickled in throughout the afternoon.

Sherm, Karen, Preston, Sandy and I wandered into Berryville for some lunch and had sandwiches at the Ozark Café in the downtown square.

The town has been here since 1850 and the restaurant had toys, models and paintings of more John Deere equipment than I ever managed had existed. Afterwards, we wandered back to the Iron Horse to visit some more.

About sundown, a group of us headed into town looking for food. After a less than heartwarming welcome at Sparky’s, we found a buffet place that was just about to close. They welcomed us with open arms (business had been slow) and we chowed down. The ride back to the HIS was done carefully in the dark. Everyone spent the rest of the evening sitting outside the rooms swapping tall tales until the last of us went to bed about midnight.

A short note about communications is in order here. No phones in the rooms. The cell phone is connecting to a company that doesn’t recognize my phone despite the Digital North America package that is supposed to work everywhere. For Internet access, we have to run down to the AlpenDorf motel about four miles up the road where Lucky has WiFi set up. Our access to the outside world will be sporadic, so please bear with me over the next few days.

Montpelier Ohio to Rolla Missouri

There were a few flies in our room this morning as a result of having left the door open last evening. Although I am not good at smacking them, I noticed the large bank type elastic I use to hold some cords together. Shooting the elastic at them wiped out the entire bunch in less than a minute. Now I have a sport to keep me amused on the road.

The roads were still wet this morning but the sky had stopped precipitating. We took our time and put on full rain suits before heading out about 8:00 AM. We followed secondary roads to the Fort Wayne, Indiana by-pass and followed I-69 towards Indianapolis. As we had breakfast in a roadside Mickey D’s, we talked about stowing some rain gear since the pavement was drying out. Sandy suggested not to. Smart lady, since we caught some active rain while skirting Indianapolis on I-465. This was the last rain of the day.

The miles rolled by effortlessly. Terre Haute, Effingham, St. Louis. I phoned Sherm from a rest area in Illinois as we were removing our rain gear. He, Karen and Preston were in Branson and would be catching a couple of shows and spending the night. He suggested that if we turned the wick up a bit we could get there this evening. I said we would see, but that’s another 440 miles and it was already noon.

Near Greenville Illinois, there is a federal prison next to the Interstate that looks like a bunch of Microtel hotels stuck together. Out front, there is an obstacle course/training facility that, today, had many police cruisers. Officers in fatigues were running some kind of exercise in the field. First time I have ever seen any action there.

As we left St. Louis on I-44, the traffic eased up and we ran until we needed fuel in Rolla Missouri. It was 4:30 and we had covered almost 600 miles so we called it quits. They have a Drury Inn here. Nice rooms, hard wired High Speed Internet, a manager’s reception from 5:30 to 7:00 with beer, win and snacks plus a hot breakfast in the morning. It cost more than I would have paid in Branson, but not unreasonable. We had supper at a Steak ‘n Shake. Another first.

I talked to Mom tonight and she said if you laid out the route I took to get here it looked pretty odd. I had to agree. Ted Boyd, if you are reading this, you were right about the way to go. The weatherman was wrong and I was wrong to listen to him. But WTH, if I had gone the right way I’d still be waiting to meet Scruffy.

We’ll be in ES fairly early tomorrow. Then the fun can begin. Oh wait. We’ve been having fun all along:-)

Erie Pennsylvania to Montpelier Ohio

There is a law of motorcycle travel. It says your chance of encountering rain is inversely proportional to the amount of rain gear you are actually wearing. More on this later.

All the hurricane coverage on CNN and The Weather Channel means that you can’t get any weather conditions reported for anywhere else in the country. The normally comprehensive and useful information was totally missing so we were pretty much in the dark about what was going to happen in the area we would be traveling today.

There were forecasts of rain predicted for Erie, Cleveland and Columbus so we started west on I-90 under overcast skies wearing full rain suits. At Mentor, Ohio, I got a report on the Weather Band radio on the bike that it was raining in Indianapolis. In an attempt to stay north of this, we continued west on the Ohio Turnpike through Toledo instead of cutting southwest at Cleveland to Columbus.

It looked good for a while, but about fifty miles from the Indiana line we stopped for fuel. Since the sky hadn’t changed and the temperature was pushing 80, we took off our jacket rain liners and stowed them. Sure enough, fifteen miles later we ran into a wall of water. Four miles after this we pulled into another service center and went in for lunch while high winds and driving rain scoured the parking lot.

An hour later, the wind had died down and the rain was reduced to a drizzle so we suited up, rain liners and all, and headed out. This proved to be my second mistake as, within ten miles, the heavy rain had returned with even greater ferocity, reducing visibility to NIL. We bailed at the first exit showing lodging. Luckily, the toll booths have roofs over them. Unable to see, I pulled into the first motel, an Econolodge, and found we were in Montpelier Ohio. They tell me there is actually a town around here somewhere.

That was about 2:00. We spread things out to dry and, after a while, went over to the adjacent Country Fare restaurant for the meat loaf special. The rain has been a steady drizzle all afternoon and is forecast to continue tomorrow morning, but what do they know anyway.

We’re about 750 miles from Eureka Springs and we have two days to get there. It looks like we will get in the familiar groove tomorrow (Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Springfield) and try to ride out of it. A good day tomorrow and we can coast in on Tuesday.

Another law of motorcycling is that you have to endure the bad days so you can appreciate the good ones.

Sudbury Ontario to Erie Pennsylvania

It was clear and cool this morning as we finished packing and loaded up the bike. I am a last minute packer, which drives Sandy nuts, but by the time I start doing things I have planned everything out in my head and it goes quickly. That’s the way it was this time.

We headed out under sunny skies at 42F. Traffic was light and we covered 150 miles before needing a pit stop to get rid of the morning coffee. I was happy to find gas was just over $1.00 per liter after the panic buying on Thursday, but I am also afraid that this will be the price for the foreseeable future. I guess we’ll have to cut down on groceries so we can keep traveling.

With a full tank, we headed south and stopped at a Tim Horton’s in a service center on Highway 400 just north of Toronto. Lunch was a sandwich combo we split and I filled my Butler mug with black coffee. Heading on, I took the easy way and jumped on the 407 Highway, our overpriced, privately owned toll road that took us all the way to Hamilton with very little traffic. The bike was humming nicely as it pulled its way through a stiff headwind.

Before we knew it, we were at Fort Erie where we stopped for more gas before crossing into New York. A fellow at the gas station was checking his windshield where it had been struck by an errant 2x4 that fell off of something. No damage. Better him than us. It turns out we have a common acquaintance, someone who works for my former employer. Small world once again.

The border crossing was quick. No line-up, no request for ID. A couple of basic questions and we were on our way. Again the run to Erie was uneventful, although there were a few NY State Troopers lurking in the medians. I figured that if they didn’t stop the tanker truck doing 85 MPH, I was pretty safe.

We got settled in our room and I called Tom “Scruffy” McCalmont. Tom and I have been trying to get together for several years but he has always been otherwise occupied. We first exchanged Emails when I mentioned on VROC that I saw a Vulcan Classic suspended from the ceiling in the Quaker Steak & Lube Restaurant in Erie. He dropped me a line to say he had bought it. He is now on a Nomad.

Tom and Linda showed up and took Sandy and I out for supper at the same Steak & Lube. Good food and fine company. Can’t do any better than that. Thanks Tom and Linda and I hope we see more of you again soon. Here are Sandy, Tom and Linda in front of the restaurant.

Hurricane Rita must have heard I was planning on going around her through Memphis, because she appears to be hitting Memphis now. The flanking plan is in the dumpster and we will take a close look at the weather patterns tomorrow before deciding how to proceed. Stay tuned because I don’t have a clue where we will be tomorrow night:-)

Catch Up

I guess I left everyone hanging back in July when we hit the Soo. Sorry about that. The ride home was uneventful and we parked the bike to decompress. We decompressed for quite a while.

Since then we attended the local Freedom Rally the first weekend in August, the first time in about seven years we have been able to do that. After that, we made a run down to Interlochen, Michigan the third weekend of August for the annual Michigan VROC gathering and had a great time. Then we made the 26th Annual Cyclefest near Waterloo Ontario and enjoyed that as well. Heather and I setup up the Observation part of the road run.

There was a very sad van trip in late August to Stafford Virginia to attend the memorial service for Rick "Wolfman" Jakubas, VROC #3, one of the driving forces behind VROC , who died in a motorcycle accident on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Rick was accurately described as "the heart and soul of VROC" and we will miss him.

Right after the Stafford trip, I headed to the Soo where my brother Dave had been hospitalized for a severe but unknown illness. Dave lives in Edmonton, Alberta but was home visiting Mom. Some hotshot doctors finally diagnosed Addison's Disease, a condition where the adrenal glands shut down. On the plus side, it is controlled with medication.

There have also been some van trips back and forth from Cambridge in the interim to visit the kids.

Tomorrow we start the last trek of the season. We're leaving the trailer at home and heading for Eureka Springs, Arkansas for the VROC Fall Reunion. Unfortunately, Hurricane Rita is headed the same way so this will be an interesting one. The current plan is to ride due south and then head west, hooking around behind it and arriving Tuesday. Rita was supposed to pass through the western Arkansas area Monday. Unfortunately, the latest projection shows Rita stalling around Texarkana so we may be in for it, although we could always hold up in Memphis and be a little late getting to ES.

We'll play this by ear and try to keep the Blog updated as we go.

Duluth Minnesota to Sault Ste. Marie Ontario

We departed the KOA through patches of fog and made our way to I-35 into Duluth. It was a quiet Sunday morning with little traffic so I have no idea how I missed the exit for Highway 2 East. I did deduce, when I noticed there were no longer Highway 2 signs and downtown Duluth was on my left side, that I was headed for Thunder Bay if I didn’t take some corrective action so we did a flip at one of the interchanges and headed back. After a gas stop, we made our way around at street level until we found the correct road. We did pause for a moment when an ambulance pulled out of a parking lot without looking, but you come to expect those things when you ride a bike.

When we got on the bridge over to Superior, Wisconsin, the fog became so heavy that we couldn’t see the harbour. Actually, it was so thick that the lines on the road and the bridge rail were all we could see, but it dissipated as soon as we were on dry land again.

The trip across 2 to Ashland, where we stopped for breakfast, and on to Michigan where we cut off on Highway 28, was uneventful. As usual, the temperature rose along with the humidity. Gas and water stops were all we did, although we did get a bit of cloud cover and about three drops of rain near Newberry. Eventually, we reached I-75 and turned north for the short hop to Sault Ste. Marie Michigan and the International Bridge.

I wondered what the traffic would be like at the border. Amazingly, as we came down in Canadian Customs, there were no vehicles waiting and we pulled right into an open booth. I guess the security here is different from out west because, after the usual questions, the young fellow let us go without so much as checking our driver’s licences.

We made it to Mom’s house where I discovered that the wiring problem with the trailer signal light had returned. Not sure if this was a problem with the wires or with the isolated wiring harness relays, I shook the plug while Sandy watched the lights. Since it came and went as I shook the plug, I assume that the live sixth wire is making contact with the signal light wire somewhere in the harness. Good. Better that than a problem with the relay unit which would be much more complicated. Something to check when we get home, starting with the plug I wired first. It’s not that I don’t trust my own wiring prowess, it’s just that the guy who wired the other end was a factory professional installer so I’ll go with the oddsJ)

Mom was a bit under the weather due to the heat and the fact that she had fallen a few days before. She assured us that nothing was broken, but she was moving a little slower than usual. We visited for a while before turning in for the night.

Estevan Saskatchewan to Duluth Minnesota

Although the temperature dropped off a bit overnight, it was humid right from first light this morning. We were up, packed and on the road by 6:00 AM Mountain Time. We ran in a light haze down to the border at North Portal passing coal drag lines looking like prehistoric creatures in the fog. The flat terrain had been rendered hilly by these monsters.

As expected, the U.S. border guard was bored silly at North Portal. He asked us every question he could think of and then thought up a few more. Then, a first, he wanted to see inside the trailer. For those who know how the trailer works, you know this is no small feat. I opened the lid about a foot and he was happy.

Once across the border, we took Hwy 52 down to US 2 and then east into Minot. The rest of the day was uneventful as we pushed east into a quartering headwind with the bike letting me know at every fuel stop just how hard it was working. I don’t believe I have ever gotten worse mileage on this bike.

We rolled past Rugby, the geographical center of North America and Great Forks where we crossed into Minnesota. At Crookston I showed Sandy where I acquired my written warning for speeding a few years ago. At Bemdji, I noticed that one of the tail lights on the trailer was on even though the bike was off. A strange situation, but rather than debug it I pulled the very hot bulb and deferred troubleshooting until we stopped for the day.

A few miles down, I wondered if the other light was working so I stopped at a small gas station to check. It was OK but we spent a while there because there was a fellow with a new silver ’05 Wing with only 300 miles on the clock. We talked for a while and answered a bunch of questions he had.

Continuing on, the road went down to two lanes and tree cover blunted the effect of the wind. Gas mileage improved and we arrived at Cloquet (pronounced like croquet) Minnesota where we grabbed a bite and then found the KOA. The tally was 620 miles in 11.5 hours. After setup, we showered and spent some time in the hot tub before returning to our site.

The wiring problem had automatically fixed itself before I could try to troubleshoot it. This means either that it has gone away or that it is intermittent. I hate debugging intermittent problems. Time will tell.

Cloquet is just outside Duluth so we’ll have an easy 400 mile day tomorrow to the Soo.

Fort McLeod Alberta to Estevan Saskatchewan

Before I tell you about today, a short word about Fort McLeod. With the RCMP Museum, Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump, the Frank Slide site, live theater and numerous things I have yet to discover, I’ve put this place in my plans for a three or four day visit sometime in the not too distant future.

We were on the road by 6:30 this morning. It was a little cool by a nice morning all told. I checked the tire wear before I left and found the rear Elite 3 is only showing 4/32nds tread left. At this rate it will barely make it home and the tire will be done at about 8,000 miles, which is less than the 12,000 miles the stock D250 gave and well below what I had hoped. Maybe the E3’s are not the answer for me. I have some figuring to do when I get home.

The first tank of fuel took us to Medicine Hat where, as is our style, we stopped for our usual Mickey D breakfast. The Redhill McDonalds was the worst experience I have ever had in that chain. There was only one person ahead of me in line and it still took ten minutes to place the order. And the order was wrong anyway. Many people were milling around in the back, but nobody seemed to be accomplishing anything. I took the time to fill out a comment card.

From Medicine Hat there was not a lot interesting. We traversed several hundred miles of broken down asphalt masquerading as the Trans-Canada Highway. Saskatchewan needs a bigger roads budget. At Moose Jaw, we swung southeast on 39 bound for the US border.

After about 40 kilometers, a grain elevator appeared on the horizon. It took another ten klicks before we reached it. When we did, this was right across the road.

We had found the legendary location where they film the externals to the Canadian TV show Corner Gas. The town of Rouleau Saskatchewan, a wide spot in the road, subs for the fictional town of Dog River as the elevator will attest.

Here I am in gas pumping mode.

This is probably the show that most typifies Canadian humour today. At the start of Episode One, an Ontarian pulls in and comments “Pretty flat around here”. Brett Butt, playing Brett Leroy the proprietor, looks at the linear horizon and replies “Really? I hadn’t noticed”.

The temperatures continued climbing as we continued towards Estevan, where I had reserved a site in a Regional Campground. As we hit town, someone said the humidex was 42C, about 107F. We’re set up here now with the weekend camping crowd and it has cooled of as the sun got lower. The mosquitoes are now out.

Tomorrow, we will cross at North Portal and head down to Minot North Dakota. From there, we will follow US 2 across ND, Minnesota , Wisconsin and will catch 28 in Northern Michigan. This will take us to the Soo, hopefully Sunday evening. From there, it’s a short hop home on Monday.

Oliver BC to Fort McLeod Alberta

It was a pleasant morning. We were folded up and rolling by 7:00 Pacific Time, making our way back down to Osoyoos. We fueled and started to climb. And climb and climb. The town looked very pretty as we looked back.

Highway 3, the Crowsnest Route, is a great way to cross BC. It twists and winds, climbs and drops, across several ranges and through a number of valleys. Saw a bunch of deer including three bucks standing together in a field. They were so perfect that Sandy pulled a Scotty and thought they were artificial until they looked over when I honked the horn.

Got to the Mickey D’s at Castlegar at 10:27. By their clock. SOB’s had already shut breakfast down for the day. All that speeding for nothing. We had an early lunch.

East of Salmo, we saw cattle and burros sharing the same field. The horns on the one here reminded me of a Spanish fighting bull.

Somewhere in here we lost an hour as we switched to Mountain Time.

We crossed the path we did last year going to our Rally in the Rockies but stayed on 3 after Cranbrook. We went way down and ran in a valley for a while before starting the climb to the Crowsnest Pass.

After going through the pass, we skirted a number of very small towns including Lundbreck, home of a very famous VROCer named Jim Siegelaar. We also passed a wind farm larger than the one we saw in West Texas. The locals here say they are adding new windmills all the time.

We reached Fort McLeod about 7:00 PM Mountain and set up in the Daisy Me campground. Free WiFi, but this is the first time we have had mosquitoes to contend with all trip. Tomorrow, we will continue east.

Vancouver to Oliver BC

The rain stopped overnight so we packed, hooked up and were on our way slightly after 8:00 AM. Highway 1 was busy as we left the Vancouver area due to rush hour, but we jumped in the HOV lane (buses, cars with more than one person and motorcycles) and did quite well. It surprised me ho many vehicles had only one person in them.

A word about Vancouver gas prices. The Chevron station next to Mal’s has two prices. During the early evening, gas costs $0.899 per liter. Any other time is $1.019. Mal tells me that there is a 3.5 cent discount, but the cycle is daily. We didn’t fill up in Vancouver. By the time we got to Abbottsford, about 50 miles east, the price was a more manageable $0.799. But, to make up for it, it started to rain. We put on our gear and continued.

At Hope, where the original Rambo First Blood movie was filmed all those years ago, we branched off on Highway 3, the route to the Crow’s Nest Pass. At the pullout near the beginning, we saw another GL-1800 towing a Bunkhouse camper trailer. We stopped to see if they needed any help, but they were just putting on their Gerbing gear. We followed them up through the rain and cloud and fog at a conservative pace, winding our way up until we came to the visitor center in Manning Provincial Park. We stopped to chat. Rick had a ’02 Wing with 136,000 Kms on it and a dog in a carrier on top of the cooler on the tongue. The dog was somewhat put out since, when Rick rides alone, Woody travels on the back seat.

We continued on and stopped at Rick’s place near Keremeos for coffee.

Then it was on to Osoyoos to visit the Lees-Ure Lite Trailer people. I pulled in and found Nick in the shop assembling a trailer. I told him I needed a roof rack and he asked if I was “That Guy Who….”. I was. He checked out the trailer and got a new roof rack. While he was installing it, owner Rick Lee rolled up in his Hummer. WE talked a bit and then young Amanda, one of the people I had been dealing with on the phone, showed up. Soon, the rack was installed and we were on our way.

We headed north up 97 to Oliver (which bills itself as the Wine Capital of Canada), where we got a site at a very nice KOA just north of town.

After we set up, we went across the road to a pub for supper. Then we came back and I got on-line to check the mail. The setting sun caught the cliff behind us, making it really stand out.

Now comes the question of the day. Which way do we go tomorrow. The Okanagan lies to the north taking us back up through Rogers and Kicking Horse Passes, The Crows Nest Pass and Lethbridge lie to the East and Kalispell Montana and US Highway 2 are south of us. All roads lead to home. I don’t know which way we are going but we will kick the priorities around tonight to see if we can reach a decision by morning.

Still More Vancouver

Mal and Sandy took Jan to the airport yesterday morning. We spent the day in low key mode but managed to find time to watch the entire first season of Corner Gas on DVD. Rouleau Saskatchewan may be on the itinerary on the way home.

We were going to leave today but it rained non-stop and the departure date wasn’t critical. Just laid back for another day.