Rambling thru life

I awoke this morning to the sound of thunder. How far off I laid and wondered. I started humming this song like it was 1982. Ain't it funny how the time flew... OK, so this morning I woke up at 5:40 and it was raining outside. I turned on the weather channel and in accordance with them, it wasn't suppose to be raining anywhere around me. When the weather on the 8's showed the local radar, there, right over Colby Kansas was a rain cloud. The rain stopped about 6:30. I loaded up the bike, ate the free breakfast provided by the motel and started down the road by 7:30 toward Kearny Nebraska. As I drove northeast out of the city, I saw a beautiful sunrise in between the rain showers. God and I had a great talk as I headed down the road. I asked Him for safe travels and for him to keep me out of the rain. As the rain moved into my path, the road turned in another direction. Just like I did the other day, I danced with rain clouds. Dance, dance, where ever you may be. I am the L

What ever happened to the art of passing a car? Numerous times today I came upon a line of cars traveling down the highway. The lead car typically was traveling below the speed limit, nominally rubbernecking the scenery. The trailing cars just fell in line, content to follow one after another. Worst yet, they followed really close behind the other, bumper to bumper not giving anyone that did want to pass a chance an opportunity. Have Interstates ruined the art of passing? Are people just to chicken? What gives? Thanks for listening to me rant. I left Blanding Utah and headed up to Montrose Colorado. Along the way I ran into a bit of construction. Because of the slow down in traffic because of the construction, I saw a most gorgeous river valley scene. I may have missed the view completely if I was traveling at my normal pace. From Montrose I drove east on HWY 50. Again because of a traffic construction slow down, I saw a most wonderful mountain scene. Over by Salida Co I headed nor

Steve and I left Park City this morning at about 8:20AM. We took the quickest way down to Provo and got on Interstate 15. We then blasted down 15 to Salina where we jumped onto HWY 24 and drove into Loa . At Loa , we took a break and got gas. A few miles outside of Loa , I said see you later to Steve as I road West and he took off south towards Teasdale. It was hard to see him go. After all, we had left and gotten back home together for at least the last six years of summer road trips. But its good that Steve continues on with this trip. It will be a good opportunity for him. I know that he really wants to see the San Diego Holmes family. But I know that home was calling him also. He misses his Cats, his bed, his TV, etc... As for me, I continued on through the Capital Reef National Park. The scenery was marvelous. At Hanksville I turned South on HWY 95 which took me to the Glen Canyon Nation Recreational Area where Lake Powell is. I was running ahead of schedule so I stopped at the

If you have been following along with us, I just want to thank you a bunch. We are over half way through this trip. Tomorrow , Steve starts his journey to San Diego. As for me, I am turning the corner and I am starting for home. Mmmmm , breakfast Today, we had a simple breakfast of sausage and eggs. Then we called house keeping to get some towels to clean the bikes with. After waiting an hour, we gave up and headed into town to a coin operated car wash. It felt good to give the bikes a bath. Steve feels he'll be able to get to CA with a clean bike. I know that mine is only destined to get dirtier. After the car wash we finally took time to play tourist in Park City. We went into a few shops, and we both bought t-shirts. There were a few interesting sculptures on the street that we stopped to admire. Then, with breakfast wearing off, we stop and split a large plate of nachos for lunch. The hunter becomes the hunted Taking a picture down main street After lunch we went back to the r

Hi! It sure is beautiful here. Sometimes you have to take a chance. Steve and I were plotting out a route for the day but the options open to us were few. From what we could tell by the map, there is nothing fun to ride on west of Salt Lake City. We did most of the available route to the north of us ( Ok , there are a few more options but we'd probably need to cover ground already traveled). So we were looking at our options south. We know that there are some fine roads in the far south, but we needed something closer to home. As we looked at the map we saw HWY 35 running from Francis towards Duchesne . But at least one of our maps indicated that about 15 miles of this highway was gravel. Remember, we tend to have a small aversion toward riding on gravel. We made the decision to run down HWY 35 until we came upon the loose rock. If we found it, we'd turn around and back track to HWY 40. As we headed down 35 I saw a sign that started out: 'Truck and Motorcycle Advisory'

We are traveling down HWY 150, a two lane road heading south out of Evanston WY that I have never traveled before towards a pass through a mountain range. Overhead the rain clouds hang over several of the peaks and passes. I wonder if the rain will be coming down in the pass this road is going through. The wind is buffeting us we travel. Gently the road starts to angle up into the Wasatch National forest, and I begin to get a little anxious about what awaits us. The higher up we travel, the lower the temperature goes. I am very thankful that I switched into my heavier, rain proof jacket. Up we go and as we do, the road has more turns in it. There are signs telling us to watch for livestock and its time for the deer to be out grazing. Up we go and the rain comes down gently onto us. Around a corner I see our first deer. Around another corner and we find that there are sheep all over the road. Not only do we have to dodge the sheep, but their droppings on the asphalt also. I noticed tha

There are two elements in life that makes a journey more favorable; a goal and a companion to accompany you. Having a goal motivates you to prepare and move forward. Having a companion gives you a sense of security as well as someone to discussion the joys and disappointments that come up. Each year, since I started seriously riding my motorcycle, I have had a taken a long distance trip somewhere. For a few of the years, I participated in a Minnesota 24 hour rallies. Other years, there has been a trip east, west or south from where I live. Regardless of where I would go, this major trip was my most anticipated motorcycling event of the year. Each year I calibrated vacation schedule, my finances, and my family to meet the goals necessary for this goal. The goal to successfully travel a long way out and back safely has kept me busy each year. Without this goal, motorcycling for me would only be a commute to work and maybe a short adventure once in awhile. For some people, that goal is ac

Yesterdays total mileage per my odometer was 770 miles. Today we ran a 557 miles. That's a total 1327 miles in 2 days! This morning we got up at 7:00AM - Central Standard time. That means we rolled out of bed at 6AM local time. We were so confused. But we were able to take our time, eat an egg and bacon breakfast provided by the motel and get out on the road on time. At 8AM we headed south on hwy 71 out of ScottsBluff . I think this is an area that would be fun to explore. The actual Scotts bluff looked really neat as we road away from it. Actually all the bluffs, ridges and hills were interesting. We got on interstate 80 and blasted into Laramie , Wyoming. At Laramie we got off of the interstate, topped off the tanks and took a 100 mile detour through Routt National Forest. The pass got a bit chilly at 57 degrees. There was plenty of snow on the mountain. I only had my lite riding jacket on so I got a bit chilled. But once we came down I was fine. The wild flowers were very a

I left the house this morning at about 7:30 and ran into two traffic jams on the road to Steves. After a quick radio check and some final packing we left Steves house at 8:30. Our route took us down HWY 169 and then 60 into Worthington, MN. At Worthington, we jumped onto Interstate 90 with plans to make a bunch of highspeed miles. Four hours into the ride we stopped for gas and lunch north of Sioux Falls. After lunch we jumped back onto Interstate 90. The bike week at Sturgis, SD is happening this weekend. This event put a lot of riders on 90 going our way. We passed a lot of Harley riders. And we passed a lot of Harleys on trailors. What kind of posers are they. Riding in air conditioning with your bike behind you on a trailor. There were a lot of really nice motor homes pulling some of those trailors. I wish I had a fraction of the $$$ those rigs must have cost. Steve Riding down HWY 2 in Nebraska Heading west on 90 the temperature reached 96 deg F. At Murdo, SD we stopped for gas an

The bags are packed and I am ready to go. Pray for Steve and Me, we need safe travel, nice weather and time to stop and enjoy the sights.

So what did the settlers feel like as they went through the final days before departing for the west. Packing, preparing, getting the horses ready, gathering every last bit of coin together, and saying goodbye to loved ones.... Yesterday started with a scare. I concluded that the bike was leaking oil. Anxiously I took the bike over to the shop. Bless her heart, LoriAnn drove over and brought me home to get the car. The day went by with no word on how the STead was doing. Finally, at 4:00PM I called and was told the bike was done. The valve cover seal had to be reset. Since the shop had down a valve job, they figured it was their problem and there was no cost to me but time. Again, LoriAnn drove me over to pick it up. Since the valve cover area is not under pressure, the bike could have been driven. But it would have been a mess. Today, it ran great with no leak. Laundry and packing is almost done. Then its off to bed. I feel sorry for the family tonight. I haven't been the most soc

On August 6th, if God is willing, I will get out of bed and start the journey west to Utah. I have three days to finish getting ready for the annual trip (somewhere) with my brother on our motorcycles. This year, we plan to base camp in a timeshare in Park City Utah. Two days out there and at least two days back. That gives us 5-6 days to ride the area before we head back. The maintenance on the motorcycle has been completed. A serious tune up as well as new tires for the STead. The bike ran really sweet last weekend when Steve and I went into south western Wisconsin. This morning, starting the bike up to go to work, I noticed some smoke. Not sure what that is. Argh. I bought new ridding boots because I have worn through the rubber at the toe on sole of the old left boot. I have to quit dragging my toes. My heavy Jacket is washed and tonight I will spray it with camp dry. Other clothes will be thrown together on thursday night. Steve and I are attempting FRS communications again. My ne