Rambling thru life

Peace to you and your family this holiday season. The end of 2017 finds both LoriAnn and Todd healthy.  Megan and Tom are doing well also. We have had a busy year with a Caribbean cruise in Mar, a fun filled motorcycle ride to the west coast in July, a visit with LoriAnn’s sister in Las Vegas in Sept, and a relaxing trip to Branson with Todd’s cousin and wife in Nov.  We had our house resided and then repaired after a hail storm.  We spent many fun days riding the motorcycle across Minnesota and Wisconsin.  We enjoyed many good times with out of town Family visits.  Sadly we said goodbye to Todd’s Dad in October and a few other family members throughout the year.  Finally, We look forward to the new year and all the opportunities it brings. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year LoriAnn and Todd Holmes

In early December, four of Santa's elves got sick. When the trainee elves could not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, Santa began to feel some Pre-Christmas pressure. Then Mrs. Claus mentioned that her Mother was coming to visit, stressing Santa even more. He went to harness the reindeer, and found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had gotten loose and were out, Heaven knows where. Then, when he began load-testing the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked; the bag of toys fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered. Frustrated, Santa went back in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum.  Opening the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drunk all the cider and hidden the liquor. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, breaking it into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He got the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom. Just then the doorbell

For the last few years, before he crossed over to heaven, my father had a reoccurring dream. In the dream dad is standing on one side of a river.  A creek that was flowing so fast he couldn’t cross.  On the other side was Jesus, Mom, and my brothers Doug, and Brian.  Dad knew it wasn't his time to go home because the creek was too high and fast for him to cross. Often, at night when I would leave him at the home, I would tell him that I loved him and then I typically said, I’ll see you tomorrow.  He often answered “If the good Lord is willing and the Creek don’t rise.”  One time I asked him where he got the saying from.  He didn’t respond. I was thinking he was worried that a small creek somewhere would be overflowing and I wouldn't be able to get to him.  After a brief pause he asked if I remembered “his” dream and he told he had recently had it. If the good lord's willing and the creek don't rise

Ever since Al Ian came to visit me for my birthday, he has been asking me to take him to visit his point of entry in Nevada.   Here is a picture of Al greeting me on my birthday. When Al heard that my wife and I were going to Nevada he begged and pleaded for me to take him with us. He was pretty sure that Nevada was his point of entry to earth, and he was sure he could find some of his relatives. I told him that I couldn't afford a ticket on the plane for him.  I didn't mention the fact that TSA probably wouldn't let him on board the plan.  He told me about a way he could flatten himself out and make himself small. Only LoriAnn, Me and him would know he was in the suitcase. The only catch was he couldn't recover on his own and would need my help.  So last night, I helped him out... During the night, Al was able to work the wrinkles out and start looking like his normal self.  But this morning, before we could leave, we had to wait for Jeanette got off work.  Al

Time has passed by, and the 2017 West Coast trip is becoming a wonderful memory that is fading fast.  I need to schedule time with LoriAnn to go through the photos.  This is a task that needs to be done so I can finish my archive procedure.  Perhaps as we weed out the duplicates or superfluous photos, our memory banks will become refreshed. Since we love to travel we have already booked a trip west (by airplane) to Las Vegas to visit LoriAnn's sister in September.  LoriAnn's sister Jeanette moved to Las Vegas a couple of years ago. We have not seen her since she moved.  September in Las Vegas could be very hot.  We will take it one day at a time. We may make an overnight road trip into California to see LoriAnn's Aunt and Uncle. I am thinking we need to take Al(ian) to Nevada with us and visit the Extraterrestrial Highway . Actually, I think it would be way cool to go up there... We will have to see where this Las Vegas trip goes. Al(ian) is the green one. We have

My friend Terry and I left on a breakfast run this morning (Saturday). Terry and I had become riding partners several years ago while looking for new riding companions.  We both have similar riding styles and endurance capabilities.  While eating wings and having a beer last week, we realized we hadn't been out riding together for awhile. So we booked this ride.  Because Terry had an engagement in the afternoon we were limited in travel time.  LoriAnn had to work, so she was only mildly disappointed that I road without her. Bikes all ready to go, awaiting Terry's arrival We had plans to run north from home into Grantsburg WI and then have breakfast there.  But rain storms were moving into that area and so, we redirected our route south. Terry led us out of town, through Hudson WI, down to Prescott WI, and into Redwing MN.  There in Redwing we had breakfast at the Liberty Restaurant and Lounge .   I had a pretty decent egg scramble and the price was reasonable. I l

This was done five years ago. If you get a chance, you should take advantage of what  Drive A Tank  has to offer!

I got home from a shopping trip and noticed that I was 32 miles away from rolling the odometer on the GL1800 to 60,000. Since my wife was there when the odometer went to 50K, I thought it would be nice to include her in the ride to 60K.  So, when LoriAnn got home from work, I asked her if she wanted to go for a quick ride and get the odometer to roll over.   She couldn't wait, and rushed up to the bedroom to put on more appropriate riding clothes. When we rolled out of the driveway, I turned north and looked up at the ski and noticed a storm approaching.  Not wanting to run directly into the rain, I took the first turn east in an effort to avoid the rain.  But then as I cruised east I noticed the rain closing on us from the north.  So I headed us in a south, south-west direction in an effort to cross under the storm. As I got directly south of home I turned north and headed directly into a very black sky! I have had to ride in rain.  I know that if I want to ride I have to ri

As mentioned, I plan to publish a few articles in retrospect of the trip.  This post has to due with returning home. This was such an awesome trip!  We didn't want to leave the mountains, nor the coast.  Even the difficult days were an adventure.  We knew that when we got home, it would take time to decompress from being on the road for 16 days.  But we didn't think it would be this hard.  Perhaps it had to due with what we immediately encountered when we got home, or what we left undone when we left, but getting home didn't seem to be fun. Yes, I do enjoy the fact that I do not have to pack up every morning.  I enjoy the comforts and conveniences that home has.  I enjoy my bed; my electric toothbrush, and my electric razor.  I enjoy the toys that I had left behind.  And I enjoy the air conditioning in my car. Despite all these comforts that should have made Home a place to be; we were hit with a sad case of reality when we got there. Dad lives in assisted living.  Th

Every good thing has to come to an end.  Reluctantly, today is the last day on the road. We visited with LoriAnn's niece last night.  This morning we got to have breakfast with LoriAnn's nephew.  It was great to see them both.  But this mornings visit was just a start to the procrastination that we did on getting home. With gas in the tank, we jumped on I 90 again and headed for the Minnesota border.  LoriAnn was preoccupied as we crossed so she didn't get a picture of the state sign as we entered.  She prides herself on getting pictures of all the crossing points so this was a mild disappointment. At Worthington, MN we stopped for a short visit at LoriAnn's friends: Orlan and Maggie.  Orlan is now 96 years old.  They are good people, and we always love seeing them. It was close to their lunch time, so we kept the visit short.  Worthington is where LoriAnn grew up.  We took a short tour of the city; passing by her childhood home.  Then we jumped on HWY 60 towards

LoriAnn isn't getting a free ride on this trip! She is a vital and integral working part of the machine that keeps us moving. Often, while flying down the road i will say into the Sena intercom "Talk to me Goose". In the movie Top Gun, Maverick and Goose were one team while flying. That is the type of relationship LoriAnn and I have developed on this trip. Her many roles include: copilot, steward, photo journalist, and chaplain. As a copilot she watches for traffic, keeps me informed of wild life, provides me local eye on the sky weather reports, and ensures that I am flight ready.  Whats flight ready? Sometimes I need a break or I should be done for the night and I don't know it.  She will encourage the stop. In larger towns where a cell tower signal exists she has helped navigate thru town or to a point of interest. As the steward she provides my snacks while in flight. She carries in the pockets of her jacket (in baggies) life saver mints a

Otis the camel may have tipped the balance in our travel relationship. We left Rapid City and barreled down I 90 towards Wall SD. Many of us grew up knowing about Wall Drug advertised  along the road through SD. If you somehow missed learning about Wall Drug, google it. Having been to Wall Drug before, we just passed through town. From Wall we headed through the South Dakota Badlands. We took this side trip to break up the monotony of the highway. Each of us had been through there at least once, and were glad we did again. The views, and scenery through this 'bad' land is inspiring.  Toward the East end, a rain cloud opened up on us. Knowing it was a short burst, we road thru it.  We dried out on flying down the road Somewhere between Wall and Mitchell, is South Dakota's original  1880 Town . A feature at the town is Otis the Camel.  Now LoriAnn saw that Otis the Camel was there and she suggested we see him.  We had already blasted past the 1880 Town so that woul

We've known all along that the trip would have to end.  But it sucks to be ahead of schedule, and running out of fun. Tomorrow we start the trek across the flat lands toward home. Some of our scheduled route had been planned to be aggresive.  But we also had a few days were we just over achieved because we could. Such as it was, we have found ourselves a day ahead of schedule. So we added stops at Devils Tower and Mount Rushmore to the agenda. This was LoriAnn's first trip to Devils Tower so I encouraged her to join me on the walk around the tower. The walk is only 1.3 miles, on a asphalt paved path, circling the tower. A circle has 360 degrees to it. As fascinating as the tower is, a person could easily take 360 photos of it on the walk. We saw 2 different sets of climbers going up. Thats a sport for a younger person than me!  Its always a fun to stop and see Mount Rushmore. But the scenic route to it is also pleasure run on a motorcycle. LoriAnn had seen the

Not many people can say they drove on top of the world! We left Cooke City on the  Beartooth Highway  heading for Red Lodge, WY.  We crossed over the Beartooth Pass. The Beartooth Pass is one of the highest and most rugged areas in the lower 48 states, with 20 peaks reaching over 12,000 feet in elevation. In the surrounding mountains, glaciers are found on the north flank of nearly every mountain peak over 11,500 feet high. The Road itself is the highest elevation highway in Wyoming (10,947 feet) and Montana (10,350 feet), and is the highest elevation highway in the Northern Rockies. At Red Lodge we turned east, heading southwest back into Wyoming. This region was suppose to get rain and it began to develop west of us as we left Red Lodge, and it chased us east across Wyoming. While constantly watching over our shoulders, we headed uphill into the Big Horn National Forest, and went through another pass. Throughout this journey, our Sena Bluetooth he

Have you ever wondered where UPS will deliver too? Oddly, where ever I head to, on a motorcycle, a UPS truck will impede my journey.  We found this UPS in a remote northern part of the Yellowstone park. We left Jackson and headed north toward Yellowstone. To our west was the Teton Mountain range. As we got closer to the Yellowstone gate, the ski was darkening so we pulled over and suited up for rain. Just as we got back onto the road the ski opened up. When the bike is moving we are not affected, as much, by the rain. So when we got to the gate and had to sit in line for 10 minutes, we got drenched. To make matters worse, it hailed upon us. Traffic thru the park sucked! If you plan to go anywhere fast, dont! We got wet. About 15 minutes from Old Faithful, the rain stopped.  We visited a scenic overlook and then pulled into the Old Faithful parking lot. There were tons of cars, lots of traffic, and numerous people. Since we had a wait for the eruption, we bought some souven