Rambling thru life

Here are some of the pictures and video LoriAnn took at the 2018 Patriot Ride.   The Patriot Ride has historically been focused on benefiting our local Active Military, Veterans and their Families. And this focus remains to this day and is as strong as ever!    This ride demonstrates dignity, honor and respect for those who are, and those who have served. “The Minnesota Patriot Guard is a 100% Volunteer, registered 501(c)3 non-profit Organization which ensures Honor, Dignity, and Respect at memorial services honoring Fallen Military Heroes, Honorably discharged Veterans, and line of duty Police, Firefighters, and First Responders.” The ride makes a big circle, passing a quarter mile by my home.  It also take us right past my church. If you enjoyed this blog entry, don't forget to select that follow function if you have't already.   Leave us a comment also.  I would love to hear from you!

Today is one of the longest days of the summer. We got a late start on today's ride since Loriann had to work until noon. But after a quick lunch we got on the road and we were expecting a great ride. We headed south to Welch Village and then down to Zumbrota. From Zumbrota we headed east on Highway 60 one of my favorite roads to Wabasha.  There we crossed the Mississippi to Nelson Wisconsin. We did a quick Loop through Alma Wisconsin back into Nelson and then stopped for and excellent BBQ dinner at J & J BBQ . From Nelson we rode the back roads too Ellsworth where the infamous Ellsworth Cheese Curd Festival was happening. We stopped for some cheese curds & to listened to the band Reverand Raven and the Chain Smokin' Alter Boys. From Ellsworth it was a quick one hour and ride home.  We had a beautiful sunset escorting us all the way, pulling into the driveway at 9:30 p.m.  Today's ride was 287 miles, most of it was on twisty, turny, fun f

After the trip to Sturgeon Bay, I decided to get new tires.  My local shop, Dr Mudspringer , had a sale going on for the Dunlop Elite 4s.  I also got a $75 dollar rebate that helps pay for the mounting.   Woot Woot... Milage at time of replacment: 65235 Miles on the tires: 11,528 Pretty close to 1 year since the last replacement.

This morning we had breakfast at the hotel, packed up the bike and started for home. The trip home was difficult due to the lack of excitement as the fun was coming to the end. We also were worried about the weather. The weather at the beginning of the day was pleasant because there was plenty of overcast.   But west of Green Bay, the sun came out and the temperature climbed. As much as I dislike the Green Bay Packer football team, we did pass by the stadium on our way through town.  Go Vikings, Go Patriots!!! We took a fairly direct route home.  There isn't much to tell.   Well except for the question that kept popping up in my head all the way home:  Is there enough tread on my tires? When the tires get worn on a motorcycle you can tell by the way it handles.  The bike gives you squiggly feelings as you go around corners. This all affects your confidence in the bike and it changes the way you ride.  I caught myself inspecting the tire tread several times on this trip.  Th

Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin is considered the gateway to Door County.  Door County is a great tourist destination on a peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan, in the state of Wisconsin.  Here is an excerpt from the Door County Visitor Center : "Sturgeon Bay’s rich shipbuilding history got something of a spotlight during the two world wars in the 20th century. As the nation needed battleships in World War I and again in World War II, the otherwise sleepy shipbuilding town got new life, importing workers to cover the military’s growing needs. While some of the shipyards that provided these military vessels are gone, Bay Shipbuilding still operates out of the shipyard in Sturgeon Bay that dates back to 1918. In the late 1940s, cherry picking in Door County hit its peak when approximately 10,000 workers were employed ranging from eight to 60 years old. Workers were paid on a per pail basis and lived in basic camp buildings provided by growers. The cherry industry is still one of

It is a 3 day holiday weekend in the USA.  So its time for a road trip.  It's Saturday morning, so LoriAnn and I woke up and got on the road right away, meandering East across the Wisconsin country side on the Goldwing. Our first destination for the day is Manitowac Wisconsin, the home of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. The  Wisconsin Maritime Museum  features a restored World War II submarine, a 19th - century shipbuilding town and boat rides on the river.  Twenty eight submarines were built in Manitowoc during World War II. The submarine at the museum is the USS Cobia.  Although USS Cobia is not one of the 28 submarines built here, she is a National Historic and an International Submariners Memorial. I kept us on two lane roads as much as possible, barreling across Wisconsin, while keeping an eye on the thermometer as it kept creeping up and up.   We new it was going to be a hot day, so we had to keep moving.  As we approached Lake Winnebago the thermometer reached 103 degrees

As we pulled out of the cemetery onto northbound HWY 169, I saw the motorcycle coming up behind me.   There was something familiar about the bike.  Maybe it was red in color.   Maybe the headlight was one I had seen before.  The bike followed us through town.  As I crossed the towns boarders, I looked in my rear view mirror one more time and the bike was gone. ------------------ This weeks ride was more of a mission to show love, honor and respect to family members.  My little brother died in 1969 and was buried in a small country church cemetery in Lotts Creek, IA.  This is the same cemetery location as my maternal grandparents.  So today, LoriAnn and I road down to Lotts Creek to, as my father would say, do the body count.   I am happy to say that everyone was where they were supposed to be.  But more about that later. We debated which day to make this ride.  Because this was a mission, we knew that we were going this weekend.  It was just a matter of choosing the better of th

I hate it when I am one of the 1st and last motorcycles in the parking lot at work!

Sometimes you have to make the best of what you have to work with.  That is how this weeks journey ended up.  Stubbornness and a refusal to believe that riding North this weekend would be better than riding South, lead us to a change in plans for this weekends ride.  But first!  LoriAnn got a new helmet, Nolan N1004, this week.   On Saturday I spent a few hours adapting the helmet to fit the Sena 20S audio unit we use.  We tried the audio units out that evening to be sure that everything worked.  However, on Sunday when we left home, and got a few blocks away, LoriAnn informed me that she had a rattle in her new helmet.  It was bad enough that I could hear it through my headset.  We made a big circle back to home, trying to isolate the cause.   It became clear that it wouldn't be a simple fix, so LoriAnn jumped back into her old helmet so we could ride. Leaving home, again, we started a freeway blast down HWY 52.  Our intentions were to blast down south to Preston, MN and

Last Friday and Saturday, my wife LoriAnn and I busted our butts to prep the garden beds and to lay down new mulch.  Every 3 years we do a major overlay of much and this was that year. The weekend weather forecast was ideal for motorcycle riding, also for yard work. After receiving 8 yards of bulk mulch, I could tell it wouldn't be enough. So I ordered another 4 yards.  Thankfully, my son-in-law, Tom McLeod, came to our cries for help.   If Tom hadn't helped us I knew that there would be no motorcycle riding for us.  In fact, I wanted to get this job done so much that I was willing to pay anyone to help.   If Tom hadn't stepped us I was going to offer the neighborhood kids money to help. Maybe the stipend that I offered Tom influenced his decision or maybe he loves us enough he wanted to help with the work.  Regardless of the case, he earned that stipend.  The garden beds look great! Finishing up on Saturday left Sunday free for a ride.   With our bodies a

I have a opening riding season rule: the first 500 (or so) miles of the season are done with no passengers.  This allows me 500 miles of riding to get my head into the game, reacquaint myself with riding and the functions of the bike.   After riding last Sunday, Monday, Thursday and then Saturday; I was at ~440 miles and felt that was close enough.  Sunday was time for my wife's first ride. It was a great 193 mile ride.  The day started out a little cool at 55 deg F.  We saw a high of 68 on the road.  The wind presented me with a bit of a struggle. After church, around 11 AM, we left home and headed towards Stillwater MN.  Then we headed south along the Mississippi, crossing over into Hastings where the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers join together. In Hasting we stopped for gas and bathroom break. From Hastings we kept going south to the town of Welch.  The road into and out of Welch is one of the best riding roads in MN!  Welch is also known for its Canon river tubing

Its March 31st!  My plans are to get my motorcycle out of the shed and onto the street. Click here to go to my vblog to see the first season Video! Subscribe to my channel for all of my posted videos!

The video is finally done.   Follow along with LoriAnn and I as we head to the Oregon coast and back. Subscribe to my channel in YouTube to see all my videos when publised!

We said goodbye to out good friend Al Ian today.  He came for my 60th birthday party, and partied into the night.  He went out west to Area 51 with us and came very close to getting caught by the officials.  He stuck around to see what the Christmas celebration is all about, and loved all the lights.  But today he heard that a space craft from his home world is swinging by this galaxy and is willing to make a stop here at Earth.  He has to be ready to leave at a moments notice, so that NASA doesn't see the crafts arrival or departure.

LoriAnn and I put our 18.5 year old cat, Cassie down on Wednesday.  This is the 4th pet that I have put down in my life time.   It has also been the hardest.  Since Christmas she was hiding a lot.  Although she was eating (without puking it backup) she was still losing weight.  Last Monday, she just looked ill.  You could see it in her eyes. When she walked you could see she was in pain.  Tuesday she didn’t keep any food down and stopped eating.  Wed the vet took some blood work and said her kidneys were NOT elevated which is good, but her liver indicated problems.  She was also very tender in the stomach.  She barely moved while at the vet, even with the elevated adrenaline that pets get at the vet.  Selfishly I could have probably gotten the meds necessary to keep her around for another few weeks, maybe months.  But with tears and much sadness, I said goodbye to my kitty. After that I went home and crawled into bed with a 101.8 degree temperature.  I guess I got the flu som