Bald Mountain

Going back a bit... still on our way to Sturgis we had the pleasure of negociating the pass over Bald Mountain in Wyoming.  Here's Bonnie leading the group:

The view was so expansive,  you simply cannot get it on film in a manner that reflects reality:

And on the road (Dell and Karin behind):

Home Again

Don:



Home at last.  The odometer reads close to 3100 miles with about 650 of those gained in Sturgis and the surrounding areas.  Above with Bonnie are Bob and Kim Henke.  Bob and Kim have been regulars at the Katmandu Campground since day one. As a matter of fact, the area reserved for Bob (and friends) was officially named Henke Hill this year (see the banner unveiling below)

Then there's my buddy Jimmy who is my link to this whole deal.  Jim is one of my favorite people on the planet and should have been a stand-up comedian.

Gary, Red, Tom, Bill, Jeff, Rusty and many, many others will be missed until next time!  Thanks to all and especially Bob and Jimmy for greasing the wheels for this trip.  Hoping to return in 2014.

Wrap up of our trip

When we started to plan for this trip last year, it was dependent upon a couple of things - can Doc go and can we find someone to care for our four legged furry friends.  Once we received confirmation 'CinC says it's a go - Sturgis 2012' from Doc, the planning wheels started to turn.  It took us a while to find a pet sitter for the entire trip but finally came together.  I was anxious for a few things, meeting the folks in camp, going to the senior breakfast and riding Needles Highway.  Looking back, those are all favorite memories of our trip. 

Needles Highway was incredible.  How ofter do you see a curve caution sign of 5 mph?  It was like they prepared you as they started at 20 mph, then 15 mph, then next 10 mph and then 5 mph.  The roads were in great shape, no bumps, gravel or debris to distract you from the corners.  Can't wait to ride it again.

Senior breakfast is a tradition for this group.  And Rose (92 y.o) greets everyone with a hug (see previous post).  And don't think she'll let you pass without one.  A guy tried, was spotted and then she held on a little extra long.  Couldn't help but giggle at the situation.

And then there is camp.  I knew it would be fun based only on the stories from last year.  Jimmy - the comedian.  He had you laughing right out of the gate.  And he'd let you give him a hard time but be careful, he's always one thought ahead of you.   Often Jimmy would jump on his bike, in his pj's, and just ride around in circles.  I watched him one time, curious I raised my hands in questions mouthing - what are you doing?  He just smiled "I'm riding, I'm riding" like a kids learning for the first time.  Goober!!!   Thanks for the laughs Jimmy, you are one in a million.
Good 'ole Red - our story teller.  Just a good 'ole boy.  He is kind, funny, tells the best stories, an 'ah shucks' kind of guy and made me feel welcome right off.  A favorite memory, we arrived at camp and I wanted to impress some of them by guessing who they were.  They had no idea Don gave me the run down just days before.  When it came to Red, I said... you're Red!?!  He looked stunned (or pleased, not sure I'd know the difference) then smiled and said 'I am Red!!' with delight.  You were my favorite until you beat us at corn hole!!  <grin>
Bob - the camp master!!  He has been coming to this campground for over 20 years.  If you need to know where to go, what to see, what to avoid - he'll provide you with it all.  Kind soul, a bit mischievous but all in all one great guy.  Next time we are out there Bob, I will follow through on the foot rub.  Thank you for your hospitality, your creative dinners, breakfasts and for the extended invitation.
All the others - Karen, Kim, Bambi, Jeff, Jeff's wife, Gary, Lorna, Bill and his wife, that one guy and his wife, and that other guy and his wife too.  Holy cow, there were 43 of us in camp, I can't remember all your names!!  You were all so kind and inviting - thank you so much for making my first trip to Sturgis one to remember.

Our traveling group - Doc, good to finally meet you.  You are a wealth of knowledge, kind soul and look forward to another ride.  Dell and Karin - first time two up - you did great!  Gave me laughs when I needed them, let me pout when I needed to, gave me beer when I needed it.  Can't wait to reminisce about the trip and reflect back on comments only we would understand.  Brian and Laura - finally glad to have you catch up to us, ride needles highway and hang out at camp together.  Was good to spend time together.  And then there is best for last - Don, my hero!  You are a great riding partner, a great camping partner, the most patient person.  You are funny, witty, kind, generous and made this trip a real joy for me.  I truly enjoyed the trip and making more life memories together.  If I had one complaint, it would be we had no time to spend as just you and me. How did that happen?  We MUST go back, enjoy it in a different way, hang out at camp more and play more corn hole.  :-)   Thank you for all your encouragement and confidence.  Love you sweetie.

Things I would avoid next time - Lame Dear, Montana!  Did not like this place at all!! 

Things to do again - most everything (except Lame Dear).  I could beat Jimmy at corn hole again, that was a good day!!  :-)

Lolo Pass

When you enter Lolo Pass, you first see a sign that says (the squigly arrow we see for curvy roads) for 99 miles.  That's right, 99 miles of curvy road without pause. And it's gorgeous!

And...

There oughta be a law...

We ran into a line of FOUR of these extra wide loads... back to back!  It's REALLY tough to pass these things when you are turning and turning thru a small town!

But we did it one bike at a time... sometimes getting around just one "house" at a time...

Here's Dell and Karin catching up to my position:

Then we hit construction!  Again and again.  This one was huge with more earth movers and graders than  I have ever seen in my life in one spot.  This was a dusty/dirty mess to ride thru on a bike.  Here's looking forward:

And Bonnie waiting to shove off:

D & K  behind:

There were a few more sites that had warning signs like this one:  "Motorcyclists Should Condsider Alternate Routes" - boy howdy...

Cleaning Up

Before....
And after....
I feel so much better!! :-)

Why I'm the Diesel Doc

 Gas pumps are green in Michigan

Diesel Pumps are black in Michigan

Out west it's just the opposite.  My story and I'm sticking to it.

More photos

More photos by Karin

Random photos from Sturgis

The bikes are lining up

 Met these Marines along the way to Sturgis

 Fred and Bonnie at Devil's Tower

1922 Harley with Side Car

Relaxing at home

Me and the Scottie enjoying some relaxing time

I got home around 5:30 PM on Saturday and after having temps in the high 90's all week it was quite a shock to my system to roll into Michigan and find it at 60F and drizzling.  So, we built a fire, poured a couple glasses of wine and enjoyed a "bug free" evening of talking and relaxing.  Can you tell I just finished a 3,353 mile trip on a motorcycle and a week in a tent?

It was a great trip full of fond memories of the people and the sights.  I'll be adding more photos in the photo section.

Wallace Pub Crawl

After sampling a Wallace Brewing IPA, we made a few stops and ending up in the City Limits Pub (behind which is the North Idaho Mountain Brew brewery).  Turns out that the guy who checked on our first pitcher order was the brewmaster.  After asking a few questions I asked if the brewery was adjacent to the pub and he asked if we would like a tour of the brewery (yes!).  So Mark Burmeister, the brewmaster gave us a great and very personal tour (that's him, in the middle above).  Are the beers good?  YEP!

(by the way, the Fish Tacos were outstanding...)

Bummer!

Next to leaving the folks at camp, there was another confirmation the trip had come to an end. Cutting off the arm band....

And then there is the mirror showing all the tan lines...

Almost there...

About 25 miles east of Moses Lake. Onto George for fuel then home.

Headed home

It goes too fast. It always does. But breakfast on the last day from Wallace Idaho. But another great trip. So many wonderful people at camp from all over. Thank you again to our hosts. Be back in 2014!!!

The final leg

Overslept this morning but it looks like the rain has moved out of Michigan for my ride home.  I must have been more tired than I thought.  Temps here are very cool (50's) so it will be another day of wearing every piece of long sleeved apparel I have plus my chaps.  I look like the "Great Pumpkin" riding down the road with my HD Orange rain suit jacket on but it keeps me warm and is a great windbreaker.

Crossing the Mississippi

Took this photo from the Illinois Welcome Center (which was closed due to budget cuts) as I came across the river from Bettendorf, Iowa.  This is a very beautiful Welcome Center and campsite.  Wish I could have stayed there but then I would have missed the impromptu party that occurred here at the KOA in Utica, Illinois. 

When I checked into the camp I asked the owner if they had anything to eat and if I could get a beer.  For some reason they took a liking to me and made me a pizza and invited me over to the motorhome across the road from the office where we proceeded to eat pizza and drink beer.  Turns out the campers are a bunch of Chicago cops and their wives and we ended up having a party.  People from the next camper came over and brought homemade ice cream and we've had a great time.  Now it's time to wind it down and get some sleep.  Today's ride was 540 miles fighting a northeast wind.  Not as bad as last Saturday but enough to make me a little tired.  Final leg of the trip starts tomorrow and with luck I'll be home before 1500.  Pat tells me that its been raining hard in our area for a couple of days.  I'm hoping it will move off before I get there.  Weather here in Illinois is beautiful; but cool.

Glad to hear that our Seattle crew are doing well and that "Don the Wonderboy" was able to fix Bonnie's bike.  You da man, Don.

Ride safe you guys and we'll do the recap over the next few days.  I think I have some photos I want to add to the "photo section page".  Feel free to upload whatever you think will add to our overall adventure.  Wish it could go on forever but it's time to return to the real world.  Sure been great for the past week and a half. 

As We Leave the Nest

When we arrived in camp, there was a birds nest in the framework of our roof shelter.

We watched the momma bird bravely feed her single chick in the nest throughout the week - and suddenly on Wednesday the chick flew the coop so to speak and made its way around and finally flew off - much like the new folks this time in Sturgis.

Time to go home. Thanks to Bob and all for a special kind of welcome that cannot be described - only experienced.

Til the next time friends...

My hero!!!

We are back in action. Much needed brew after the little set back but like I said, Don can fix anything. My Hero!!!

We plan to stay in Wallace for tonight. Currently on drinking tour or pub crawl (we are walking, not riding). Then I'm sure we'll be on a 'stumble, stumble, roll' before too long.

Uh ohhhhh!?!?!?

Little down time but remember me saying REALLY early on that Don can fix anything!?!?! We'll put him to the test. Ball joint in the shifting mechanism broke right as we were pulling into Wallace, ID. Oh and the 'Hello Kitty' duck tape was only to mark the placement of the nut to mark the same placement for later.

The Send Off

It is tradition to send off those who are leaving by plenty if hugs before you get in your bike and then as we drive around the camp ground towards the exit, the remaining folks at the camp collect at the fence by the road and wave good-bye. It is quite the site and emotional dang it. Those are great people, can't wait to see them again. Thanks for a great time and wonderful memories.

Traveling Home

Dang Jimmy!! The whole way I was trying to recreate his "on the old Harley of mine" song.

We made it to Livingston, MT. I've always wanted to see this town and I still like it. Deciding upon a place for dinner was a bit interesting but we ended up at Murrey's. He owns the block we assume because there is a up scale restaurant, hotel, bar and small shop-all with the same name Cool town!! Met some great local people as well as their dogs. Yep, they come in the bar too.

Off to Spokane now then home.

Day two begins and it's cold

Temp is 49F and it looks like I'll be wearing every piece of long sleeve gear I have to start the second leg.  Beautiful clear skies and no rain predicted along my route, but damn, it's cold. 

More tonight when I reach my campsite in Illinois

Day One of the Ride Home is in the logbook

Very uneventful 404 mile ride back to Yankton, SD for an overnight stay at the same KOA I stayed on the way out.  I decided to take a more southerly route while working my way down to I-80 so I can avoid Chicago area traffic as much as possible.  Plus, my memory of I-90 across southern Minnesota is that of riding my bike down the railroad tracks between the rails.  That road like to rattle all my teeth out.  According to our hosts in Sturgis there have been no repairs done to it so I'm skipping it.  Tomorrow the ride will be about 525 miles to central Illinois so that I can have a manageable 350 miles on saturday.

Speaking of our hosts in Sturgis, I'm sitting here reflecting on how gracious all of them are.  I've haven't had that much fun with people I've met for the first time in a long time.  It was like going to a family reunion with only the "good relatives" showing up.  Bob, Red and Jim (as pointed out previously) are the salt of the earth and some of the funniest people I've been around since my days of "messdeck" banter on the boats.  I wonder if the fact that both Bob and Red were in the Navy has anything to do with it.  Bob was going to charge me double for all my meals until he learned that I was a Corpsman.  He told me "Marines" pay double.  Makes me wonder if he wasn't one of the favorites of some Gate Guard back in his Navy days.

The cast of characters is too long for me to list (and I don't remember all the names) but every one of them did everything in their power to make you feel like you were lifelong friends.  It's funny how a shared experience like that brings people together.  Out of the entire group I only knew Don Gentry but after one evening around the "campfire", figuratively speaking, I felt like I have known, Bonnie, Dell, Karin, Brian and Laura most of my life.  We had some great rides, great meals and more fun than you should be allowed unless your 4 years old (which Don and I behaved like)

Here's to the Seattle Group; ride safe and check in when you get the chance.  See you in cyberspace until we can meet up and ride again.

Got to thinking it would be great if we could round up the "Ride to the Northwest" Group and convince our wives/girlfriends that we should all meet in Sturgis in 2014.  We met a bunch of Aussie riders who rented bikes in Los Angeles and rode to Sturgis so Blue doesn't have an excuse of "not having a bike".

Any takers?

The Dungeon

One of the most bizarre watering holes in Sturgis!  The Dungeon...

Sturgis

Downtown is packed full of bikes and people and vendors galore. Of course there are classic photo ops.

Our last day on the town

Today we decided to go into town and do our souvenir shopping, get the obligatory t-shirts and of course stop in at a few of the well known saloons for which Sturgis is famous.

 We also found a neat T-shirt for us old guys who like "old school" looks.  Archie Bunker at his finest

 It wouldn't be a rally without a stop in at the local dealer

 Much of what we saw in town was interesting with some of it not appropriate for pictures.  It's been a great trip full of good rides, interesting places to visit and, most importantly, time being spent with good friends (old and new).  It's a little sad that it all comes to an end tomorow but this is what building memories is all about.  Photos shown here really don't do justice to all the fun we've had.  And the "stories around the campsite" are as good as any sea stories I've heard during my time in the U.S. Navy or U.S.M.C.

Downtown

We finally made it to downtown. Just a few bikes here....
Did I mention it looks like this for five or so blocks!?!

Cora

Doc mentioned our visit to see a friend Cora. Being I took the photos, I thought I'd share the photos. Doc, Cora and Don (left to right). Oh and then cute little Gracie on Cora's lap. Neat lady with lots of knowledge on submarines.

Rose between two thorns - part 2

Ok maybe not the same quality of the previous posted Rose, she is a celebrity after all. This is simple two great, funny, cantankerous fellas (Jimmy on the left, Red on the right) from Minnesota who made us feel welcome, shared great stories, a song or two, provided lots of laughs and a pleasure to have met. In some weird way, they make you want to return every year just to hang out at camp.

And then there is Bob, from Minnesota as well - our camp director, chef, story teller, one if a kind all around good guy. But then again, I just met him. :-) He (and wife Kim) made staying in camp like you are part of the family.

Thank you all for making my first trip to Sturgis fun, entertaining and looking forward to seeing you all again!!