ALASKA; Day 1; July 15, 2013

FullRouteToday we embarked on a motorcycle trip that has been on my bucket list for some time.  I’m sure the same applies to my brother, Carl, who is making the trip too.  We are accompanied by two friends, Gary and Larry.

preparing for departure; Shawnee, KSWe met at a Quick Trip in western Shawnee, KS at 6:00 am and actually departed at 6:05.  It was 67 degrees under mostly clear skies.  Carl was leading today and we booked it north on I-435 and I-29.  Our first stop was for gas in Council Bluffs, Iowa, about 190 miles north.

At Sioux City Iowa we saw the Sergeant Charles Floyd Monument on a hill on the east side of I-29 (http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/lewisandclark/ser.htm).  Floyd was the only member of the Lewis & Clark expedition that died during their journey.Sgt. Floyd Monument; Sioux Falls, SD

In Sioux Falls, SD we stopped again for gas and then had lunch at Marlin’s Family Restaurant.

Just south of the North Dakota border we took an exit for Brown’s Valley.  It made me laugh as I thought about my grandson, Ben.  During Ben’s most recent visit to our house he caught me sitting on the toilet and he asked me if I was doing “brown business”.  Is there any doubt what Ben would think Brown’s Valley would be?

After gassing up at the Brown’s Valley exit we were hanging around having a cold drink when a Sheriff’s deputy dropped off an interesting fellow (probably displacing him from someplace where he had been bothering people).  He immediately started checking out our bikes and talking to us.  He was a real character.  When we told him we were headed to Jamestown, ND he told us he’d been in jail there before.DSCN1021Despite being nearly toothless and homeless looking he was quite an astute fellow.  He guessed that I was a doctor, undoubtedly because of my intelligent appearance and dignified demeanor.

About 30 miles south of Fargo, ND we ran into some rain that lasted until 50 miles west of Fargo.  The following picture was taken as we approached the rain.DSCN1022

We arrived in Jamestown and checked into the Quality Inn at about 6:30, had dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant, and called it a night.

We rode 725 miles according to my odometer and 698 miles according to Gary’s Garmin.  The high today, according to my motorcycle, was 81 while Carl’s registered 88 at the same time.  Strange that our thermometers could so different.

For pictures from today click on the following link:  https://plus.google.com/photos/104542123131082631220/albums/5901042788161971329?authkey=CK6ZgIKNh6_xdA

Comments

Anonymous said…
So is brown business the same as dropping a duece?
July 16, 2013 at 7:49 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Colorado; Day 9; June 30, 2012

Image
The evening of June 29th we saw the play, “Is He Dead” at the Creede Repertory Theater ( http://www.creederep.org/ ).  It was very entertaining,  one of the better plays I’ve seen. When we drove away from Creede at 6:05 am it was 41 degrees.  A short distance south the temperature dropped to 39.  We tried soaking up the cold for what we knew would be a hot afternoon. We rode South Fork and then east to Alamosa.  From Alamosa we took a detour north up Hwy 17 to see the UFO Watchtower ( http://www.ufowatchtower.com/ ).  It is a place for UFO enthusiasts to go to watch for UFO’s.  The lady who runs the place said something about some sort of vortex existing on the property.  Weird stuff, even for an open-minded guy like me. If the UFO Watchtower wasn’t weird enough we saw a male driving a Jeep with eye lashes over the headlights at a gas station in Alamosa, CO.  Hopefully it was his wife’s Jeep and he was just gassing it up for her. We continued east to Walsenburg, LaJunta, and La
Read more

Florida Trip; Day 15

Image
At 7:30AM we drove away from Russellville, AR on a cold 25 degree morning. At least the sun was coming up. Our route was 7 north to Harrison; 65 north to Springfield, MO; I-44 west; 13 north to Clinton; 7 north to Harrisonville; I-49 north; I-435 west to Kansas in the KC area and home. Hwy 7 in Arkansas is a scenic route with hills and curves galore. We stopped several times for photos. On the south side of Bolivar, MO we enjoyed lunch at Smith's Restaurant. It was 39 degrees when we arrived home at 2:20 but we saw a high of 44. It was a good day for our final of the trip. We drove 330 miles today and the total trip mileage was 3,109. I only have 6 photos today but you can click here to see them -  Final Day Pics
Read more

My Last Ride

On January 11th, 2017, I departed on a ride to Kelli's Korner (Paradise, MO - near Smithville, MO) for lunch with four friends (Carl, Gary, Bill and Larry). It was a beautiful day, which was all the excuse we needed for a ride. I was leading the group and we were taking a long way there. Riding north on county road N, about 6 miles north of Hwy 152 and I-435, the road turned and I didn't. I exited the road into a field. Fortunately there were no fences, trees, rocks, oncoming cars, etc. I have no explanation for this except that I was out of it for awhile. I remember crossing the center line but I was looking down at that time, which is weird. I have no memory of seeing anything after that until I was laying in the field separated from my motorcycle. I do remember a sensation of tumbling but that is all. My first thought was to drive my motorcycle out of the field and get it cleaned up so Chris would not know what I did. What a ridiculous idea that was. After I'd been up
Read more