Another great ride in the books!
Minnesota. I went to HS there. Have friends and family there. But, after my parents moved from there two decades ago, I rarely went back up. I've always been a fan of summers there; all two months of it? And, I have some awesome memories of some of the brutal winters. But that was a different time in my life. Was .....
Back in '12 I headed that way to ride my Indian Motorcycle. Then again in '13 ..'14 .. drug my feet up there in '15 and '16 but made new friends every year and saw old ones. Times were a changing, and '17 would be a variation. That year I rode up to
ride with the North Winds Iron Indian Riders chapter, and see some close friends. This year, I would again, but with a several twists. First, all the folks that normally travel to that area as I had from '12-'16 .. were no longer going. That ship has sailed. Secondly, this year I did an
'official Iron Butt" ride, which was a something I wanted to last year, and finally got checked off my bucket list. Third, once in Minnesota, the fun began. This year, was epic. If nothing else.. .it was the year of the Dick Sandwich (DS)!
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| GOOD MORNING! |
My plan was initially to roll up on Thursday via that 1,000 mile / one day ride, but the weather forecast has me rolling in on Wednesday to beat the rain. Glad I did because Thursday's weather .. well .. sucked! And, I got an extra 24 hours to rest up before the riding began. After I rolled in Wed night, Brother D' handed me an ice cold one, parked the bike for the night and we put our feet up and the war stories began. Ms Holly is calling it a night early ( something about .. work?) We eventually pull the plug ( I'm beat!) and... it's sweet dreams. Up early, grab a cup out of the cupboard, light up the Keurig with some Baileys pre-positioned.. coffee time! Whooops... I'm soon watching the coffee.. rise .. and rise.. and .. crap.. overflowing .. well .. barely. Add the good stuff in last! We've got a day ahead of us to enjoy so we head over to the new Bison Thunder South location to check out the fire sale. This is the first time I've been here since Aug '16. I'm soon looking at what was a sales and office area ... now looks like a warehouse. A ridiculous amount of overstocked goods are on sale for a fraction of what they used to sell for .. there are PILES of it everywhere! Shirts... .Jackets... ridiculous quantities that were overbought originally before Bison's hey day, here are all on sale. I pick up a few things at 40-75% off, but I'm limited since I rode up here. Around the corner which used to be a service area I'm looking at tables of previous generation Kings Mountain parts. I'll eventually buy it all, but on this day, I'm just surveying. If I'd trailered up, I'd have loaded it ALL up and wrote Ms Linda a check for it all , but it'd be a few weeks before we close the deal. Next to it is a lot of Gilroy parts that my NW Brother is going to get a lot of . Between Gary and I, we should have just took it all. The price was right
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| Checking out Bison Thunder! |
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| STUFF!!! |
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| "hoarding" |
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| "Dugout" |
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| Pour me a cold one! |
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Well, what's left of the merchandise they've been selling off... I'm told this is just a fraction of what was there ( WTF?)... we decide to head off for a cold beer than grab lunch with my hostess of the home I'm staying at. So, we head off to check out a spot or two and end up at the Dugout. Chat with the owner for a few , notice they do a Bloody Mary bar on the weekends , throw back a cold one... .and we're out of there. We'd have come back on Sat or Sun to make us one, but.. we'll be riding up North. Besides, you can get a Bloody Mary anywhere.. and they only time I like them is on a weekend morning after kicking it up a notch too much the night before. Or .. maybe in the morning before jumping on a plane. I'm guessing most people are that way. It's not a drink that most have any other time... but.. I digress....
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| Pre ride |
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| R&R MC! |
Soon, we have Ms Holly with us and Scott B and we're headed out for some lunch in downtown St Paul. The weather sux but we're in a cage .. sooo... no biggee. I'm just glad I dropped in 24 hours early! After dropping off Holly and Scott .... we are headed off for some red meat to grill up. Of course, Ricky D' has to ask the gal ringing us up if she's every had a DS ( you with me?). She was dying laughing. This is setting a trend for the weekend. No less than a dozen times would we put the squeeze on someone between the two Dicks. SMH. Back to the red meat. I've been tasked to sear up the Ribeyes and I have to admit , they came out awesome! Well, after dinner, we break out the fire pit and light it up to keep away the MN state birds .. mosquitoes! The weather has finally cleared up , rain is gone ...... and .. it's an awesome night to enjoy before we head out the following day. Ms Linda came over and it feels like Summer '17 all over. Only thing missing is .. ummm.... fire starter? But, we've moved past that.. well, few jokes about it.. but.. that's it. I'm Summer '18 and it's a new year. And Friday morning ... we ride!
Soon as we're up we're headed over to Gary G's home for a pseudo breakfast get together and get a count of everyone who's coming. I'm immediately surprised and have a smile on my face when soon after I arrive Professor O' and and his bride roll up. I haven't seen them since '17 when we all attended a flat track race, thanks to Dr Mark at Texas Motor speedway. This is the beginning of an awesome weekend! Most of us sip a single Mimosa or a Bloody Mary, preliminary chit chat.... then... we're off .. down the road. Let the "Summer Stampede" begin! Gary G' takes the lead and we're headed out....
After 90 and 100 degree days in Texas I'm enjoying this. Temps are in the 70s.... we are being threatened with rain ...and we're riding. First stop is Eddys, up around Mille Lacs. We stopped by this place last year, but had a lot of sunshine that day (ate outside). This year, temps are lower so we are staying inside. Nice big table towards the back, lots of windows... and my beer is ice cold. After about ninety minutes or so , it's time to roll. We head around the lake to the west side as we continue on towards our final destination: Hibbing. We're about an hour out when the sky has that .. look. So, we pull off in Grand Rapids for donning rain gear. And, it was a good thing. A little further down the road, we're getting wet. Around this time, I'm getting at text from Chris S. telling us he got caught in a bad one, but we're to luck out with a mild one. After awhile, it tapers off.. .roads dry up .. and.... Hibbing is up ahead. Roll in, park the bikes out back, rip the gear off 'em, stow away in the room and..... head to the bar downstairs! After a few cold ones, I got a chance to meet Brother D's daughter, g' kids, and son n' law. Good People! I was blessed with the opportunity to eat dinner with them in the restaurant, and then later on after they left to call it a night, a second wind in the bar. Well... sort of a second wind. ..closed that sucka down... me and "Glenn!" . Nothing a bloody mary can't fix in the morning?
Mornings all week will come too early. One thing awesome about this crew. Breakfast at 0900, KSU 1000 approx. Means I get to sleep in .. .sort of. When the sun rises ... one eye open. Search for the coffee. Clean up and head downstairs for a Bloody Mary.... and .. Eggs Benedict. I think every morning this trip, this is my breakfast of choice! Living the dream, baby! Anyways, we're headed out n' back to Hibbing this day, so no need to load up the bike. Soon, 1000 hrs is upon us and we're headed downstairs to prep the bikes. Today is going to be a great ride! Headed up into the Kabetgama State Park and all it's beauty.We'll have a half dozen photo opp opportunities and we take advantage of them all. It's hard for me to believe this today, but living in MN as a teenager, we never traveled up this way. I don't' recall ever traveling north of Lake Mille Lacs. What a shame because this is a beautiful part of the country that I couldn't get enough of. Now I find myself wanting more and more of it.. well.. on 2 wheels .. and .. when the weather suits me .. and .. with my IIRA family encircling me ... for a late lunch we pull up at a lake resort and the end of the road... up at Crane Lake. This is like one of the places you see in the movies where families go to spend weeks.. months. .. and entire summer at the lake. Cabins, House Boats ... beautiful. I'm not sure how cold that water is, but I'm guessing I'd have been screaming like a bitch had I jumped in. Yet, there were plenty of folks in it, and it was only around 75 temp outside with the clouds. I've lost the edge living in the south... I like it .. warm! Still.. this place was calling my name. A cold beer, another walleye sandwich (couldn't get enough walleye everywhere I went!) .. and .. we're back on the bikes and headed back to our hotel for another stay. Somebody pinch me; it's beautiful up here! This time upon return , we head directly to a restaurant, grab a big table that fits us all and.... its supper time! Great night of refreshments and food .. except.... the prime rib. It's late on Saturday and the Prime Rib was a Friday / Sat special... gotta' tell you .. I've never seen a shittier piece of meat. I should have taken a pic. I swear it was gray. So, they bring me another piece of Medium Rare Prime Rib. Now I've got one twice the size as the first, and just as shitty. I throw in the towel and get a Ribeye. Now, they got it right. Was .. GOOD. Finally. Then.. off to the hotel, down to the bar.. and .. around 0200.. we closed it .. again! Highlight of the night was some young gal in her 30s drooling over all the Indians.. and the Bikers... telling her man we were what he needed to be. Funny shit! Wasn't going over well. He started making Honda jokes, so I opted out and said we were headed out to the patio to finish our drinks , and stare at our Honda's. Diffused the situation until she followed us out and borderline begged for a ride. Pointed out all were married.. except for Mike.. and Mike was at his cabin, not here.. Whoops! Finally, the drunken wild child moved on ...... crazy! We made sure to point out to Mike the following day ...he missed out!
Sunday morning.... Coffee . Eggs Benedict .. and .... what ? They aren't serving Bloody Marys until 10 or 11 ... WTF? Oh well, I'm not hurting.. not needed... but .. when you want one and can't have one.. just pisses you off? Well today we are packing up. We've had a pair of 250 mile days and today ... our stop is Duluth. It's a slow start though. We check out the local area, Mountain Iron, the crazy giant hockey stick in Eveleth. The icing on the cake is lunch in Ely. The view at the lodge is to die for. What do I have? Walleye of course ! On the way out, one of the highlights was the International Wolf Center. I could have spent all day here vs the hour or so we hung out. We got some great group pics, howling for the photographer with the whole group. Got my wolf mascot here with a few pics. And some other pics with wolf posters as our backdrop. For those that get it, it was an awesome hour spent. Trust me! From there we headed out with a few more stops along the
way as we closed in on Duluth. The Knotted Pine bar was out in the middle of nowhere, on an awesome 2 laner that we were enjoying. Temps were coming down, leather jackets were going on... and .. a cold one was calling my name. But our destination is near. Our hotel for the night is calling our name. But first a stop at
Silver Bay for some incredible pics, then we pull up to the Northern Rail Train Car Inn. This place had the cool factor, a must see/stop for those looking to crash for the night! I opted for the suite as did Gary G. Mustache Mike took the Sleeper Sofa and I was in a separate area with a King size bed... I was digging this
place! We quickly off load the gear, jump on the bikes and a few miles down the road in Two Harbors, Backwoods Bar and Grill has our table ready for us! Our waitress knocked it out of the park, drinks rocked and I had ...yep.. .Walleye ..and . .some colossal shrimp .. .. hey .. I was missing the Texas Gulf Coast! It's a Sunday night, we close down the place .. and.. it's back to the rail cars. Tomorrow is calling our name... last day on the road!
Betty's Pies.... oh yes. It's Monday, and the final day of the Summer Stampede. Literally, just up the road and around the corner is a killer restaurant I've yet to experience. We load 'em up, KSU, and couple minutes later, back off the bikes and up the hill to the front door. They quickly get us seated in massive booths that we take about 3 or 4 of. I don't even have to look at the menu..... I know what I'm getting, and they rocked. When she slid it front of me I told her I didn't get my hash browns. Silly me; she points them out under the eggs and hollandaise sauce. Huh.. I've never seen them tucked under there before; always on the side .. Yum! Breakfast and coffee perfect. Well, I thought.
A few folks are now ordering slices of pie. Huh? Nooooo... this is breakfast! SMH ... Do I want to try some a few ask? Is this a trick question.... oooooooooooh.. I'm coming back here. For the pies! Still, it's early and time to roll. We're about 60 miles from Duluth and we are about to do it, tourist style. If there is one thing Gary likes to to, is find picture opps. The first time I rode with him, I thought "WTF?!"... sometimes we'd roll 50 miles, other times only 10 miles before stopping. I heard a rumor many moons ago by someone whacked out with opinions about the North Winds that they stop often for beverages. No. They stop often of pics. They stop often to enjoy sights. They stop often for ... enjoying history. And once in awhile, a beverage might makes it's way into the process, but ... facts were misconstrued. The fact is , Gary G' is about the overall ride, in our world. From what I've seen it's not my interpretation where it's usually about how many sparks you make in the corners, and I'm coming around to this style. It's a nice change up. It's not for everyone, but now when I ride with the North Winds I know what to expect. Now in all fairness, we did some nice long stretches at a good pace and put some miles on. But... if there is a beautiful overlook or a tidbit of history around the corner, be prepared to downshift! Soon we find a railroad museum up
here and we ... you guess it .. go for the 'shot'! Funny watching a 1/2 dozen of us roll down the sidewalk on the back side to get a good pic on the trains 'good side' . Like I said, I'm starting to enjoy this. Upon exit, we losing folks in our group. It's Monday and folks have to get back to reality. Soon, Ernie and his bride is headed South. Greg and Steve with their brides head south. We're whittling down to just several bikes. But myself and the D's have nowhere else to be and we're glued o the G's! ( I'm leaving that right there ... sorta' rhymed). Hours and 60 miles later we pull up to Clydes. An awesome brewery they knew about. Place is huge, cooler than hell and the food rocked. And Brother D' and I give out our last DS. Our waiter had to run so we asked if we could have a pic with him. Mistake. After crushing him a notch when sent him off with a crazy smile, wondering what the hell had just happened. Well after several "Rickys" ( hey.. they were on the menu!), we are off and headed South. When we get to Wyoming, MN ( I know.. confusing huh?) we stopped into a small joint and met up with Dan O. I haven't seen Dan since I was back here in Aug of '16 when he was the GM of the establishment that preceded Bison Thunder Motorcycle South. He did an
awesome job and that weekend, and stepped up to help a few of us out. Since then we've kept in touch but nothing like seeing friends face to face. After a few cold ones, Dan got us up to speed on some of the latest and .... we were off. We're close to our final destination .. The D's which we've nicknamed the "R&R MC Clubhouse" after last years fiasco. It's become a catchy term and we continue to run with it. Hell, it has it's own momentum now that hundreds of people chat about. Tee Shirts, coffee mugs, patches , stickers and posters have all resulted from it. If we ever decided to productize it and market it ,we'd probably make a chunk of change off it... but.. that wasn't ..and isn't .. the point. Anyways.. back to the clubhouse! Before we headed north Brother D' and I put a hurt on his stash.. and there is one more at the house waiting for us... not just a JD, but a Gentleman's JD. JS.
Meant to get up early and hit the road. But it's going to be 0850 hrs before I've got my bike backed out. We've got a miscommunication as well on our meet time thanks to be decisions made during our ... ummm... celebration the night before. And as we were sipping coffee I remember last year that Gary B. had met us for breakfast on one of the riding days we had and we all had a great day. Not realizing Gary B. is 45 min NORTH of where we are, I lob him a invite unknowingly pushing our depart time out another 30 minutes .. but.. worth it! Soon 3 of us are headed to breakfast to meet Scott B who is a trooper and holding down the table for us as our late asses finally rolled in. It's a Tuesday, my last day here in MN and I've got 3 buddies that are going to ride to the state line with me... how cool is that? Was/Is, to me! So, Eggs Benedict it is! WHAT? This is the first day of my trip I'm told "no." Blasphemy!!!!! EVERYONE has these, right? Apparently, not. So I grab an "engineer's
breakfast" which was just as great as it was last year. Did I try to order Eggs Benedict last year? Probably .. and I'm probably having a 'senior moment' tying again? Well.. I've now broken one of my rules... probably two of them (no big meals on big ride days.. and I'm moving slow thanks to a lil Jack last night) but I'm still 100% (even though that sounds impossible). So down the road we go! I've made the decision not to do Interstate 35 and double back the same way. I'm headed down on 2 lanes near the river popping out towards Davenport IA. Have to admit, it was a notch slower than I'd expected but the views and lack of traffic are worth it. Soon, Scott B has to peel off. He's got Daddy responsibilities he has to take care and my late arrival was a curve ball. Next to peel off is Gary B. We blindsided him this morning over his first cup of java , but here he is a few hours later with us. Last is Ricky D'. We make it to IA and it's time to top off. He and I the last few years have forged a tight friendship and it's hard to watch him go, but I've got another 500 mils or so in front of me still today. So we're rolling, in opposite directions. I make it another 100 miles or so before ol Jack and the killer breakfast remind me who's in charge. I'm hitting a wall. If I didn't have a long day ahead of me, I think I'd have found me some shade in a city park and ... got me a lil' nap? But .. not an option.... so I do what I've done many a time successfully.... going in for the 'monster!'. Grab me a a big ol' can of "Monster Khaos" and a small 5 hour energy ... chug a lug ... and .. I'm off. And as always, it does the magic and I'm alert and rolling. I'm not a proponent of this process, but .. my heart ain't racing and it does the job. So, I'll use it as necessary. Interesting thing about this trip today is I have no hard agenda. No hard route. Just heading towards Davenport thinking If I pass the Motorcycle museum I've heard about , I'll stop in. Well, soon I'm thinking .. screw the museum. My route seems more out of the way than I'd anticipated. I'm moving EAST . not west .. and my southerly trek seems slow. So, I opt to angle more off towards NW Arkansas to make better time. Besides, I've never even looked up the address of the museum in Davenport. Just remember hearing about it.... A quick look at Google Maps tells me to head towards Cedar Rapids, IA on Hwy 151 . It's got a nice angle cutting across IA at a 45 deg angle. I plan on running as long as I have daylight or .. run out of mojo. Then I see it and have to laugh. I see a bill board for JP Cycles. I remember seeing them advertise this in the past. They are located here and do a huge summer Rally at their location. But it's in the later afternoon and I don't have time to stop in and BS around. Next billboard.... ..what? National Motorcycle Museum! It's in the same vicinity. How the hell did I not realize this? I wanted to see it, intentionally headed towards Davenport... but .. now .. this was a total fluke. I had no idea it was actually near Cedar Rapids. I had no idea it was off Hwy 151. Now, I'm of the belief.. it was meant to be! So, I have to stop , right!? I pull in and it's smaller outside than I'd expected. And the parking lots not too full. And, it closes in an hour. Roll up , park it, head in , get my military discounted ticket and I'm off to check it out! I'm a lil frustrated though. I've only got about an hour before it closes and there is a LOT of stuff in here! But, in the back of my mind... I've got somewhere to be tonight and ... this ain't it. So, I take in as much as I can. I swear I could spend hours in here, reading ever sign with info .. but... I'm on road trip and the day is long .. so .. I scan the whole place and suck in as much info as I can in each quadrant. Take a few cool pics for historical reference .. and I'm smiling. This place rocks. Shockingly, 45 min later .. I headed out the front door. I saw most of it.. but..... I've got a few more hours of road time left. Headed towards the Ozarks! I soon find myself out in the country .... headed at southwesterly angle with no specific destination in mind. Only thing that matters is ... top it off every 125-150 miles, sip some water, quick P' break..and.. repeat. But it's early evening. It's after dinner time.. and I find myself on a road named with a letter, no numbers. I'm on twisties going through a beautiful area littered with country homes. I'm watching the gas gauge creep down. I'm hungry and ... a bed right about now would be nice.. I see signs pointing towards "Mark Twain lake" and if they had said 'lake resort' .. "vacancy" .. something.. I'd have taken one, but I continue onward. Pop through a small town with no motel, back on a numbered road and ... I'm getting low on fuel. If I had pulled over and checked my google map, I'd have not worried about it.. but I'm seeing nothing but farms .. crops.... and ... no traffic. Just as my fuel light pops on .. I see a fuel station ahead. But not just a fuel station , a hotel and attached restaurant next to it. Score Roll in , ask for a military discount and get a no. The young lady behind the desk apologizes and asks me if $55 for a King size bed is okay? Do you think? Score! Unpack the bike, head over the restaurant, divert to the bar area for a cold Zigenbach beer, order their T-bone on special that night... and ... I'm 1/2 way home.
Room wasn't bad; got a good nights sleep. Quick pack up of the bike, step over the trash in front of my door that raccoons created from the open trash can outside my window, and back over to the restaurant. I'm the only one in there at 0600ish. My cup of coffee shows up and I spot the hair on the edge of the rim before that nasty cup hits my lips. Waitress brings me another, I decide the cup seems to be clean and .. go for it. Coffee was so hot it'd have killed anything in there anyways. And yep... Eggs Benedict! And they were goooood. Especially the hash browns..... fresh off the grill! Only ate 1/2 of it this morning; not going to make the same mistake as the previous day! On the bike, top off the tank .. and I'm headed south looking for I-44. Before I get there though I pass through the Osage Beach area where I'm headed later this month for the IIRA 3rd annual Gathering. Looks like an awesome area for riding, so I'm smiling and stoked. Soon, I'm on 4 lanes and it's not too busy this early. Springfield is up ahead and I'm still scheming my final direction home. As I'm passing through Springfield, a red Camaro drops on from the on ramp with guy riding an HD behind it riding fairly closely to it. I'm doing about 80 when they passed me and the rider looks over to me and we give the 'wave'. He's on a nice clean HD which looks to be a Sportster to me, wearing a shiny black full face helmet with tinted face shield. He's dressed like a younger guy and pretty lean, so I'm guessing he's 1/2 my age. They progress up ahead... then due to traffic I find myself catching up to them, eventually moving over to to their lane in a somewhat staggered position off him, except I'm pretty far back... 3x what I'd be normally. I'm thinking to myself "wonder how hold this guy is? Is this is first bike? What made him buy 'American iron' ... when .. all hell breaks loose. His front end goes into a freaky high speed shake and from where I'm at the front end looks like it comes apart and he's falling forward into the pieces and median, which has a triple cable guard to keep vehicles from crossing over into oncoming traffic. I immediately shoot over into the right lane trying to slow down but I've got a semi on my ass and he isn't slowing. All this happened in seconds. I got it pulled over about 150+' down the road and turn around to see the occupants of Camaro running back to check on him. Another vehicle had pulled over and I'm suddenly feeling vulnerable; a target on the shoulder of the Interstate. In a decision I second guessed the rest of the afternoon, I proceeded on ... now wanting to get off this POS Interstate quickly. Good news is, I find out later that the rider survived. I thought for sure he bought it right there and then. Well, up ahead I execute on one of the options I was contemplating. I take 59 and I'm headed towards Fayettville, AR. I've got a good friend that lives there and I'm debating at what point do I let him know I'm rolling through .. how long do I stay ... when the decision is made for me.
The last day or so .. I noticed it seemed a notch more difficult to shift, but I thought I might be imagining it. Early this morning, I'm noticing it more and more. Even seems like my clutch has more play in it. I've been hearing about clutch cables breaking and it's got me thinking. Made the decision that when I get home, I'll get me a Barnett clutch cable everyone brags about...... or .. not. My clutch is gone; cable snapped. I'll rolling S on Hwy 59 in 6th thinking ... "well .. this is going to be interesting" .. I know there is a dealer south of me, but with traffic and lights.. how smart is this? Up ahead I see a small country gas station so I pull in, get it stopped ( easier said than done ) and .. time to make phone calls. First one out is to the Indian dealer. They have one cable left and can get me in. They are an hour south of me and its coming up on noon. Second call is to Jessie Davis whom jumps into action; he gets his neighbor how has an SUV to come over, they grab Jesse's motorcycle trailer and 2 hours later from the time I made my call we are headed South on Interstate 49 to the dealer. Bob Rear runs the Service Department now and neither of us realized we were talking to the other when I'd made the phone call. I've known Bob for a few years now and my bike is now in his hands. As promised, they get it in the queue and out the door before closing. In the meantime, I get to check head home with to check on Jesse's new crib and visit with the family. This day ain't so bad! Only hard part is Dani' brought back some beers to the house for me .. and ... I'm sworn off any cold stuff .. I've still got 300 miles to roll! Killing me looking at them cold Dos Equi's. Damned it Dani!
Well, soon it's 1800 hours and I'm on my bike again. But, my plan has changed yet again. I've got 5+ hours ahead of riding so 2 lanes are out of the question with all the wildlife out n' about. So , I decide to stick to the main roads, mostly interstate again but at least I'm making good time. One of the nice things about traveling by yourself is you can hammer it down, pass as necessary, stop when you need to and .. repeat. Still, this is taking longer than I'd expected. I'm finally on Indian Turnpike, less than 50 miles from the state line and ... critters are roaming. The closest I came to though was a coyote who get scared off by my LED lights as I rolled up on him at 85mph. I'd expected to see some deer out n' about but .. tonight wasn't to be that night. Soon, I'm past the Texas State Line. I'm in my backyard and getting closer. My only goal at this point is not to hurry it. Stay focused. They say most accident's happen within 5 miles of home. Midnight is creeping closer. I'm a notch tired but.. not too bad. Up head is the homestead. No drama. No bad stories. Just 3000 miles of enjoying the open road. Hard to believe less than 48 hours before that ... I was roaming around MN. Now, I'm back in the land of warm air, open fields and........ it's Home.
Home Sweet Home
Soon as we're up we're headed over to Gary G's home for a pseudo breakfast get together and get a count of everyone who's coming. I'm immediately surprised and have a smile on my face when soon after I arrive Professor O' and and his bride roll up. I haven't seen them since '17 when we all attended a flat track race, thanks to Dr Mark at Texas Motor speedway. This is the beginning of an awesome weekend! Most of us sip a single Mimosa or a Bloody Mary, preliminary chit chat.... then... we're off .. down the road. Let the "Summer Stampede" begin! Gary G' takes the lead and we're headed out....
Mornings all week will come too early. One thing awesome about this crew. Breakfast at 0900, KSU 1000 approx. Means I get to sleep in .. .sort of. When the sun rises ... one eye open. Search for the coffee. Clean up and head downstairs for a Bloody Mary.... and .. Eggs Benedict. I think every morning this trip, this is my breakfast of choice! Living the dream, baby! Anyways, we're headed out n' back to Hibbing this day, so no need to load up the bike. Soon, 1000 hrs is upon us and we're headed downstairs to prep the bikes. Today is going to be a great ride! Headed up into the Kabetgama State Park and all it's beauty.We'll have a half dozen photo opp opportunities and we take advantage of them all. It's hard for me to believe this today, but living in MN as a teenager, we never traveled up this way. I don't' recall ever traveling north of Lake Mille Lacs. What a shame because this is a beautiful part of the country that I couldn't get enough of. Now I find myself wanting more and more of it.. well.. on 2 wheels .. and .. when the weather suits me .. and .. with my IIRA family encircling me ... for a late lunch we pull up at a lake resort and the end of the road... up at Crane Lake. This is like one of the places you see in the movies where families go to spend weeks.. months. .. and entire summer at the lake. Cabins, House Boats ... beautiful. I'm not sure how cold that water is, but I'm guessing I'd have been screaming like a bitch had I jumped in. Yet, there were plenty of folks in it, and it was only around 75 temp outside with the clouds. I've lost the edge living in the south... I like it .. warm! Still.. this place was calling my name. A cold beer, another walleye sandwich (couldn't get enough walleye everywhere I went!) .. and .. we're back on the bikes and headed back to our hotel for another stay. Somebody pinch me; it's beautiful up here! This time upon return , we head directly to a restaurant, grab a big table that fits us all and.... its supper time! Great night of refreshments and food .. except.... the prime rib. It's late on Saturday and the Prime Rib was a Friday / Sat special... gotta' tell you .. I've never seen a shittier piece of meat. I should have taken a pic. I swear it was gray. So, they bring me another piece of Medium Rare Prime Rib. Now I've got one twice the size as the first, and just as shitty. I throw in the towel and get a Ribeye. Now, they got it right. Was .. GOOD. Finally. Then.. off to the hotel, down to the bar.. and .. around 0200.. we closed it .. again! Highlight of the night was some young gal in her 30s drooling over all the Indians.. and the Bikers... telling her man we were what he needed to be. Funny shit! Wasn't going over well. He started making Honda jokes, so I opted out and said we were headed out to the patio to finish our drinks , and stare at our Honda's. Diffused the situation until she followed us out and borderline begged for a ride. Pointed out all were married.. except for Mike.. and Mike was at his cabin, not here.. Whoops! Finally, the drunken wild child moved on ...... crazy! We made sure to point out to Mike the following day ...he missed out!
way as we closed in on Duluth. The Knotted Pine bar was out in the middle of nowhere, on an awesome 2 laner that we were enjoying. Temps were coming down, leather jackets were going on... and .. a cold one was calling my name. But our destination is near. Our hotel for the night is calling our name. But first a stop at 
Silver Bay for some incredible pics, then we pull up to the Northern Rail Train Car Inn. This place had the cool factor, a must see/stop for those looking to crash for the night! I opted for the suite as did Gary G. Mustache Mike took the Sleeper Sofa and I was in a separate area with a King size bed... I was digging this 
place! We quickly off load the gear, jump on the bikes and a few miles down the road in Two Harbors, Backwoods Bar and Grill has our table ready for us! Our waitress knocked it out of the park, drinks rocked and I had ...yep.. .Walleye ..and . .some colossal shrimp .. .. hey .. I was missing the Texas Gulf Coast! It's a Sunday night, we close down the place .. and.. it's back to the rail cars. Tomorrow is calling our name... last day on the road!
A few folks are now ordering slices of pie. Huh? Nooooo... this is breakfast! SMH ... Do I want to try some a few ask? Is this a trick question.... oooooooooooh.. I'm coming back here. For the pies! Still, it's early and time to roll. We're about 60 miles from Duluth and we are about to do it, tourist style. If there is one thing Gary likes to to, is find picture opps. The first time I rode with him, I thought "WTF?!"... sometimes we'd roll 50 miles, other times only 10 miles before stopping. I heard a rumor many moons ago by someone whacked out with opinions about the North Winds that they stop often for beverages. No. They stop often of pics. They stop often to enjoy sights. They stop often for ... enjoying history. And once in awhile, a beverage might makes it's way into the process, but ... facts were misconstrued. The fact is , Gary G' is about the overall ride, in our world. From what I've seen it's not my interpretation where it's usually about how many sparks you make in the corners, and I'm coming around to this style. It's a nice change up. It's not for everyone, but now when I ride with the North Winds I know what to expect. Now in all fairness, we did some nice long stretches at a good pace and put some miles on. But... if there is a beautiful overlook or a tidbit of history around the corner, be prepared to downshift! Soon we find a railroad museum up 
here and we ... you guess it .. go for the 'shot'! Funny watching a 1/2 dozen of us roll down the sidewalk on the back side to get a good pic on the trains 'good side' . Like I said, I'm starting to enjoy this. Upon exit, we losing folks in our group. It's Monday and folks have to get back to reality. Soon, Ernie and his bride is headed South. Greg and Steve with their brides head south. We're whittling down to just several bikes. But myself and the D's have nowhere else to be and we're glued o the G's! ( I'm leaving that right there ... sorta' rhymed). Hours and 60 miles later we pull up to Clydes. An awesome brewery they knew about. Place is huge, cooler than hell and the food rocked. And Brother D' and I give out our last DS. Our waiter had to run so we asked if we could have a pic with him. Mistake. After crushing him a notch when sent him off with a crazy smile, wondering what the hell had just happened. Well after several "Rickys" ( hey.. they were on the menu!), we are off and headed South. When we get to Wyoming, MN ( I know.. confusing huh?) we stopped into a small joint and met up with Dan O. I haven't seen Dan since I was back here in Aug of '16 when he was the GM of the establishment that preceded Bison Thunder Motorcycle South. He did an 
awesome job and that weekend, and stepped up to help a few of us out. Since then we've kept in touch but nothing like seeing friends face to face. After a few cold ones, Dan got us up to speed on some of the latest and .... we were off. We're close to our final destination .. The D's which we've nicknamed the "R&R MC Clubhouse" after last years fiasco. It's become a catchy term and we continue to run with it. Hell, it has it's own momentum now that hundreds of people chat about. Tee Shirts, coffee mugs, patches , stickers and posters have all resulted from it. If we ever decided to productize it and market it ,we'd probably make a chunk of change off it... but.. that wasn't ..and isn't .. the point. Anyways.. back to the clubhouse! Before we headed north Brother D' and I put a hurt on his stash.. and there is one more at the house waiting for us... not just a JD, but a Gentleman's JD. JS.
Meant to get up early and hit the road. But it's going to be 0850 hrs before I've got my bike backed out. We've got a miscommunication as well on our meet time thanks to be decisions made during our ... ummm... celebration the night before. And as we were sipping coffee I remember last year that Gary B. had met us for breakfast on one of the riding days we had and we all had a great day. Not realizing Gary B. is 45 min NORTH of where we are, I lob him a invite unknowingly pushing our depart time out another 30 minutes .. but.. worth it! Soon 3 of us are headed to breakfast to meet Scott B who is a trooper and holding down the table for us as our late asses finally rolled in. It's a Tuesday, my last day here in MN and I've got 3 buddies that are going to ride to the state line with me... how cool is that? Was/Is, to me! So, Eggs Benedict it is! WHAT? This is the first day of my trip I'm told "no." Blasphemy!!!!! EVERYONE has these, right? Apparently, not. So I grab an "engineer's breakfast" which was just as great as it was last year. Did I try to order Eggs Benedict last year? Probably .. and I'm probably having a 'senior moment' tying again? Well.. I've now broken one of my rules... probably two of them (no big meals on big ride days.. and I'm moving slow thanks to a lil Jack last night) but I'm still 100% (even though that sounds impossible). So down the road we go! I've made the decision not to do Interstate 35 and double back the same way. I'm headed down on 2 lanes near the river popping out towards Davenport IA. Have to admit, it was a notch slower than I'd expected but the views and lack of traffic are worth it. Soon, Scott B has to peel off. He's got Daddy responsibilities he has to take care and my late arrival was a curve ball. Next to peel off is Gary B. We blindsided him this morning over his first cup of java , but here he is a few hours later with us. Last is Ricky D'. We make it to IA and it's time to top off. He and I the last few years have forged a tight friendship and it's hard to watch him go, but I've got another 500 mils or so in front of me still today. So we're rolling, in opposite directions. I make it another 100 miles or so before ol Jack and the killer breakfast remind me who's in charge. I'm hitting a wall. If I didn't have a long day ahead of me, I think I'd have found me some shade in a city park and ... got me a lil' nap? But .. not an option.... so I do what I've done many a time successfully.... going in for the 'monster!'. Grab me a a big ol' can of "Monster Khaos" and a small 5 hour energy ... chug a lug ... and .. I'm off. And as always, it does the magic and I'm alert and rolling. I'm not a proponent of this process, but .. my heart ain't racing and it does the job. So, I'll use it as necessary. Interesting thing about this trip today is I have no hard agenda. No hard route. Just heading towards Davenport thinking If I pass the Motorcycle museum I've heard about , I'll stop in. Well, soon I'm thinking .. screw the museum. My route seems more out of the way than I'd anticipated. I'm moving EAST . not west .. and my southerly trek seems slow. So, I opt to angle more off towards NW Arkansas to make better time. Besides, I've never even looked up the address of the museum in Davenport. Just remember hearing about it.... A quick look at Google Maps tells me to head towards Cedar Rapids, IA on Hwy 151 . It's got a nice angle cutting across IA at a 45 deg angle. I plan on running as long as I have daylight or .. run out of mojo. Then I see it and have to laugh. I see a bill board for JP Cycles. I remember seeing them advertise this in the past. They are located here and do a huge summer Rally at their location. But it's in the later afternoon and I don't have time to stop in and BS around. Next billboard.... ..what? National Motorcycle Museum! It's in the same vicinity. How the hell did I not realize this? I wanted to see it, intentionally headed towards Davenport... but .. now .. this was a total fluke. I had no idea it was actually near Cedar Rapids. I had no idea it was off Hwy 151. Now, I'm of the belief.. it was meant to be! So, I have to stop , right!? I pull in and it's smaller outside than I'd expected. And the parking lots not too full. And, it closes in an hour. Roll up , park it, head in , get my military discounted ticket and I'm off to check it out! I'm a lil frustrated though. I've only got about an hour before it closes and there is a LOT of stuff in here! But, in the back of my mind... I've got somewhere to be tonight and ... this ain't it. So, I take in as much as I can. I swear I could spend hours in here, reading ever sign with info .. but... I'm on road trip and the day is long .. so .. I scan the whole place and suck in as much info as I can in each quadrant. Take a few cool pics for historical reference .. and I'm smiling. This place rocks. Shockingly, 45 min later .. I headed out the front door. I saw most of it.. but..... I've got a few more hours of road time left. Headed towards the Ozarks! I soon find myself out in the country .... headed at southwesterly angle with no specific destination in mind. Only thing that matters is ... top it off every 125-150 miles, sip some water, quick P' break..and.. repeat. But it's early evening. It's after dinner time.. and I find myself on a road named with a letter, no numbers. I'm on twisties going through a beautiful area littered with country homes. I'm watching the gas gauge creep down. I'm hungry and ... a bed right about now would be nice.. I see signs pointing towards "Mark Twain lake" and if they had said 'lake resort' .. "vacancy" .. something.. I'd have taken one, but I continue onward. Pop through a small town with no motel, back on a numbered road and ... I'm getting low on fuel. If I had pulled over and checked my google map, I'd have not worried about it.. but I'm seeing nothing but farms .. crops.... and ... no traffic. Just as my fuel light pops on .. I see a fuel station ahead. But not just a fuel station , a hotel and attached restaurant next to it. Score Roll in , ask for a military discount and get a no. The young lady behind the desk apologizes and asks me if $55 for a King size bed is okay? Do you think? Score! Unpack the bike, head over the restaurant, divert to the bar area for a cold Zigenbach beer, order their T-bone on special that night... and ... I'm 1/2 way home.
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