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| KROME- Headed North |
Seven Years in a row. Eighth summer up there. Who'd had ever thought that? The 2012 trip was on a whim, for the opportunity to be on an 'Indian only Ride' which turned out to be disappointment (didn't meet expectations), but a good trip to see family and make some new friends. The '13 was due to the Indian Demo rides for the new bikes. The '14 ride up was a good time... drug my feet of '15 and '16 but as always, have a good time with friends, and I'd made a lot of new ones every summer.. Come '
17, we had a new purpose and
'18 was for an IIRA event. As usual, I thought each was the 'last time.'. So why go up in '19?
I could easily just say to see friends, but that's not the true reason. I was headed to Lebanon at the end of this month for an
IIRA Gathering event to see many of them, but things changed up a lil two months ago that set things in motion. As I'd wrote about previously, I
purchased a '47 Indian motorcycle in an auction. I could have easily arranged to have it shipped but it now gave me an excuse to roll up to see all my MN friends! I reached out to Donnie and he was in, so I'd grab my 20' trailer, head to AR, roll his bike in with mine and we'd head north. On the way back we'd have 3 bikes in there, giving the '47 a new home in Texas. Over the last 7 years, I'd rode this trip 3 times, trailered it 4 times. Last year's ride was an
Iron Butt ride and I was looking forward to another ride, but we had to trailer it. But, then things changed. Last month Brother Dick and I were chatting and he'd made a joke that he'd have liked to have bid on the bike I got.
Huh? I didn't realize that, so in the next few moments we discussed the matter seriously and it was quickly decided; the bike was now his! Pass funds, sign some paperwork, done deal! Hell, he'd picked it up from the auction house for me. It's been at his place from day one. Now, it's found a new home. But now I've got a dilemma. My whole reason for heading up to MN has changed. Things are in motion so I don't feel right just saying "not coming up" and to be honest, I've been excited for weeks now about seeing everyone and the rides that Tim Neid has planned. So, a quick call to Donnie to tell him I'm riding, he informs me WE are riding.. and it's game on!
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| BBQ Time, KC Style! |
Time always flies and soon it's Tuesday and time to head up. We decide to meet up in Ft Smith AR so I'm on the bike and 250 miles later, we find each other. Gas 'em up and we're headed North. It turns out to be beautiful day on our ride up I35. Passing through KC we jump off the interstate when we see a sign for BBQ. I stop at the first one I see ( not the one advertised ) and we strike gold. We weren't their normal patrons, but the food rocked and they were ultra professional. After heading out of KC we grabbed the first Marriott property we see and pull the plug. They got a bar downstairs so we're gold. In the morning we are back on the bikes and headed out but Donnie runs into a small problem. His speed sensor(s) is acting up and he loses his speedometer and Cruise control; yikes. I've gotten used to that damned Cruise control but Donnie is now without it for the remainder of the trip. Soon we've blown through Des Moines and the temps are dropping. Clouds are creeping in. Lil' rain will find us. About a 100 miles out of the cities the sky is getting blue and the temps are climbing. By the time we pull in to Rick and Hollies, the sky is blue and we've got an 80 degree day. Score!
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| Welcoming Party! |
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| Cooking in Style |
Soon, we're unpacked, changing, and sitting outside sipping some cold
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| Calling my name |
beers and chowing down on some killer bacon wrapped chicken and bacon wrapped asparagus, that Rick is grilling for us. Then the bourbon snuck into the picture! We've got a small group for the night with Linda joining us. Perfecto! We knocked out the majority of that huge bottle of bourbon, but we're all functioning the following day for the Rally kick off ride!
Thursday/Friday/Saturday will be be filled with 12-15+ bikes
putting on 1,000 miles over the three days. We rode South of the Cities, East of the Cities and down in Wisconsin with Tim Neid putting together a plethora of awesome routes. Each morning we publicly advertised the Kick Stands Up time and location for folks that wanted to ride with us, had a nice breakfast and then it was off for a great day of riding. I got a chance to meet a lot of new folks and create some new friendships. Got a lot of time to hang with existing friends. And staying at the Dittels, has some great times from the beginning to the end of the week. By Saturday afternoon, all that riding was behind us and folks began rolling in to the Dittels , aka R&C Clubhouse. A TON of food was on hand after Rick grilled up Burgers and Dogs. Dan Olson brought over two types of Pulled Pork dishes that were to die for. Other folks brought in some killer appetizers and side dishes. Lets just say..... we could have easily fed a 100 to 200 people, vs the 30 or so of us that were in attendance. Wow! After that killer meal, we lit up a fire and kept the night warm. As always we threw in some shirts from previous years, having some fun. Beers were cold, tummies were full and the night was getting late. It's always hard to see a good party close down, but by mid-nite I pulled the plug; Donnie and I had a long day ahead of us.
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| Few folks rolling in early for breakfast at Jimmys |
Up and At 'em! We meet at Jimmy's for breakfast ( one of my fav' spots near Brother Dick) and after a long farewell, Donnie and I are off, led by one our local buddies. Of course, the bastard is doing 90-100 down I35 out of the Cities! He got warmed up on the way to breakfast, but we aren't in sync yet, unable to find our rhythm thru' traffic. Still we hang on and by the time we break off, 90 feels good and correct. It'll be close to the state border before we get the speeds down closer to 80. We're making good time! In fact, with an awesome weather day we roll quickly down to Bentonville/Rogers AR where we pull the plug and call it a night as darkness is upon on. Make some calls, throw back a few colds ones and .... out like a light.
Monday, the last day. Donnie and I knock out a light breakfast at the Hilton we are staying in and then down the road. Got a good nights sleeps and have 350 miles to go. We break off at Ft Smith and head home down separate paths. Been a helluva 7 days, but time to roll! When we got up it was 80 degrees. Now it's 85. As I hit Oklahoma its up to 90 degrees. It'll be 96 by the time I get home. Helluva change from MN! Not too far down the road, I get to break off of 270 and take 271 through the state park. This is the fun part for the view and the 2 lanes. Up ahead of me is 80 miles of good times all the way to Antlers. When riding solo you can really push it because you aren't trying to pace anyone else and today .. I find myself bumping the speed up and up. By the time I hit Antlers, my speed is varying between 90 - 100 mph. You've got long straightaways out of the curves that let you kick it up, then downshift and into more curves and ... repeat. As I'm coming up to Hwy 70 I'm downshifting taking it from 100 to a stop as a black, bad ass, low to the ground fast looking LEO patrol car is turning onto 271. Folks, timing is everything! Whew!
I'm quickly to Paris , then headed home. It's still early in the day, I've been missing Mama and Peanut so the bike gets parked, lots of hugs and kisses then.... the pool of course! MN 2019 is in the books ....
#splash !
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| We opened the joint for Breakfast : Jimmys |
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| Chippewa Valley Dealer in Wisconsin |
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| Elk Mound, Wisconsin |
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| Kellys Korner |
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| Elk Mound, Wisconsin |
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| Elk Mound, Wisconsin |
Thursday/Friday/Saturday will be be filled with 12-15+ bikes 
putting on 1,000 miles over the three days. We rode South of the Cities, East of the Cities and down in Wisconsin with Tim Neid putting together a plethora of awesome routes. Each morning we publicly advertised the Kick Stands Up time and location for folks that wanted to ride with us, had a nice breakfast and then it was off for a great day of riding. I got a chance to meet a lot of new folks and create some new friendships. Got a lot of time to hang with existing friends. And staying at the Dittels, has some great times from the beginning to the end of the week. By Saturday afternoon, all that riding was behind us and folks began rolling in to the Dittels , aka R&C Clubhouse. A TON of food was on hand after Rick grilled up Burgers and Dogs. Dan Olson brought over two types of Pulled Pork dishes that were to die for. Other folks brought in some killer appetizers and side dishes. Lets just say..... we could have easily fed a 100 to 200 people, vs the 30 or so of us that were in attendance. Wow! After that killer meal, we lit up a fire and kept the night warm. As always we threw in some shirts from previous years, having some fun. Beers were cold, tummies were full and the night was getting late. It's always hard to see a good party close down, but by mid-nite I pulled the plug; Donnie and I had a long day ahead of us.
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