I'm not worthy!

Friday September 2
A little over 800 miles to go to get home and we have decided to take the interstate. It's a long way across Kansas to Colorado, a long, flat, hot and humid way. And I must not forget the road construction that closed the off ramps to the gas stations. But we finally get to Colorado. We stop at the Welcome to Colorado sign to take a picture and then proceed on. As soon as we pass the sign it starts to rain. I mean immediately as we pass. Welcome to Colorado indeed. But it does not last long and the weather is noticeably cooler. The highway that runs from Limon to Colorado Springs is scenic and enjoyable, especially when compared to west Kansas. We see an interesting tractor display in a field alongside the road.

Too bad this road ends in the Colorado Springs traffic. For some reason we have to go through quite a bit of the city to get to Interstate 25 but we finally make it. The streets are all wet so we have arrived just after a rain storm. Colorado Springs is the border between sanity and insanity on I-25. South of C-Springs is relatively sane but north of the Springs the drivers are absolutely insane. Fortunately we are going south and are somewhat safe. In Pueblo we stop for our last BBQ picture of the trip. On the way we are passed by 2 Harley riders wearing jackets that proclaim that they are members of Sons of Silence. Ironically their bikes have unmuffled exhaust pipes. The next city is Walsenberg but before we get there we see some of the weather that Colorado is famous for. A few miles south and west of us is a big storm with lots of lightning striking the ground or so it appears. Lightning is a problem in Colorado and kills a couple of hikers a year. As we go under an overpass I am thinking we should have stopped there but it's too late. And then the storm is on us with very heavy rain and extremely high winds from the west and lightning on both sides of the highway. It is hard to control the bike in the wind and the rain makes it almost a zero visibility situation. I see a white line angling off to the right which should be an offramp and we turn off. There is a tunnel under the freeway which we knew many of these offramps in this area have. We park into the tunnel and I leave the bike in gear as I am afraid the wind is strong enough to blow the bike off of the kickstand. We are sheltered from the lightning but the wind blows the rain through the tunnel. The sound from the thunder is intense as the lightning strikes are close. Colorado storms come and go quickly so we wait this one out and get a picture of the rainbow at the end.

Then we head south again and soon see another storm from the same direction so we take another offramp and wait again in another tunnel. Finally we can get going again but it is almost dark. When we get to Walsenberg we have ridden over 500 miles and decide that it is a good place to stop. The first motel is way overpriced for us so we keep going and find something within reason. While Linda sets up the room I go off in search of food and drink in the rain. So that night we dine well on a Subway sandwich and rest up for the ride home tomorrow.

Saturday September 3
It's the first day of the holiday weekend and we can hear the loud pipe motorcycle groups getting on the road so we get going too after a cup of coffee. As we merge onto the freeway we are passed by 2 BMW motorcycles and we exchange waves. The front rider has blonde hair coming out from under her helmet and the licence plate says "99BUTT" which means that the bike was probably in the 1999 Iron Butt Rally and that we know the rider who is Linda Babcock. We stick with them all the way to Raton, New Mexico where they pull off and so do we. They go to MacDonalds and I pull into the gas station next door. I fill the bike up while Linda goes to MacDonalds to get us coffee. We meet Linda Babcock and we all sit together. She introduces her riding partner, a little grey haired, older lady. It is Ardys Kellerman. I am ready at this point to genuflect and state that I am not worthy. Linda Babcock is a great long distance rider but Ardys, who is 79 years old, has just finished riding her one millionth mile and is going for more.

Linda Babcock, Ardys Kellerman & Linda Dannenberg

It turns out that they are going to Albuquerque for Linda to look at a new motorcycle and are then going to dinner with the same group as me. So we all ride to Albuquerque and split up at the edge of town. We will meet them later at the BMW dealer which we do. We leave them there and take care of our business in town. At 5 PM I ride back to the BMW dealer where Linda did indeed buy a new bike and we all go to dinner about 30 miles south of town. I am sitting between Linda Babcock and Ardys which is a perfect end to a nice motorcycle trip. Of course I will see everyone again tomorrow as we have a breakfast ride planned.

How high's the water momma?

Thursday September 1
Plans have changed, it seems that there are a couple of BBQs in St. Joseph, Missouri which is 50 miles north of Kansas City so we do not have to fight the KC traffic. And we can get our required Kansas BBQ in Salina where Linda lived for a short time while growing up. We are going to take secondary roads after we start the I-29 detour. We prefer the scenery of rolling hills and farmland to the interstates. When we leave the motel I turn right to go to the interstate when it was actually to the left but the GPS gently reminded me of my mistake. Heading west in I-80 I am wondering why as I-29 is east of us. So I check to see where the GPS is taking us. It seems that we are going to Salina, Kansas before St. Joseph, Missouri!! I had my destinations mislabeled and was going to the second one first. I explained this to the GPS by pushing it's buttons and we turned around and started east. We have not yet went 10 miles and I have already made 2 mistakes! We have not been on I-29 very long before we get to the expected closure. There actually are detour signs which we follow for a little bit but then I decide to take a different route. There are a lot of trucks coming north on the route I chose so I feel better that I made a good choice. And for once I am right. We do see some of the flooding which has not only closed but actually destroyed sections of I-29.

After about 150 miles we reach St. Joseph, get our picture, go inside for a snack, fill our gas tank and are on the road again to Salina which is another 200+ miles away. We pass another flooded section soon after we cross into Kansas. The temperature keeps climbing and finally my thermometer reaches 113 degrees. I was riding through Kansas a few weeks before and the temperature was 114 so I guess everything is normal. Linda does not care for this much heat so we make rest stops where we can get a cool drink and rest out of the sun in an air conditioned room. After what seems forever we reach Salina about 5 PM, get our BBQ picture and have a lemonade there. Right across the street is a motel that we have a discount coupon for so we check in. First thing is a cold shower and then we walk to Del Taco for a burrito. Then it's back to the motel to rest. We are making everything ready to go tonight so we can leave early for the rest of the ride across Kansas and into Colorado for the last BBQ before we get home. It is 410 miles and 8 hours using secondary roads and 465 miles and 7 hours using the interstates. We'll make up our minds in the morning.

So, we meet again!!

Wednesday August 31
Today will be a long, hot and probably boring ride on the interstate from Coralville, Iowa to Omaha, Nebraska. It is a little over 250 droning miles from here to there. You may remember that earlier we had went to a Czech community looking for kolaches, actual spelling is kolace but that leads to pronunciation errors. We are only about 25 miles from Cedar rapids where Linda was born. We know that the Hy-Vee market there sells kolaces as we have been there several times including once this summer. So we decide to add 50 miles to our trip and go to Cedar Rapids for kolaces. But before going to the market we stop at the old Czech village and it looks much better than it did 2 months ago. Our first stop is the little Czech jewelry shop. We talk with them awhile and when we mention that the market and kolaces they inform us that the Czech bakery where Linda went as a little girl is open again. And away we go. In 2008 Cedar Rapids was flooded and the Czech village was hit very hard. But they have been working very hard and it really looks nice. So Linda goes to the bakery and relives many memories. "They meet again", Linda and the bakery and her favorite kolaces which have a poppy seed compote filling. What a wonderful feeling seeing the happy look on her face.

Back to her childhood

The Sykora Czech Bakery

 We also visit an annex of the Czech-Slovak museum which has quite display about the flood. So after a couple of hours in Cedar Rapids we head back to I-80 and drone along towards Omaha. After we get a BBQ picture in Omaha we plan to take I-29 south to Kansas City. But the Closed Road Curse strikes again. We meet again., the curse and I. There are signs more than 100 miles from Omaha saying that I-29 is closed. We finally reach Omaha at 4:30 and find the BBQ. After taking a picture Linda suggests that we eat there and then we won't have to leave the motel after we check in. So we are eating a light meal when my phone rings. It is Clint from Australia. It seems that he and Charleen decided to stay in Omaha for the night instead of in Lincoln. And the motel they are in is right down the street from the BBQ. We meet again. So we spend a pleasant evening with them and a bottle of wine. When we are done it is too late to write my blog so that is why it is a day late. They also tell us how to detour around the closed section of I-29 as they just came up that road from the south. It was very nice to see them for one more time.

Illinois Frost Heaves

Tuesday August 30th
I am not feeling too good in the morning so we decide to get some cold medicine on the way out of Elkhart. It is a one pill a day medicine so I am hoping that it last until Coralville, Iowa where we plan to finish the day. Our route takes us right back into Michigan and Highway 12. We could take the turnpike (notice it is not called a FREEway ) but it only saves us 7 minutes and we would lose that time at the tollbooths taking off gloves, digging into pockets for change or bills and putting the gloves back on. We go west on 12 through about 10 miles of Goldenrod which makes me sneeze continuously until we are within a mile of Lake Michigan. No, we can't see Chicago from the Michigan shore. Now we are on an interstate on our way to Illinois going through part of Indiana again.There is a noticeable difference in the road quality when we reach Illinois. There are many frost heaves that really jar and bounce the bike. I am experimenting with a saddlebag at the back of the bike for extra storage and fear that I made the bracket from too thin of metal. I check it every morning. For some reason the GPS routes us off of the interstate and onto Highway 6 which goes through several towns and will finally put us on I-80. But just before the turnoff to I-80 the road is closed. The Closed Road Curse has struck again. There are no detour signs, you are left to your own devices to find a way. I try the detour button on the GPS, you may remember that it worked one time and failed another. This time it works and we are finally on I-80. We turn off onto a street in Joliet and get the BBQ picture. And Then!! I notice that the Illinois frost heaves have gotten the best of our special rear saddlebag bracket. Darn, it lasted over 2500 miles before Illinois and maybe 75 miles in Illinois. There is a Dollar General store so I buy some bungee cords and try and use them to hold everything in place. A check on my cell phone shows a welding shop 3 mile away so I call them and then go there riding slowly over the bumps. The owner says he will see what he can do so I remove the bracket which just slides out of a receiver. His business is really manufacturing so he is doing us a big favor by taking someone away from their job to weld our bracket. I also had them add a brace to the bracket. 30 minutes later he is back with the bracket which I slide back into place and we are ready to go. When I ask about payment he says if we are poor then go in peace, if we are not poor then it is $30. $30 is a great price for getting something done so fast and we are happy to pay. Back on the road and headed for Iowa the predicted rain finally arrives. It is about 50 miles of rain the last 10 of which is pretty heavy. Naturally the rain stops when we arrive at the motel which is 3 doors away from the BBQ restaurant. We walk to the restaurant for dinner and split an order of ribs. We also try a sample of hot boiled green peanuts which are popular in the deep south but they are not to our liking. There is something basically wrong with eating a soft peanut. I am feeling pretty low so I turn in early and drop into sleep immediately. The next 3 days will be long interstate days, from here to Omaha, then to Kansas City, on to Pueblo, Colorado and then home. 

Starting for home??

Monday morning and we all meet for our final breakfast together, maybe. Linda and I are heading northeast, yes we know that home is southwest, and C & C are going south. But there is a slim chance that our paths will cross in the next few days. As we head out of Indianapolis we see some areas that are somewhat affluent and still there are boarded up houses. There was a lot of houses like that in the areas around the racetrack which are older and poorer. We are off to a BBQ in Ohio and finally call them for directions as we poor city folks have problems in the farm country with county roads and their unique addresses. The store owner explained his address but unfortunately it probably will not apply to the next state that we are visiting. However his place was not a restaurant but a meat market and BBQ catering company. But he did make us a couple of pulled pork sandwiches and let us have a tour. Just for information it was a 200 mile ride to get here and we could not verify on the weekend what type of business it was, however we would have come in this general direction as the BBQ place close by in Michigan was verifiable. From there we went to the Michigan BBQ which was not very far north. We quickly found it and then started west on state highway 12. I had forgotten how much we enjoy riding through the northern farm country. Everything is green, fields of crops, large trees, thick forests, quaint farm houses, red barns, crumbling barns, lots of antique stores and nice, clean small towns, and we almost hit a dead beaver in the road. But we finally left Michigan 12 to go to Elkhart, Indiana where we had a discount coupon for a motel. As we entered Elkhart we saw several industrial buildings that were closed and had real estates signs on them. Our motel was right to a MacDonalds where we can have breakfast and across the street was a restaurant that served walleye. If you have followed our blogs you know that finding walleye is a quest for me. It is a nice mild fish and is only found in the Great Lakes area. Linda and I split an order and after our pulled pork sandwiches that we had earlier we were quite content. So  now we will have a good night's sleep and prepare for the Illinois traffic that we will face tomorrow.

MotoGP

Today was the MotoGP race. Watching the race on tv does not come close to reproducing the incredible sound of the engines. It is also the same with Formula 1 races. Clint & Charleen are happy as the race was won by Casey Stoner who also is Australian, an Australian was second in today's Formula 1 race and yet another Australian won yesterday's AMA motocross race. After the race we returned to  the hotel and rested for an hour before walking downtown for supper. We will go our separate ways tomorrow but could possibly meet up again as we are both going to the same cities on the way home. We will say our goodbyes at breakfast tomorrow. Tomorrow Linda and I will go northeast to the northwest corner of Ohio and then into Michigan to  get 2 more BBQ pictures. Then we will go into Illinois and decide if we want to go to Wisconsin and Minnesota or take a faster way home.

Reunited with the Aussies

Saturday August 27
Back to the race track for day2. This is qualifying day, each class has a practice in the morning and then qualifies in the afternoon. When we arrive at the racetrack Linda asks if I have the tickets. No, they are back at the hotel room so we turn around and go back to get them. We are still back at the track in time for the first practice session. Linda and I take the time to visit the racetrack museum and we all meet again in the grandstands for qualifying. Casey Stoner was by far the fastest qualifier and will start on the pole for tomorrow's race. On the way back to the hotel we stop at a Subway for a light meal. After we get back to the hotel C & C go for a walk around town. Linda convinces me to get on the bike and get a BBQ picture as we had seen a BBQ on the way back from the racetrack. This is another place with no parking in front but it is closed so I go through their parking lot and park on the sidewalk. Then I stand in the street when the traffic clears and get my picture. When I return Linda and I also go for a walk. We go by a Brazilian restaurant so we go in so that I can have a Capirinha which is the national drink of Brazil. Then it's back to the hotel to get some sleep as we want to leave early in the morning for the racetrack.

Friday August 26
We are on our way to Indianapolis for the races. We want to watch the practice sessions that start at 1 PM. Clint & Charleen are in their rental car and Linda and I are on our bike. Clint has planned a route that will take us through the farmland of Ohio except! Except that State Highway 27 is suddenly closed. No matter, we go around the signs and keep going. But then it is closed again and this time it looks serious. Clint goes on but I have a feeling that this time is for real. So I turn right and hit the detour button on my GPS. It quickly plans a detour route that will return us to Highway 27 in less than 12 miles and it does. The closure was for real and C & C had to backtrack. We are now ahead of them and pull over to wait in front of the Baptist Temple of Centerville. We waited for about 20 minutes. Those of you who are observant will have noticed that we do not yet have a BBQ picture in Ohio. C & C finally arrive and we are off again and this time I am leading. Once again Highway 27 is closed and this time we are detoured to Highway 44. Now we are moving right along until the next town where Highway 44 is closed. I turn left, the only choice, and hit the detour button and my GPS  sends me around a few city streets and then right back to the road closed sign. We then notice a very small detour sign and follow it's directions. Now C & C are in front. The detour  finally returns us back to Highway 44 until the next town. There are 2 signs for Highway 44 west one block apart, the GPS says take the first street which we do. But the street signs route us to the second street while the GPS tells us to stay on the first. We ignore the GPS and keep ignoring it for several miles until we reach an interstate highway to Indianapolis. At this time both the GPS and ourselves are in agreement. We stop for coffee and go on to our hotel in Indianapolis without further problems. After checking into the hotel we are off to the racetrack for an enjoyable afternoon especially as the fastest person in this practice is Casey Stoner who is an Australian!! We would have gone back to the hotel but C & C have left an electronic adaptor back in the Cincinnati motel and need a replacement so we go off searching for said replacement. After successfully finding the part we stop at a fast food for the evening's repast and return to the hotel for sleep and recuperation. However Linda and I need to wash some clothes so we are up quite late taking care of laundry issues.

Charleen and her $5 lemonade

Linda tests a sidecar at a vendor's display

Thursday August 25
We found no evidence that we could visit Fort Knox and lots of evidence that we could not so we went to the Jim Beam Whiskey Distillery and took a tour. I drank whiskey 40 years ago but do not care for it now. But I enjoy seeing how things are done and Linda said it would be interesting so we went. It was interesting but short. They had some sampling at the end. I remembered why I do not care for whiskey.

After the tour we continued on to a motel in Cincinnati where we were to meet our Australian friends. On the way there the highway went to one lane on the other side and the traffic there was backed for almost 3 miles. I was thinking how lucky we were and then we arrived at the edge of Cincinnati and our luck changed. Linda says she was proud of how I controlled my temper in the heavy traffic. It took about 45 minutes to go 12 miles. That is pretty fast by California standards but I no longer am a Californian. Clint was waiting outside for us at the motel. We had a cheerful reunion and went out for dinner to celebrate the reunion and Charleen's birthday. We went to the Outback Steakhouse as it was within walking distance. Although they advertise genuine Australian food Clint & Charleen did not think that their menu was representative of true Australian fare. It was late when we finished eating so we called it a night when we returned to the motel.