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.