Day 31a Wallsburg 4th of July visit

I had a great time during my visit with Melissa, Paul, Harlee and Wyatt. On July 4th we went to Max and Cozettes for a party.

Day 31 June 29 to Wallsburg UT

milage 432
total milage 9805

camping fee-no charge from my daughter so far..

When I got up I decided to break camp instead of leaving everything there. If I decided to go I wanted to be ready. And setting up doesn't take long.

This morning I was off to the hot plate soda fountain at the grocery store. Then I see a sign for the lodge and decided that it would be worth twice as much to have a good breakfast. What a happy surprise, they had a cafeteria set up (I could have eaten there twice yesterday) at a very decent price. I feel much better now and am ready to see "Old Faithfull". I got there just as the steam was falling to the ground. Timing is everything and mine was off. Had to wait about two hours. After getting some nice (I hope) pictures I decided it was time to head south to Wallsburg, UT.

I passed thru the Grand Teton National Park with its awesome mountains ond on into Jackson Hole, it was full of tourists. Hmm come to think of it I was one of them. Interesting that once I got to WY I felt that I was home. Guess I'm a westerner. I followed the Wind River Mtn range south to Evanston, WY. Nobody was home so I left a t-shirt for Cozy. I called Melissa and found that everyone was there. So we decided to meet at heber, UT for dinner. I was hungry and cruised about 10-15mph faster than I had the rest of the day :)

Got togeather with everyone and got hit with two small missiles (grand kids) and then on to dinner. Had a good prime rib and then it was off to the house and bed. It was long past dark (my bedtime) and I was dragging. I plan on leaving Sunday morning, so this gives six days to visit. Then I will meet Martin somewhere in Montana?

Before leaving the bike needs to be cleaned and serviced. So off to Wal-Mart for oil and filter.

Day 30 June 28 to Yellowstone National Park WY

milage 286
total milage 9373

camping fee $9.80 1.2 off again and no entry fee, get your senior card now.

Got into the park before noon and got a campsite for two nights (even though I only stayed one) at the Bridge Bay campground, located on the Yellowstone lake. I set up camp, in the light, and set off sight seeing. Yellowstone is setup on a figure eight design. With about 9 hrs of light available I covered the northern loop. I went to the upper and lower falls and saw Mammoth Hot Springs. Saw great scenery and got some close up views of a BIG bull bison and a large elk with an awesome rack, still fur covered. The first bull bison I saw was heading for the road and I stopped well short of him. I have heard of them attacking motorcycles!! I found at the various stops that if something was over 2/10-3/10 of a mile that I didn't feel like walking it. So I would check out the closer items and then move on. I also saw the mud volcanos and the Dragons Cave.

Had a cold sandwich for dinner with a coke. Had a headache all day so took some aspering and an imitrex and was asleep before dark. Had a heavy but short rain that night.

I actually covered most of the park today so I may leave tommorow even though I paid for two days.

Remember to click on the pics link to see all the photos.

Day 29 June 27 to the Big Horn Mountains WY

milage 245
total milage 9087

camping fee $6.60 Natl Forest after 1/2 off with senior card

Got up and rode to Gillette, WY for breakfast. Had a message from Pack that she and Rosie were in a golf tournament and would be available from 3-6 that afternoon. So I went to the laundrymat and then to the library. Using the library for the internet is nice but some of them limit you to 1/2 hr and none of them allow you to download pictures from your camera onto your flash card. So again the pictures will be added later. Had a great discussion with a man from TX that has become a full time RVer. I then went to find where Pack's RV was parked and then returned to the library and checked my e-mail.

About 2pm I got another msg from pack saying they were back at the RV. It was great to see Pack again and we had a great visit. I hope to see her again on my way East. I finally got to met Rosie and she is a neat lady. Even has her own Harley. I left them about 6pm, they had a golf tournament presentation dinner and I had a road to travel.

I meet a rider on an Gold Wing Interstate from Bangor, ME that had been really worried that he wouldn't make the gas station and that if that happened that nobody would stop to help him. He was sterotype biker. I told him that I had just been to Bangor also.

I finally stopped (after about 200 miles) just as it was getting dark at the first natl forest campground that I found in the Big Horn Natl forest. It was the last space they had (at 8400 ft)and it was about 50 ft below the snow line, complete with snow. The ride up the side of that mountain range was gorgeous. I now understand the saying "I felt like I could reach up and touch the face of God". Once again no dinner, hmm this is getting to be a bad habit. It was dark by the time camp was set up. I slept as normal, on the air mattress with the sleeping bag as a comforter. Bad choice, woke up late in the night with heavy shivering, it was difficult just getting the comforter back into sleeping bag shape and zipped up. I even put the top over my head and closed that up so only my face was exposed, finally used it as a mummy bag. But then all was ok, at least no rain. When I got up there was ice everywhere. Martin, you'll be happy to know that the Marmot bag passed its rating test but it was close :)

Broke camp and dressed with my sweat pants and sweat shirt on over my clothes. Winter gloves and hood. Did I mention it was cold?

Day 28 June 26 to Keyhole State Park WY

milage 439
total milage 8842

camping fee $12 (cash only)

Got up early, though I did notice someone got up before me, they also came in after dark, maybe they were scamming the system. Stopped in town for breakfast. Good thing too, it was Sturgis before I would see another cafe.

I stopped at the geographical center of the United States. It is 7.8 miles of gravel road from the hiway. It is important to note the milage because there is no sign or memorial rock there. Just a fenced area about 50x50. But it is cheap to visit, free! No Lines!

Sturgis is a lot different when the bike rally isn't going on, about half the stores are closed. But there were a lot of bikes in the area. And the vendors were doing a pretty good business. For those of you that I got t-shirts for at last years rally that you never received (Cozy?) because I was wearing it, I do have the correct one for you. Hey Martin, I went out of my way up to Lead and got a cheeseburger and onion rings for dinner from our favorite bar. No beer though, still had a couple of hours to ride.

I stopped at Keyhole SP in WY. It is cheap but has no showers/flush toilets, etc. Just the basics. It rained on me, I had my fly (on the tent) open so it woke me up before I flooded. Nothing to badly wet.

I'm on the last camera battery, of three, and the cell phone battery is low. I may have to rent a motel room just to charge batteries. I'm doing pretty good 28 days and only 3 motel rooms.

I have decided that my finger doesn't have arthritis, it is broken.

I sometimes if anyone is reading this or if it's just my diary. In which case why am I doing it?

Day 27 June 25 to Fort Abraham Lincoln Mandan ND

milage 256
total milage 8403 milage is racking up faster than I thought it would.

camping fee $21 with extra pass

Didn't stop to eat until after 10am, over 24 hrs without eating and I wasn't that hungry, I have tightened my belt and my chaps so I assume I'm losing wt, I hope!

I spent two hrs in the library today so it is a low milage day. Stopped at Fort Seward in Jamestown, they told me that Fort Abraham Lincoln was getting all the big money grants so they hadn't been able to do much. So when I got to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park in Mandan, ND I decided to stop for the day. I even paid for the interpretive center pass and custer house tour. This is the fort where the 7th cavalry was based and Custer was in command. From here into the valley of death they rode. This was the original location of a Mandan indian village for hundreds of years but it was gone by 1750's due to yellow fever. They have made a mini village with authentic dirt dwellings.

I mentioned to the head ranger that since they got all the big grants that I had expected to see everything fully restored and mounted troops drilling in the square. He thought that was very funny :) There was a small reenactment group (3-4) set up.

I camped down by the river, very nice. The couple close to me are goldwing riders but they had just driven out of town (7 miles) to camp. He was very interested in my car tire set-up.

The high winds caused the gas milage to drop down to 32-33 even when doing 60 mph.

I probably won't be able to put pics on until I get to Melissas' place. Hopefully I can get Doris' computer working there, if not its trash time for it.

Day 26 June 24 Thru Grand Forks, Milton and to Devils Lake

milage 338
total milage 8147

camping fee $15

Lots of trains went thru the campground last night, something to remember. I got up at first light, as usual, took a shower, packed my gear and left. Note, campgrounds are getting very nice, most have showers and lots have washers and driers. As I started thru town I saw a laundrymat so pulled over and took my stuff inside.

Timing is everything....the skys opened up and the showers went on until the drier quit, then the rain quit. What did I say? On to Fort Abercrombie....pretty much how I remember except most of the stockade is gone and what is there is 8-10 ft tall. It used to be 6 ft. The blockhouses are still there and they have now marked where buildings were,

I drove up to Grand Forks and got pictures of many places that I lived, the park, the houses that my dad built. Grandmas house, much smaller than I would have thought. Then off to the cemetary. I found grampas' and grandma Graces' graves just about where I remembered from 1957. I noticed that in Grand Forks the kids still ride bikes to school, the parks, everywhere they go. From GF I rode NW up close to the Canadian border. I found the very small town of Milton and found two ladies talking so I pulled up and asked where the cemetary was. They said "Luthern or Catholic?" I thought and said Luthern. They sent me off on a wild trip. Down the gravel road, past the dump, into and out of a coulee (a ravine) and finally looking for the lone pine tree as a signal of direction. odly enough I found it and found my grandma Mary Torrance Andersons' grave. It's there Irene! Not Osnabrock. I also found in the same plot my Great grampa James Torrance and great grandma Agnes Torrance (had to remove some grass and clean the markers to get the names and dates.



I now headed South heading for Sturgis, SD but could tell there was another storm coming. I stopped at a gas station in Devil's lake and asked for directions to the campground. We got talking so much that he forgot to charge me for the gas and I had to return :)

It's funny Dad used to take us to Devils Lake to a cabin in the summer. It is one big lake and the campground is on an island. Because of the flooding there is only one road to it now, the other part of the road is a boat ramp. Had a nice couple from Wisconsin camped by me and they invited me for smores. The two girls 4 yrs and 6 yrs told me how to cook the marshmellow, a great time. They come to ND to camp because so many oputsiders from MN and MI are overrunning WI. The storm missed us. just a few drops fell on my head.

That smore was my only dinner, it was 20 miles each way to town. All day on just breakfast.

See the photo link for all pics.

Day 25 June 23 Long way to Breckenridge MN

milage 539
total milage 7709

camping fee $10

Long day in the saddle, much longer than I was expecting...without Martin I don't figure the milage I just ride. Evidence of flooding everywhere. I set of camp in the Whapeton, ND park. They are accross the river from each other. Hadn't eaten anything since morning so I was hungry. Had a great burger and beer and then drove around town and looked over where I had lived, played including the area I used to fish at and swing into the river to swim. I was very disappointed nobody recognized me anywhere but I didn't recognize them either.

Got pictures of the dams and locks on the might mississippi river on the way.

Stopped at Foxhome, a small town about 14 miles out. I found the farm where I had boarded Fancy Pants after my own midnight ride of kip revere, another story. The farm was much smaller than I remembered, that seems to keep happening. It hasn't been lived in for at least 10 years but I talked to the man who now owns the property and has a mobile home on it.

A family was camped beside me, kind of, they were the only other ones in the park. They gave me a piece of sweet corn, very good. Corn will be harder to find because of the amount of flood damage.

Day 24 June 22 to Maquoketa, Iowa

milage 307
total milage 7170

camping fee $5

What an emotional day. Linda B. and Her husband Duke picked me up at 7:30 and off we went. There were 3 places that I remembered, Grandmas' house, the gas station (owned by Ed Bs' grampa) and the soda fountain :)

Grandma's house is gone, the gas station has been replaced by another one. But the soda fountain is there and just like I remember! It was restored 2-3 years ago. We then went to the cemetary and I saw where my grampa and grandma Milam were, and I was told that my great grampa Milam is buried in the same plot but with no headstone. My grampa had two headstones one from the military and one from the family. Also saw my great grampa Buttons grave. And Rene and Herbs (buried by the Milams). Very awesome.

Oh I also got to meet another cousin Linda C and her husband Bob, who gave his first cup of morning coffee, nice guy.

As I was getting ready to leave town a Goldwing group rode up (to get something to eat of course) and told me about a covered bridge to nowhere, so I went to see it and some of the evidence of the flooding there. On the way back the geneology society was open so I went in. I found some more pictures of grampa Milam and some info on grampa Button so I was very pleased when I left.

There was an auction going on so I watched that a bit and then left town around 12:30

I went thru Eastern Iowa, flooding everywhere, and found a dry camp in the Maquoketa city park, very nice. They let me set up under a pavillion incase of storms but it was dry. Got some nice pictures of the stormy sky at sunset.

Day 23 June 21 to Greenup IL

milage 474
total milage 6873

camping fee $40 (motel, will explain)

When I left Fairport Harbor, it was a great day to be riding. I noticed the riders in Ohio weren't returning my wave. At first I thought they were not friendly but then I realized that with their long winters they just weren't used to riding and were afraid they would crash if they let go of the handlebars. That's ok guys I understand, just ride :) I passed around Cleveland then down to Columbus, thru Dayton (bye Packs' house) and headed towards Greenup, Il.

The weather turned very ugly, went thru 5 seperate thunderstorms, 2 with 1/4" hail and one with 1/4" hail and very high winds. Just about the time that I thought it might blow me over the semis started to pull over and stop. I hid behind one for awile. I didn't leave until he did. By the way I answered my own earlier questions about Harley riders and rain gear, I now know that at least two harley riders carry full "Harley branded" rain gear. Later I ran into a couple on a Harley. They said that they saw me pull over earlier and start putting on my riding suit. They thought that I was jumping the gun....three minutes later they were soaked to the skin and afraid they would get rear ended if they tried to stop. They said they decided if they ever saw me switching gear again they would pull up behind me and change also. :)

I stopped in Terra Haute, IN and saw my cousin Ed B., he is a cousin on the Button side. Got to spend some time and look at all the geneology work that he has done. Very impressive.

When I got into Greenup and got a room, now you understand why, I called my cousin Linda B., a cousin on the Milam side and surprised her with my arrival. Hadn't seen her in 50+ years. She said she would pick me up in the morning for a tour of the town and cemetary. I'm really looking forward to this.

Day 22a Fairport Harbor June 19 and June 20

Had a great visit With my family. Had a lot of fun, lots of talking. Went for a boat ride with Capt. Gary. And got to meet his wife, Nancy, son Justin, Justins' wife Terri and their daughters. Cant find my pics of Justin, Terri and the kids, please send.

Day 22 June 18 to Niagra Falls then Ohio

milage 450
total milage 6389

no camping charge :)

Once again it is raining when it is time to go but I don't have to take down a tent :)

To my great surprise I find that during the night the Valkyrie has hatched a vintage Norton single cyl. But on closer inspection ie: finding many stickers from vintage events I realize that it arrived later than I did the night before, oh well. I don't know how far it is to Fairport, Oh so take off down the road looking for a laundry mat. Got that done and had a long talk with the attendent who is a biker. I also found a library and updated the blog (not todays though).

I called my Aunt Irene in Fairport to be sure it was ok to stop and let her know that I would call when I got closer. Then it was on to Niagra Falls. To my great $$$ disappointment I found that it was a state not federal park so I had to pay for parking etc. Ran into a couple of VA bikers there. Got some pictures and got wet.

The weather was a little nicer in the middle of the day, rain stopped but still very cold. I wished that I had brought my Gerbing heated gear. Ahh well only so much room on the motorcycle and who knew that it would change from record highs to record lows by the time I arrived.

Got into Fairport Harbor about 9:30 after a very long day and My Aunt Irene served me some welcome spaghetti. I am not planning on leaving until Sat am after we go to breakfast. So 2 days off.

Day 21 June 17 Maine-Canada-USA

milage 550 est
total milage 5939


camping fee $44 a room at the Caravan Inn in Canton, NY (very nice)

Left my garage eary in the morning, it was raining, glad I was in Hermans' garage.

I rode accross the bridge in Matawaska, Garmita (GPS) wanted me to drive West 20 miles, cross the bridge there and then return to the other side of the Matawaska bridge.....Hmmmm..decided just to cross. Now if Martin had been there I might have done it just to see the look on his face when we arrived back at our starting spot :) Garmita does have a mind of her own.

I crossed into Canada with no problem, just a few questions. However Martin in black jacket, chaps, v-twin and pipes had a different experience but no strip search (that I'm aware of).

The rain got hard in Canada and the temp dropped, I was wearing my fleece vest under my riding suit and wishin that it had sleeves.

when I crossed into Canada everything was labled in French and English though this wasn't to last. When I got to Quebec Province it was French only, all the flags were Quebec not Canadian, even at Gov't (ie State Police) buildings. I found it interesting that French Quebec demands the other provinces label in both languages so they can read them but decline to do the same.

The first 200 miles was very cold. Stopped for s senior coffee at a Micky D's, $1.67 CA

There are lots of camp grounds in Canada. Unlike the US and some motels allow camping also. But with the rain and cold I just wanted to keep moving. I crossed the US border on hwy 15 and headed towards Niagra falls. I finally stopped at Canton and got a room. No camping spots for 87 miles. Coming thru US customs is a joke, 5-10 mins per car if they do nothing and 5-6 guards per lane. They are ready to repel an army.

I have found northern NY to be as beautiful as the south was. The weather still sucks 4 days now of rain/overcast and cold. Today I left Maine, crossed about 450 miles of Canada and then back home. I could of hit Vermont with a 15 mile side trip but didn't think that would be fair. It wasn't on the route and I wouldn't be going there to see anything special.

Arthritis in fingers so bad I couldn't cut french toast using a fork, had to use a knife...even bumps on road hurt like it was broken. Getting older sucks but it's better than the alternative.

Day 20 June 16 Wells to Matawaska, ME

milage 346
total milage 5389

camping fee $0.... yea

This morning I woke up and realized that I would not last the trip with the cash/routes we were doing. Martin and I decided to split up. We rode about 30 miles to breakfast and afterwards he headed north on hwy 1 and I headed North on I-295. The last 80 miles or so was on scenic hwy 11, lots of moose warning signs but no moose. Got in about 4:30 and took picture at the post office. It was heavy mist/light rain so I checked motel..to expensive. I found a little market where the owners wife made a dinner special. After eating I asked if I could camp there and they said yes, anywhere out back...3-5 acres. So in the rain I started setting up...when a voice asked if I was planning on sleeping there in the rain. I now met Herman who offered me the use of his garage to camp in which I gladly took him up on. Later Herman took me the the Four Corner Monument the city is building for riders to take pics of instead of the post office. Herman is a decendent of the original Acadian settlers or the town and told me how they arrived. Then he took me into the hills to try and find moose. But there was to much rain, he said they were all bedded down. He showed me the local paper plant and told me about the worlds longest steam line. Jackie (Hermans' wife) offered me the use of their shower but by this time (after 1/2 a beer) I was falling asleep and sadly declined. Down the hill to the shed I went. Got to dry out my tent while I was in there so it was great, wish I could find one every day..Thanks a lot Herman and Jackie, it was much appreciated.

Day 19 June 15 MA to Maine

milage 141
total milage 5043

camping fee $20

No pics until I get to a place that I can upload to.

Though I didn't know it until the next morning this would be the last day (at least for awhile) with Martin. No, there was no big fight. I just found that my money was disappearing at a faster rate than the miles were accumulating. So I will be riding faster, longer etc, though we may meet up again in Montana.

This was a great day except for the weather. It was raining when we left in the morning but since we had stayed in a motel that was no problem. We went accross the street, did our laundry and got breakfast. Then on to the road to Concord, which was about 35 miles away. We saw and walked the Old Bridge battle area. Then followed the road towards Lexington. We stopped and got pictures at the spot that Paul Revere was captured at then on to Lexington Green.

What a feeling to be at the spot where "the shot heard round the world was fired" and where the first American died for his country. Finally at about 2:30 we started moving North again on Hwy 1. We went thru New Hampshire on the coast and had to stop for a bout 30 minutes at a draw bridge, it was well worth it. Then stopped at a doughnut shop and met a couple using a Ural motorcycle/sidecar combo. He was an old time "Isle of Man" racer..neat!

Then we coasted on into Maine and decided on an early stop after about 80-90 miles in Wells, Maine. We stayed at the Ocean View Camp ground, nice. Then asked for a local spot to get lobster. They sent us about 200 yards down the road. It was very good, 1 1/2 lbs of lobster each, pie and ice cream came to about $85 and well worth it. Turns out that Pres Bush Sr goes there for lobster. After some of the locals asked how we found out about it they told us that he usually shows up in his boat but sometimes with a secret service convoy.

Then back for a good nights sleep in our tents.

Day 18 June 14 to Massachusetts

milage 303

total milage 4902

Campng fee $80 ( our first motel stop)

We went thru four states today. NJ - NY - CN - and on into Massachusets.

Saw my first "Moose Crossing" sign in MA, didn't know they were this far South, we are still south, right?

Conneticut welcomed us with lightning and thunderstorms. We saw it early and changed gear. Why don't Harley riders ever seem to carry jackets or rain gear in their saddlebags?

Garmina (GPS) led us on a wandering path thru NY. Martin thinks I should dump it but when it was raining hard and I couldn't see the screen I could still hear directions thru the earbud ( that I had just purchased a few hrs earlier.

Today was a very long riding day because we did lots of bueatiful side roads, slow going.

We saw a very early RR turntable (Erie RR) at Port Jervis. It was in service long before the civil war.

Day 17 June 13 to New Jersey

milage 374
total milage 4599

The Milam family came from England in the early 1700's, did I mention this before Kendall?

We continued on the Sky Line drive to Front Royal where we found some breakfast.

Today was a five state day VA - W. VA -MD - PA and finally to New Jersey.

Found western NJ was very pretty, not at all what I expected. We found that going on a minor road that was to close to the interstate made for very poor riding, try to stay 10-20 miles away.

We arrived at the campground after they closed and were gone before they opened. We also found that the Govenor of NJ is closing all their parks on the forth of July. What a goof ball.

Worthington SP in the Delaware Water Gap Natl Rec Area.

Camping fee $20

374 miles today

Day 16 Hampton, VA to Blue Ridge Parkway, VA

June 12

milage 394
total milage 4225

Time to be on the road to the next corner, Maine. I rode to Danville, VA to meet Martin and tour the Tank Museum. It was well worth it but they don't allow flash photos so only a couple of them came out. One is an early motorcycle made in LA. We then went to the Blue Ridege Parkway and turned North. We were on the Parkway for about 60 miles. The last half od it was the section that we rode our bicycles on last year. Things were much closer now. The riding was fantastic, this is what motorcycling is all about.

We managed to get to the food bar at Loft Mountain a few minutes before they closed so we got something for dinner. We met "Dirt and Rob", two brothers wandering the world like bees. They are on Harleys, Martin said he admired their courage. They replied that the bikes were under warranty. We camped accross from them at the campground.

394 miles

Camping fee $7.50

Day 15 Shennandoah to Hampton, VA

milage 228
total milage 3831

This was the last day of our mini-trip. We found the gas station at the campground was closed when we pulled out at 6:30 am., but we thought that we would all be fine. So much for thinking, 10 miles later Dori went on reserve.... her trike gas milage really varies one tank to the next, from 21 to 31.

About 15 miles later we got to a gas station, she pulled in running on fumes. Her trike has a 5.3 gallon gas tank, she put in 5.4 gallons.....WHEW!

The rest of the ride was much less tense. After stopping for lunch (Chipoltes Burritos) we headed down hwy 17 heading for Hampton. Unfortunately Martin got seperated from Dori and I (Dori had a learning experience) and we were unable to join up. Dori and I ended up at the Yorktown pub for lunch, great burgers! And then onto home, after a stop at the local Harley dealership, Dori wanted some different gloves, It was her birthday. They didn't have any gloves that she liked.

The next day we didn't ride, just did some servicing. But we did go to Fort Monroe.

Today we went 228 miles.