Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Blue 

Where do I start... It was two days before my departure of what would become to be an epic, awesome, incredible, amazing, memorable road trip. My travel companion Blackie was to be my mode of transport. The only problem was that on that Friday as I was riding home from some errands and an oil change Blackie developed a horrendous vibration and sound. She was shaking like an addict going cold turkey off drugs and the sound, well it made me think of a pending explosion. Needless to say I did not feel comfortable heading out on a trip that would be some 6,000+ miles. Part of the reason for this road trip was my participation in the Big Sky - Working on the Railroad Rally - organized by Robert and Sylvie Torter. When I first saw the announcement of this rally back in January I didn't even hesitate to sign up. The main reason... well it included riding in Montana. A place I have visited but never on a motorcycle. I figured it would be an awesome rally to ride in this part of the country. So, back to the whole Blackie not feeling so good issue. I sent a message to rally master Robert Torter that I would not be able to make it. Low and behold, less than 30 minutes after the message was sent I got a phone call from Mr. Torter - he had found me a bike to borrow. I say what???? A bike to borrow? TO ride some 6,000 miles on? No freaking way, this could possibly not be true. Who would do that? It turns out my benefactor was Grayson Cook - a true gentleman in every aspect. Long story short - I picked up his 2006 Vstrom 650 on Saturday and spent the evening getting familiar with the bike and then Sunday morning packing it for the trip. And until this day, as I write this, I still can't quite comprehend that I just did this trip on a borrowed bike. Thank you does not even begin to express my gratitude. Some day I hope I can do something similar for someone else. I named the bike Blue Angel - after all, there are angels everywhere. Sunday by noon I was packed up and shortly thereafter Blue and I rolled out - destination Montana. The first day had a goal of arriving in North Bay,

Whispering Giant in North Bay

Ontario so I could visit the Whispering Giant located there. We rode through parts of the Adirondacks which was great and no traffic and then we crossed the International Bridge between Ogdensburg, New York and Johnstown, Ontario. Did I mention that the bridge is 1.5 miles long as of which I'm guessing 1 mile is a open metal grate! It was windy as heck so it sure made for an interesting crossing. I am not a fan of open metal grate bridges! But we made it across without any incidents. The rest of the ride was uneventful other than the extremely windy conditions (I saw on the news the next day that there had been wind gusts of 50 mph where I rode through)and we arrived in North Bay around 10 pm for a night's rest. Got the photo of the Whispering Giant the next morning, and
after my GPS sent me on a wild goose chase around town. I was about to toss that little piece of .... off my bike when I spied the statue! After that I had a great ride on Trans Canada 17 to Sault Ste. Marie where I crossed back in the States and headed for my next stop over in Michigan. The ride through parts of the Upper Peninsula was nice. Barely any traffic to speak of but rain showers on and off. Some very light, others a torrential downpour.

Lake Superior

Riding along in the UP as the locals call it was wonderful. Beautiful views, great roads and friendly people. I had to stop to do a conference call for work and it just happened to start raining so I pulled in to a gas station. The nice lady told me I could take the call right inside and sit down by one of the tables. Made it to Lake Gogebic state park just in time for nightfall and was spared for a brief moment from the rain showers, just about enough time to get the tent up and ready for bed. I discovered that in my haste to pack up and leave from home I had taken two different flip flops - but at least it was a left and right and of the same brand. Oh well, life could be worse. I also found that I had forgotten my Thermarest sleeping pad. Ouch. It is not all that comfortable to sleep on hard ground but somehow I managed.

Lake Gogebic

Tuesday morning dawned and don't you think it had to rain hard about half an hour before I was to get up and pack away everything. Lovely to put a away a wet tent! The ride from the campground to Wakefield, MI was quick and I got my next Whispering Giant. This giant statue sits on the dock at the edge of a lake. Very pretty

Whispering Giant in Wakefield

and serene. From here I rode on to Hayward, Wisconsin where I found the next Whispering Giant. I also found a quaint coffee shop where I had breakfast. Some day I like to come back and explore Hayward. It had a very Scandinavian feel to it. The ride from Wakefield to Hayward took me on some great roads with absolutely no traffic. I did see a few deer and some turkeys but other than that it was a smooth ride. From Wisconsin I continued to Minnesota and after a little more of the countryside type of riding it was time to hit the interstate as I still had a long way to go. I can't say it is exactly exciting to have the GPS say - 450 miles to the next turn... But that's just how it goes sometimes when you have to move from one point to another. Luckily traffic was fairly light on I-90 and I settled in to a good rhythm while listening to an audio book. Sure makes time go by faster. My destination for the evening was Badlands National Park where I had a reservation for a campsite. I pretty much made it there right before it got pitch dark. I managed to set up my tent without tripping all over it. After close to 13 hours in the saddle it

Camping in the Badlands NP

didn't take long for sleep to get hold of me, and I didn't seem to mind that I was going to sleep on the hard ground again. I woke to the sunrise and amazing sights. After a quick snack I packed up and set out to explore the park. I did a short hike but stayed on the main

Badlands National park

trail because of the signs warning for rattle snakes. Yikes! Got some great photos. Wish I could display them all here!  By 10 am it was already hot. Had a great ride through the park before exiting and heading to Wall. When you are in South Dakota you have to stop by Wall Drugs. It was packed! Sturgis is not that far away and the 75th annual Sturgis Rally was in full gear. Had a heavenly cinnamon bun and a good cup of coffee and a walk around before I got back on the bike. I was still quite bit away from my destination for the night. I chugged along on the interstate for a while before I got on an great road in Buffalo, Wyoming. I rode route 16 in to Worland, Wyoming where I found my next Whispering Giant. As I headed out of town towards Montana I could see the storm clouds gathering in the horizon. I knew I was in for a storm. What I didn't know was how crazy it would be. For a good hour I didn't see a single other vehicle and the sky was getting darker and darker. I could see lightning far ahead of me and was praying it would have passed by before I got there. No such luck. The rain rolled in and the wind - 50 miles per hour

Riders of the storm

or so gusts. Tossing me around on the road. Then came some lightning and lots of thunder. I had three guys on Harley's come up on me and I decided to follow them to have some company on the road. They were booking and I was hoping I could keep with them. As we were getting closer to the turn off for Red Lodge I decided that if they made the left turn then I would to but if they didn't then I would continue on to Billings, even if it was out of the way. The guys did not turn and soon enough they pulled over to the side of the road. I decided to continue on to Billings and try to find a hotel for the night. The weather was horrible! Not a good night to try and pitch a tent in a campground. Once I got closer to Billings I stopped at a gas station to look up hotels it took seven tries before I found one that had a room available. When I got there they let me park under the portico so it was easy to unload the bike. The hot shower was heavenly and so was the bed. I fell asleep right away. Thursday morning and the weather was back to sunshine and blue skies. I felt rested after a good sleep. Packed up quickly and got on the road. Today was the day to ride the Beartooth Highway! I was so excited. I rode through

The Giant and I

Red Lodge where I found another Whispering Giant! Hooray. That made five for this trip! After the giant I headed for the mountains. What sights! What roads! What an amazing ride! Each turn was more embracing and amazing than the other. Each sight was more spectacular. As Blue and I climbed up the twisting roads to cooler temperatures and higher elevations I was all smiles. I didn't want to ruin the smooth flow of the ride so I didn't stop at every outlook and pull off. At one point I stopped to get off the bike and walk around. I met a really nice guy from Long Island, New York and we chatted for awhile. My travels continued and once I hit the summit at 10,947 feet the decent started and eventually I was at the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. As I waited in line to get in,

View from the Beartooth Highway

guess who pulled up next to me? Yep, the three Harley guys from last night (the ones I followed in the bad weather). They were from Chicago and we ended up riding together through a part of Yellowstone. It sure is a small world and they were funny as heck.  Other than the wait at the entrance traffic was not bad, except for at one point where there was a herd of Elk on the side of the road and all cars stopped. I rode around Yellowstone to see the sights. I was there about 20 years ago so I didn't feel the need to go and see Old Faithful and some of the other geysers. I saw plenty of buffalo. Once I felt

One of the many residents in Yellowstone

satisfied with my tour around Yellowstone it was time to head to Big Sky. I arrived at the resort and was greeted by my rider friend Bruce and a few other people I have met before. I also met Robert and Sylvie Torter, the rally master and mistress and host and hostess for the Big Sky - Working on the Railroad Rally. After getting checked and toting my stuff to the room I went with Bruce to the pig roast. To read more about my rally experience please see my page about the Working on the Railroad rally. I'm going to skip ahead here. Monday morning and after a peaceful and relaxing sleep (gosh those beds in the hotel are super comfortable!) I had my morning coffee, reflected over many things in life and started to prepare for my departure and ride back home. The right side of my face was horribly swollen but I could tell that the Benedryl and cortisone cream was helping. It was mid morning by the time I swung my leg over the saddle and started up Blue. Good bye Big Sky. It had

Big Sky

been a great adventure but home was calling my name. I knew it was going to be a long trip ahead and the longest "single" one ride I had done so far. It was a little chilly as I departed but it didn't take long before the air had warmed up, the sun was blazing and time to peel off a layer. My travels had me going I-90 east and that is where I stayed through Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and Minnesota. My plan was to weer south below Minneapolis to avoid Chicago completely. Even the best laid plans can go wrong. It must have been sometime in the middle of the night and I was motoring along fine because I completely forgot about the turn south and just stayed on I-90 like it was in the plans. In the wee hours of Tuesday morning I stopped somewhere in Minnesota, at a rest area, for some sleep, and never even thought about the fact that I was still on I-90. It didn't even darn on my in Wisconsin but then I saw the signs for Chicago! At one of the gas stops in Illinois I realized that the chain needed to be adjusted. For the life of me I could not figure out how to do it. Thank

Sunset somewhere on the road

goodness for Google. I found a Suzuki shop - of course it was in the outskirts of Chicago so I had to deal with some fun traffic. On the other hand, the very nice service manager adjusted and greased the chain for me at no charge. Thank you very much Suzuki & Victory of Carol Stream. You rock! It took me a few wrong turns and several toll roads to get out of the Chicago area. I had friend calling to check on me. Was I going to ride all the way home or stop for the night? I told her I would determine that based on how I was feeling later on. I was feeling OK and rode on. Rolled in to Ohio and the temperature was dropping a little bit. Time to put on the liner and change gloves. I can't get over the big rig traffic in this area. Every other vehicle is an 18 wheeler. It gets a bit intense at times. The hours rolled on and so did Blue and I. It got dark, midnight and sometime around 3 am I was in the Cleveland area. It started to rain, hard. Dang lake effect! I missed my exit and before I knew it I was heading in the wrong direction. Turn around and stay focused. About 4.30 am I had to stop at a rest area in Pennsylvania to take a quick nap. First time ever that I just have laid down on the pavement next to the bike. I didn't care. Helmet was still on, tank bag as a pillow. It was needed. I slept for just over an hour and when I woke up I felt awake again. Next on the list was to get some real breakfast - coffee and a breakfast sandwich. Between the nap and the food I got re-energized and continued on. Let me tell you - from the Erie, Pennsylvania line to Albany, New York - that's a long stretch of staying on the interstate but if you want to get somewhere it is the way to go. I don't even know how much money I spent in tolls but it was all within 24 hours or less. I'm thankful I really didn't have to deal with any rush hour traffic. Just a steady flow of traffic the entire way on the Thruway. It was a relief to see the Welcome to Vermont sign and familiar views. The

cooler air felt wonderful. I was beyond happy when I pulled in to my driveway and got off Blue. We had both survived an amazing, wonderful and somewhat epic road trip. 6,703 miles through some fantastic states (and Canada) and on great roads with magnificent views and many wonderful memories to cherish. This trip could not have been possible had it not been for my angel in disguise - Grayson Cook - who so graciously and kindly and with trust, let me take his motorcycle (which I named Blue Angel) on this trip. While I write this I still get overwhelmed about it all. I am a firm believer in paying it forward and I will make sure I can do that in some way for someone else. In ending I wanted to mention the title of this page - Something Old (well, that could be pretty much anything of mine - the riding gear, my stuff and me of course), Something New (that would be the LD shorts I bought right before the trip), Something Borrowed (I borrowed a GoPro for this trip as I wanted to try it out and see if it would be worth it to buy one, thank you Alicia!) and Something Blue (that is Blue Angel of course!). Thank you Blue for carrying me safely on this trip. I will not forget you for being my "temporary" best friend during this great road trip.