DAY
3, Tuesday, June 04, 2013
I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. Ken didn’t seem to have a problem; however,
he is a light sleeper. I finally got to
sleep at about 2 AM and was awaken by a very loud clap of thunder! I looked at the clock and it was 4:20
AM. I was thinking that it was closer to
6:30 AM. I got up and looked out the
window to look at the Motors, all tucked in for the night. It was raining and the wind was blowing. There were four Motors parked together: Chuck’s, Jan’s, Mine and Ken’s. We had all covered our Motors earlier,
however, mine was not. I figured that
with the wind blowing so hard, it probably landed in a neighboring County! I started to think about putting on a
telethon to raise money to buy me another cover. I wasn’t about to go out in the rain to look
for it. Ken woke up and told me that it
had been raining hard for quite some time and the rain was hitting the window
with some force. Ken went back to sleep
and I tossed and turned until, finally, I fell asleep.
My alarm sounded at 6:30 AM and we got up, got dressed,
made coffee and packed. I went to the
Motors to see if I was lucky and just maybe, the cover would be there…somewhere
close. When I got to the Motors, my
cover was next to Jan’s Motor and was snagged by the rear wheel. Well, so much for the telethon! As I was there, Ken, Jan and Chuck arrived
and we started to ready our Motors for today’s ride. We folded our covers and stowed them and towel
dried our Motors as best as we could. We
then went to breakfast and saw that the other four guys were already having
breakfast. We finished our breakfast and
went back to our rooms to get our stuff to pack the Motors. I got my stuff from my room and packed my
Motor. Ken, Jan and Chuck were done with
their Motors. I tried to start my Motor
and all I heard was, “click, click, click…!”
The battery was dead! It was the
original battery from when I bought the Motor in 2008. Ken got his jumper cables out while Jan got
his camera and took pictures of me with mechanical problems on a Honda. Fair is fair!
I gave him my camera also so that he could take pictures. Chuck took my camera from Jan and gladly took
pictures. The Motor started right up and
we were ready to go to the front of the hotel where the others were waiting for
us.
We all met up front and everyone was grouped together
talking. I was with my Motor and keeping
the engine running to build up the battery.
Tim was standing in the group without his helmet on. I was told that Tim was going home. For the past few weeks, Tim has had an
infection on his left, big toe. Last
night, after dinner, he walked next door to the hotel to the hospital and asked
for medical assistance. He was there
until about 12 midnight before he returned to his room. They prescribed antibiotics for his infection
and for him to see his personal physician.
He did the smart thing by deciding to ride back home and not continue
the ride. We all said our goodbyes to
Tim and we rode off at 8:45 AM with Greg in the lead.
Remember on yesterday’s blog when I told you that we were
done with I-40? Plans change! Greg and Chuck got together and planned the
route during Greg’s lead. Greg was to
lead us east on I-40 to FR 281(Federal Route) and then north. From FR 281, we would go northbound to SR 33
and then east. Greg got us on I-40. It was a bit chilly but it felt good. We then went north on FR 281 for a few miles
until we got to a T and the signs posted indicated FR 281 East to the right and
FR 281 North to the left. Greg turned
right and we all followed. We rode for 4
½ miles until we got back to I-40 and Greg pulled into a Truck Stop parking lot
and made a u-turn. Realizing that he
made a wrong turn, he lead us back to where we made the turn…another 4 ½ miles. As we got to the intersection where we made
the wrong turn, a couple of us looked at the intersection and “waved.” We continued northbound, on the proper
road. We rode north on FR 281, then
turned east on SR 33. We rode for 84
miles and stopped at 10:02 AM in Kingfisher, OK for a pit stop. We were there until 10:25 AM and then
continued on northbound.
We rode east for 78 miles and Greg was going to stop for
gas when we rode into Lamont, OK at 11:48 AM.
There was one gas pump at the gas station/mini mart. As we stopped, Bruce parked his Motor at the
mini mart and went inside. He had to
make a quick “pit stop.” We all waited
just north, and at 11:52 AM, Bruce came riding up to us. We then left eastbound on SR 33. We decided to continue east on SR 33, knowing
that I-35 wasn’t very far and that there would be gas stations nearby. Greg took us to I-35 where there were two
large gas stations, one on either side of the street. We rode for 12 miles and arrived at 12:02 PM
in Tonkawa, OK. We separated and used
both gas stations. Since it was lunch
time, we talked about where we could go and eat. I checked with Siri (iPhone) about the
nearest Subway. Siri stated, “The
nearest Subway is not far from you, Sweetheart.” I love it when she calls me Sweetheart in her
Australian accent! We left at 12:20 PM.
Jan lead us north on I-35 for 9 miles and at 12:29 PM we
stopped at the Subway in Blackwell, OK.
We got there and it was very crowded!
We were finally served, had lunch and were about to leave when I heard
Chuck asking a couple of guys if they had a 3 inch hose clamp. I asked him what he was asking for and he
repeated it to me. I told him that I had
two hose clamps in my “Harley Repair Kit” in my Motor. He was surprised! I went to my Motor, with Chuck following, and
got two hose clamps for him. He thanked
me and told me that they would work. He
asked for a screw driver and I gave him mine.
He told me that a weld had broken on his tail pipe guard near the
cylinder head. WOW, snicker at me when
my Motor needed a jump start this morning and take pictures will you? KARMA!
Pictures of Chuck and Jan were also taken. Chuck and Jan, experienced as they are in
repairing Harleys, got to work and put the hose clamp on the pipe. Problem fixed…temporarily. We decided to continue north and cross into
Kansas and get on SR 166 eastbound. We
left at 1:22 PM.
We rode north on I-35 and just as we crossed into Kansas,
it started to sprinkle! We had seen on
the Weather Channel last night and this morning that it was supposed to rain on
us as we were enroute to Joplin. It
rained on us, not too badly, for four miles northbound. We turned eastbound on SR 166. As we rode eastbound, it continued to sprinkle
for about 8 miles and then it stopped. Jan
led us on a nice 2 lane road and then we turned into Business SR 166 in Sedan,
KS at 2:40 PM after riding for 89 miles.
It was definitely time for a pit stop.
We stopped at a Phillips 66 gas stations and mini mart. We quickly walked to the mini mart and headed
for the restroom. Again, the pause that
refreshes! We left Sedan at 3:02 PM and
headed east, again, on Business SR 166.
We got back on SR 166 and rode for another 92 miles until we reached
Baxter Springs on Route 66 at 4:33 PM.
We all gassed up and left at 4:48 PM with Ken in the lead.
We gave Ken directions to the Best Western hotel in
Joplin, MO, where J.B. was waiting for us.
J.B. had secured four rooms for us.
We rode 19 miles and arrived at the Best Western at 5:09 PM. J.B. was by the front door wait for us with a
smile on his face. It was good to see
J.B. again.
We rode 383 miles today and rode in the rain, actually
sprinkles. We saw some beautiful
scenery, fixed two broken Motorcycles: one Honda and one Harley. By the way, I had no more trouble with my
battery. We lost one rider and gained
one. We are good! Tomorrow, we will go to Springfield, MO and
meet up with the PPD retirees who live in the area. I’m guessing that there might be about 20
retirees or more. It will be fun! So, until then…
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