DAY
19, THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013
Last night, I couldn’t believe that I actually finished
the blog and pictures early! I was able
to go downstairs to the lobby and talk to Laura for a while. I got to bed BEFORE midnight. My alarm was set for 6:30 AM, as usual. Wouldn’t you know it, my eyes popped open at
5:50 AM? I fell back to sleep and the
alarm woke me up. This time, I didn’t
want to get up! I got up and started
getting dressed. Chuck got up and looked
outside. He saw 5 Motors, clear weather
and he was happy. We got dressed and
packed our stuff. We each took out a
couple of bags to our Motors. A couple
of the guys were busy with their Motors and bags. We went to have breakfast. We were all eating and it was very
quiet. I guess we missed J.B.’s
conversation, whit and opinions. We
finished and went to our rooms to get the rest of our stuff, packed the Motors
and we were ready for the day. Ken got
with Chuck and both looked at the map and Ken was full of the knowledge as to
where we were going. I bet his helmet
felt a little tight! We left at 8:22 AM.
Ken took off like a bat out of hell. We went around the lake and through an
intersection. Most of the guys got
through except for Jan and Me. We got
caught at the red light and the Group had to stop and wait. OK, the light turned green and away we
went. We rode through the town, passing
the Country Club, the golf course, houses, farms and we finally got to I-94
westbound. We wanted to get to LaCrosse,
MN. We were trying to get close enough
that tomorrow; we could meet up with a good friend, Gary Mulleneaux, somewhere
close to Rochester, MN. We rode to
downtown Chicago, because C.E. had never been there and has never seen the
skyline. We got close to the city and
were on the interstate with a speed limit of 55 mph. It’s a good thing that we didn’t go 55 mph,
because if we did, we would been run over!
Those people drove like, “insane people!” They would change lanes into our lane when
there was a car length and a half between riders. The big trucks would change lanes in front of
us. It was about 9:30 AM and it looked
as though the morning rush hour was still happening. Thank God that our resident, “Wild Man,” Ken
was in the lead! He did a great job in
getting us through Chicago. I was taking
a lot of pictures of the city while we rode through it. We continued on and after riding 96 miles, we
stopped in Wilmette, IL at 9:56 AM for gas…and a breather! This was the MOST expensive place that we
have bought gas. I am NOT going to print
the price because I promised Laura that I would not get vulgar on the
blog! We took a little break to calm
down from the roller coaster ride that is called, The Express Freeway of
Chicago.” It was my turn to lead and I
had my notebook on my back seat so that I could get to it easily to write down
the time we leave; however I forgot to write down the time and didn’t secure
the notebook. We left at 10:22 AM.
We headed towards I-94.
As we got on the interstate, we accelerated. Jan was behind me. He rode up to me moments later and told me
that I lost my notebook. It had been
blown off of the Motor and Jan told me later that it came close enough to him
that he almost caught it! I was bummed. Luckily, I had already posted everything
except what we had done this morning. I
remembered the “numbers” and locations that I had written in the notebook. We rode on and all I could think about was my
missing notebook. We rode for a while
and then rode through the City of Milwaukee.
As we rode north and turned West on I-94, Lake Michigan was to the
right. HUGE!!! We continued on through the city and I took
pictures. We passed by Miller Park for
the Milwaukee Brewers Professional Baseball Team. It was a strange looking building but it
looked cool. The traffic in Milwaukee
and west was heavy during the lunch hour.
The Group got separated a couple of times; however, we managed to get
back together. It was getting time for a
break and I was riding in the curb lane with Jan behind me. I saw a sign for a gas station. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw
Motorcycle headlights behind a big truck.
I figured it was the Group and they would see me turn off of the
interstate at Exit 304. As I was getting
on the off ramp, I saw and heard Jan yell.
I got off and headed for the gas station to take a break. As we got to the gas station and parked, I
was bombarded by the guys that they were not prepared to take the exit, they
were in the second lane, they had to scramble to get to the exit, etc. blah, blah,
blah. Chuck and Bruce didn’t make it to
the exit and continued west. Greg was
already on the phone with Chuck. Greg
gave me the phone and Chuck told me that they were at Exit 297 at a
Subway. They would wait for us. We headed back to the interstate to go and
meet up with him. I saw Exit 304 and at
Exit 303, there was a Subway sign. I
thought that they had gotten off at Exit 303.
Exit 297 would have been another 6 miles. I didn’t think that they would have gotten
that far. We made it to the Subway and
Chuck and Bruce were not there. I called
Chuck and he told me that he and Bruce were at the Subway off of Exit 297. We decided that they would eat there and we
would eat at the Subway that we were at.
We went in and ordered our sandwiches.
As we were sitting, Chuck and Bruce came walking in. We were together again. We had ridden for 93 miles and arrived at the
Subway at 12:12 PM in Pewaukee, WI. I
finished my lunch quickly and walked to the end of the mall, guessing about 400
yards, to a Dollar Store. I needed to
get another notebook and binder clip. I
bought them and returned to my Motor and copied the information that I had
written on my windshield with my red, dry erase marker. I’m back in business! We were all ready to leave and we left at
1:05 PM.
We rode on I-94 west riding past farm after farm. The road was very good and so was the
weather, except it was 86 degrees. It
was OK if we were moving, so we kept it that way. We rode for 87 more miles and at 2:21 PM we
stopped in Portage, WI at a BP gas station for…gas! We lucked out because under the roof of the
building of the station, were other businesses.
There was a Subway, Dairy Queen and a restaurant. Dairy Queen sounded very good to me. Apparently it sounded good to everyone
else. We had a treat! OK, we were all gassed up and ready to go. We left at 3:05 PM with Bruce in the lead.
We continued west on I-94. The Group rode in a tight formation. No one lagged behind, no one got separated
from the Group and we rode at 75 to 80 mph.
We passed more farms, and farms with cows. WOW!
Those cows STINK! We also passed
farms that smelled of manure. It was
very strong. We rode for 85 miles and
stopped at a gas station for a pit stop in Sparta, WI at 4:17 PM. We took a break and we were all sitting
either on a bench by the side of the building or sitting on the sidewalk,
leaning against the building. Jan called
Gary Mulleneaux to let him know that we were headed his way and if he was
available to meet with us. Gary was in
Wisconsin at a concert and was not available.
We sat around and discussed riding to Rochester, MN. Chuck checked on a Best Western in
Rochester. He got the address and gave
it to me to put it in my Navigation System.
I did. We left at 4:50 PM.
We left Sparta, now on I-90. I was enjoying riding at the back of the
Group. We came upon a big bridge and the
sign before it read, “Mississippi River.”
I quickly got my camera, turned it on and got two pictures of the River,
left and right side. No sooner that we
crossed the bridge, there was a large sign up against a mountain that read,
“Welcome to Minnesota.” I got a picture
of that sign also. As we rode along the
River, I took several pictures. That
River is WIDE! We continued onward. We passed more farms and there is much
beauty! We were riding and seeing
nothing by farms when I looked to the right and saw a small skyline of a
city. It was Rochester, MN. Bruce got us into the city and pulled into a
parking lot of a mini mall. Chuck told
me that we were in Rochester and didn’t know how to get to the hotel. He asked if I could now lead. I did and after riding 100 miles, we stopped
at the Best Western in Rochester at 6:28 PM.
Three of the guys went in to “make the deal.” They came out and told us the good news on
the price. We told them to get the
rooms. After we got our rooms, we rode
across the street to the other buildings where our rooms were. We unloaded our Motors and “tucked” them in
for the night. The laundry room was next
door to our room, so Jan and I were going to do our laundry later in the evening. Ken, C.E. and Greg rode about 1 ½ miles to
the nearest laundromat. In the same
strip mall were a couple of restaurants where they went and had dinner. Chuck, Bruce and Jan went to the hot tub for
a while and later returned to their rooms.
We walked across the street to the on property restaurant, The Twig, and
had dinner. Jan and I returned to our rooms.
I checked the laundry room and the two machines
were available. Jan and I did our laundry.
I did tell Chuck this morning that I needed
to do a load of laundry tonight, otherwise, I was going to use some of his clean
clothes. Chuck responded, “We will find a
Laundromat!”
Today was a long day! We rode for 465 miles and it was a little warm.
I lost my notebook; however, I have replaced
it. Some of the guys thought that they were
safe from “The Blog” because I lost the notebook. They’re not! Tomorrow, we continue to head west towards Yellowstone
National Park. I’m not sure how far we will
get. I do know that we will get into South
Dakota; we are shooting for Rapid City. We shall see…
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