Trains, grains and manes

A moment of silence for those who died or lost loved ones September 11, 2001.

Thank you.

On Wednesday (September 4) Birdie and I parted company. She was heading west, and I was going north to the Chipps HD shop in Osceola, Iowa. I wanted a Chipps shirt to match the Chips1 license plate on my cop bike. Mission accomplished.




I just couldn't help myself.  I like John Deere equipment. 

  Where to go, where to go? I decided to head east and do a loop and take a few back roads through Iowa and Missouri. I really wanted to go down through some of the Mark Twain National Forests, but didn't know if I'd have time to get there.

There are lots of trains in the Lower 48, and on occasion, one can even get them to blow the whistle.

I passed up a few Harley shops, think my shopping spree was over as my credit card had been smoking hot for a couple of weeks. Now I was just in it for the ride, the pure joy of riding back roads, countryside, farms, two Amish buggies (but no photo op) and lots of corn. It seemed quite peaceful on these back roads.

Even old farm houses and barns have personality and make for a nice photo.

There's usually a horse or a cow in most yards and pastures.  But every now and then ... there's something different tossed into the mix.  I saw several camels in a pasture with some donkeys.

Moberly was my choice of places to stay for the evening, but apparently no one had made my reservation for me. There was no place to stay … three hotels and nothing except a jacuzzi suite which I didn't want … pipeliner construction crews had filled the town. So on I went to Columbia. It was pretty much the same (horse shows and such had filled most everything) except for a Ramada with a second floor room and no elevator. I was tired and decided I was done for the night. So I took it. I was not so tired I'd have taken a smoking room which had been available at the first hotel I checked.

Couldn't help getting this photo.

 The next day I was hoping to make the forests (Thursday, September 5).

I saw a sign for Paris, rode to Mexico, then Cuba. What kind of international tour was I on? But gas was cheap. I saw it for $3.39 per gallon, unleaded. It was 83 degrees, but I was cold, and still wearing my gloves and a hoodie. I've acclimated to a degree, way too quickly as too soon I'll be back in the cold country.

I'm enjoying doing my international tour on a motorcycle while never leaving the USofA.

What a day it was, though. I rode back roads all day, from Moberly down on Hwy. 19 all the way to Thayer, near the Arkansas border. It was twisties, gentle curves, and everything in between with trees arching over the road here and there. It was beautiful no matter where I looked, and I could have ridden these roads forever. There wasn't even much traffic so I had it all pretty much to myself, to ride as quickly or as slowly as I liked. Who could not like that? A motorcyclist's dream road, with no other traffic!!

These three photos were taken along the same piece of property.  A gentleman drove his truck out to see me, probably wondering what I was doing.  I told him I was admiring his art and was taking photos.  He turned his truck around, drove back to his house, got out of the truck and went into his house.  But we had a very nice conversation for about 10 minutes.  Where else do you just come into contact with people for a short time, make a connection and then go about your business?  On a road trip, of course!!



I enjoyed all the back road riding ... lots of trees, some twisties, cool air, and lovely smells, discounting the road kill, naturally.

My destination for the evening was planned for Ozark, Missouri, near the southwest corner. However, once again I misread something and didn't find a place and kept on going toward Branson. I was reading all the signs … for all the entertainment … and was wishing I had the luxury of a few days to spend here, catching a show or two. I landed at a Comfort Inn, on the second floor. BUT, they had an elevator and a luggage cart. Best of all, they let me park up front and I could see my bike from the room. Yet another great day, and fun for if not all, me. Good night.

Friday (September 6) was my push for Texas, Mesquite, where my Texan friend, Jgayle, lives. I tried to get on the road by 8, but struggled as I wanted to get a blog posted for the 110^th celebration parade. Slow photo loading made for a late departure. Oh well. It was 69 degrees this time, and I was freezing with my gloves and hoodie. At home we'd be thinking 69 was a warm day.



I still enjoy taking photos of hay bales.

There are a lot of these roads around waiting to be ridden.

Once again I looked for a backroad. I started on Hwy 65 which isn't small and took me into Arkansas, found 412 which was another great motorcycle road, and then 23, yet another superb road. I also found something called Pigtail Trail Scenic Byway near the Ozark National Forest , which as you can guess, was a ton of twisties, some 10, 20, 30 mph, threading through tunnels made of foliage and trees. These are mostly back roads with little traffic, and I couldn't believe there just wasn't much but me out there. Spooky, too, because if I'd missed a turn somewhere, running a little too hot, or just taking my eye off the road for a second to enjoy the view, I could end up in the weeds somewhere with no one seeing me, or knowing where I was. Oh, but it was so worth it … every second. And I did pay attention because I knew … nope. No close calls on this one.



These roads were awesome.

 As quickly as I'd found them, I was finished and on I-40, heading into Oklahoma. Oh, the agony of the Interstate, running highway speed or better, making that push into Texas. But Highway 69 made some of that interstate worth it.

Jgayle was tracking me on Spot and I called her to let her know where I was, about 200 miles away at that point, and we set up a time for me to call again. Of course, I didn't call her … I was riding, getting as many miles as I could, getting closer. When I called again I was about 40 miles from where we decided to meet, Greenville. The meet would be in a parking lot at WalMart. Sounds shady, doesn't it?

When I arrived Greenville, I took a wrong road, then ended up in the wrong lane. I asked the lady in the car next to me how to get to WalMart. She said I'm going there, follow me. And there I was, in the WalMart parking lot.

Surprisingly, I got there first. I couldn't believe it, and texted. No response. Well, guess she's riding. A short while later, here comes that shiny red Switchback and my wonderful Texas friend, all decked out and looking like a million dollars like she always does. Hugs, hugs.

Then dinner and a ride home on a back road in the dark. Of course, there is construction and road closures, so we missed the detour sign and ended up turning around on the big highway and riding the wrong way back to where the detour started … in dark, dark, dark. It gets really dark here.

One more wrong turn left us on a frontage road that was also closed. Things look so much different in the dark, but we were together so I knew we were fine. It was actually pretty funny. Two old ladies on motorcycles wandering around like lost souls in the dark.

But all roads lead to Braum's ... or they can.

Suddenly we were home to her house, and in for the night. As much as we like to talk, we didn't last long and we tottered off to bed.

Steel toe tour ... Kansas City

On Tuesday (September 3) Birdie had an appointment for a tire and I wanted to see if I could get in for a 25K. We got to the shop just as it opened, and oh yeah, they could take my bike in, too. Yes. A bike wash. What we pay to get a bike wash.


Birdie in front of the Kansas City Plant.

Jim and Robin joined us at the shop and off we went to tour the Kansas City Harley Vehicle & Powertrain Operations Plant where they assemble the Dynas, Sportsters and V-rods. When we got there (I might add it was only a couple of miles from the shop and where we staying … CONVENIENT!!), we were asked if we were there for the Steel Toe Tour. I piped up immediately, yes. How many? Four. And another couple from Arizona said they wanted to go, too. So I said, and those folks, too. Six of us. I was told that maybe we could get four slots, but certainly not six. I said I'd probably just puddle up on the floor and cry a river of tears because we'd come all the way from Alaska to do a steel toe tour. They found four slots for us, and two for the Arizonans, too. Robin said once I got in the zone she hoped none of them said a word, just let me work my charm and magic and make it happen. Oh yeah!!! We were in, paid our $35 per person and were readied to go on tour.

The steel toe tour got steel toe boot slip ons (I had to say I had steel toes since my boots wouldn't fit in the little rubber steel-toed slip ons they had), visibility vests that say steel toe tour on them, and a special pin, and a photo of our group. That was in addition to the actual tour which was fascinating. We weren't allowed to take photos and you know how my memory is these days.

I do know that this plant doesn't have as many women working in it as the other one did, but that overall there are about 35 percent women working in the plants. There are about 900 folks in this plant (about 1,000 in the Milwaukee Pilgrim plant), and that they can wear whatever clothes they like, mostly Harley garb it seems. However, there is one guy who works the line that rides a Suzuki (who has to park in the far lot while Harley riders park their bikes up near the front of the building), and he wears a Suzuki shirt every day just to get under the skin of the Harley folks. Ha ha! They don't care what they wear as long as they do a good job, and they do.

The whole assembly line was worth watching, and I could have done it for quite some time. There are folks who work certain points in teams of 10, either adding a part, or tightening something. Every two hours they rotate jobs, to avoid repetitive motion injuries and to cross-train on the various jobs. From start to finish I believe it was 55 minutes for some bikes, and there you have it … a completed motorcycle.

While photos weren't allowed, this was on the brochure they gave us.

There are robots that also do welding and one that I watched for a while that kept adding parts, stopping, turning, adding another part. The piece just kept growing and I would have liked to watch it from the beginning to the end, but we didn't quite have time for that.

Our guide took a photo of the group on tour.

We saw the various points they check for quality, what they do with bikes that don't make the grade and are taken to be used as a learning tool to find out what went wrong and how to fix it and the “treadmill” where they hook them up to gas and test run bikes.

I asked how many bikes a week or month are produced. That wasn't an answerable question; however, in 2012 the motor company produced 247,000 bikes between the Kansas City and York plants, and the year before 233,000. It sure doesn't seem like many. But I liked what they do for quality control and the pride the workers appear to take in their jobs and the end result, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

A great tour if you ever have the chance to do one.

 

Then we were done and starving so off to lunch at Cracker Barrel. I just can't get enough of that place although I passed on the grilled catfish again. Birdie's friend, Ann, joined us for lunch so we got to meet her. What a kick. She invited us to the HOG meeting they were having that evening. Jim and Robin had to get back to Leavenworth to have dinner with their friend, but Birdie and I would go to the meeting. Ann asked if we'd do a question and answer session with her group. Of course, we love to share.

A welcome cake is always appreciated.

We had a great evening with the local HOG chapter, visiting, answering questions. They were one of the nicest groups of folks, nearly as nice as ours!!! LOL. We enjoyed meeting them, and they were so hospitable … down to having a cake welcoming us. Yep. HOGs love their food. After their meeting we went on an ice cream run, back roads, in the dark, twisties. What an adventure. One of their members guided us back to the hotel, and then it was in for the night. Wow, what a day … yet another fun-filled, exciting one. Vacations rock!!!

We're outta here

Sunday, September 1, our day of departure from the celebration, brought clouds. I was hoping we'd not ride into rain as I wasn't dressed for it. It was cool so I had on a hoodie, and then added gloves. I did not want to have to put on chaps and a jacket.

As we left Milwaukee, bikes were everywhere, coming into town, leaving town. The celebration was pretty much over although there were still a few things going on and the hangers on were wanting to keep it going. But we were outta there.

We rode a bit of back roads, but mostly the big ones. We didn't need to be to Kansas City until Monday, so we could take a little extra time getting there. Birdie has a friend she met at Harley training so we were going to see her.

A couple of things I saw were two wagon wheels on the side of a barn entwined within a heart, and along the street, two toy Harleys next to a sign that said, “live to ride.” It's fun to look around and notice things, even small ones like this.

In Rock Falls, Illinois, a little bike repair was necessary. Robin had been saying when she did sharp corners in parking lots, her bike clutch would disengage and kick the engine out of gear. It might have been the clutch cable was too short, or? Our Resident Engineer, Jim, talked to the mechanics and they determined the routing might need to be changed. Jim took the fairing off and rerouted the cable, and voila!!! All is now good. When he test rode the bike you could tell it was just the way it should be.

The engineer at work.

We were running I-80. A FedEx driver nearly got himself killed right before our very eyes. He was in one of their vans, and pulled out to pass an 18-wheeler. Then it was as though the vehicle stalled at one speed because he couldn't get around and traffic was backing up behind him. Inch-by-agonizingly-slow-inch he finally, finally, finally got up near the front of the truck. He put his blinker on when he was not quite up to the front of the truck, and as soon as he got by he pulled in front of the truck. You could hear the truck driver honking and doing what he could to avoid this guy because there couldn't have been a foot of clearance between their bumpers. OMG!!! It was a 10-car pileup waiting to happen. What an idiot. Once again we all cheated death and arrived at our destination for the evening. It sure makes you wonder where these folks get their driver's licenses from because this guy should not be driving himself much less a commercial vehicle.

We settled in for the night in Illinois, I think … all I know is it smells good.

Metal sculptures were out in the middle of a field at a rest stop.  We had to take photos.

Don't pull the tail of a buffalo.

Your friend could get chased.  Even metal sculpture buffalo run quickly.  HAHA!!

On Monday (September 2) we continued into Kansas City. On our way we had to stop for a bite to eat. The hotel breakfasts don't always last all day, and this one certainly didn't. I'm hungry. Fast food near Davenport, Iowa, since Birdie wanted to get to Kansas City.

As we were eating I was looking out the window and there were all these tractors going back and forth, back and forth, in this vacant area across the parking lot. Jim looked and said it was a tractor pull. Cooooool. I wanted to see, so he and I walked on over. I've never seen one and this one was special, the Eastern Iowa Antique Pullers World Series Pull.

Some of the tractor line up.

There's lots of action, and dust, at a tractor pull.

Smoothing out the track for the next pull.

Sometimes the front wheels would raise up with the pull of the weight from behind.



This event was just fun to watch.

 Jim explained to me how the pulls worked, and I thought it was a lot of fun to watch, and clap and root for some of them. All too soon the class was finished and it was time for us to go.

Robin and Jim were staying with friends in Leavenworth, Kansas, and separated from us about 50 miles out. Birdie and I kept going and found a hotel near Worth Harley, which just so happens to be close to a Cracker Barrel. Uh huh. It's all working out. She had a service scheduled for the next day.

As we had some time available we went downtown Kansas City to the SeaLife Aquarium. There was no traffic downtown, like the end of the world. We had all the roads to ourselves and passed the beautiful buildings, including Western Union and the Kansas City Star newspaper, a long-time newspaper that I've always heard about.

I enjoyed watching all the fish in some of the larger aquariums.

This little turtle showed me his profile.

Lots of little skates were in this one pond.  They were pretty cute.



This little skate had a personality.  It's hard to tell, but when Birdie and I were standing on the observation deck, he was doing back flips, sticking his little head out of the water and just being playful.  It was so fun to watch.  He only did it once and he was the only one that did it.  In this photo he's upside down, and it's a little hard to figure out. 

The aquarium was fun, although not quite what I was expecting. However, we saw a guitarfish, one of I think they said four in aquariums throughout the world that have one. I know Hobbs and I saw one (bones and all) in the Dinosaur Museum in Thermopolis, Wyoming. Very neat to see one alive.

The guitarfish does look like some prehistoric fish, maybe from Jurassic Park?

There were two eels, woo hoo. I sure wouldn't want to get in the pool with them. There were lots of skates, rays, and some sharks. It was fun and a great way to spend a little time.

Parade day ... exciting, thrilling ... thank you, Milwaukee



Miller Park (home of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball tean), and the parade gathering point.

On Saturday (August 31) we had some cloud cover which would be great for the parade. I was packing with Birdie so I could hold the flags. We got there pretty early, about 8:30, but there were loads of bikes there already. And then the stream started, and it became a river of bikes flowing in, pipes a-roaring. There's nothing like the sound of Harleys in the air, our music. And what a wonderful sound it was. There is nothing like it; nobody can duplicate it; they can only imitate it.

The roar of the engines became deafening, as more and more arrived.



The Gold Helmet Police Drill Team rode by, but I only got a photo of a few of them.



Another group of police bikes.  Yahoo. 



Some of the vintage bikes arrived.



I was told there were 7,000 bikes in the parade. Cops from various areas came in as large groups with their lights a-spinning. There were two Old Glory bikes flying dozens of flags each. Vintage bikes came in in groups; trike groups showed up. There was everything you could possibly imagine in every color known to man or woman coming to participate in the parade. And hundreds of flags, starting with the best one … the U.S. of A.

I loved seeing the flags and patches from the different countries.

There were bikes flying HOG flags, and country flags from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Holland, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, and those are only some of what I saw. I don't know how many countries were represented, but know they were numerous. What a sight, and how thrilling to be a part of it … again. I'd forgotten how exciting a humongous parade can be.

The bikes just kept coming and coming and coming. 

I love my flag and the USA, so had to have my photo with one of the Old Glory bikes.  Love it or leave.  I'm sure you'd be treated better in some other country.  HAHAHAHAHA!!!  Not!!!!!

A cheesehead bike.  Pretty cool paint.



This one's for Jim Franklin and Picard.



The Shriners were also there en masse.





Another cop shot.  They all ride so well together.

Even the weather cooperated with some cloud cover so we didn't fry in the heat waiting. The atmosphere was high, with the sights, the sounds, everything adding to the fun and anticipation of the parade. The Brazilians had a party going on. They were dressed in different groups of colors, red, green, yellow, orange and blue; they had music and they made a human arch with their hands and folks would come through video taping as they came. It was a blast, and people were laughing and giggling, acting like little kids. Yep, sure doesn't take much to amuse Harley riders. And lucky us. We were parked next to the guy with the cigar.

The arch was a huge hit.

Face painting rocks.

The parking lot overflowed with bikes, all kinds ... old, new, decked out, ratted out.

Looking behind us, the bikes were coming.



Looking ahead, the bikes were going, lined up pretty well.

Then it was time; mount up; start your engines. We were ready, and off we went. The parade was one of the best times. There must have been thousands of people lined up along the streets, waving, holding up signs welcoming us home, loving us, trying to slap hands, and even one who handed us a bottle of water. It was awe-inspiring to participate. I waved so much my hand and arm hurt, and my smile was wearing thin. But I put on my big girl panties, sucked it up, licked my lips and kept on smiling and waving, too. These people were there to see us and deserved to be recognized for being there and thanked.

There was even a flag flying of Harley and the Davidsons.

A wonderful parade, lots of bikes, lots of spectators.

Bikes were all over, in every parking lot, street corner.  The parking lot staff did an excellent job of getting the parade participants parked in an easy and timely manner.

Just another country participant.  So many.  And so great to see them all.

The parade ended at the Summerfest grounds. We parked and wandered in to check out what might be happening. It would be an early day for us since Bob and Judy were coming by to pick up things folks wanted taken back to Anchorage. Thank you, Bob and Judy. We love you.

The Summerfest grounds have a beautiful setting.

We went to the Women's Experience and I found the people who were teaching folks to pick up dropped bikes. The instructor told me how and then I did it. Maybe it was a Sportster, but it actually was quite easy. Interestingly, there was no one around while I was chatting with her, but the second I was down trying to pick up the bike, there was a crowd gathered. Sure seemed like there were a lot of men there.

I need a lot more practice before I would try this on my own, though.  And not on my Ultra.

From there we rode the sky tram to the other end because it saved us quite a long walk. Plus it's cool because you can see the entire grounds and where everything is. Although it was our last time there, so did it really matter? No. But it was still fun.

Fun to ride, gets you out of the heat for a while and you don't have to walk from one end to the other.

 

We ran into Will and Vickie from San Diego and watched part of the police motorcycle riding competition. Wow!!! They're awesome. There were three women participants, and just watching these guys is thrilling. One guy dropped his bike and had it picked up the same way I'd done it, but way quicker, in maybe three seconds, I kid you not. I could have watched lots longer, but we had things to do and places to be.

And just when you think you're too overheated and about to drop, there's always the water you can step into.  These are pretty neat and you can get cooled off in no time.  I saw my first one several years ago on a trip with Hobbs to Dollywood.

This guy made this, a beer dispenser.  He was on the news one night showing how it worked.

A couple of random snippets heard as we were leaving: “They stole five bikes from the parking lot; I need to get a revolver; and Well, we tried.” I should have been listening more.

I've been to the 90^th, the 100^th, the 105^th and now the 110^th. I believe there were more bikes than ever before. That means the celebrations just keep getting better. I sure do think so. The folks put on an excellent party, but it's time to move on.

We raced back to the hotel and Bob and Judy showed up just after we did. We got everything to them (five of us sending things back with them in their truck and trailer … thank you, again) and then we had a great, although short, visit. We'll see them again soon.

Captain Cupcake and Sprinkles to the rescue with their truck and trailer.

Just in case, Robin gave Cupcake a package of cupcakes to get him back to his brother's house.  We didn't want him running short.

Packaging for the trailer.

Then we had time for laundry, dinner and a bit of packing before catching some shut eye.

Tomorrow we'll be back on the bikes. All I can say is that if the motorcycle therapy isn't working 100 percent, there's always the Harley shopping therapy. We've done it. Between them it can fix all that is wrong.