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I woke up this Sunday morning, still shaking the demons of my divorce process out of my head. It has been a long and arduous year since the filing, and we are still not done yet. On top of that, my dad’s fight with his lung disease has further brought me more weight on my shoulders. He has “farmer’s lung”, not much different than any other occupational disease where dust is inhaled and causes scarring of the lung tissues. The technical term for this is “Pulmonary Fibrosis.” The only bright spot of this past week was my son’s acceptance into the university that he was hoping for.
Still, I needed to get out of this apartment so I could clear my head. But what to do? I had been working on my GS650GL for the past two weekends. One weekend to tear it apart, and the next to put it back together. I'd rode it yesterday for about an hour, making sure it was not leaking anywhere that I may have missed. I checked it out this morning, and all was well. I checked the weather, and it was to be sunny. What a welcome change to the past couple of weekends in Kansas City, where it has been rainy and snowing, making for some ugly weekends, if I must say so.
I put on my leathers, and wore an extra sweat shirt just in case. I went and fired up the 650, and she started without even hesitating. The skills of my previous life as a mechanic were still pretty sharp I guess. I started down the road, still trying to decide where I was going to head. I turned to the north on I35, just letting it lead me to the next destination.
As I approached the Hiway 69 approach, for some reason, I turned off to go to Excelsior Springs. Those of you that know the Kansas City area know of this town. This town has the famous Elms Hotel. Famous for being the place where Harry Truman spent his election night of 1948. Well, it is famous for more reasons than that, but that is a whole story of its own. There is a great BBQ joint there as well. But it is much too early in the morning for that. Though maybe later, you never know. So I buzzed right on through that town and kept heading north on 69. Stopped to fill up for gas in the next town, still debating in my head where I was going to go today. It is tough when your head cannot make up its own mind.
So, I continued going north, but as I got further on my way, the road became very rough. You see, when they put in I35 a few miles off of this road, this road became forgotten. Oh, it is still a hiway you can find on the map, put the shoulders are not there, and the potholes can swallow up this bike very easily. One way to take your mind off of things since I had to concentrate on missing the big ones.
But the trip was spiritual, if I may say. Riding through the country, I am seeing the farmers doing their chores, feeding their livestock. It some cases, I had to negotiate my way through the mud trails left behind their pickup trucks as they entered the hiway from their pastures. Like I said earlier, it has been wet these past few weeks. And the livestock are in pastures that do not necessarily look green at the moment.
As I continued my journey north on 69, the sunshine that I was riding in turned cloudy. The temperature must have dropped 10 degrees, making me very glad I put on that extra sweater. Now if I would have only been smart enough to put on my long underwear. Even with the jeans and the leather chaps, my legs were getting a little cold. But not enough to make me turn around, well not yet.
As I made it past Cameron, the road did get better, but not by much. This has to be known as the “Forgotten Road.” Still winding through the farm lands, and the small towns on this road, you get to appreciate what is outside your comfort zones. I saw many antique shops, where one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. I can say, a lot of these shops have a lot of treasure on hand.
I made it to Bethany, another fine town that has on the weekends, and all you can eat seafood (catfish and shrimp) buffet. Yet, it still Sunday morning, so too early to think about that. Besides, I was thinking about turning this bike around because my legs were getting a little numb. But I kept forging north on this forgotten road. And I am glad I did, because north of Bethany, the road became a little winding. In one area, in addition to avoiding the chuckholes, there was water streaming over the road. And in the curve no less. It was a good thing I wasn’t in a real hurry, because going through that water in a curve at a fast speed would have been interesting to say the least.
I made it to Eagleton, and need more gas. And thinking that I am near the Iowa border, and getting colder, it was time to turn this thing around. I took a small break,to get some gas and to down some coffee, and took I35 back home. About halfway home, the bike acted like it ran out gas. Just stopped. I am thinking to myself, “What’s this?” Got off the bike to think about this situation, having just put gas in the bike, what could this be? After scratching my helmet, I would have scratched my head, but the helmet got in the way, I tried to start the bike. It started right up. What the hell? But the bike is running, so I continued my way back to KC. I did not have any problems the rest of the way. Go figure!
Well, anyway this trip, with its interesting backdrops, did clear my head. A spiritual thing, I guess. That is the beauty of riding a bike. The 650 got out on the road for the first time this spring, and like a Golden Retriever let out its cage, running with its ears pinned back and its tail flowing behind, the bike was happy to get turned loose. I, myself, was glad to just to be by myself, not tied to anything or anyone for a short time. And when I got back to KC, the sun was shining again. For a short while, I was not burden by the thoughts of my personal challenges, but just out having a good ride. God is shining down on us in more ways than one.
God Bless Us All!
Still, I needed to get out of this apartment so I could clear my head. But what to do? I had been working on my GS650GL for the past two weekends. One weekend to tear it apart, and the next to put it back together. I'd rode it yesterday for about an hour, making sure it was not leaking anywhere that I may have missed. I checked it out this morning, and all was well. I checked the weather, and it was to be sunny. What a welcome change to the past couple of weekends in Kansas City, where it has been rainy and snowing, making for some ugly weekends, if I must say so.
I put on my leathers, and wore an extra sweat shirt just in case. I went and fired up the 650, and she started without even hesitating. The skills of my previous life as a mechanic were still pretty sharp I guess. I started down the road, still trying to decide where I was going to head. I turned to the north on I35, just letting it lead me to the next destination.
As I approached the Hiway 69 approach, for some reason, I turned off to go to Excelsior Springs. Those of you that know the Kansas City area know of this town. This town has the famous Elms Hotel. Famous for being the place where Harry Truman spent his election night of 1948. Well, it is famous for more reasons than that, but that is a whole story of its own. There is a great BBQ joint there as well. But it is much too early in the morning for that. Though maybe later, you never know. So I buzzed right on through that town and kept heading north on 69. Stopped to fill up for gas in the next town, still debating in my head where I was going to go today. It is tough when your head cannot make up its own mind.
So, I continued going north, but as I got further on my way, the road became very rough. You see, when they put in I35 a few miles off of this road, this road became forgotten. Oh, it is still a hiway you can find on the map, put the shoulders are not there, and the potholes can swallow up this bike very easily. One way to take your mind off of things since I had to concentrate on missing the big ones.
But the trip was spiritual, if I may say. Riding through the country, I am seeing the farmers doing their chores, feeding their livestock. It some cases, I had to negotiate my way through the mud trails left behind their pickup trucks as they entered the hiway from their pastures. Like I said earlier, it has been wet these past few weeks. And the livestock are in pastures that do not necessarily look green at the moment.
As I continued my journey north on 69, the sunshine that I was riding in turned cloudy. The temperature must have dropped 10 degrees, making me very glad I put on that extra sweater. Now if I would have only been smart enough to put on my long underwear. Even with the jeans and the leather chaps, my legs were getting a little cold. But not enough to make me turn around, well not yet.
As I made it past Cameron, the road did get better, but not by much. This has to be known as the “Forgotten Road.” Still winding through the farm lands, and the small towns on this road, you get to appreciate what is outside your comfort zones. I saw many antique shops, where one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. I can say, a lot of these shops have a lot of treasure on hand.
I made it to Bethany, another fine town that has on the weekends, and all you can eat seafood (catfish and shrimp) buffet. Yet, it still Sunday morning, so too early to think about that. Besides, I was thinking about turning this bike around because my legs were getting a little numb. But I kept forging north on this forgotten road. And I am glad I did, because north of Bethany, the road became a little winding. In one area, in addition to avoiding the chuckholes, there was water streaming over the road. And in the curve no less. It was a good thing I wasn’t in a real hurry, because going through that water in a curve at a fast speed would have been interesting to say the least.
I made it to Eagleton, and need more gas. And thinking that I am near the Iowa border, and getting colder, it was time to turn this thing around. I took a small break,to get some gas and to down some coffee, and took I35 back home. About halfway home, the bike acted like it ran out gas. Just stopped. I am thinking to myself, “What’s this?” Got off the bike to think about this situation, having just put gas in the bike, what could this be? After scratching my helmet, I would have scratched my head, but the helmet got in the way, I tried to start the bike. It started right up. What the hell? But the bike is running, so I continued my way back to KC. I did not have any problems the rest of the way. Go figure!
Well, anyway this trip, with its interesting backdrops, did clear my head. A spiritual thing, I guess. That is the beauty of riding a bike. The 650 got out on the road for the first time this spring, and like a Golden Retriever let out its cage, running with its ears pinned back and its tail flowing behind, the bike was happy to get turned loose. I, myself, was glad to just to be by myself, not tied to anything or anyone for a short time. And when I got back to KC, the sun was shining again. For a short while, I was not burden by the thoughts of my personal challenges, but just out having a good ride. God is shining down on us in more ways than one.
God Bless Us All!
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