From MN to CA and return, started on 8/30/10

[DanTheMan]

Well, yesterday was the day to leave, after camping out and teaching an MSF BRC in Duluth over the weekend....
I was tired, having gone to bed late and got up early three days in a row. The teaching weekend in Duluth was a dry run for the CA trip, I haven't slept on the ground in a tent in years. Here's my campsite in Duluth:

This is Knife Island campground, a historical old slate mining townsite.

Here's a picture of my bike in front of the Voyageur's statue in Cloquet, MN.

Monday morning dawned hot and sunny, with promises of nasty weather all the way to Yellowstone National Park. In making preps to leave home, I had to make sure the lawn tractor was operational for my wife to mow the lawn when she gets back home from week in Utah spoiling the grandkids, so the two main jobs before departure was to try and get the front brakes on the bike to bleed properly (failed there, the right caliper won't clear up, still have air bubbles), and test run the lawn tractor. I mowed about a 1/3 of the lawn to test it, works fine now.
All packed up and in the driveway, ready to leave on the journey. Westward Ho!!!!

The weather forecast sucked. I left late, near noon, thunderstorms with high winds, damaging hail, possible tornadoes from the MN border to Billings was in the forecast. snow showers in Yellowstone Nat Park. Oh well, off we go!.
It was hot and sticky, so I wore all my summer ventilated gear, a rather ho-hum ride through all the back roads and around lakes as I left going westward towards Fargo, ND. The ominous looking thunderheads grouped up, and lightning streaks could be seen in the distance as I neared Fargo/Moorhead. I hadn't eaten all day, except a quarter of a watermelon and a pot of coffee for breakfast, so i stopped at a Subway restaurant and ate a foot long sub.
About 15 miles west of Fargo, I rode for cover into a gas station just before the sky broke loose with torrential rain, lots of thunder and lightning to go with it. Tornado warnings had been in effect for the area since Fargo, I had been blown across the traffic lane on the freeway once already, from riding next to the white lane striping to the fog line. Boy, was that fun! I donned my rain gear before leaving, headed out into the mess as the rain let up some. After about 40 miles, I was able to pull off again and stow it all away, did leave the rain pants on though.......

To be continued.....

 

[DanTheMan]

As promised....

As promised....

North Dakota isn't one of the most exciting states to ride in, it's got long boring stretches with only the high winds and torrential thundertorms to break up the monotony of the super slab.
I stopped in Jamestown to wake up and take a picture of me and the bike near the landmark giant buffalo.

My mini tripod works, but the gusting winds tried to destroy it and the camera. Here's another shot of the bike and the buffalo.

I was tired, it was dark, and I wussed out on camping the first night out, so when I got to Bismarck, I overpayed for a room in the Select Inn (even with my military discount), and here I sit, writing this story. It's already 8:25, I've still got to pack up, eat breakfast and go. Yellowstone Park tonight, chance of thunderstorms as I go through Billings is 30%, pretty much the same all along the route there. I'll post map picts sometime as I continue the saga.

More installments to come.....

 

[Rover]

Thanks for sharing,keep it coming and ride safe.

 

[bonanzadave]

Good luck Dan. Keep an eye out for them bears .

 

[Guest]

Ride safe, I'll be watching this thread.

mike

 

[Macguyver]

Thanks for sharing the ride story Dan!
Keep an eye out for those crazy cagers, and that is a giant buffalo!

May the many miles bring you smiles.

 

[Hornswaggle]

Have a fun and safe ride!

 

[Planecrazy]

Stay safe and have a great trip, Dan! Watch out for those sweeping lefthand interstate exits (wink, wink)

BTW, since you're riding in a lot of windy conditions let me give you a piece of advice regarding the turn signal lenses on the Windjammer. I lost two of them in the last few years because the original adhesive has exceeded its useful life and has begun to fail on a massive scale for anyone who has one. I fixed one side by using RTV clear silicone under the lens in place of the original adhesive, but in order to temporarily protect the "unbroken" side from "going away" I applied a thin bead of the same silicone around the perimeter of the lens, to make sure I wouldn't lose it before getting home to "properly" fix it before it blows away (and each time it happened I never saw either lens go, btw).

I would strongly suggest you do the same, if your lenses haven't already been removed and reattached with new adhesive. There is nothing more frustrating than having to take pictures of your "baby" on a momentus trip like this and having one (or both) of the lenses missing ... so save yours while you can!

I'll be looking forward to your updates, Pal!

Regards,

 

[Charlie G]

Dan,

Thanks for the travel log. It didn't sound like you were coming through my part of Ca, but if you do, I'm always looking for someone to wash dishes. Good Luck!

Charlie G

 

[850 Combat]

For what its worth, my brothers and I travelled a good portion of that when we crossed the country June of '09. We enjoyed US14 a lot more than we would have I 90, particularly Shell Canyon in the Big Horns, etc. If you're not in a rush, ...

Where are you going in CA?

Its always a difficult decision to keep riding or set up camp. I don't particularly enjoy setting up a tent in the dark, so have to stop early if tenting. We can do more miles using plastic than we can using nylon, but there are times when its really better to camp.

 

[Maddog209]

What part of Ca.? If you find yourself riding down the Central Valley, let me know. I would enjoy meeting a fellow GS'r from so far away. Castle Air Museum in Atwater, Ca. is having "open cockpit" Sunday Sept. 5th. Not sure what your time frame for Ca. is but Atwater is about 2hrs from Yosemite National Parkand about 2hrs from the SF Bay.

 

[DanTheMan]

Stay safe and have a great trip, Dan! Watch out for those sweeping lefthand interstate exits (wink, wink)

There is nothing more frustrating than having to take pictures of your "baby" on a momentus trip like this and having one (or both) of the lenses missing ... so save yours while you can!

I'll be looking forward to your updates, Pal!

Regards,

Steve, as far as I know, I won't have any of those sweepers, but I also know my bike is dangerously light on the front end with the way it's packed. I did check and glue both lenses when I rebuilt my bike and installed that fairing last year.

Dan,

Thanks for the travel log. It didn't sound like you were coming through my part of Ca, but if you do, I'm always looking for someone to wash dishes. Good Luck!

Charlie G

Sorry to say, Charlie, but the furthest north in CA that I'll be will be in the desert east of Bakersfield, might even go to Bakersfield to see chef.

Where are you going in CA?

Its always a difficult decision to keep riding or set up camp. I don't particularly enjoy setting up a tent in the dark, so have to stop early if tenting. We can do more miles using plastic than we can using nylon, but there are times when its really better to camp.

I probably will only set up camp in the national parks, which will be Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Zion and Rocky Mtn. In CA, it'll be Yucca Valley, Redondo Beach, and possibly Bakersfield.

What part of Ca.?

See above.

Now, on with the show.
Yesterday when I left Bismarck, I was distracted by a cow, and I had to go see it. It wasn't just any cow, it stood on top of a hill overlooking I-94 (saw her many times in passing, never visited). She belongs to the town of New Salem, ND. I'll let the pictures tell most of the story....

The venerable old lady watching the traffic below.

The picture of my bike at the switchback in the dirt path up shows the difficulty of ascent somewhat. The scenery picture above is of the town of New salem to the east and south of Sue. This was my first deviation of the day from my planned route.....

 

[DanTheMan]

more.........

more.........

After I said goodbye to Salem Sue, I descended the from the hill. It was a sphincter clenching downward journey. The soil was loose and wet. Luckily for me, there were no patches of gumbo mud on the way down (more about that later........)

I got back on the freeway, (winds were pretty steady at 25mph in my face, gusting to 35), next revelation: mileage stinks, it really stinks in those conditions. Bill set my carbs too rich also, (ON EDIT, he didn't set them too rich, it turns out the float setting is too high, the same thing happened when I rebuilt the other set, and I had to drop the floats to stop the flooding and running rich problem, Sorry Bill!) and I haven't had time to change the needle valve settings either. I ran out of gas as I was coasting in to a gas staion from the freeway, with only 75 miles on my tank. I erroneously thought my new tank held 4.5 gals, it would only take 3.89 gals when it ran out, so it's apparently a 4 gal or 4.2 gal tank. There is a small amount of gas in that tank that can never be used. Lesson learned here: Even though the bike can and will keep up with the big boys fully loaded, don't go 75-80 mph if you don't want to fill up constantly and only get 20 mpg.

Anyway, some time down the road, at exit 72, I spotted another roadside distraction that I hadn't been able to explore, due to my wife telling me "we really don't have the time, we've got to get home, or to our daughter's house in Utah", so , naturally, not having the voice of reason to keep me in line, I exited stage right...(sorry Snagglepuss..those of you that are old enough will remember that line).
This attraction/distraction is called THE ENCHANTED HIGHWAY. Here are some of the picts:

The first two photos are of the first two metal sculptures. the next three show what happened (sort of) when you try to turn around in gumbo mud. The bike slipped out from under me while I was executing an otherwise perfect slow u-turn. I didn't take a picture of her on her side in the mud puddle, she would've died of shame. She was none the worse for wear, lost some precious fuel though. Got her packed back up and headed down the road to see the rest of the enchant ment.
Here are the rest of the pictures:

The remainder is in the next post below.

 

[DanTheMan]

I'm trying to finish this post to get on the road......

I'm trying to finish this post to get on the road......

Computer jamming and crashing, Toshiba strikes again....
Anyway, here are more pictures of the "Enchantment"....

The photos above are all in order, the farm family below was just before getting to the town of Regent in the pictures, Photobucket got them out of order and I didn't notice until I started the post. The metal sculptures are this town's claim to fame, they have a gift shop and the town seems to survive through the summer months on the tourist traffic. Now that many schools are in session, the town is shuttered up with the exception of the grocery store and the Cenex gas station/convenience store.

One more installment and it's road time.....

 

[Larry D]

One of these days I'm going to make a trip like yours....I'm kinda jealous....looks like a great adventure.

And here's Snagglepuss.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snagglepuss

 

[DanTheMan]

Last post today.....

Last post today.....

I left Regent, and headed west on a small two lane ND state highway. I connected with Hwy 21 west which brought me to US hwy 85 where I rode through the town??? of Amidon, the claim to fame here is you can see the highest point in ND, White Butte, at 3506 ft above sea level (sorry, no picts, I couldn't pick it out of the protuberences of rock sticking out of the ground, badlands area). From there, it was down to Bowman, and old old National Hwy route 12.
Leaving Bowman was a highway construction sign that I should've taken a picture of. It said, "Caution, muddy road ahead, advise take alternate route", or something to that effect. I said to self "I've done GUMBO mud already today, I've braved a slippery slope, I can handle this....". Westward Ho!!!!! On the road, I passed the nearly ghost town of Rhame, on the way to the first 3 miles of no pavement. While waiting for the pilot car to come and guide the three of us through, I talked to the flag girl, she said one bike turned around to take the alternate route (they were on a trike, of all things, I saw them headed east). The alternate route was back the way I came from, back to I-94. I said, "no thanks, I can do this".

Off we went, the gravel was pretty much hard packed with only a few soft spots, no problem. I saw roadside signs advertising an RV camping area, a rowdy bar with live bands and so on. This was all in preparation for the next town called Marmarth through the middle of which the hwy reconstruction was going. I wish I would've been able to stop and take pictures of this. The town was a ghost town and had been for some time. On the right hand side (north) of the road along the the long unused railroad tracks and crossing the Little Missouri river was the downtown (uptown?) business and financial district. On the left hand side (south) were the houses (some people still live there) and other closed up business establishments. The town was about 6 blocks long. There were marvelous brick edifices testifying to one time greatness of the town along this once famous national route. The bank building was 4 stories high and had been built in 1918. All the other brick structures that I could see were of the same era. The rowdy bar was on the east entrance to town in the old train depot to the right, a stick and siding structure long boarded up, the RV park was on the exit from town to the west on the left, there was an old truck camper sitting on a gooseneck trailer there that had been there for a long time from the looks of it.

The intent of the visual description here is to show you our tax dollars at work, the road reconstruction includes new city sidewalks, they were putting in nice, new handicapped friendly sidewalks to serve all the thriving businesses located there (only a little sarcasm intended).

Well, after I left the thriving metropolis of Marmarth, I got to ride with no pilot car for about 10 miles, and as I ascended up out of the river valley toward Baker, MT, the stopping point appeared where we waited on the next pilot car. Now, at this point we had quite a line up of vehicles, I think there were at least ten, a regular traffic jam .

Off we went, this time the road was a bit more treacherous, but I deftly negotiated it showing off my stellar riding skills to the semi driver behind me who wisely hung back a good distance just in case the foolish biker fell down in front of him.

I made it through just fine, only a few softer spots than the last one. I pulled into the town of Baker, a real busy trucking town, apparently with a meth problem judging froma ll the signs warning people away from the stuff and it even had inner city gang markings on buildings and a youth center for kids with nothing to do. I looked at my gas tank, it was still full, I'd only put 42 slow speed miles on the tank, so i didn't fill up (dummy). There was another town up the road called Plevna, surely there'd be a gas station there. No such luck, now I either had to turn around and go back to Baker, or forge on and make it to Miles City. You guessed it, I forged on, and didn't make it to Miles City, I had 126 miles on my tank when after using all my skills at conservation of my dwindling gas supply, not riding above 50, no WOT, shifting gears judiciously, I ran out again, at a wide spot in the road across from a ranch driveway. Luckily it wasn't too long of one. I walked in, they'd watched me nursing down the hill to coast to a stop at their driveway, and knew what I needed. They asked me if I was riding a Hardley, as it seems they're always out of gas at their driveway. Boy, was I embarassed to tell them it was a 'Zuke. anyway, they were kind enough to tap off their tank and give me 3 gallons, and ride out to the bike, as they were on their way to town anyway.

I rode out to Miles City, filled it all the way up, stopped in the rest area between Miles City and Forsyth to check out the bike, then continued on. I decided to spend the night in Forsyth at a $30/night fleabag motel,

it worked for me, even has wi-fi, so I could sit here this morning and continue the recount of my saga for you. Check out Hotel Howdy across the tracks.

Today, I'll be in Yellowstone, and hopefully camp the night in Grand Teton. Pictures of Bear Tooth Pass, Yellowstone and Grand Teton to follow in later installments.

 

[Detroit Diesel Man]

Wow..quite the ride!!..I was in Pine River last weekend...stopped at the river where they launch the boats for a quick smoke/break.


DDM

 

[Guest]

You da man, Dan!! Rock on!!!

 

[DanTheMan]

A quick note, I'll do a real update on the story later, probably Friday night at my daughter's house. I had to not do Beartooth Pass, got there and it was closed, so, I had to ride down through Cody, WY (120 more miles) and go in the E gate. Woke up to 27 deg f this morning and a sleet/ice covered bike. I'm sitting in McDonald's in Jackson, WY, and it sounds like I'm in Mexico, everyone is speaking in Spanish here, the staff is Mexican, they have two white guys working here. One is dressed up like a manager but he's cleaning tables and restrooms.
anyway, I've got to get on the road so I can get to my grandkid's house by ten tonight. The pictures and update will come soon.

 

[DanTheMan]

Just a couple of pictures right now, gotta go to the amusement park with the grandkids, more later....... Hotel across the tracks, and the fleabag I stayed the night in.

spotted on the way to Red Lodge....
More later....