Ahhhh,, the summer of 14,,, ADVENTURE SERVED UP GORMET STYLE!!!!

[cowpuc]

 

It was remarkable how close to the Canadian border we were. Within a very short ride we were sitting in parking area of the U.S./Canadian customs talking to a group of bikers who were discussing whether or not they wanted to attempt a cross over. We told them we were gonna go for it and see what the person guarding Alberta Canada had to say about the likes of the three of us. It had warmed up to some perfect riding temps and the three of us were really anxious to find our if we were gonna get to go into Canada!

[cowpuc]

 

Other than thinking that I looked like someone who might be carrying a weapon and having a hard time believing that I really didn't have one, the guard seemed like an ok guy. It wasn't until I offered to let him keep the only weapon I happen to have, a small jack knife that I carried in Tweeks tank bag, that he allowed us entry and we traveled into Alberta Canada. We drove for about an hour up into Canada to view some beautiful rolling hills that seemed to have just had a major break out of mosquitoes. As the bugs got thicker, our inclination to return southward back into the states won out and we did just that. We stopped at the tourist shop back at the border to pick up a Canadian Flag sticker for Tweeks trunk and had a brief discussion with the attendant their about the bugs. She told us that it was just that time of the year and that the wet weather the region had experienced that spring had really increased the bug population. The young lady asked if we thought we would give Canada another try in the future and not let the nasty skeeters chase us permanently away. We laughed and told her that we actually had just came thru to see if our "passports" would work and that the test having been successful - we would be back O Canada!!

[cowpuc]

The return trip back into the United States went real well too. The U.S. crossing guard was very friendly and seemed happy to have us home. She smiled at our chosen mode of transportation and told us to have great time on our way back to our home state of Michigan. The display that reminds all people passing thru this area of the remarkable friendship shared between the free people of Canada and the United States is perched beautifully here for all to see! As we skirted the mountains of Glacier while passing thru endless miles of foothills plant growth, it seemed like every corner of the roadway brought about another form of domestic animal free range feeding. It did not occur to us until much later that we actually may have been on Indian Reservation lands in these photographs - regardless, the scenery was amazing but if you travel this area - ride very carefully and always remember that its you - not the animals - who are visitors!

[cowpuc]

 

Having long since ran out of daylight, the shadows of the huge bales of hay that lined the high desert prairie a few miles out of Great Falls Montana announced the vacancy of the camping area that each one of them hid behind themselves. We had stopped earlier at a small gas station and taken some pictures of the bugs that were blocking the pathway of the light that had been trying to shine onto the roadway from Tweeks headlight. Its a good thing we had given Tweeks headlight a fresh cleaning because crossing the open field to claim one of those vacant camping spots would have been difficult without being able to see. The earlier rains in the season had made the clay ridden ground very soft and the remains of the deep lugged tractor tracks hidden in the cut prairie grass made for some challenging riding and it would have been almost impossible without the aid of Tweeks headlight. We had left the bugs of Glacier and Canada far behind and the warm moonlit darkness was a welcome feeling as it yielded the anti-bug dry desert air that the three of us had waited a long Michigan winter to get to take advantage of. This was the beginning of the celebration of our country's Independence as a Nation. The three us tired Montana CTFWers could not think of any place that we would rather have been on that early 4th of July morning than out on this high desert floor - resting peacefully as the warm breezes of freedom flowed tenderly thru the screens of our lovely little blue CTFWing tent. There was a calmness and a tranquility during that nights rest that is earned thru experiencing long hours of CTFWing and being able to ride till one can ride no more and having the freedom to just stop and sleep knowing that peace surrounds you in our land of freedom.

[cowpuc]

 

The next mornings coin toss led us into a south easterly CTFW with the hope of maybe making the evenings 4th of July firework celebration at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. We had both heard of this beautiful display of patriotism and had always wanted to see it so, as the coin toss ended in that direction - the three of us chuckled with contentment as we headed in that way. We hadn't gone very far and we came across a huge field area that had a beautiful display of old cars lined up. Tip was already digging out the camera as Tweeks engine came down to an idle while setting herself up for the landing in the property owners driveway. We made another short video as well as taking pictures of these gorgeous old cars.

[cowpuc]

My internal compass had long since given up trying to keep track of any sense of direction. Traveling without maps, GPS's or even a real compass in my possession has come to be fairly common for us on our CTFWing exploits. Besides producing a strange form of real freedom within my soul, this form of advanced motorcycle touring has always led us into some great adventures - the kind of adventure that one simply can not find in any other form of travel. As the three of us traveled along feeling the grasshoppers bounce off our feet and hearing their sounds in the ditches beside us, Tip asked if I had noticed the dead mule deer hidden in the ditch on the other side of the road. I asked if it had horns and Tip said that it looked to her like it did. We circled back and it wasn't long before my 16 inch Channel Locks had performed surgery on the removal of a set of the most gorgeous velvet covered Mule Deer horns I have ever seen. After tie wrapping them to the rear rack supports where the hard hat we had delivered to Earth Mover had hung earlier in our trip, we started Tweeks back up and continued CTFWing in the back country of this old cowboy country.

[cowpuc]

Our coin tossing had led us into areas that seemed to be shy of fuel stations and, even more troublesome, our water supply had gotten down to about a half of cup left in our side mounted water tank. We had gotten beyond the point of concern about the water we were lacking and we had resorted to finding roadways in higher altitudes in an effort to give us more distant views in order locate anything that resembled civilization. This effort paid off as we noticed what appeared to be a tiny town located a few miles away. As we pulled into the small cow town of Jordan Montana, we smiled at each other as we noticed a little one pump fuel station with a older cowboy walking into its small office door way. I filled Tweeks tank, went inside and inquired about water. After I paid for Tweeks fuel, the gentleman inside told me that the area was part of the huge water shortage affecting the west and that he simply had no water. I can still see the look on Tips pretty face as I walk out of the building with an empty water jug while shaking my head no. As I climbed back on Tweeks, I told her that we may very well have to resort to going door to door visiting the area cowboy houses in search of the precious fluid.

We drove thru the small lonely little town that had the resemblance of a Hollywood movie set for something like Gunsmoke (it was actually way smaller than the Dodge City that ol Matt Dillon had protected) and noticed a small building placed on the last corner while exiting the east side of the village. A small sign was written above the door of this small garage like building that had caught my eye. It looked like it had "Senior Center" written above the doorway. The sign peeked my interest so we turned around and went back.

There was a couple cars parked outside of the building, I pulled up beside them and could instantly hear ladies laughing inside. I looked at Tip, handed her the water jug and asked her to go in and see if the ladies would give us some water. Tip walked in the door and about a second later an older, very friendly cow girl came walking out of the doorway that Tip had previously went inside of. She smiled, walked over to Tweeks, looked at me standing there with sweat dripping off my face and asked if I was the husband of the lady who had just came in for water. I nodded yes that I was, she said they were having an ICE CREAM SOCIAL inside and that we were more than welcome to come and have some!! The lady hadn't even finished her sentence as I was putting on my tee shirt and was disappearing into the building.

After cooling off in the air conditioning found inside the building, we polished off a couple big bowls of some DELICIOUS ice cream covered pie, cake and brownies. We visited with a gathering of several local cowboy families and a couple of WW2 Veterans. Tippy had followed one of the local ladies into the ladies room which was located somewhere deep inside of the rearward portion of the old building. She suddenly reappeared with a VERY excited look on her face and stood there motioning me to come see something she had found. I stood up, deposited my worn out ice cream bowl in the garbage at the end of the table I was sitting at and walked over to see what all the excitement was all about. I felt my jaw bounce off the carpeted floor as I walked into what appeared to be a scene from Jurassic Park. I stood there in shock as Tips pretty little hand petted the jaw of a T-REX!!! Neither one of us could believe the accumulation of dinosaur bones that these folks had in beautiful display right in the back of that old Senior Center. I also could not get over the fact that we were allowed to actually handle these amazing prehistoric remains! The center also had a gorgeous accumulation of relics dating back into the cowboy days of our country and also a beautiful collection of WW2 Military items that were donated by Veterans from the area.

 

 

Before we left the Jordan Montana Senior Center with our jug filled with water, I could not help but mention to the women who had invited us into their care how thankful we were for their kindness. I also told her that Tip and I had visited many museums thru the years and were shocked at the prehistoric accumulation the center had in its possession. The lady explained to me that one of Montana's greatest hidden secrets was that Jordan is the epicenter for prehistoric finds. That many of the worlds best known Dinosaur Exhibits owe their existence to Jordan. She said that a lot of the remains found in the Center were actually found on top of the ground in the surrounding area!! This small 4th of July adventure proved once again that if a person really wants adventure - it usually starts off with getting lost, at least it seems that way to the three of us!

[cowpuc]

Having escaped the 108 degree Montana heat while exploring the inner workings of a Jordan Montana Senior Center ice cream social complete with digging thru old dinosaur bones had a cost. For us, that cost became apparent as we crossed into western North Dakota and the sun was setting. We shrugged off the disappointment of knowing there was no way we were going to get to see the Mount Rushmore 4th of July celebration that we assumed was taking place many miles to the south of us. We pulled into the Bowman North Dakota area just in time to catch their local fireworks display, these folks obviously also knew that the wonderful nation that they were all part of was in deep celebration as it seemed every house that we passed had a celebration of its own going on. Coasting into a truck stop, we parked Tweeks, went inside, bought dinner and sat outdoors to take in the endless display of freedom lovers showing off their collection of classic fireworks. The young man who worked the night shift at the Truck Stop joined us periodically to watch the beautiful site of free people doing what free people do.

[cowpuc]

 

As it always seems to happen, Tweeks caught the eye of the young attendant and pretty soon a conversation came up about our travels. After hearing our tales, he started sharing about his past and how he had come to the area. Because of the area's oil and gas production, it seemed that anyone in the United States that wanted a job could find one in this area. The attendant took us inside and showed us the "wall" of company postings who were searching for employees and this is what had brought this young man to the area. He openly admired what Tweeks, Tip and I were doing during these precious years of our lives and told us that he was going to emulate us in the future. After the fireworks were over, Tip and I went in and enjoyed a really nice hot shower at the truckstop, came back out and got permission to camp anywhere on the truck stop premises that we wanted. The attendant than showed us an article in the local paper that explained why the Mount Rushmore fireworks had been canceled for yet another year - we had missed nothing by taking the time to enjoy the dino's of Jordan! We chose a spot in the far reaches of the truck parking area, tossed the tent down and within a few minutes were sound asleep.

[cowpuc]

 

The small town of Sturgis South Dakota has for many years, been considered the motorcycle cycle city of the world. I have traveled out to the huge rally that is held there every year many times in the past. Tip and my children have also visited the rally with me, it is a site to behold. Tweeks, Tip and I actually spent part of the summer of 2013 in Sturgis at the Rally and had watched the gorgeous new Polaris Indian motorcycles make their debut during that time. Tip had never seen the town of Sturgis in it's sane form of being, so she shared in my excitement of seeing this quaint town a full month before the rally as we entered it from the east. It was amazing how many buildings still had "vacancy" written on them for prospective Rally Vendors. I told Tip that it was very possible that the 2014 Rally would be a little smaller than the previous year as that one included the Indian unveiling and that the 2015 Rally was going to be a big one as it was the 75th Celebration. Non the less though, it was obvious that the town was gearing up for the coming storm of the Harley riders that would be attending this years 2014 74th Annual Harley Davidson Sturgis South Dakota Rally.

[cowpuc]

 

After exploring main street and riding outside of town to the east to check on the small campground that I have formed (its a open piece of prairie about a mile east of the Buffalo Chip where I camp every year), we went back into town, sat down at the Sturgis McDonalds and opened our Tablet to check in with our girls in Sacramento. We had just finished our salad covered McDonald's burgers when I noticed a couple of bikers with "Harlem NY" displayed on the patch on their leather jackets. I could not help but go up and introduce myself to these fine gentleman who had obviously ridden a long ways to probably take a shot at the upcoming rally. They said they had admired Tweeks who had been minding her own business in the parking lot. They were both very taken in by our version of CTFWing. We shared great stories of life on the road with these road champions from Harlem and, after listening to their stories, were not surprised to hear they were actually headed for the great state of Alaska and were not going to be attending the 74th Rally either.. They did share their hopes of making it to the 75th though and we all agreed to try to find each other during the CTFW time of 2015!

[cowpuc]

 

The ride from Sturgis S.D. to Deadwood S.D is amazingly short if you happen to ride it when the Rally is not taking place. I have seen the traffic backed up by 2 hours leading into Deadwood during the rally, this time it was just a pleasant 20 minute ride thru the mountains. Tip wanted to visit the Adams Museum that is located in this resort cow town in the Black Hills. We parked Tweeks in a small parking area to the west of the Museum. As we were walking toward the Museums entrance, a couple of Honda Goldwing's with single wheeled trailers attached to them caught my eye. Thru the years I have had numerous people comment to me that I should consider towing a trailer behind Tweeks instead of packing her up like a pack mule. Because of our tendency to do a fair amount of off roading during our CTFWing, I had never seriously considered doing this. During an online discussion on VentureRider.org, one of the members there had mentioned a 1 wheel trailer that may work, even for traveling between trees while following deer trails. This pair of Honda Wings was my first glimpse of what that member was talking about. I have to admit, the narrowness of the trailers and the single wheel arrangement did give me some pause for consideration.

[cowpuc]

 

Tip and I walked under the mezzanine that connected the stations of the old railway house that at one time had serviced the local Deadwood traffic. During the gold rush days, people like Wild Bill Hickok had lived here and it came as no surprise to me to find an actual working scale sitting under the overhang where we stood gazing at the old building. I climbed on the scale and watched as it showed that I had actually lost a couple pounds of weight during our 2014 CTFWing excursion. I climbed off the scale, Tip handed me her riding pouch as she climbed on the scale to see if she had also been successful at loosing a couple pounds. Unknown to her, as she stepped onto the scale I slid the big toe of my right foot onto the platform of the scale and was able to add 20 pounds or so to her total weight. She looked at me in disbelief as she stepped off the scale. I told her to try it again, this time I pressed even harder as the scale took the reading. My playful trickery didn't work as well this time and my right shoulder paid the ultimate price as she dispatched quick right hook and my left shoulder absorbed by her womanly punch. At the same time that I felt the impact of Tips punch I also thought I heard laughter coming from a couple who had been watching the whole debacle unfold before their very eyes. After the four of us had a short laugh about my now sore left shoulder, the couple introduced themselves. They were a lovely couple who were also CTFWing all over the U.S. in their RV. Having both retired from the Military, they had some really wonderful road stories that they shared with Tip and I. We gave them our contact info and told them that they would be able to find the story of our new found friends in Deadwood S.D. on a blog I would be writing during the upcoming winter on VentureRider.org. We gave them them both a giant THANK YOU hug for doing their part in serving our country in an effort to keep us all free. Having said farewell to our new friends, we headed to the Adams Museum, sore shoulder and all.

[cowpuc]

It was a very hot day in Deadwood so we were thrilled to feel the air conditioning when we walked in the doorway of the Adams Museum. I have always loved motorcycling when it is hot out and Tip has too. A dry heat of 108 is wonderful as long as you are moving, its when we stop that neither Tip, Tweeks or I are really happy with high temps! The cool air inside the museum worked perfectly to keep a smile on our faces as we browsed thru the memories that the museum presented.

 

 

 

The curator of the little museum had done an excellent job of acquiring a very good representation of the history of Deadwood. Of course mining was a way of life in the old days as were the railroads that service the industry, all very well represented within. Deadwood was also a major gambling area (might have had something to do with the Black Hills Gold Rush and the type of people that the rush brought in) and there were many displays that eluded to some of the issues that came with that time in our country's history. Also in good representation were displays of life on the prairie in the early days. Museums like this always amaze me as they tend to refresh our memories of just how very good we have it in our day and age of easy long distance travel and open communications.

[cowpuc]

Speaking of communications, while we were at the museum our youngest daughter called to let us know that she would be returning home from an extended stay in Ohio two weeks earlier than planned and that she would be arriving at our home in Michigan in a day and a half. Tip and I are parents first and CTFWers second so as soon as we found this out, we strolled out into the parking lot, checked Tweeks tire air pressures and oil level, tossed our legs over the old girls back and headed east towards Michigan.

One of the really great things that I have always loved about South Dakota is its open camp policy. The rule of thumb is, if the field is cut and its not fenced, you can camp on it. The neat thing about that is, out in South Dakota they pretty much cut everything. When I was young I used to camp on the side of the main road that leads into Sturgis from the east (between Fort Meade and the City Limits) during the big Rally. Nowadays I have to get a ways off the road in order to get my beauty sleep but those same old rules apply - South Dakota hasn't changed much thru the years..

 

 

We rode with the sun on our backs and the warm breeze in our faces as we talked about all we had experienced on our little adventure. We had visited 17 States and a Canadian Province called Alberta during the past few weeks. The beauty of the sites we had seen was only surpassed by the wonderful people we had met during our time of CTFWing. The South Dakota sun departed into a creamy mix of cotton candy like clouds as a gorgeous sunset appeared behind us and the darkness of night closed the curtain on the movie that had been playing along the amazing east bound South Dakotan highway. The three of us were tired as I turned down that last lonely dirt ranch road to find some fresh cut prairie grasses to stuff under our tent to make our final night out as comfortable as possible. Tweeks would make short work of the ending moments of travel the next day. We were excited to see our youngest daughter again. Tip and I laughed when we looked at the condition of our backyard and I told her that it reminded of the uncut prairie grass we had slept beside during that last wonderful night after CTFWing in a place called South Dakota..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAPPY CTFWing

Tippy, Puc and a tired old 1983 Yamaha Venture named Tweeks!

THE END

 

Edited March 2, 2015 by cowpuc

[Venturous Randy]

Wow, this has been a wonderful adventure and has been the perfect thing to help get through this miserable winter. I am so glad that it was a safe adventure and when you needed help, it was there. You not only provided so many beautiful pictures and a remarkably told story, but you shared such a wonderful family that I'm sure you are so proud.

The enthusiasm that Tippy continued to show on this trip is far beyond what most of us could ever imagine. To say you are truly blessed is such an understatement, what you two have is far beyond that.

I am so glad that what brought you into our world is the love of motorcycles, especially our old 1st gen Ventures. You have shown us just how tough these old bikes are , from being a great comfortable tourer, to a big dirt bike to a two wheel truck. It is also amazing how you brought tweeks alive, how you shared her personality and strength and how you shared her with others to admire. Yeah, it is nice to have a $40,000 bike to ride and park at places like Sturgis, but those are not the bikes that many people stop and look at, but I suspect tweeks routinely had folks stopping by to stare and had a story that went in many different directions in this world.

I will miss coming on here anxiously looking forward to the next adventure that you, tippy and tweeks will encounter next. I thank you for taking the time to so eloquently tell a story that made me feel I was right there with you. It has also made me want to go places that I have only thought about, places I want to see, places I want to feel and with me also having a wonderful traveling pardner, I need to get busy.

Randy

Edited March 3, 2015 by Venturous Randy

[pbjman]

The End?!

 

 

 

:happy65::happy65:

:clap2:

[Flyinfool]

NOOOOoooooo.........

 

Not THE END!!!!

 

This was way to enjoyable to have it come to an end so soon.

 

You covered the last 1158 miles in just one paragraph.....

 

I do have to admit that last summer I was wondering how you went from the Dakotas to home like almost instantly with nothing happening in between. Now I know what that ground level contrail was across the bottom of the state.

 

Now that there is no more great story to read, what ever will I do to occupy my time.

 

You may want to go back and review post #151 and post #152 ........Just sayin.....

[videoarizona]

Nice!

 

Puc, you and Tip were most certainly "Born Under A Wandering Star"!

 

Thank you, ever so much, for allowing us to share in your 2014 Adventure. And to Tweeks, Thank YOU, for safely taking our friends with you on your journey!

David

[Carbon_One]

Thanks a lot for sharing your summer riding experience Puc. Looks like you ended way to soon though, its still a cold & snow covered world out there looking through my windows. Guess I'll try to get busy either planning my summer trips or do something in the garage till spring finally shows up.

Larry

[cowpuc]

Thanks you guys for all the great feedback! Going back over our pictures and the memories of the people we met and things we saw on last years ride has been very helpful in coping with winter here too!

 

FlyingFool,, I have to admit, I went back and read 151 and 152 and it gave me the willies.. Then when I noticed CarbonOnes post on here about it all,,, well,, maybe I did actually pull the trigger to soon,, SOOOOOoooooooo:big-grin-emoticon:

[cowpuc]

2014 CTFWING EPILOG:

 

 

My youngest daughter gave me a big hug and thanked me for being home to greet her upon her return from being gone all winter. Her and Tip had been catching up on the laundry and I had just finished mounting yet another new tire on Tweeks as the kid kissed me on the forehead in an attempt to keep from getting grease on her from the dirt that always seems to accumulate on my nose when I work on stuff. The new Full Bore rear tire I had installed on the Tweeks back in Sacramento had done an excellent job. It didn't wear as good as the new Metzler had on the way out to the west coast but it also has not disintegrated at the end of its life either so I gave the Full Bore a healthy "8" as far bang for the buck goes. I would avoid using Metzler again if possible but would definitely consider another 65 dollar Full Bore if the need arose.

 

I picked up a new Michelin from a friend here in Muskegon for 80 dollars and that is what I had just finished installing on Tweeks. Having heard good things about the new Miche's while traveling and, having a chance to get one at a decent price, I thought what the heck - the three of us would give em a try.

 

My youngest had been home for a couple days and I had just finished going over her little Honda Civic for her. All my kids have inherited the love for adventure from Tip and I so I wasn't surprised at all to hear her announce that she was gonna hit the road and go visit a friend in Kansas. Thankfully Tip and I had taken the effort to make it home from our western adventure in time to see her for a couple days. As my daughter pulled out of our driveway I smiled at Tip, pointed at the tent that was still in a bundle on the garage floor and at Tweeks new rear tire and told Tip that we were ready to go back at it now that the offspring's mainspring had sprung again.

 

A really good friend of ours who we had never met, a guy by the name of @ragtop69gs (I call him Raggie) and his wife Jeannie were in the process of hosting a bike rally over in Detroit and the three of us had somehow gotten invited. It was also our local "Bike Time" Rally here in Muskegon and I thought we would give Tweeks a chance to show off her prowess on the way out of town. Tip was giggling her girlish "here we go again" giggle as she walked inside to pack some of our freshly cleaned riding clothes.

 

 

 

A number of years ago some local business's and a personal friend of mine got together and decided to create a miniature Sturgis Rally here in Muskegon. They named the long weekend rally "Muskegon Bike Time". When my buddy, who owned our local Honda Shop back than, first told me what they were gonna do I was THRILLED!! I have always loved our country's big rally's like Daytona, Myrtle Beach and Sturgis and had always wished we had one here locally. At that time of my life I was restoring motorcycles and building old school choppers for a living and, besides being all kinds of fun, thought the draw of our own Rally Point may help with our local economy. I began participating in Muskegon's Bike Time right from the beginning and really loved those early days. Here is an internet link describing what you may have seen me doing back in those days, Bike Time gets off to roaring start despite weather, changes in features | MLive.com

 

 

[cowpuc]

Our ride thru Muskegon's Bike Time on our way to Raggie and Jeans Rally in Detroit was really fun. It was great to see old friends and to give Tweeks a chance to make sure her and the new Michelin tire were gonna get along. Having that accomplished, the three of us headed toward Detroit.

 

My Father use to laugh at me when I would get lost while we were deer hunting the Northern Michigan woodlands. On more than one occasion I had to spend a night in the woods and wait till the next day to find my way because of my natural tendency to get lost. On one such occasion I got twisted around and didn't make it back to my dads truck before the agreed upon 11 p.m. departure and I ended up getting a ride home with a couple of fellow bow hunters who happen to also be hunting the same section of state land north of M-37 and M-55 in our great Northern woods. Dad was cooking lunch at home back in Muskegon when I finally wondered in. I asked him if he was worried at all about me out there lost and hungry. He laughed and said "heavens no - I knew the hungrier you got the better your nose would work and that as soon as you were real hungry you would find your way home"..

Having taken examples like the previous paragraph into deep consideration, I chose to make the short ride over to Detroit the day before the Rally was suppose to take place and we headed directly to Raggies from Muskegon's Bike Time. This turned out to be the correct decision on my part because after we had made our third pass at the intersection where Mapquest said "West 5" was gonna be, I decided to stop at a local gas station as I took the same turnaround exit for the 3rd time. The young lady looked at our directions and told us that we were right where we wanted to be, we were just given bad directions. And people ask me why I don't trust computers.

A few minutes had passed after chatting with the young lady at the gas station and we were pulling into Raggie and Jeannies. I was shocked to find out that apparently other VentureRider.org members were also directionally challenged, this being instantly obvious to me because two other couples besides our hosts were already there too!

One of the great things about being a member of VentureRider.org is the endless supply of not just amazing folks but also down right great people that one gets to encounter and, in the end, call them your friend. The encounter that was about to take place was one that I had been waiting upon for a long time. All summer long I had been meeting folks who I had longed to have the privilege of shaking hands with and more folks on that list were now standing there in front of me with smiles on their faces! @bongobobny and his wife Becky had arrived from their home in New York and @Jrichard and his wife Patricia had also come up from Virginia on their gorgeous Kawasaki Voyager. Both of these teams must of under estimated their directional skills though because, even though they came from much farther distances, they were both still able to arrive before Tip, Tweeks and I.

 

[cowpuc]

Raggie seemed to really take a liking to Tweeks, it looked a little rainy that evening so @ragtop69gs made her a camping area in his garage so Tweeks could sleep inside. Thankfully it didn't rain so the rest of us who had to sleep outside did not have to test our leaky tents and pieces of plastic. Speaking about tent walls, even after all those nights of sleeping in our little blue tent while traveling out west, I was shocked to find out how not soundproof our moderately expensive little motel was - who ever was sleeping in the Pop-Up Tent Camper that was camping next door to us was an accomplished snorest and our tent walls actually danced with every vibration that occurred as the result of our neighbors music. The rhythm of the professionally put together snoring tunes made for some of the greatest ease of sleep as my own music joined in to make a symphony of nothing but the highest quality!!

 

 

I stuck my head out of our tent on the morning of the official Raggie Rally and was pleased to find out that any sign of rain that had dared shown its spooky little face had long since departed during the night. I slumbered out and instantly detected the sweet smell of breakfast cooking on an open grill. I was reminded of an old saying I had heard once that says something about early birds and worms and the meaning of that old saying was becoming clearer to me. A small, but yet powerful, feeding frenzy had already started at a picnic table on the far side of Raggie and Jeannies back yard and our host informed me that we probably should grab a quick bite to eat unless a glass of milk and a cookie was all we wanted. All joking aside, we all had a GREAT breakfast and everyone there was very impressed with our host(s) and the wonderful meal they provided for all of their guest - of which Tip, Tweeks and I had the honor and pleasure to be three of - THANK YOU JEANNIE AND JAY!!

[cowpuc]

 

As the day moved on more and more folks arrived at the Rally that these two fine people had hosted at their home. @BuckShot and @buzzman came in from somewhere in Ohio. It was so much fun having these two Buckeye's share some time and friendship with us!