cowpuc

That is really ironic, Tip and I were looking at pathways for CTFWing up to Laska and were just talking about passing thru a town called "Surrey" out in B.C. The "Top Spot" in Cedar City Utah!!! The "Laguna Burger" a couple west of Albuquerque!!

THAT "TOM THE HOG" IS ONE GORGEOUS BIKE - WELCOME TO THE FAMILY TOM!! :thumbsup:CONGRATS DAITAN!! Like Silvr mentioned, it would be a really good idea to try and find out about the cam chain tensioners - see if that has been addressed for sure! Matter of fact, If that beautiful scoot were mine, I would take the cam cover off and see whats inside for myself anyway - probably stick in an upgraded oil pump and tensioners and be good for the next 70k. Then my "bling" money would go for the quick release hardware for the trunk, rear fender rack, and a single seat so I could go show off on my custom bobber when Tip and I weren't out CTFWing on that puppy!! Wow THAT is PURDY!!!

Praying for this new member Don, thanks for letting us know!!

Indeed - Prayers Up, Blessings Down Mr. Owl!!

Gotta be something to do with cabin fever, no sleeping in Michigan either!! Prayers Up - Blessings Down for our Skidder!!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!!

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!

We followed the Going to the Sun road a long ways, stopping periodically to take pictures and to look for Grizzly bear. The scenery was as breathtaking as the name of the roadway itself. A person could easily loose himself in this area BUT, if he does he better have lots of warm clothing!! We rode about halfway to the sun and decided to turn around and go back to the lower altitudes that would lead us into Canada before it got late in the day. The Glacier area was beautiful but the thought of tent camping in an area that was 45 degrees in the middle of the day just didn't sound that appealing to any of us.

After checking in with the rangers at the visitor center and finding out that, indeed, the Going to the Sun roadway had officially opened the day before, we walked back out into the parking lot to find a small group of people chatting with our bike. We approached them and one of the folks noticed our package of Hostess Twinky's stored in the netting on Tweeks back. He was telling us that they had spotted a big Grizzly and a smaller bear just a few minutes earlier along side the Going to the Sun roadway and that if we were going that way we might want to get rid of the Twinky's. After he signed our bike and walked away Tip smiled as I told her I wasn't about to give up my Twinky's but I sure looked forward to seeing a Griz - the 3 of us headed out bear hunting.

The image of the mountainous region that makes up Glacier was now getting much bigger in front of us. The snow filled mountains were obvious and endless in their sheer majestic beauty and they seemed to be sucking us inward like they had just taken a deep breath or something. We shared that beautiful roadway leading into the park with open range feeding animals and also with groups of bicyclist who had chosen that more strenuous method of CTFWing across the region. Every time I see groups of riders traveling in this fashion my legs start aching and I get an exhausted feeling inside me that usually doesn't disappear until I reach down and give our beloved Tweeks a pat on your faithful side.

Somewhere between Cut Bank and the entrance to the Going to the Sun Road we noticed a sign that let us know how close we were to actually running out of the land area that is known as the country of the United States. The three of us stopped for a quick picture and also quickly decided that we needed to have another border crossing test of our Enhanced Drivers Licenses. Having found out that they did not work for crossing into Mexico a few weeks ago, we needed to see if they would work for access to the other side of the U.S. border into Canada here at Glacier!

It didn't seem like the image of Glacier National Park that appeared in front of us was getting much larger as we strolled thru the town of Cut Bank. It was not long before this, maybe an hour or so, that we had topped off Tweeks tanks but, time and space can be down right deceptive in these vast areas so we stopped again just to be sure - besides, running out of gas in the warm desert is one thing - the thought of running out of gas in an area that is named "Glacier" struck a nerve inside of me that said "I DONT WANNA CHANCE THAT".

If you are coming into the east side of Glacier National Park you will probably go thru a town called Shelby. We could see the Glacier mountains way off in the far west and were guessing that the Going to the Sun roadway that crosses that mountain range had to be at least a couple more hours away, we thought it best to pull into Shelby and feed Tweeks. While I was feeding Tweeks a friendly Montana cowgirl came up and started chatting with Tippy. I thought I noticed Tweeks horns twitching and thought I heard something mentioned about a free Montana sticker so I started paying attention to what the two girls were discussing. Apparently the lady noticed the memory stickers that covered Tweeks back and thought we may be willing to answer a few questions concerning tourism in the state of Montana with a Montana sticker being the reward for doing so - HECK YEA!!! Jan, the sticker lady, liked us so much that she even gave us two of those gorgeous placards!!

Most of the things located in western Montana are, what I consider, out of the way. The term "out of the way" has been used in many applications in the English language but, I have always suspected that it's places in the United States like western Montana that gave birth to and explain the definition of the term itself. After CTFWing in the Bitter Root Mountains of Idaho the day before and camping way back in the mountains, we stopped near Helena Montana for some fuel and grub. A local person wondered over and told us about a really neat out of the way eatery just a ways north of us, a place called the Silver Spur located in Vaughn. Knowing that Glacier was also located somewhere to the north and that Vaughn MT would therefore not be out of our way, Tip and I figured that the food at the Silver Spur might be better than the trail mix we were fast becoming tired of eating. We headed out to find the notorious joint. The local person back at the Helena fuel station knew his stuff, the food at the Silver Spur in Vaughn was excellent!