Top Ten or Eleven

It was difficult to pick a top ten list from all the great experiences that we had. These are mine in chronological order:

1. Brooks’ cabin in Taylor Park, CO – We had great weather, great fishing, and a
good rest before the big push west. It is a special place and as an added bonus, Pat Miller was there to take care of us. Our family has been visiting Taylor Park since the early 70’s and Brooks is always such a gracious host. I will be returning to Taylor Park in October to visit again and help Brooks close up for the winter. I’m going to include the ride on Hwy 92 on the north side of the Black Canyon. This is a must do if you are ever on a motorcycle in the area.

2. U.S. 50 ride across Nevada - This highway is known as the “Loneliest Road In America”, and after what I read about this stretch, would have never believed that I would have enjoyed this ride. There were nine mountain summits with sweeping ascents and descents, and long straight valley stretches where we could put the hammer down. It wasn’t the most scenic ride we had on the trip but one of the most interesting. We had to really pay attention to our fuel levels because sometimes there were long stretches between cities.

3. Yosemite – Yosemite Valley is the most beautiful vista I have ever seen. The rest of the Park wasn’t much different than many of the other mountain areas we were in. I would like to go back and spend some time hiking and backpacking in Yosemite. This was one of only two parks (the other was Glacier) where we had to be concerned about bears in our camp. Fortunately there wasn’t a problem but we heeded the National Park Service requirements of food and toiletry storage in the bear boxes 24 hours.

4. California Coast – I had read and heard about the spectacular scenery along Hwy 1. We were not disappointed. We soon discovered that we shouldn’t get in a hurry and enjoy the coastal terrain and curves. I was surprised how cool and windy the coast was. There were a lot of motorcycles, convertibles and cyclist on this stretch of road. The fog was usually heavy in the mornings and would lift by late morning. Unfortunately, we had very heavy fog in northern California and all along the Oregon coast.

5. The breakdown at Cleone Campground near Ft. Bragg, CA - Why would a starter going bad on a Saturday evening rank in the Top Ten? Well….where do I start? Thanks to Rob for the ride to the motorcycle shop, Guy and Linda for finding the perfect camp sight. Dave and Lynne Soeth, Jon and Sherri Richter and their families for their visits, coffee, monkey bread and help. We made many new friends and hope that some day we can return the kindness that these folks showed us. And of course I can’t forget J.P. Mohn, owner of Ft. Bragg Cycle Supply who stayed late Sat. to haul my motorcycle in and do the diagnosis and working on it all day Sun. to get us back on the road. This experience reaffirmed my faith in humanity. Everyone was so kind, helpful and friendly. This could have easily been a very bad experience but the kind folks of northern California wouldn’t let it happen.

6. Columbia River Gorge - I was surprised on the size and beauty of the Columbia. We rode on both the north and south side of the gorge. We were amazed by the windsurfers, the shear cliffs, waterfalls and vistas of nearby Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens. Of all the campgrounds, Beacon Rock State Park was one of the nicest.

7. Glacier National Park - For me this was the most impressive National Park we visited. The helicopter ride was outstanding. I would love to spend a couple weeks in the park and do some hiking and backpacking – perhaps even going into Canada, but would wait until late summer or early fall. The ride through the park on the “Going To The Sun Road” was spectacular – if you could avoid the traffic. There was so much to see and do and so little time.

8. The visit with Lyle and Shelly Spence - Just a couple of weeks before we left, this was a “might do stop if we have time”. I am sure glad I took the time to contact Lyle and stop in for a visit. The dinner and hospitality was among the best we experienced the whole trip. It won’t be another 25 years before I have contact with Lyle.

9. Our 5 day stay in Jackson, WY - It was great that Suz could fly out and join us.
This is a picture of us sampling the local flavor:



What a great time we had with the Brocksmith clan – rafting, kayaking, biking, shopping, dining, rodeoing, tramming (are those actually words?), and taking in much of what the Jackson Hole area has to offer. Kent and Brenda were our guides and hosts and we can’t thank them enough for making this a special part of our trip. I’m sure Graham is going to list the downhill mountain biking as the highlight of his trip.

10. Sturgis – I can’t leave off the Sturgis experience. It had been 15 years since I had been to Sturgis and it will probably be 15 more before I return. The highlight of our stay was the George Thoroughgood concert and the evening at the Buffalo Chip. You might recall that Aerosmith was there just a couple of nights later and Steven Tyler fell of the stage and was injured. If we were big partiers and liked roaring motorcycles all the time and enjoyed crowded riding we would have stayed longer and had a better time. It was obvious that we have been spoiled with the open country and solitude riding that we have experienced.

I said there was going to be a Top Ten List – well I was wrong – there are eleven.

11. Our Parkston Stay – Staying in Parkston, SD is like being home. Wayne and Diana Singleton really took care of us. Diana’s family, Pat and Cathy Bowar and Michael, Audrey and Grady Bowar visited us both nights and it is always a real joy to be included in the family gatherings. We rested and prepared for the final leg to home. I hope to return in November for some pheasant hunting, which has become an annual tradition for my Pointing Labrador, Cork and myself. We have had some unbelievable hunting. This is one of my favorite pictures of Cork and I.



I am trying to get Graham to complete his list - stay posted. For those interested, I will keep the blog site open for future travels. If my employees will let me, I hope to travel to Colorado and South Dakota later this year. Thanks for following our motorcycle trip. I had no idea that there were so many people keeping up with our travels. It was a great trip and we're so thankful that we returned safe and had so many great experiences.

Day 32

We are home!!! Graham and I left Jess, Tara and Jack’s place and arrived back in Washington at 1:30 p.m. Graham was anxious to get home – so anxious that after we fueled up for the last time in Mt. Vernon, IL – he went off and left me. Suz, Tara and Jack will be leaving St. Louis to return to Washington later this afternoon, after Jack’s doctor’s appointment. Tara and Jess are going to build a home in Washington and she is coming back to work out details on beginning that process.

I had not paid much attention to our total mileage traveled and was surprised to find that we logged 8,016, I had anticipated somewhere between 7,000 and 7,500. Below is a map of our route and mileage along the way.



Stay tuned – in the next couple of days we will post our top ten experiences for both Graham and I. It was a great trip with a lifetime of experiences, but most importantly we arrived home safely and are grateful for God’s watchful care. I will spend Saturday cleaning the bikes and unpacking the trailer, and playing with Jack.

Day 31

We were up and moving by 5 a.m. Graham was right – I only had to wake him once – I guess the incentive to get home and see family and his girlfriend is all he needed. Wayne and Diana were up to see us off. We had our rain gear on as we rode the bikes out of the garage into a steady rain – the first real rain we have had all trip. It is approximately 100 miles to the Interstate 29 and we were in varying degrees of rain the whole time. We had planned to ride to St. Louis and join Suz and spend the night with Tara, Jess and Jack. Since we had 670 miles to travel we decided to take a direct route to St. Louis via interstates. We went down I 29 to Kansas City and across I 70 to near St. Louis. We arrived at Jess and Tara’s apartment at 5 p.m. It was a non-eventful trip (the way we like it).

One of the more interesting things that occurs while we are traveling is the opportunity to visit with other bikers when we stop for gas or eats. Today we visited with a couple that had been on the road for 20 days and were riding back to their home in Madison, IN. Another couple was returning to Louisiana and had been in Jackson, WY when we were there and took the same route to Sturgis. All the bikers that we talked to had the same experience in Sturgis – too crowded and a big hassle – 2 days is all they could handle.

Suz had fixed a great meal and Graham and I enjoyed getting reacquainted with Jack. You might recall that we missed Jack’s birthday, so this was our birthday dinner. He is such a great kid and joy to be around. If interested, you can check him out on Tara’s blog: http://jessandtarabrower.blogspot.com/

This was my present to Jack - a moose puppet that I found in Jackson, WY:



It was good to be back with the family. We missed out on a lot of family happenings while we were gone so there was considerable catching up to do. Graham and I will complete the trip tomorrow when we arrive back home in Washington. Only 200 miles left.

Day 30

This was a day of rest and taking it easy. Graham slept in the basement bedroom where it was cool, dark, isolated and had a TV. He loved it and didn’t show his face until after noon. Wayne took me to the library so I could post Day 28. The library was closed but we could get a good wireless signal while in the pickup and Wayne patiently waited while I downloaded the text and pictures.

We also visited with Mike Braley, Esquire – a good friend of Diana’s family. I have hunted with Mike and really enjoy his wit, stories and experiences.

After lunch, Wayne and I made the trip to Cabela’s in Mitchell. This is a regular pilgrimage for me when I come to South Dakota. No purchases for me – just a lot of looking.

Later in the afternoon, Graham and I washed the bikes. Pat and Cathy joined us for dinner and Audrey, Grady and Michael came later. The evening before, I promised Audrey a ride on my motorcycle so we took a nice 20 mile ride to Dimock and back. Graham and I packed all that we could so we would be prepared for an early start. During the whole trip, I had considerable difficulty getting him up and moving in the mornings. He has promised me tomorrow will be different since we are headed home – he is ready to get back.

Day 29

We were up, broke camp and were on the road by 8 a.m. Our campground was nothing but a pasture/hay field that has been converted. The tent camping area didn’t have any electric, water or hookups. We did drag a picnic table from another unused site. The showers/restrooms were about a ¼ mile away – very nice and clean. It was hard to tell how many total campers were in this campground but I would guess several hundred. They had an open pavilion bar/restaurant and a convenience store on site. This was just one of a hundred +/- private campgrounds near Sturgis to accommodate the rally crowds. It has been estimated that 700,000 people will visit Sturgis during this rally. This is a picture of the campground just before we pulled out.



We had made the decision last night to leave Sturgis a day earlier than originally planned. After some unbelievable, uncrowded, open riding so far in our trip – there was only so much of the traffic and crowds in and around Sturgis that we could stand. We had reached our limit. We headed towards Rapid City and again stopped at the Black Hills Harley Davidson to kill a little time and see some of the vendors that we didn’t have a chance to visit yesterday. This is a picture of a portion of the parking lot at the dealer in Rapid City.



Our ride took us southwest of Rapid City through the Badlands and Indian reservations until we hit Hwy 44 at Winner, SD. We crossed the Missouri River at Platte and in another hour we arrived at our destination in Parkston, SD. For the next two nights we will be spending time with Wayne and Diana Singleton, they live near Lafayette, IN. Wayne is a cousin and is a retired animal science professor at Purdue University and Diana is a retired high school teacher. They were my parents away from home while at was at Purdue. Diana is originally from Parkston and has family here. A couple of years ago her mother passed away and they purchased her home in Parkston. They make several trips a year to visit family and they scheduled a visit to coincide with our trip – and we’re thankful they did! It will be a nice relaxing evening and day tomorrow before our big push to St. Louis. Also, the bed, shower, laundry and excellent vittles will be much appreciated. For the past 6 years I have been coming to Parkston in November to pheasant hunt and have developed some dear friendships with her family and always look forward to visiting. Here is one of my favorite hunting pictures of Wayne and I after a great day in the field:



Diana cooked an excellent dinner for us and invited Pat (Diana’s brother) and his wife, Cathy. Pat has an insurance/real estate business and when I am out for pheasant hunting, he has plenty of places to hunt lined up for us. Later, Pat and Cathy’s son, Michael, daughter-in-law Audrey and grandson, Grady stopped by to visit. Grady is just a couple of days older than our grandson, Jackson.

Tomorrow will be a relaxing day – we’re looking forward to it.

Day 28

Somehow I convinced Graham to get up early. We grabbed a bowl of cereal and headed to Rapid City. We had not planned to stop at the Black Hills Harley Davidson dealer but we could tell there was quite an event going on. It was like a small Sturgis - lots of booths, vendors and bikes.



We purchased a few items and headed to the Civic Center where Harley Davidson has their headquarter. The new 2010's are out and there are some new models.

Our ultimate destination was Mt. Rushmore. I have been there on two other occasions and Graham was there when he was 4. It was a steady stream of motorcycle traffic to and from Mt. Rushmore. We watched the 15 minute film, took some pictures and left the crowds.



The hour drive back to Sturgis was literally bike after bike after bike. Not the kind of open country riding we have been accustomed to.

When we arrived back in Sturgis, Graham walked the streets and I headed to the library to access the internet so I could catch up on the postings. We are going to leave Sturgis tomorrow (day earlier than planned) and head to Parkston, S.D. to visit Wayne and Diana Singleton. This is a short posting because they are ready to lock up the library and I have to sign off.

Day 27

We packed up, broke camp and were on the road by 8 a.m. It was a beautiful ride through the Bighorns over Powder River Pass (9,666 ft.) and into Buffalo, WY. Initially, I thought about giving Joe Tiller, retired Purdue Football Head Coach, a call and drop in and visit since he lives in near Buffalo. Not that I know Coach Tiller well – just that when he retired he gave an open invitation to Boiler fans to stop and visit. Since it was early on a Sunday morning, I used my better judgment and decided to keep on riding. We stopped in Gillette, WY for groceries and supplies and arrived in Sturgis around 1:30 p.m. I had selected a campground called Shady Valley, about 8 miles northeast of Sturgis. We checked in and found a nice campsite, set up camp and headed into town.

The actual start to the Sturgis Bike Week isn’t until tomorrow, but you can’t tell it by the number of bikes and people in town. It takes us almost ½ hour to drive through town. I think Graham used the term “overwhelming”.



We immediately found a Lucas Oil dealer that had set up shop and had our oil changed, then walked several blocks of the main drag to look at bikes, dealers wares, and shops of all kinds. In one pavilion they were going to judge the “World’s Best Bike”. There were some amazing bikes.







We returned to the camp for dinner – treating ourselves to T-bone steaks.



After cleaning up we headed back towards town to the famous Buffalo Chip. The Buffalo Chip is a huge campground/bar/entertainment center/concert venue/shopping complex just a couple of miles outside of Sturgis. Tonight the headliner for their concert was George Thoroughgood and the Destroyers. The opening act was Credence Clearwater Revisted. CCR had two original members of the four man Credence Clearwater Revival that was formed 41 years ago. They played all of their old favorites and Graham even recognized a lot of their songs. George Thoroughgood was good. I have seen many concerts in my younger days and I’m not sure that there is anybody that can rock like him from the start to the finish of a show. We went with Craig and Tonya Scott to Deer Creek 15+ year ago to see him in concert. You may recognize his songs, i.e. Bad to the Bone, One Bourbon – One Scotch – and One Beer, Get a Haircut and Get a Good Job. The concert area was like nothing I had ever seen. If you got there early enough, you could ride your bike right up to the front of the stage. There was a huge crowd. In between acts they had motocross stunt riders perform in an area in the middle of the main complex. It was hard to estimate, but there had to be 30,000 people there. Graham enjoyed the music but mentioned that it was worth it if only to see the place and the crowd. Here are some pictures from the Thoroughgood concert.







We crawled into our tent late to the rumbling of motorcycles entering the campground.

Day 26

This morning the Singleton family packed – Suz for St. Louis and Graham and me for a two day trip to Sturgis. We said our goodbyes and Graham and I were on the road by 9:30 a.m. After the road construction near and in Yellowstone, we decided on a more southern route – through Dubois, Riverton, Thermopolis and Worland. Kent and Brenda had warned us of road construction before Dubois – about 10 miles – but not as bad as some we have experienced. It was good to get back on the bikes. This was an easy day – only 280 miles,

We stopped at a rest area before Riverton for a quick sandwich and in Riverton for some basic grocery items for the night. We arrived at the home of Lyle and Shelly Spence around 4 p.m. They have a very nice 15 acre spread just south of Worland, WY. Lyle hasn’t changed much since our Federal Land Bank days (25 years ago), very gracious and a real joy to visit. I joined the Federal Land Bank right out of college and had several six week training locations – one of which was in Rushville, IN, where Lyle was the President of that Association. As a trainee, they always sent you to the best locations in the state and the Lyle’s operation was one of those. We caught up on some of the folks that we used to work with and he shared some of the history and unique features of the valley surrounded by the three mountain ranges. We were invited for dinner and accepted – glad we did! Shelly is an outstanding cook. Everything we had (except the strip steaks that Lyle grilled) were out of their garden – potatoes, squash, lettuce, cucumbers, beats, onions and probably a lot more. This was without a doubt the best meal we have had since we left home. They love their horses and have a nice barn and stable area. It was a very enjoyable evening – thanks Lyle and Shelly for a memorable time. Before we left, Lyle suggested a private campsite just before we reached the Big Horns in a town called Ten Sleep – about 30 miles away. We arrived there around 7:30 and set up camp at this very reasonable and nice campground – they even had wireless service.

Sorry, no pictures today. Tomorrow we head for Sturgis to settle in for the next 3 nights

Day 25

There were no scheduled plans today. Suz and I decided to ride out to the new Teton National Park Visitor’s Center – highly recommend it if you pass through. Later in the day Kent and Brenda jumped on Graham’s bike and we headed north to Jackson Lake. Unfortunately we could see rain up the valley and decided to take an alternate route. We rode up to Spring Creek Ranch area. This area has a spectacular view of the west valley and the Tetons. There is an exclusive hotel there called the Amangani. We wandered around, looking more than a little out of place.

Graham slept in and strolled downtown - doing some shopping. I failed to get this picture posted - this was taken yesterday during one of his stops on the downhill runs:



I have mentioned before that Kent and Brenda have been our social/transportation/recreational/dining advisors and coordinators. Suz, Graham and I would like to thank them for making this past 5 days so special. We experienced many different things that we would not have done if it wasn’t for them. We also enjoyed the rest of the family – especially hanging out with Collin and Amy. You may have wondered how Kent and Brenda shuttled us around during this week. They have a really nice new Chevy Suburban. But that wasn’t good enough for Kent – he went all out as shown:





Brooks,you will appreciate this 62 Chevy Suburban - same year as the pickup you had that lasted so long.

We went to the south of town for dinner at the 49 North, ate outside on the patio and had a great view of the Snow King Ski Area and enjoyed a good meal.

Graham and I will pack up tomorrow morning and head toward Sturgis. We will stop at Worland, WY and visit with a Lyle Spence and his wife. Lyle was the President of the Federal Land Bank in Rushville when I began working for the Land Bank out of college. He still is employed with Farm Credit. I have talked with Lyle and he has invited Graham and I to his house. More about Lyle in the next post.

Suz will fly out this afternoon and go back to St. Louis where she will baby-sit our grandson, Jack for a week while Jack’s babysitter takes a week vacation. Collin and Amy will start their drive back to Indiana this morning also.

For those of you that are contemplating taking advantage of our Washington, IN home while we are gone – don’t. My nephew, Justin Singleton is house sitting and you don’t want to mess with him – he is armed and dangerous. Justin works for me at the warehouse and has a lot of responsibility while I am gone. He is supervising the overall operations and is also taking care of the house and Cork (my lab) while I am on this trip. I have called several times back to the business and they have had some very stressful, busy times. I as so thankful that I have a great group of employees. Thanks Justin and the rest of the gang!

I am not sure what the next 4 days hold for making entries because of internet service. We plan on being in a campground tonight and then in Sturgis for Sun., Mon, and Tues. at one of the campgrounds close to town. I’ll do my best to keep you up on our travels.

These past few days in Jackson have been special and it was great that Suz could join us. Thanks again to the Kent and Brenda, Collin, Amy, Carla, Joe, Bill, Joann, Baron, Shelby and Bridget for including us in all their activities.