Day Six

Pat fixed us a great send off breakfast and we reluctantly departed the cabin around 9 a.m. We posed as Pat took this picture as we left.



We stopped in Gunnison for groceries and ice (a daily necessity) and found out the grocery's deli had wireless service. While Graham packed the cooler and trailer with our groceries, I was able to download the postings for the past 3 days.

The entire day we had fantastic riding. It began by riding along the Blue Mesa and then on the North Rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison to the towns of Crawford and Hotchkiss. This route was a little out of our way but the scenery was spectacular! We continued on through Delta and down to Montrose where we stopped in to visit J.D. and Rosie Herman, good friends of Brooks. I became acquainted with J.D. and Rosie many years ago. They owned and operated the Boat House in Taylor Park. We could have stayed and talked for hours but we still had 4 hours of riding to get to Moab, UT. We continued south out of Montrose to Ridgeway and over Dallas Divide, to Naturita and through the La Sal Mountains into Utah. We arrived in Moab at 6:00 p.m. after covering 350 miles and immediately drove to a camp site on the Colorado River. This is our first night camping and it was a unique experience. It was HOT when we arrived and sat up tent. The campsite is in a beautiful canyon with the Colorado River just a few feet from our campsite - but no running water or electricity. We were roughing it on this night – primitive camping.

Dinner on the Grill



We took a splash bath, fixed supper on the grill and went to bed early because the tent was the only safe haven from the mosquitoes. For dinner we had grilled brook trout that we brought from Taylor Park, a can of pork and beans and canned fruit, an excellent meal. There wasn't cell phone coverage in the canyon, so we rode into town and made calls and packed the cooler with ice. This should be an interesting night for sleeping.

Day Three, Four and Five

Sorry about the delay in posting. Wireless service was not available until Sunday.

Day three was another long day in the saddle. It began with a 6:30 a.m. start. We knew we were in for another hot day of riding because the weather report was for 90’s with a south wind. Our ride took us through Garden City, Kansas, La Junta, Co., Pueblo, Canon City, Salida, Gunnison and to our destination at Taylor Park.

Leaving Dodge City reminded me of an incident that occurred 32 years ago. Brother, Jay and his friend Brian Meeks (just graduated from high school) and I (just graduated from Purdue) were returning from a western state vacation driving our brother, Sam’s brand new Grand Torino Elite when we had a flat tire sometime after midnight between Garden City and Dodge City. Fortunately we had a spare. Unfortunately we only drove a few miles before we had another blowout. A long story made short – I hitch hiked into Dodge City and found someone to open up the tire store and sell me two new tires and drive me back to the car. The story also involved two underage passengers with a trunk load of Coors beer and a State Trooper that stopped to check on the disabled vehicle. Thankfully, we were allowed to continue without further incident. Now you know why I would remember this stretch of highway.

We made a stop in Pueblo to visit a classmate and friend of our next door neighbor, Sonny Myers. Last week while I was working on the bikes preparing for our trip, Sonny stopped by to visit. When he learned of our route, he mentioned that Calvin Johnson and his wife, Janie lived in Pueblo and that we ought to drop in and say hello. Sonny gave me his address and I immediately plugged it into my GPS. As we passed through Pueblo we were in need of a break so unannounced we dropped in on the Johnson’s. We had a very enjoyable visit and they were very gracious to take into their home a couple of rough looking bikers.

Pueblo is at the eastern slope of the Rockies, so the next 4 ½ hours of riding were a welcome change of pace – we even stopped and put on our jackets for the ride over Monarch Pass. We stopped and took this picture for folks back home at Maysville Enterprises.



Maysville, CO. is about the same size as Maysville, IN except no GPC and no Maysville Enterprises (that we could find).

The ride up the river canyon from Almont to Taylor Park is special on a motorcycle. The weather was perfect and there was practically no traffic. We arrived at Cousin, Brooks’ cabin at 5:15 Mountain time and were greeted by Brooks, Pat Miller and their friends Tony and Phillip DeLarosa. Brooks had over 200 people at his cabin the night before for his annual Taylor Park Hog Roast. Tony and Phillip were the only leftovers from the night before. Pat (Brooks’ significant other} will be here the length of our stay. Pat is a special person and we always enjoy her company.

After unpacking, getting the dirt and grime off, fed and watered – I have to admit that I was spent. Not sure what the rest of the clan did, but I went to bed. No riding for awhile as we enjoy the Rockies, some fishing and helping Brooks on projects around the cabin. All in all, a safe, long and tiring day. More on Taylor Park and the cabin in the next posting.




Day four was a relaxing day in Taylor Park. The weather was perfect for this time of the year. Today the low was 35 degrees and the high was in the upper 70’s. The cabin is at 9500 ft. elevation, so these temps are normal for the short summer months. Several of you that are following this blog are familiar with Taylor Park and as Brooks calls it – “The Shack”. Our family has been vacationing here since the mid 70’s. Brooks is always so generous and welcoming. Literally hundreds of family and friends from the Freelandville/Knox County, IN area have visited the cabin and have been treated to Brooks’ hospitality. He is a special person - and not just because he is a cousin – I can honestly say he is the most fun, caring and giving person I know. This is a picture of Brooks, Pat, Graham and I in front of the cabin, and the view looking out the picture windows.






Brooks and I spent most of the day running errands and working on projects so he can resume building his rock wall in front of the cabin. This has been a multi-year project that by the time it is finished will rival the work of the Egyptian pyramids. Later in the day I went fishing for brook trout in the beaver ponds above Tincup but equipment malfunction and a sudden thunder storm kept me from catching dinner. Graham lounged around most of the day and caught up on his rest. No riding today.




Day five began with the weekly, Saturday morning cleaning of the cabin. It doesn’t take too long if everyone pitches in. This was a fishing morning for me. The pressure was on because we were planning a fish fry for the evening meal. I fished one of my favorite spots that have several beaver ponds (Kenny Roberts, Brother Jay, Craig King, Justin Singleton and probably many others know exactly where I’m talking about. The Brook trout made me work hard but within 2 hours I had my limit. This picture is for my good friend and fishing buddy back home – Kenny Roberts – SON!!!!



Graham decided to ride his bike to Crested Butte to spend most of the day. Crested Butte was an old mining town that has turned into a very nice ski resort in the winter and in the summer is a tourist town full of a lot of ski bums and mountain bike riders trying to make ends meet until winter rolls around. Graham says it is one of his favorite towns to visit. When Graham returned we cleaned the bikes and trailer and prepped them for tomorrow’s departure. Dinner was a feast – creek fried taters, trout on the grill, cornbread and watermelon. The fish always taste better when you catch them.

Brooks helped me map out an alternate more scenic route to Moab, Utah. He was also helpful in suggesting a camping spot just outside Moab. Our ride tomorrow will be 7 hours and will cover approximately 324 miles through some of the most scenic country that Colorado has to offer. So far we have ridden 1250 miles (1/6 of the trip completed).
It has been a great two days at Taylor Park. Thanks, Brooks and Pat for making our stay so enjoyable. No doubt it will be one of the highlights of the trip.

Day Two

Day 2 began early, as we left Tara, Jess and Jack’s at 6:00 a.m. We knew a long day was ahead of us if we were to make it to Dodge City, Kansas. Highway 50 is a mixture of combined Interstate (Southwest of St. Louis, around Kansas City and Southwest of Kansas City), four lanes and two lanes. We started out with jackets during the morning hours but it didn’t take long to heat up. The riding through Missouri was good. The riding through Kansas wasn’t. I have always said that the best time to travel through Kansas is at night when it is cool and you don’t have to be bored with the scenery. The temperature was bearable, but lower 90’s coupled with 20-30 mph head/cross wind made the riding difficult. We stopped for a late breakfast in Sedalia, MO. An interesting fact about Sedalia – in 1974, I attended the Ozark Mountain Music Festival with some high school and college friends. It was a festival similar to Woodstock, held at the State Fair Grounds. It was estimated that as many as 200,000 attended. The bands I remember were Bachman Turner Overdrive, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker Band, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Eagles, Joe Walsh., etc. The reason I mention this is that I asked our waitress if she remembered the festival and she said the city is currently celebrating the 35th anniversary. If interested further you might Google and find out more. We stopped in Walton, Kansas for a break and sandwich. This picture is of Graham “taking a break”.



We arrived hot and tired in Dodge City, Kansas after 11 hours on the road and covering 500 miles. Originally, we planned on camping. But, considering the day and the lack of camping sites, we opted for the Super 8. We’re planning on a good night rest and an early start with the hope of making it to Cousin, Brooks Harting’s cabin in Taylor Park, CO. I’m not sure of the ability to post while in the mountains – so it may be a couple of days before I post. Remember – ride safe and so will we.

Day One

We appropriately began the trip by meeting our Pastor, Rev. Lennie Lawrence at the church for the blessing of the bikes and bikers. Thanks Rev. Lennie! Susie joined us and took some pictures and we said our good byes and we were off on our 31 day 7,500 +/- trip. A note of thanks to the crew back at Maysville Enterprises. Not too many business owners would be comfortable leaving for 30 days. I’m fortunate that I have really good employees and they treat the business as if it is theirs. Thanks to Justin, Sherrie, Al, Dan, Kenny, Ross, Robert and Darrell.







The trip to St. Louis was non eventful – just what we needed for our first day. We had good weather – mostly sunny and temps in the mid 80’s. We enjoyed a great dinner and visit with Tara, Jess and Jack. No camping on this night. Graham had the couch and I took the floor. An early start is planned for tomorrow – with the hope that we will get to either Hutchinson or may be even Dodge City, Kansas. It might be a couple of days until the next posting. Ride safe and so will we.

Graham and I left from Washington early Thursday morning for a 4 day ride in preparation for the “big” ride in two weeks. We ventured through Southern Illinois – down Hwy 1 to Cave In Rock and crossed the ferry into Kentucky. Our ride took us through Western Kentucky and Tennessee to Southaven, Mississippi, just south of Memphis. After 8 hours on the bikes – riding in sunny 95 degree weather, we arrived at the home of Walt Carnahan and family. Many of you from the Washington, IN area will remember Walt. He practiced medicine in Washington for several years. He is a good general practitioner. We have stayed in contact over the years and remain good friends. His son, Aaron, and Graham are the same age and were buddies when younger. Aaron will be leaving on Sunday, June 28, for his West Point appointment. Kate, his daughter, just graduated from Ole Miss and has an elementary teaching job in Southaven. Walt’s wife, Tammy, is a Nurse Practitioner and they work together in the clinic. Tammy has two sons, Grant and Tate. We enjoyed a dinner out with the whole family at a local bar-b-que restaurant. Just an observation – good friends are always good friends. It is that way every time Walt and I get together, we pick up right where we left off. Graham and Aaron really enjoyed each other’s company and took in the new Transformer movie, while Walt, Tammy and I did some catching up. It was also good to visit with Melanie, Walt’s former wife. She joined us for dinner and as a special treat, she made me a Key Lime pie. We had planned to camp in the back yard and set up our tent and shelter, but the air conditioned, carpeted living room floor was much more inviting. Walt and Tammy treated us to breakfast the next morning and after getting supplies for the next leg of the trip, we were off to Arkansas.

Another long hot day! The first two hours of riding was straight and flat, rice and cotton fields for miles and miles. The balance of the trip was in the Ozark hills – great motorcycle riding. We stopped often for drink and shade. The temperature was in the upper 90’s and sunny. We arrived late afternoon at Prairie Creek Marina on Beaver Lake and set up camp. The main reason for traveling to Northwest Arkansas was to visit with Tony Hise, a high school classmate. Graham and I met with Tony, Tim (Tony’s brother) and Cathy (Tim’s wife) for dinner. There were a lot of stories exchanged. Tim and Cathy were classmates of Susie. Tony and Tim gave Graham a chance to ask any question he wanted about me during high school/college years and they would truthfully???? answer. Thank goodness he didn’t ask. It had to be 90 degrees at 10:00 p.m. when we finally went down for bed. We sweat ourselves to sleep.

We were up moving early – trying to beat the forecasted heat, as we traveled from NW Arkansas to Jess and Tara’s place near St. Louis. Graham had a real scare. Driving on a hilly, curvy road, he rounded a curve to find a dog in the oncoming lane and a car in the middle of the road trying to avoid the dog. The only choice he had was to take the ditch. I’m not sure how he kept from crashing, but he rode the bike through a ditch and along a steep embankment until he couldn’t keep it upright any longer. The bike fell over half way down the embankment on the downhill side. By the time I realized he wasn’t behind me any more and turned around, a truck had stopped to help. We were able to upright the bike and with the help of some other good Samaritans, walked the bike up to the road. Fortunately, Graham was not hurt and the only damage to the bike was a couple of small dents in the exhaust. Considering the circumstances, we felt very blessed. After a stop at the Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, MO, to get some camping supplies that we needed, we headed straight to St. Louis. We now know how to prepare ourselves for riding in hot weather. The next 3 hours of interstate riding in 100 degree temps were brutal. A shower and rest at Jess and Tara’s were wonderful. Graham and I watched Jack while Tara and Jess went out to dinner. Here is a picture of my Grandson, Jack. If he could talk, I know what he would say - "some day this will be my ride!"


Susie drove from Washington to meet us for the Cardinals – Twins game. The weather changed and we had a very pleasant, breezy day for the game. Unfortunately the Cardinals lost. This was our fourth game this year and we have yet to see the Cardinals win.

Overall it was a great trip for preparing for the “big” ride – covering 1250 miles, visiting friends and family and experiencing many different riding conditions. I failed to mention that I did purchase a GPS designed for motorcycles. It was great and will be a valuable asset for the trip. The next entry will be on July 7 – the first day of our trip. Until then – ride safe and so will we

A Graham Update

Graham had surgery on Monday, May 11. Everything went well and he is home recuperating. He will be wearing a brace for 4 weeks and then will start rehab. His doctor hasn't verified this yet but I'm sure that motorcycle riding will be included in his rehab exercises - very therapeutic. He is already bored sitting around the house and watching movies. Right now we are still on schedule to leave on or around July 7.

May Update

Spring has finally arrived! There is not much to report ….except…. we may have to adjust our trip schedule. Graham has had difficulty with his right shoulder coming out of place. Until recently, he has been able to put it back in place by himself. Three trips in 72 hours to the emergency room to have his dislocated shoulder put back in place has finally convinced him that surgery is needed. On May 11 he will have a routine arthroscopic surgery at Methodist Sports Center in Carmel. He will wear a brace for 4 weeks and undergo therapy. Obviously, he won’t be riding his Harley during this time.

Graham’s surgery and rehab schedule will determine our departure date. We’re fortunate that we have some flexibility. If we have to, we will reverse our route so that we can hit Sturgis and/or meet up with Susie and friends in the Jackson Hole, WY area.

Graham has been riding his Deluxe whenever he gets the opportunity. He had a close call last week. As he was turning off the highway onto a side road, an elderly lady, who didn’t see him, pulled out and clipped the rear of his bike. Fortunately, all that was damaged was a tail light lens and a small scratch on the rear fender. A split second earlier and he would have taken a hit in the side.

The following picture of him was taken recently on one of our nice spring days.



It will be a busy May. Graham will be going to the prom. Surgery. There are several “projects” around the house that need to be done in preparation for Graham’s graduation (my back willing). We’ll be making a couple of trips to St. Louis to see Tara, Jess and Jackson and take in a couple of Cardinal games. Graham’s high school graduation is Sat., May 31. We are still planning a couple of test rides but they will have to wait until his shoulder is healed. Until then, ride safe and we will do the same.