Milestones

[BikerGeek99]

Alas, under fair skies and moderate temperatures, we made it to the hotel.

Now, for you Hilton Honors folks, according to Sooze, the Hampton Inn in Bemidji has a ridiculously low point-number requirement for a free night. And this has to be the biggest, nicest, most scenic Hampton I've ever stayed in. Yeah, it's that nice.

As you head over to the bar / restaurant, there's even a nice opportunity for a goofy photo op.

A nice bar with local(-ish) brewed beers.

And, of course, food ****!

Sooze got the steak.

I got the chicken.

This is the setting right outside the restaurant.

Looking right off the dock.

Looking back the other way, at the back of the hotel.

And a self-taken shot of the Geeks with the lake in the background.

That's about it for today. Prolly more exciting than yesterday, eh?

For tomorrow … well, I'm not really sure. So far, I've always been able to get the Ultra started, so if that follows true, we'll head to the HD dealer in Fargo. If not, well, Bemidji IS a nice town and this IS a nice hotel....

Travel time for today: hell if I know. I'm not sure what time it even is, for sure. We left, uh, early, and got here, uh, sometime before sundown.

Miles ridden today: 478. (I looked at the Zumo to be sure.)

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Sorry about the starting problems. My ignition on the Feej went out in nowhere Nevada after NAFO, so I feel your worry. Good on you to remember we all got into motorcycling for the adventure. Go with the flow and keep the FJR assistance list handy.

Nice pictures. Wonder why they have a picture of Old Michael, Beemerdons, BustaNut Joker and me on the side of a massage parlor? though it is fitting.

 

[BwanaDik]

Great report, keep 'em coming!

Just curious, why the HD instead of the Feej? We just finished a 2000 mile, 6 day tour on Ms. Piggy but saw a ton of HD riders (RR to follow)

 

[BugR]

Duluth is the home to a certain company. I happen to wear, as my primary riding gear, their armored, water-proof leather suit. We found their HQ. I woulda liked to have stopped by during business hours, but oh, well. Hi, guys!

Warning, take your hand away from your wallet, deactivate all credit cards, walkrun, run away unless you want to show your wife that you have the will power of a 16 year old girl at a shoe sale.

Been there, done that, a seriously fun place to "visit".

Chris

 

[Bustanut joker]

Saw some interesting, uh, 'sculpture.' Don't ask me what it is. I got nothin' here.

Paul Bunyan used to roam that area once an awhile..

That's his *** Chair ya twit.

Good stuff so far you two! Though I'm begining to dislike ya some Andy..

:jester:

 

[yamafitter]

And, now for the ugly.
The ugly being my mood and my outlook.

Since I got the Ultra, at about the 700-mile mark, it started doing this weird thing. From time to time, it wouldn't start. Goes like this: turn on the ignition, fuel pump does it's thing, little light on the dash goes out which is the okey-dokey-to-start signal, hit the starter button and CLICK!

Sumbitch.

This just confirms my opinion that Harleys are full of demons that need an exorist rather than a mechanic.

Coming into Bemidji....

Where's the money shot of Paul & Babe??? That's the only reason to go to Bemidji that I can think of. Then again I don't have much of an imagination.

Let me show you what you missed...

I bet you're sorry now!!

 

[rushes]

Great report, keep 'em coming!
Just curious, why the HD instead of the Feej? We just finished a 2000 mile, 6 day tour on Ms. Piggy but saw a ton of HD riders (RR to follow)

Go back and read it agin....

Then I thought of a line I heard a while back: “a ride becomes an adventure when you're not sure if you'll make it back.”Made me laugh out loud. I guess it's an on-road adventure now.

'Bout time fer a BikersGeek update...

opcorn:

 

[BikerGeek99]

OK, guys, here we go. This 2-hour time change has me all screwed up.

Day 3: July 12, 2010.

Later last night, Sooze and I went down to the hotel bar for a 'lil night cap and watched the sun complete setting over the water of Lake Bemidji. It was nice.

Got up a little late this morning. It felt kinda nice to sleep in a little bit, and the weather was, once again, perfect. After a quick bite to eat at the hotel (and some, uh, 'interesting' people-watching), we packed up and headed out.

Of course, the bike didn't start. I did my thing (jiggle the starter cable), though, and she fired right up.

Here's a better shot of the hotel. Nice place!

After fueling up, we headed for a photo op.

The Geeks, Paul and Babe.

Paul.

Babe.

This dude is there as well, keeping an eye out.

After our photo op, we headed out of Bemidji, having the GPS take us to Fargo, ND, so we can go to Fargo HD for some TLC for the bike.

There really are lotsa lakes in Minnesota.

Guess which town this was taken in?

More of the same old, boring Minnesota scenery.

The valley where this house is located … they have to have one hell of a view, even for both sunset and sunrise.

And we made it to North Dakota! WOO-HOO!! State number … uh, wait a sec... I know this one. 6. Right?

Fargo has an interesting vibe to it.

And we made to Fargo HD in West Fargo, ND.

When we pulled in, there was a couple just getting ready to head out. They were from Toronto and are heading to the same general area we are. They seemed really cool. It'd be nice to see them again.

So, I went to the Service Department and talked with Mike, explaining our situation. Long story short: even though they were pretty much booked for the day, they worked us in. We had to wait around for 3 hours, which sounds like a long time but I'd rather spend 3 hours in a dealership knowing that the problem is gonna get fixed instead of sitting on the side of the road. We got to meet some other people as well.

All in all it was a positive experience, and I give kudos to Mike and all of the service team at Fargo HD. They replaced the battery cable going from the battery to the starter, but had to use one not made for my bike, so they called The MoCo to let 'em know that my bike doesn't have the factory-installed part on it so that I don't have warranty issues down the road.

Again, thanks, guys.

 

[BikerGeek99]

I have more from today, but I'm pooped, so it'll keep for the morning.

Stupid time changes...

 

[yamafitter]

Stupid time changes...

In the universe known as Toronto there is only one time zone. Everyone knows that once you go west of Mississauga you fall off the edge of the world.

My apologies for my earlier remarks on Paul & Babe. I see that you did indeed stop in for a visit. oster_oops:

 

[BikerGeek99]

SO, after our 3-hour Furlough in Fargo, we were off once again. After a quick fuel stop, we hit the slab.

2 good things about crossing North Dakota on the slab: 75 MpH speed limit, and stuff I've never seen before.

2 bad things about crossing North Dakota on the slab: First, at those speeds, fuel mileage goes to crap. Second, gas stations can be very far apart.

If you plan just a little for the 2 bad things, they are a non-issue, making the 2 good things all that much sweeter. Having heard stories about few-and-far-between fuel stops in these parts, we just gassed up every hunnert miles or so and all went well.

We've seen these before, but they're usually a pack animal. This one must have rabies or something since it's all by itself.

Proceeding west, we noticed that the scenery was gradually changing.

We wish this picture woulda come out better. It's the World's Largest Buffalo.

One thing I noticed: between the edge of the roadway and the shoreline of this little lake or pond or whatever, it's (1) downhill; (2) unencumbered with things like guard rails. How much would that suck to run off the side of the road at 80-ish MpH and wind up in a damn lake?

More to come...

 

[BikerGeek99]

Early in this report, I wrote about struggling to get my head outta my *** and into the trip. I had my 'moment' while crossing North Dakota.

On XM, Metallica's song “One” started playing. Being one of my favorite songs, I turned it up a little. Then a little more... Then a wee bit more....

I was on a motorcycle, riding across North Dakota, the weather was PEFECT, and I was jamming to a kick-*** song. Everything clicked. My nips got hard. Oh, yeah. Road Trip mode, baby!

Take a closer look at that picture above. When I saw that cloud, I laughed out loud. I think that maybe Tim “Two Wheel Nut” Bates is giving me a salute from above for getting my head outta my ***.

I wonder if buffalo used to play their buffalo games around here, maybe King Of The Hill over there or something.

This was kinda cool – to me, it looked like this protrusion was made out of sandstone.

The road surface varied from typical interstate to miles of brand-new, freshly-laid asphalt, to aspahlt that's next on the list to be re-surfaced.

Road art along the interestate.

We had stopped for fuel in Bismarck and were discussing our options for the evening. Sooze knew that there were a few of our preferred hotels there, but I wanted to push on as far as we could, since the weather was perfect (although the wind did pick up quite a bit) and we'd already lost 3 hours in Fargo, but could make 1 up with the time change forthcoming.

So, we pushed on to Dickenson, ND, winging it, looking for a hotel but no reservations. Well, this tactic has worked out OK for us in the past, and at times it's bit us in the ***. This time it bit us – there was one hotel in town that still had rooms, and they weren't cheap. But, we sucked it up and paid it, so we had a nice room at a nice hotel, in the 'new' wing of the Ramada.

Tonight's food ****.

After dinner, I sat down to start working on the ride report when I heard a clap of thunder. A super-cell was moving in. This is what it looked like from our hotel room window.

And then the fun REALLY began.... There were some REALLY close lightning strikes, very heavy rain, and pea-sized hail. We heard something that kinda sounded like a tornado siren. Nah... Can't be....

Coupla minutes later, we heard out in the hall a hotel employee telling us leave our rooms, take the stairs to the lobby, and there are 2 rooms there for a tornado shelter. Holy crap!!

So off we went, and we hung out in the lobby for a little while with a bunch of other guests until the warning passed. I did get some video both at the window of our room, and out of the front door of the hotel. The netbook doesn't do well with video, so I'll try to do something cool with it once we get home.

But, that was a first. Never been evacuated from our hotel room before. I call that adventure #2 for the day.

Next stop: Great Falls, Montana. MONTANA?!!? WOO-HOO!!!! THIS time, we already have a hotel reservation!

Hours traveled: crap if I know. Damn time changes and furloughs and whatnot.

Miles ridden today: 437.

 

[MEM]

This is GREAT, BG!!!

Keep on keepin' on :yahoo:

 

[steam4]

Yeah.....what she said!

:good:

Now if rushes would share some popcorn, I'm gonna lean back and wait for another update!

Dave

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

I'm having fun. Hurry up and post again, will ya?

 

[Joe]

Boy, that pizza sure looked good.

 

[dcarver]

Early in this report, I wrote about struggling to get my head outta my *** and into the trip. I had my 'moment' while crossing North Dakota.
On XM, Metallica's song “One” started playing. Being one of my favorite songs, I turned it up a little. Then a little more... Then a wee bit more....

I was on a motorcycle, riding across North Dakota, the weather was PEFECT, and I was jamming to a kick-*** song. Everything clicked. My nips got hard. Oh, yeah. Road Trip mode, baby!

Take a closer look at that picture above. When I saw that cloud, I laughed out loud. I think that maybe Tim “Two Wheel Nut” Bates is giving me a salute from above for getting my head outta my ***.

Isn't this EXACTLY why we leave the comfort and relative safety of our homes? To have moments, down and up? To see things not seen before, live things not lived before? Man oh man, you're making my *** itch for another big CBA ride. BTW - one helluva nice looking skooter you have there. Easy-peasy fix too. Try that on your Feejer! Harley's Rock!

 

[gregory]

BG & MRS,

Looks like you guys are having a great time, thanks for taking the time to take us with you (I know how hard it is to update the RR when your on the road). Awesome ride, awesome pics, and awesome RR. Agree with Dcarver, time to start planning the next ride.

New PR2's Should be here tomorrow, should be on the feej soon after. Let me know when you pass through Redding. Would love to ride some with you guys.

Shiny side up guys

Greg

 

[BikerGeek99]

New PR2's Should be here tomorrow, should be on the feej soon after. Let me know when you pass through Redding. Would love to ride some with you guys.

:drinks:

 

[BikerGeek99]

Day 4: July 13, 2010.

A Day Of Contrasts.

I think you guys are gonna like the stuff from today. Be aware – plenty 'O pics today.

The morning broke clear, cool, and sunny in Dickenson, ND. Sooze and I were originally planning on being up bright and early, but, surprise surprise, we were up early but lolly-gagged around and didn't get on the road quite as early as we'd hoped. This would work to our advantage, as you will see.

This is a statue at the entrance to our hotel, taken as we departed.

View From The Cockpit. If you look just under the GPS, that's the thermometer. It's reading right about 60 degrees, and we're humming right along.

As we headed west on the slab, we started to see a change in scenery.

I saw signs for a rest area / scenic view. BUSHAW! Hell, yes! We pulled off (and I rode over my first cattle grate) and were treated to some awesome views at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota.

In case you're not getting the idea, yet...

We're in the middle. The red trike with the trailer was from Wisconsin. We chatted with them for a bit. The bike on the right looked to be ridden by some bike club guy and his significant other. They weren't too chatty.

Sooze.

Yours truly.

Whattaya know? We're in the Badlands! When I was a kid, we took a trip in the RV through the Badlands. I remember my dad pulling the RV over so the dog could pee. Every now and then we still talk about how “Trinka <that was the dog's name> peed in the Badlands and left her mark!” Aren't you glad you know that?

Sooze again.

More Badlands.

So, if ya haven't gotten the idear yet, the area is amazing.

Now, for some reason, Sooze likes to take her camera to the ladies room with her, and this is twice now in this trip, she has come out with a picture worth posting.

The Geeks in the Badlands. This is one of those pictures taken by putting my point 'n shoot on a tri-pod and setting the timer to 10 seconds.

This is the observation area where we took the above picture. Note there is nobody there right now.

Remember when I said that it was fortunate that we lolly-gagged? If we woulda been on the road early, we would have missed the Information thingy being open. We had to wait 2 minutes. Really. 2 minutes.

This is inside.

As well as various trash & trinkets, park information, and books about how not to get eaten by wild animals. If we'd been on the road EARLY-early, we woulda missed the shop being open and Sooze loves postcards, which she loaded up on.

While we were in the trash 'N trinkets shop, I noticed that the observation area which was just minutes before empty, was now overrun with by a large giggling gaggle of hormonal, “ Oh … My … Gawd” teenie-boppers. Thankfully, we were able to maneuver our way through their giggling gaggle (did damn near get trampled by a fat, slow one, though – be careful out there!), got on the bike and made our escape, continuing west. If we woulda been on the road EARLY-early, we would been cut off from the view by their giggling gaggle.

Coupla pics of the bike from this stop.

Lots more pics to come. The last coupla hours of riding today damn near knocked my **** in the dirt (literally and figuratively), so I'm gonna go do a belly flop in the hot tub.

More later...