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Trip to far away

52K views 480 replies 31 participants last post by  AZgl1800 
#1 ·
The day has come to pack up and go. The bike has all the fluids changed recently,the brake recall was done and shes shiny and eager to roll. For this trip I have purchased a cooler rack, highway pegs and a "spot me" device. which I practiced using a bit yesterday. Here is the address:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0PfoNWms612Ninp2lTsZpdJebV45mfeLf

The trip will take us very slowly thru PA, Amish country towards Pittsburgh and North to Detroit where my wife's sister lives. We will stay with them for two days and then head to Upper Peninsula and then to Wisconsin. We will be visiting South Dakota , Wyoming and many other good riding states. The ride will last about a month and ending up at the house in Fl. I will try to post every day with just one or two pics which I promise wont be boring. We are looking to meet as many members of the forum as possible.This ride coincide with a NASSIR meeting but unfortunately we will be out of the area by then. However we could meet up with riders that attend the meeting from Western states. Get your coffee in the AM and ask yourself ; "where the hell is Pete now" By the end of the trip We'll be your friends that you haven't met yet.

:wink2:
 
#4 ·
Thank you guys.Not much to report.We left NJ under threats of bad weather but managed to get out of that system without much rain. 1/3 of the trip was completed and we don't want to arrive at our host place before Thursday afternoon. The mission director found a nice hotel on Expedia but the 3.1 miles was actually 31 miles. What's another30 miles on a Goldwing.
The cruise control works great.I congratulate myself for the/ highway pegs and THANK YOU to the guy that instructed me to/ just fill up the hydraulic pump. My wife loves the ride and said its a big difference. We ride on 15 setting[emoji2]



Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
Never say never. I took the heating jackets for the hell of it
with the idea that we use them as wind breaker when on foot.
Letizia said I should take the controllers just in case. When we left Altoona it was 60F so the wife put the heating jacket under the mesh one. Half an hour later the temp droped to 58 F. I stopped again to plug the controller in.(we just had t shirts and mesh jackets on)
It was a good ride thru the PA hills.Later we took the fast ride thru Ohio Tpk. Just finished dinner at a Mexican place with huge margarita and " coronita" ]




I'm trying to make the spot change the transmitting intervals to 30 mins but my laptop wont upload the program.Later

Here is the address:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/f...ZpdJebV45mfeLf
 

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#9 ·
Keep the report fresh with pictures! Enjoy the trip and ride safe.

What works for us: I am the pilot. She is the navigator and entertainment coordinator. That is kinda hard for her because she doesn't like to read maps, but hey.... I can help with that.

Nice color!
 
#12 ·
On your way to the UP, if you have time, I would suggest going up the western coast of MI, the tunnel of trees is pretty and then there is Leggs Café. They serve "traditional" European food? or something like that. Food was good, but after I san a dessert I wished I had skipped the meal and just gat a dessert.


Have a good trip.


Bob
 
#14 · (Edited by Moderator)
Today we left the hotel as late as we could because Ritas house was only 2 hrs away and she got home at 5 . Ohio has beautiful farms one after another for miles and miles.We arrived to Grosse Pointe Farms,a nice community by the St Claire Lake.WOW the sun sets at 9.15 PM here.
Tomorrow no bike ride for us so no comments.Catch you later.


 

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#15 · (Edited by Moderator)
I think I managed to make spot transmit every 30 min after a trip to apple store.My computer needed new operating system to be able to download spot updater. We shall see. Good weather predicted for the next few days. Tomorrow we leave Detroit area for Northern MI. I hope traffic won't be bad due to holiday weekend.

My wife Letizia with her sister Rita


 

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#17 ·
We had breakfast while on Expedia trying to book a hotel next to Mackinaw City.NONE AVAILABLE. Bad idea to travel during a long holiday weekend.Finally Lety booked one in West Branch , about 130 miles from the bridge. Traffic on Rt 75 was bumper to bumper for more then an hour. It looks like every Tom and Jerry was going to UP in a camper pulling a boat or trailer behind. The good part is that the weather couldnt have been any better.
Upon arrival, the hotel parking lot was full to the max. and people were coming out of the lobby expressing their frustration .
While I was preparing to unpack the wife came out with bad news, Expedia seriously overbooked this hotel. Fortunately within walking distance there was the Super 8 and the lady at the desk gave the "last available" room to a person just before me. Then she managed to give me "the last available room"
Then after me someone else got.....you got the idea.Im very pleased with this motel, clean large rooms with king size bad and $50.00 cheaper then the other place( that was to be $150.00) Did I mention not a good idea to travel during holiday weekends.
Today I have booked an hotel 400 miles away in Green Bay Wi.
Not much to add , Lety and I went to dinner to a place about 3 miles away. Beautiful rolling hills and back roads to this place in the middle of nowhere. In the way back I was mesmerized about the time being 8:45 and the sun was still45 minutes from setting. Sorry, left my cell at hotel so no pics .
Now is 10;07 and still can read a newspaper outside. Im looking forward at tomorrow for good weather,lots of back roads rides and scenic views.
 
#18 ·
Where the heck do I start. I have a lot to say and not much time to do it.We started from West Branch toward the Mackinaw Bridge. What an wonderful ride. The temperature was in the lower 60 for a long time then as we were working our way North it went to mid 70 s.We almost owned that 4 lane highway as there were very few cars on it. Beautiful scenery. I locked into some Michigan station and listen to 80s rock for the next 250 miles around the lake.
As soon as we crossed over we took a 2 lane road running parallel with the lake . There were quite a few bikers on it going both directions. We ended up In Green Bay WI in a great hotel that we paid only $65 for the night.Unbelievable. Someone told me that one of my head light was out so I bought 2 at Autozone and replaced them here in the parking lot. Thank God for youtube. We rode 400 miles for the day but we were done having fun at 300 miles. Weather continues to be good as we are heading west.
 
#20 · (Edited by Moderator)
Another great riding day. For a long time after leaving Green Bay area we were riding on 2 lane country roads.

Dairy farms to the right and to left. It was fun as we rode to a town preparing for parade. There were people sitting on chairs on both side of the road. We were on of the last vehicle allowed thru.I told Lety the parade is for us. lol. In one of the picture you can see the proud farmer heading to town to show of his machine. There quite a few of them but managed to get the last few ones. On our ride over Mississippi we decided to go visit a state park with trails for hiking. When we got to it the road was gravel. Pretty firm at first but was getting worse and worse. Pickup trucks were riding fast on the narrow road making a lot of dust. We turned around and very happy when I was back on black top.

Expedia screwed up again and got two rooms instead of one. I was one the phone for almost an hour with them. They finally canceled a room and gave me an additional $50.00 credit for my trouble.

I went to a liquor store and bought a bottle of wine so we can celebrate the 4 th.
( the pics were taken today but apparently my day is set wrong in the camera)

Happy Independence Day Everyone!




 

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#21 ·
that is much nicer to have SPOT tracking at 30 minutes.... lets us see much more of the route on a single page.

I just might have to do that with my SPOT.... but, my primary reason for SPOT in the first place, is insurance that someone will know where I am, and IF the bike is still moving....

gonna have to think on that.

I kind of like to be able to see the Fuel Stops that I make, and I don't want to tickle the Start of Day, or the End of Day button to do that....

but, I just might start doing that, the Start of Day button can be relabeled:

Start of Day, or Fuel Stop....

but, I have to remember to set it back to Tracking each time I do that.
and I have been known to forget that.
 
#23 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have a few friends of mine watching our progress so some comments are aimed at them.
Riding today was not easy or fun. Its called "riding the slab". You just go on the highway and gun it till you need to pee or the bike needs gas. Not much to see. Most of the ride thru Minnesota the roads were in one of the three categories: very new(great riding), under reconstruction ( one lane for miles and miles, with dust and construction equipment) and old and cracked up. The third kind was taking a toll in our comfort. The cracks were perpendicular across the road 15 -20 Ft apart. Then every 200 ft there was a big one that made me stand on the floor boards every time to ease the ride over it. Then I got tired and just rode over it without getting up.





Then the wind. It was blowing very strongly from the South ( my left)with periods of frequent gusts.
It really was fun for awhile as the traffic was light. Bike was tilting to the left maybe as much as 10-15 degrees so it would stay on course. It was very noisy even thou we use ear plugs. As we approached S Dakota the winds diminished to nothing and soon after they started from the North more and more intense. I assume we travelled thru a giant rotating system.

The next picture I find interesting. I had to take two pics or the "thing" wouldn't fit. Guess what it is without looking at the last picture.








Well if you are Tatanka from Minnesota you probably know. Its amazing the size of this things yet they dont look that tall up there. Yep, Dr Wasek you know it too cause you travelled this way.

There are literally thousands of wind generators in Minnesota. And they put them too close to the road and the wind they generate aggravates bikers. Lol


 

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#24 ·
Ah, road construction in Minnesota. It is really incredible how many roads they can tear up at one time. Something I get to deal with pretty regular. Even when they aren't working on the roads I use I get to deal with the extra traffic that gets pushed to my routes because of the other roads they have tore up.


Did you come through MN on 94? If you did as you went through St. Paul and towards Minneapolis you were within 2 miles of my house. The construction on 94 leads to some narrow lanes.


Sounds like you are having a good trip. Hope the weather hold up for you, little rough this evening hope you were off the road before it hit.


Bob
 
#25 · (Edited by Moderator)
Today we started on the right foot again.
The temp was a little on the chilly side in the AM but sunny.
The roads were in excellent condition and my radio was playing country music for awhile.
As commercial they were advertising cows,bulls and steer for sale.

Then they were talking about free hay by the river with opening mowing day. If someone does it before they get fined. Different world.

Last night I was on the phone with a friend of mine and he was disappointed with lack of picture. He said "post anything, water, hills, cows etc but not the road itself".

Here you go Stefan just for you




As soon as we enter S Dakota the scene has changed from farms to rolling hills without any trees. About an hour later the riding was still good but the winds started to pick up.

We were heading towards The Badlands National Park.

To me this should be on anyone's list that is in the area. Very impressive. Google it for more info.




















An hour later we arrived at Rushmore National Monument.
Entrance free,parking $11.00





In the way to Rapid City there was a tornado watch in the area. I looked all over but I didn't see any watch.

A domani!
 

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#27 · (Edited by Moderator)
It was very windy with dark clouds last night but no rain.We woke up today to clear skies but the temps were at 52 F.We rode for awhile in the hope that it will get warmer but ended up donning another jacket This is what it looked like

27A


Then a bit later it became like this


27B



It started to rain but for a very short period of time but it still was cold , We put 400 miles today and arrived in Powell where we will be staying for a few days. By far it was the best ride of the trip running for miles and miles between steep mountains


27C



As we exited the mountains(Rt 16) we rode great distances thru what seemed like planet Mars. I took pictures of it but they do not show "the whole picture" so I didnt post it. See ya tomorrow
 

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