I love this miserable hobby!

The comfy time for riding is quickly passing for this year. Of course I don't know how much more riding I will get before next summer, but so far this year I have around 20,000 miles on my NT1100.

The Honda has run like a champ, I've not had any problems at all. However Mother Nature has not been so easy to get along with and in recent months and during a particularly nasty storm on the last ride I penned these thoughts;

I love this miserable hobby

Ok so the title is a little harsh, after all the first day of this trip was as close to perfect as you can get; sunshine, excellent roads, the uncrowded byways one can expect after school starts and the numbers of families on vacation drops dramatically.  The entire day  I thought:

“I love this wonderful hobby – it brings me joy and happiness!”

So yes, the first day was pleasant beyond belief.

The second day….started out as riding days often do, a bit chilly. But no worries – it really wasn’t that bad as I loaded my bike. I knew it would be much colder at highway speeds but hey…the Sun was coming up and in a short time the ‘chilly ride’ would go to ‘not bad riding’ which in turn would change to ‘just right riding’ and then after Mr. Sun bore down with full power it would then go to ‘man its hot today!’

So, being positive that I had the day’s weather figured out (eye roll) I set off….underdressed for the moment but fully confident (another eye roll) that El Sol would soon make an appearance  (brrrrrrrrrrrr) C’mon Sol…. And he did show himself….albeit briefly, then he promptly hid behind a dark grey cloud…a Very dark grey cloud. Ohhhh great...

Which kept the temperature pretty much the same (brrrrrrrr) and as I started to shiver the thought came to my mind:

‘I love this miserable hobby – it brings me joy and happiness!’

At somepoint numerous miles later the rain graced me with its presence. It was a middlin storm, a mild wind and a sprinkling rain that was not an issue.  The storm stopped briefly as I approached a pull off where I could have swapped out my gear for some warmer, waterproof riding gear. But as above mentioned. the rain and El Sol conspired to make me think the weather was improving so I passed the pull off thinking the storm was blowing itself out, haha….the joke was on me! Less than a mile past the pull out the rain started pouring down, and I mean POURING! 

And I thought

‘I love this miserable hobby – it brings me joy and happiness!’

Aaaand then several miles later – the wind started. ‘They called the wind Mariah’….I called the wind something entirely different! Mile after mile, on and on it blew. My bike leaning hard into the exhausting blow on a rain-soaked road (wet roads and leaning into a wind - not my favorite riding conditions) Speaking of the bike, it handled the wind just fine, the rider on the other hand (me), well my heart was pounding from the gusts that snuck up on the bike and rider causing uncertainty about where in the lane the bike would be at any given moment.

And I thought;

‘I love this miserable hobby – it brings me joy and happiness!

No really! I DO LOVE this hobby!

Because many miles and several hours later, unfortunately I had to stop my trusty bike and dismount for the night.

And I thought – ‘I love this hobby – I can’t wait until tomorrow, so I can ride again!’

 

 

Written -Oct 2026 sometime during an 8400 mile ride 

Thanks for reading! :)

WhaDaRide!

Time for another ride. The group we belong to "Temple Riders Association" are going on a ride to Yellowstone NP and then over BearTooth Pass.... sounds like good fun, Beverly and I join them.

Then after the Park and Beartooth, I leave the group and head east. My goal on this ride is the last 5 National Park Stamps in CONUS and more importantly visits with family and friends.

So I get stamps from NPs in Minnesota, and Michigan - Voyagers NP and Isle Royale NP, then drop into Missouri to visit son Jacob and family. It was a typical visit, which means it was too short, and then I was on my way to pick up two more parks; Indiana Dunes NP and Cuyahoga NP - Indiana and Ohio.

Then a stop at another son Fenton and family. Again, a super visit, to short and then I'm heading north to get Acadia NP in Maine....the Last Stamp in the CONUS!

Then south to Fenton's again - its hard to leave the first time so I visit twice to make leaving doubly hard!  LOL and it is - and just possibly this is why, I find a note left for me by my grand-daughter...talk about sweet!!

(The grand kids call me 'Poppy')

So farther south to Tennessee I ride to visit friend Sean, Kris, and daughter Nora (actually also son Jack but he is currently serving in the Army)

Another excellent visit (Kris made Lasagna especially for me) ((awwwwwwww what a life!))

I depart Tenn pointed (loosely) for home. When I see this cut out I couldn't resist....

Super pic eh?

Another stop at Jacob's to watch the grand kids games....and to keep from riding in the dark I spend a night at this Mom and Pop motel.

I'm pretty sure when they refer to a 'honey hole' they are talking about good places to find 'morel' mushrooms....I think. :) 

I decide I need to reward myself for all this miles and miles of riding I've done so far....Ohhhh the misery of 'having' to get up and ride each day.....  ;)

Then it is time to head home for real.

West from Mizzou I take US 36 across Kansas which takes me past Lebanon, Kansas.

I have been near Lebanon before but never actually visited. And what is special about Lebanon? Well, they claim to be smack dab in the center of the 'lower 48'.

And...they have very friendly people there. I met several in my short time at the visitor center.  If I visit again I'll be certain to spend more time there.

Also in Kansas, a stop at the Pony Express museum and sights in Marysville - Very worth while!

And my last day in Kansas I wake up to some pea soup! I decided to not wait for it to clear and ended up riding in 80+ miles of sort of bad to very bad visibility.  My fault for starting out in it. Alls well that ends well.

And a few other pics taken along the way

Notice the train tracks reflecting the sun set.

I know I shouldn't drink and drive....but I couldn't resist this one....

A fast and not very detailed RR...most importantly I wanted to crow  a little about finishing the lower 48 Nat Park stamps.

This ended up being 8400 miles - true to form I covered a bunch of miles on the last day in a hurry to get home. 550 miles mostly in rain and wind....but worth it to get home to my awesome wife!

Life is good!

 

First lengthy trip after the butt trip

So, three months after my back breaking butt fall....its time to get back on the bike.

I'll ride to Jacob's place in Missouri, and from there decide if I want to go further.

And it turned out Missouri was as far as I wanted/could go. More pain than I wanted would come on after walking even just a few hundred feet.

But still, I had a good time. Between my lodging and Jacob's house there was this vegetable stand...I stopped and got a bunch of tomatoes. The owners are not there, its on the honor system.

I spent a very enjoyable 3 days in Missouri, but then it was time to get home.

Leaving I took US 36 across Kansas. I stopped at the Lebenon marker - which if the geographical center of the US. While there my brother called me and after asking if  I was home, "no, I'm in Kansas", invited me to go to the races in Denver. Well, HECK YES!

As I continued on my way, Beverly made the arrangements and sure enough we all (6 total) met at our hotel near Denver.

The races were fast and fun to watch.

There was spectator drags at halftime that was a lot fun. They had a Dodge Challenger, and a Subaru WRX for one of the races. It was the second race for both of them, and the Subaru was able to win, pretty much based on how it could corner better than the Challenger. 

And ....oh by the way....... we have a Subaru WRX in our garage. LOL

There was actually two days of racing, but the bench seats there were brutal on my back. So Saturday morning I got on the road making it home in about 10 hours of riding (550 miles).

 

 I spent my last night in Kansas in Norton, Kansas. In the morning I went outside to check and see if my bike was still there. A hail, wind storm blew threw that area that last night. Lucky for me my bike was safe and sound. Additionally there were two HD trikes parked by my bike. As I was checking my bike for damage the two HD owners came out to prepare to leave.

They were both members of the "Motor Maids" which is the oldest biker organization in the USA, founded in 1941

I had never had the pleasure of meeting a Motor Maid until that morning in Kansas.

These two ladies are the ows that I forgot to ask their names.

My phone doesn't take selfies very well.....but here we are in a 'group selfie'.

Maybe I'm the problem, because the Motor Maids both look good....me on the other hand...  HAHA

They both had Motor Maid jackets on 

 And the races were fun!! They had fireworks (above) and spectator drags.

Well, thats it I made it home and enjoyed the ride in spite of back pain

#3 east coast/Gkids/NPstamps

When I went through those bad rainstorms I forgot to turn up my chain oil flow and of course my chain suffered.

I stopped in Kingsport, TN at this motorcycle store to get some lube. The guys there went above and beyond! I really appreciated their help (and my chain is doing much better).

Some cool art along the road

I had taken a stumble a few days earlier,  and when I go to Tenn I visited this Dr (second picture)

Dr Phil is a great Dr, but also very fun to talk with, and his Mustang....well....very very nice!

If that engine looks like a tight fit, that is because Dr Phil some how got a 427 shoe horned into the 'Stang"

The whole reason I went to Chattanooga is becuase I have Dear Friends that live nearby. Sean, Kris and Nora

As soon as I arrived I was being pampered by both Kris and Nora (Sean was not home yet, besides Kris and Nora's pampering are a few steps above Seans.....)

So after a few nights it was time to go, I had been babied enough that I didn't know if I could survive on my own.... :)

Then,

My last night in Chattanooga the three of us hang out at this place...a super fun place with exceptional people.

Then I'm off on the road again. I'm heading to the last stamp on this trip, Gateway Arch Natioinal Park

located in St Louis

I had thought getting to this park would be a challenge. And it was...but not as bad as I thought it would be. I just about passed it but Beverly talked some sense to me and, well..there it is!

My last stamp for this trip. Gateway arch national park.

I have one more stop on this trip, actually a "re-stop" I'll be stopping at Jacobs place.

And No, I did not ride the tram in the arch.

So I do make it to Jacob's place and unfortuantaly by then my back pain was getting worse.

Add to that that a severe storm was a-coming my way.

The forecast called for 58 MPH winds on my route going home, and said the possibility of Tornados was stressed over and over.

So all things considered Beverly convincec me to fly home and go back for the bike in a couple weeks..

And that's it. I'm home  

We touched 22 states, I don't know my miles, I forgot to zero everything out.

Thanks for reading and stopping in.

Edit to add: As mentioned above, while in Florida I took a spill....not on the bike, but a trip while I was out and about.  And it was a pretty good spill.     I landed on my butt.....VERY HARD.  When I make it to Chattanooga My friends in there knew a very good Chiropractor who treated me twice and that seemed to help at least a little bit.

When I arrived in Missouri, the pain was pretty intense, combine that with the  weather forecast called for 50 mph wind and tornado warnings on my route to home and riding was not looking attractive. 

Beverly and son Jacob worked together to arrange a flight home which saved me a lot of pain and consternation (I intensly dislike  riding in high winds)

Arriving home I had some X-RAYS taken and the results were I had broken my back in three places. That would explain the pain. And it made me feel a little better about flying home.

And that's it....I just need to motor back to Missouri and get the bike home. Which should happen soon.

Thanks again for reading!

Edit #2 So here I am 52 days after my 'trip' not the motorcycle one, but (butt) the one where I fell on my Tush. 52 days of intense pain, I can't walk for more than a few feet, stand for more than a couple minutes or so...etc

It has been a LONG 52 days!

This morning I'm FINALLY going in for surgery, an out paitient surgery.

Here is the best part (<extreme sarcasm)  the insurance does not think I need surgery. They keep coming up with excuses why not ie: we need to have an MRI.....we have already done that... and on and on.

So we are paying for the operation and hope to be reimbursed.....do you know a good insurance attorney?

(I STILL believe life is good)

:)

#2 East coast/Gkids/NaPstamps

.

With new tires and a fast mounting we were almost back on our schedule. Add the fact that we had some-slush-time and this whole episode turned out pretty good.

Leaving North Carolina I'm heading for South Carolina.

Fort Jackson to be precise. Despite the tire problems we've arrived a day early,  and we were very happy to have a rest day.

And then the big day arrived.

Actually "Family Day" is first, the new soldier has to stay on base but gets to visit with their family. Or whoever they choose for the day.

Pictures from Family Day 

Luke missed his family and his family missed him!

Luke standing tall with Beverly and I.

Then he tries to make me look taller.....

He was such a good kid and now he has become a good man!

Tomorrow is the actual graduation. We are so proud of Luke, and also proud of the other Troops in our family;

(Old to young)

    Michael 

(Luke's father)

Will

Jacob

Fenton

Mason 

(and I'm in there somewhere)

Graduation day arrives

Luke and Michael

Luke flies to his next school, Kaybi and family will fly home. Beverly will drive home, meanwhile

 I'll motor south into Fla. To get stamps for the National Parks

And soon,

I'm on my way south to Florida.

And then in Florida I'm cruising along on I believe was i-95 and I passed this guy and his bike a valkyrie sitting on the side of the road. I didn't see him in time to pull over. So I kept going and arguing with myself whether I should turn around and help him or just keep going. Well I knew if I didn't go back and try to help it would bother me all night long so although it was 12 miles I took the next exit returned to the exit behind him and return to the rider. I asked if he was  out of gas and his reply was affirmative so it was easy for me to help we took the gallon off the back of my bike and he was soon on his way. While I was stopped he got some more help from a family member and by then he had plenty of gas to make it to the next gas station.

Those Valkyries are sweet machines but hoo boy are they gas hogs!

A bit later I stopped at a rest stop, I needed to close my eyes for a spell...when I woke up I made a friend.....

Sunday and I'm up and out a little before 8

I kind of wanted to start around 7 but the comp brekkie didn't start until seven.

The day is cloudy and breezy.

While at Everglades NP I thought I had heard 'Something' in the bushes..... So I sat still and tried to see what was creeping around...but it must have been a little kitty or something harmless.....

Meh ..

After I get the three stamps I head north....but a cloudy day turned into a wet and windy day.

I kept riding until I was appropriately soaked - then got a room. The closest grocery store had an incredible deli...

Hopefully tomorrow is better weather!

And wat-d-U-no....

tomorrow was a LOT better! I hit a tiny bit of sprinkles a few minutes after leaving the motel. Other than that ....it was very nice!

Yesterday at my hotel I met two cool guys and some nice conversation. Unfortunately I didn't have my phone with me so no pics of them... :( And when did have my phone I didn't think about it.

Then today I ran into the guy from Pa on this GSA at a rest stop. Another nice conversation, but I also made certain to get a photo...

This trip had a deadline...we were very concerned that we make it it to Luke's graduation. Which we did- no problem. But the deadline made for a rushed feeling.

So I hope to sloooow down for the rest of the trip.....I'll have to remind myself ....."sloooooow dooown Kennnnn.....

I need to make that work,

When I re-entered South Carolina I saw sign for a visitor center...and this is it, but WOW was it hard to find!

Of course, once I did find the Low Country Visitors Center, the young lady was very helpful!

It was really neat seeing the old house

So l'm sort of homeward bound, I have 4 more Nat Parks to visit, and I'll stop in Tennessee to see my old buddy Sean...... I'm looking forward to all of that.

And that is part 2

Thanks for stopping in!

I'll post part III in a few days 

Life is excellent!