Monday, July 16, 2012

Trip to the iMBC 2012, Day 1. Cable, WI to Towner, ND.

Last night I packed my clothes, gear and a few tools. I had everything out on the living room floor and put it on the bike this morning. I was all set to go when I tested my XM radio.....Dead.... I got my multi- meter and found 13.8 volts at the end of my battery tender plug, and 0 volts at the dual lighter plug end. Good thing I had a reserve double end lighter plug. Swapped it out and 13.8 volts at the plugs! Thumbs up! I now have XM and a GPS! I managed to get out of the driveway by 0750. A quick stop in town for fuel and cash at the bank, and I was on my way.


I headed for Duluth. Once there, I stopped at Aero Manufactuing, maybe better known as Rider Wearhouse, home of Aerostich riding gear. I picked up a t-shirt and a Go Cruise throttle lock. It's a cool place, but the sales floor is very small. They probably do 99% of their business over the internet.


They have a neat thing on the display floor, it's an old Honda Ascot frame, seat, tank and handle bars mounted on a side to side rocking horse kind of chassis.


After I left there, I continued west on US-2. In Proctor, MN, just out side Duluth, I stopped at the same fighter plane as George. I also got a few pics of the large locomotive and tender in the parking lot.


A "Yellowstone" class locomotive. 2-8-8-4. The locomotive weighs 695,00 pounds and the 7 axle tender weighs 436,635 pounds, it was loaded with 25,000 gallons of water and 25-26 tons of coal!



I also took a picture of the same fish too... The Big Fish Supper Club and Resort on US-2 in Bena, MN.


I only stopped for fuel after that. I was fighting a head wind all day, add the 70 MPH speed limits in ND, which was really more like 75-80, and I burned a lot of fuel.
My original plan was to stop for the night in Leeds, ND. I drove through town and decided to continue. I stopped in Towner instead. There's a nice city park in Towner with free camping.


The GPS says 513 miles and the odometer says 515.3 miles. Tomorrow should be easy. I was planning to go as far as Glasgow, MT.
I've got to get busy and set up my tent. There's a nice cool breeze blowing through the park now!


Here you go John, just for you...
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