Trip to the iMBC, Day 3. Glasgow to Lincoln...

It rained last night. That made for comfortable sleeping, but a wet morning of packing. I wasn't in a rush, so I laid things out in the sun to dry.

By 0830, local time, I was packed and ready to go. It felt warm in the sun already! Neither weather.com and intellicast.com show much of a chance for rain today, but both show highs in the lower 90's.
Just outside of Glasgow is a hill with animal sculptures on it. Here's a few...

I followed US-2 to Havre and turned to go south on US-87. I had been on 2 for the last 944 miles. A new road was a welcome change. I had been fighting a head wind on 2, it turned into a cross wind on 87. I think I have located all of the nations railroad flat cars made to haul semi trailers. There must have been over 500 of them along 87. I quit counting at 200!
There was this new Caterpillar D9T. According to the Cat web site, it weighs 110,447 Lbs! The blade, laying face down in front of the dozer, is 14.1' wide. I'm kind of a heavy equipment fan. Years ago, I used to work on and around them.

I also had the opportunity to get some "middle of no where" shots.

Like I don't have enough projects as it is... but I think it would be fun to find an old farm truck or pick up and fix it up a bit. I don't mean restore it or even hot rod it, but make a nice old truck out of it. In every small town, in every farmer's yard and sometimes just sitting in a field are trucks waiting for a new life...

Along 87, at Fort Benton, there's a nice pull out with a view of the Missouri River.

I rode through Great Falls and got gas. I took 200 out of Great Falls. I had to ride on 7.7 miles of Interstate Highway to do it. Add about 2 miles of I-35 near Duluth, and I'm right around 10 miles of Interstate for the trip.
The scenery really changes after about 30 minutes on 200. Gone are the open fields, hello hills!

The temperature was nice and cool up at 5610' at the Continental Divide. Not quite as cool at the record coldest spot in the 48 contiguous States...

I had breakfast in Glasgow before hitting the road. During the ride today, I drank 6 and a half Liters of water and Gatoraide. I felt pretty good considering the 90+ degree heat all day. Staying Hydrated is the key.
I pulled into Lincoln, MT and stopped for a burger and a shake. I contemplated moving on to Missoula, but decided not to. I was going to camp tonight at the campground in town, but thought I'd try the Three Bears Motel. They had the "NO" sign on but it was hard to read so I thought I'd ask. They had one room left, but it wasn't one of their "remodeled" rooms. It has no air conditioner, but it's very cool in here. The price was right too! I'm going to try to get an early start tomorrow. It should be easy with no gear to have to dry in the sun!

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Trip to the iMBC, Day 2. Towner, ND to Glasgow MT...

The first day was a good day....today, not so much. The head wind was gone, but it was replaced by a side wind, rain, heat, and road construction! The day started nice enough. With low overcast skies and coolish temps. I was headed west and the weather was coming up from the south. It looked like I'd be able to stay ahead of it.
In Minot, I stopped for a picture of the American Locomotive Co. 4-6-2.

After Minot, the truck traffic on US-2 got heavier and there was a lot of road construction. The oil boom in northwestern ND is obvious, there are oil wells everywhere. Big drill rigs too.

In Williston, I got caught in a heavy down pour. With all the road construction, my bike is a muddy mess. Five miles later the skies were clear, and the temps were climbing.

In Montana, I ran into even more road work. Near Poplar, MT the entire surface had been removed and lightly packed, wet, muddy gravel was all there was for a road.
I snapped a few picture of roadside oddities.

I stopped early at the Shady Rest RV Park in Glasgow, MT.

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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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60 Hours and Counting...

It's getting close to the departure date for my trip to Oregon for the IMBC, International Motorcycle Bloggers Convention. I plan to head out first thing Monday morning. I'll travel a northern route across MN, and ND. Then about half way across MT, I'll drop down and catch 200. From there, US-12 into ID.
I plan to be in Baker City around noonish or so on Friday the 20th. I have lots of leeway in my plans as far as how many miles I need to cover in a day.
I have started to assemble and check my gear. Tent, Exped Synmat (air mattress), sleeping bag, cool vest, Camelbak, tank bag with electrical connections for GPS and XM radio. I still have to put together my clothes and a few tools and chain lube.

I've called Verizon and re-activated the service on my little netbook. To test it out, I'm posting from it tonight. As long as I have cell phone service, I'll be able to make blog posts and send e-mails. I won't be dependent on hotel WiFi hotspots any more.

The big green ZX-14 is all serviced and ready to go. In the last few weeks I've changed the, oil and filter, air filter, spark plugs, chain and sprockets, mounted new tires, flushed the brake and clutch fluid, and replaced the front brake pads.

I know once I get out there, I'll wish I had more time and could stay out west longer. I'll have to start for home by Tuesday the 24th. I'll be leaving for the Sturgis rally around the 31st. I'll have just enough time at home to cut the grass, change oil(again!), and wash my clothes before heading back out!

A Project for After the Riding Season...

When I was just a little boy, back about 45 years ago, my father and his brother, Harry, bought a tractor. They used this little tractor to drag a trailer into the woods with all the gear they'd need for a week of Deer hunting at the shack. The "shack" was on 40 acres that they owned. It was near the Totagatic River Wildlife Area north of Hayward, WI. About a mile and a half off of the closest gravel road, through the woods, along what would later become a snowmobile trail. The shack was built in the early 1900's as a homestead. I can't imagine trying to live in it year round. The Black Flies and Deer Flies must have ate poor Knute Peterson, the homesteader, alive! Folks must have been a whole lot tougher back then!!
I found a few old pictures of the shack. The first one shows the shack and the wood pile at the end of the building. The wood pile was many rows deep and ran the width of it. The rifles hung in the cases outside. If you brought them in to the warm shack after being out in the cold all day, they'd be covered with condensation.

The second shows the plumbing facilities, the little white building on the right... an out house. That was a cold run in the winter! What you can't see is the "ice box", a small wooden box that hung outside on the wall and was used to keep refrigerated things cold.

In about 1975, my father had a heavy duty 4'x8' trailer made. It replaced the old green utility trailer that was made from a model A axle. The guy that built the new trailer for my father, used to build U-haul trailers. It's built like a tank. I still have it! That's my father on the left, me in the trailer, and my uncle Harry on the right.

Here's a picture of my father driving the little Allis-Chalmers model B through the woods, on the way to the shack.

My father's family has owned the same home in the city of Hayward since the early 1900's. My father grew up there, his brother and sister lived there even after their parents passed away. They continued to live there until they passed. When my father passed away in 1991, the family home became my mothers property. The tractor remained at the home until my mother started talking about selling the home.
I've keep the tractor with me since the early 1990's It has followed me through 6 different homes and a 13 year marriage.

A few days ago, I rented a car hauler trailer and went down to pick it up from a friends place in Minnesota. He stored it for me so I didn't have to worry about moving it up here last winter.
The tractor is a 1950, Allis-Chalmers, model B, with a PTO, a belt pulley, a hydraulic pump, lights, electric start and a distributor ignition. I know my father had talked about cleaning it up and giving it a fresh coat of A-C Persian Orange paint. He never lived long enough to see that project through. I guess that's been handed down to me to do.

The tractor is now finally back in the north woods of Wisconsin... It's home..