Friday, June 14, 2013

Day 3 of the Trip to ?

It rained last night when a strong thunder and lightning storm passed through. I thought my tent was a goner, but it survived and I stayed dry. I woke up to clear blue skies, and perfect riding weather. Mesh jacket and a t-shirt kind of weather.

I decided to spend another day in Belle Fourche. I wanted to try out my GoPro Hero 3. I thought that a spirited ride down Spearfish Canyon or Vanocker Canyon would make for great video. I started down Spearfish Canyon and pulled over before a nice twisty section. I turned on the camera and saw the "low battery" symbol. The camera would only stay on a few seconds and then shut it's self off....CRAP! It was fully charged before I left home, and this was the first time I used it this trip, I was so disappointed.

About 3/4 of the way down Spearfish Canyon there is a gravel road that leads to Roughlock Falls. With all the rain lately, there was a lot of water going over the falls.

From Roughlock Falls I kept going south. At Cheyenne Crossing, I turned to go north on 85. I took 385 south and turned off on Nemo Road, and rode it all the way down to Johnson Siding. I stopped for a drink and a snack at the only gas station in town.

When I passed by Lake Pactola, I stopped for the yearly water level picture. I have pictures from past years where you could walk out to the island without getting your feet wet.


I continued down to Hill City. You'd think it was rally week, there were motorcycles everywhere. After Hill City, I took 244 over to Keystone. Again, more motorcycles and huge RVs!

I didn't want to pay the $11.00 for an annual parking pass to get into Mount Rushmore, so a shot from the side of the road will have to do.


I was going to run down 16A, AKA Iron Mountain Road, but the skies looked like there might be an afternoon thunder storm brewing. I headed for Rapid City instead. I should have kept with the original plan. The dark clouds never developed into anything.

I treated myself to the steak tip dinner at the American West Restaurant...mmmmm

I'm in the tent looking at a mix of pink sky to the north and dark rain clouds to the west. A dry and quite night would be nice.

I think I'll continue on my way towards ? tomorrow.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Day 2 of the Trip to ?

Day 2 has been WAY better than day 1 for weather! No rain and coolish temps! Perfect for riding. In order to get somewhere today, I stayed west bound on I-90. I stopped in Belle Fourche, SD. I'm at my favorite campground, Wyatt's Hideaway.

On the way here, I stopped at the Travel Center (AKA rest stop) at the Missouri River.

No trip through South Dakota would be complete without a stop at the worlds largest tourist trap... Wall Drug. Not much has changed since the last time I was there 10 or so years ago.

I also took a little detour into the Black Hills. I rode down Spearfish Canyon. Bridal Veil Falls was flowing nicely.

At Wyatt's, I set up my tent close to our usual Sturgis Rally spot.


As I type this, heavy dark clouds have moved in, but no rain yet... Oh Snowball, the campground Cat says hello, but wouldn't stand still long enough to get her picture taken.




Day 1 of My Trip to ?

I've had the itch to take a motorcycle trip for a while now. So, on Wednesday, 6-12-13, I scratched that itch. I got a late start, but it doesn't matter... I don't even know where I'm going!


I left home and headed west. I had been thinking of South Dakota and maybe much further west! I crossed WI on hwy 77 and rode into MN.

It was lunch time when I got to Hinckley, MN. I had to stop at here. It's the closest one to my home...

I was going to cut diagonally across MN on 23, but dark rain clouds conspired against me. I had a bit of rain near Mora, MN, but it really started raining after Cold Spring. I tried to change directions in an attempt to get around the rain. I had no luck. I rode in the rain all the way to Worthington, MN. At one point I was totally lost. My usual "sense of direction" was not working in the rain, I had to put my GPS away because of the rain, and of all the paper maps I brought, Minnesota was not one of them! It reaaly didn't matter though, I have no plan.. or even destination.

I stopped for the night at the KOA in Mitchell, SD. I got the last Kamper Kabin. I was already wet and it looked like it might rain some more. I wanted to dry off.




View Larger Map



Internet service was down last night so I posted this Thursday morning...




Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Someone Found the Bird Feeders...

A few nights ago, someone found our bird feeders. They ate everything, the seed, the suet, and they bent the 1" steel pole like it was rope... This morning, this little guy is in our back yard eating bird food off the ground..




It's not much bigger than a large dog. Guess I'll have to look twice before walking out in the woods to get more firewood!

UPDATE..... Tonight, a MUCH larger bear was pulling at our feeders just before we went to take them in. I wasn't fast enough with the camera to get any pictures, but I'll try and photograph him if he comes around again!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

A Weekend in the Garage

I've spent most of this weekend working on bikes.... well tires mostly. I put a set of Michelin PilotRoad 2s on the FJR. I've had them since I came back from Arkansas last June. I only got 6500 miles out of the Dunlop Roadsmarts. The roads in Arkansas must be very abrasive, and moving along at a spirited pace didn't help their life span!

A new set of PilotRoad 2s for the FJR...


I also replaced the tires on the Zx-14. It also got another set of PilotRoad 2s
Balancing the new rear tire...



Earlier this week, I spent some time refilling the wood supply in the garage. We burned everything that I had stored in there this winter. I found a couple more dead Oak trees out back, cut them up and split them. They tested between 8 and 15% moisture content. Ideal is 20% or less, so this stuff is ready to go! I also hauled in most of what I had drying in covered piles outside, it will be ready by fall. Another couple of logs, and it will be all full!


I read an article on line about using solar power to help speed the drying of firewood, I needed more space for wood storage anyways, so this is what I came up with. It's 2 4'x4' pallets bolted together, and some 2x4s I had in the garage... A little wood stain-sealer from the Re-store (cheap, $1.50 for the part of a gallon can!). I went all out and picked up 2 12' sheets of clear plastic roofing panel.... Not bad for an afternoons work.


The 4 sides will be lined with 4 mil plastic sheets. There's an open area under the high part in the back, and plenty of ventilation from the pallets. The sloped roof faces the south for maximum sun exposure. It's 4' x 8' x 4+', so it will hold a full cord of wood.... Filling it ought to keep me busy!


Saturday, May 11, 2013

Playing with WLMM and a GoPro Hero3.

I finally mounted the camera that I got as a Christmas gift, so I went for a ride and shot lots of video. I'm still trying to figure out the editing and uploading. I posted some videos to YouTube, but some of them are pretty crappy.

It seems like in order for the quality to be there, I have to save the finished product in a larger size. It's a double edged sword, if I make them small, they look crappy... if I make them big, the quality is great, but it takes forever to upload to YouTube... I don't mind a 1440x1080 movie on my hard drive, it looks fantastic!. But, if I save the finished work in 320x240, so I can upload it to YouTube in less than a day, the small video looks really bad on YT.

I'm still experimenting.... my computer came with Windows Live Movie Maker and it's easy to use, any suggestions?



I know ride videos are not everyone's favorite, but here's a short 2 minute clip from Friday's ride. Even after rain and warm temps, there's still snow and ice all around me.






Here's the crappy, short clip with a deer at about 1:40..






And if you have time, a better quality long version of the above clip... The deer is at about 6:30 and a squirrel about 7:20? Hard to see on the YouTube videos, but clear as day on the raw, full sized clips in my computer.




Feel free to criticize or offer up better ways of doing this.. I'm still learning!


Thanks!


P.S. The smell of the fallen leaves and pine trees was amazingly strong. I wish this was smell-a-vision, I'd share it with you!




Saturday, May 04, 2013

2013 Wisconsin Fishing Opener Weekend...

and every lake around is frozen....

Pictures from today.




2897 Acres of ice.....

Thursday, May 02, 2013

Surprise!!!... now with more pictures..

What a wonderful thing to wake up to... And yes, they are from this morning, not January!




The chairs on the back patio...


The front sidewalk and steps...


The front yard...



I went out to clear the driveway. It's some heavy wet snow, and it;s still falling.

I measured 11" on the steps and 9 in a tree sheltered area of the driveway.



While I was outside, a bird took advantage of the shelter of the open garage.
Here he is in the window above the workbench.


And picking at some seed spilled on the floor...



While the rest of his buddies were outside entertaining the cats...


I finished the driveway and wanted nothing more to do with snow for a while. I just want to enjoy this....


More snow removal later, or I'll get smart and wait for the solar snow remover to come out...


Oh, for another motorcycle blog with a super ride report through Yosemite.. Check out...THIS.







Monday, April 29, 2013

going, Going, GO...

Almost there! Let the riding commence!!




The Wisconsin Fishing opener is this Saturday, May 4. Some lakes may still have ice on them!