St. Paul to St. Thomas

Working hard to catch up. St Paul (what a great coming together of friends linked with a common bond) BMW motorcycles. But on to visit my family in Ontario. I had forgotten about the fact that there were 2 great Lakes between Minnesota and Ontario so with great trepidation I headed out. Got on the right highway heading east. Whoops. Why am I travelling South? Stopped in Foster Minn, got fuel and directions and headed back north, found the turn I had missed and headed east again. Got to Wausau and whoops. Where is that damn road I want going north. Continued east. Met a whole bunch of boy scouts heading to camp and then headed north on Hwy 52. It was like stairsteps a little north, a little east, a little north, a little east..you get the point. It started to rain a bit so when I got to a tee intersection I knew I should head left but turned right for 1 mile to a little town called Wabeno.
As I entered the bar there was a streak of lightning and a clap of thunder. I said. How's that for an entrance? The bar was full and ended up talking to a couple of young men at the bar. They had tacos for 1.00 each and boy were they ever good.

 

 

 

This is the little bar I stopped in. The rain stopped so I headed out again hoping to get to the Mackinaw Bridge. I just had no concept how big Lake Michigan was.  I finally got on hwy 2 east and stopped for dinner at Escanaba. I met up with a lot of BMW heading from the rally to points east. I was thinking of stopping at Escanaba but forged on hoping to get to the bridge but I stopped at a little motel on the upper reaches of Lake Michigan.

On Big Bay du Noc

 

 

The next morning I headed for the bridge. As usual I had to go out on the steel decking twice but it was not as bad on this bike as others. I managed to get there when the wind was not to strong and successfully negotiated the toll booth. So I transitioned from Wisconsin to Michigan and had no map.

There she is. The dreaded Mackinaw Bridge but I negotiated it with no problem.

The biggest problem is trying to get out money at the toll booths. $4.00 to cross Mackinaw and $3.00 to go over Blue Water Bay Bridge into Sarnia. Anyway I found London and saw the sign to St Thomas and arrived at the Tim Horton's. Called my niece and she was still out of town so I visited with my nephew Paul and then when she got home she went to Aylmer to the driving school and we locked the bike up in the garage. She has a lovely home and I stayed 2 days. Will put that in next episode.

This is the Dianne at the driving school she owns and operates.

This is her beautiful back yard and deck.

 

 

 

St Paul BMW National Rally 2014

So here I am in St Paul Minnesota. On the State Fairgrounds. All kinds of buildings, All kinds of trees, All kinds of green spaces which were all covered with tents. 5,886 people attended the rally.

Turk and Tim were there when we arrived as they were volunteering in shipping and receiving all the vendor stuff. We were under the grandstand. Quite aways from the hub of everything but quiet.

The grounds were beautiful as you can see.

 

 

Snoopy dancing up a storm

 

It was not long before good friends started arriving from hither and yon. These are my good friends Jim and Kathy Benge from California. I did not know as many as other years as we were in the east.

 

 

The bikes were parked in this under ground shelter. Under the grandstand ramp, We were camped on some grass right in front. Tuesday because venues were not open yet, I rode up to Perkins for breakfast. That evening a bunch of us went to Stout's bar and grill just outside the main gate. Was that ever good. The next morning Giggles was open for breakfast and I had a breakfast sandwich before I went to the seminar. It was for chartered clubs to see how we could attract more members and how to make our rallies better. I found it interesting but a lot was not pertinent for Canada. I am however going to try to get our dealer to have a better relationship with MOA. That evening one of the venues. The Luthern Church opened their booth and served the rally goers all week. I had Thanksgiving in a bowl (Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and cranberry on top. Just perfect for an evening meal and volunteers from the church serving us. It was delightful. So once the seminar was over I felt I should volunteer for something and 12 to 3 I helped at the door prize booth. Then I was free for the rest of the rally. I went to Benka Pulko's seminar again and she is as delightful as ever. She is going to make sure my friend Nina in Slovenia gets her book this time. I spent 1 evening visiting with my friends Dee and Byron from Minnesota. Visiting and we went to the entertainment. Really for me they could forgo it.

 

 That night I decided to eat at the Irish pub on the grounds. They just had a limited menu and I did not feel so good after eating their Rueben. That will teach me.

Dee and Byron's dog Buddy. He is just so good. Never barks and waits patiently until they get back.

Just rows and rows of BMW motorcycles everywhere you look. From north , south ,east and west.

Australia, Mexico, New York, Alaska, California, P.E.I. Florida

 

 

There are vendors selling tours, underwear, clothing, parts, tires. Anything you could possibly want for your motorcycle.

Here is Tonni cooking dinner for Steve, John and I the last night.

There was even a Messersmit which drew a lot of attention.

There were lots of Tech sessions, talk sessions, tours to view, I kind of wanted  to go to the one entitled 2 wheels or 3 bedroom house.

The closing ceremonies were Saturday night and Sunday morning people packed up and headed out.

Another BMW National laid to rest. Great weather, Great friends, Great camaderie and great journey.

I of course headed out for Ontario. Forgot about 1 great Lake between me and my destination. Had to go north and around and as usual I got lost. But it was great anyway and I will continue my journey in my next episode.

 

 

 

Paonia to St. Paul

So I chose to go to St. Paul with Greg from California and Dennis from Washington as they seemed to be taking the most direct route. We left the campground about 8 and headed north over McLure Pass. It was rather cold in the morning but we forged on. They we got onto I70 at one point. This is rather intriguing as the east and west lanes are kind of overlapping all done in concrete. Then we headed north to connect with I 80. In Laramie Wyoming we pulled into a service station and on exiting a car got between the 2 guys and me. So in about 4 blocks I pulled around this car and stopped at a red light behind the 2 guys. I could not believe this cop was stopping me. Apparently I was doing 48 in a 30. Meanwhile Dennis and Greg are up on the entrance ramp to the I 80. They told me after they were trying to mental telepath me to take of my helmet and show the guy how old I was. Any way after berating me and telling me because I had no ties to this county and no ties to this country that if he gave me a ticket he would have to throw me in jail and tow away my motorcycle so he just gave me a warning. Whew! He had me sweating for awhile. But we arrived in North Platte and stayed at the Super 8. It was 40 deg C there. We went to Appleby's for supper which was great. I took these 3 pictures. The last one is Buffalo Bill Cody.

 

 

The next morning we left and continued on I80 and then headed north. Sure glad Dennis was leading or I never would have found the place. A city within a city. The State fairgrounds. Turk and Tim were camped under the grandstand. It was a little far from amenities but it was quiet and comfortable.

We arrived on Monday night and I did not have to be there til Wednesday morning. More later.

 

Paonia 2

Well I see I made a couple of mistakes in my last post. That is what comes of being so tired. Will fix.
I am presently in Brandon Manitoba in a lovely motel but back to the rally. I arrived and got set up with all my friends and got the lay of the land. One is, in the middle of the town park which is ringed by motorcycles. Unfortunately this does create a bit of an issue as most of the towns people enjoy having us there but some of the town hooligans take it as an opportunity to steal things. However the rally was indeed a success with 387 present. I went for a ride up to Grand Mesa by myself and you are also very close to Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Following are a few pictures of the ride.

Here is Joe with his bike. Tent are all in the park behind.

My friends Jan and Stephanie Messersmit from Cove Oregon. Amazing how one forms friendships and we all keep popping up at the same rallies.

Waiting for the closing ceremonies to begin but back to my ride to Grand Mesa.

Some of the bikes ringing the park. And now on to the trip.

Looking up. It is good to look up once in awhile.

This was the tree out the front door of my tent.

On the way up to Grand Mesa. Every little lake had someone fishing in it.

Here is my bike enjoying the view.

There was a series of lakes from the Grand Mesa visitor centre and I stopped at a little bbq store café and had lunch.

 

But this moose on the door is what made me stop in

Then I started back down taking a few pictures of the vistas that presented themselves.

 

Stopped at this spot to get a picture of a Great Blue Heron that was standing here but he took one look at me and flew away before I could get a picture.

I stopped for a pretzel at this charming place and met Lisa the owner.

As I was returning to Paonia I passed this wonderful old church so I took a picture.

For the most part I ate my meals at the campsite to support the people who were putting on this event. But one day I walked uptown and had Walleye at The Hometown Café. It was very good. The scouts were going around selling baking at the tents and I was able to purchase a Colorado Council patch for my campfire blanket. Great way for the youth to make some money. The high school did the breakfasts and the kayak club did Mexican dinners. We had a band both nights but I fell asleep listening in my tent. It was a good rally but unfortunately it had to come to an end. I could not decide who to travel to St Paul with but finally chose Dennis and Greg as they seemed to be taking the most direct route. It was indeed direct 560 miles the first day and 625 the second. Hardly any pictures Nose to the grindstone ride. Will tell you about almost being thrown in jail in the next episode.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Completeing the journey to Paonia

Top of the Rockies BMW rally. The last time I was there it was in Leadville. So about 35 years ago. When I arrived Ron and Joe were there and  Dennis, Greg, We were camped between the miners statue and the Sherpa's tents.

 

This bench was placed in the Paonia park to remember those who died on their motorcycles. What a touching memorial. The BMW club of Colorado donate monies every year earned at the tally to upgrade the park.

Well this is rather short but I must get on the road,