The Motorcycle Diaries, Kansas Edition: Abilene, Kansas 4th of July

 Spent the last few days doing wiring and helping out around the house.  Updated some of those activities in the last edition but yesterday got the 120V wiring all closed up and powered.  Everything in the back porch has power and works so all the extension cords got cleaned up and put away.  I still have to hook up the 240V but am planning on shutting off power to the house before I do that.  I'm not a total idiot.  😁

So Abilene Kansas 4th.  A patriotic but small town.  Abilene is located in Dickinson county.  The total population of the county is under 20,000.  I live in a town smaller than Abilene, with only about 5,000 resident, compared to Abilene's 9,000, but the difference is that my town is one of the smallest in my county, whereas Abilene is the largest town in this county.  It is amazingly sparsely populated.  The 4th of July celebrations were commensurately smaller when compared with home.  So what were the positives and negatives?

My town has a parade, a car show, vendors, and fireworks.  People come from all over the county and Canada to attend.  Hard to estimate how many show up but there are usually five to six blocks of classic cars and three to four blocks of vendors.

Abilene, on the other hand, had none of that except the fireworks.  There were other activities going on down in Eisenhower Park yesterday though.  Mud volleyball, turtle races, cornhole tournament, etc.  I drove by during the day just to check it out but the festivities were dampened by the monstrous rainstorm that hammered through right around 11 am.  I don't know what attendance would have looked like had the forecast not been so bad but there were very few people in the park.

In the evening, however, with the weather cleared and the air cool, there was a concert at the bandstand.  The Abilene Municipal Band, which has been around for 144 years, played an hour's worth of marches and patriotic music.  One number was the Lexington March, although I'm not sure if it was the Edmundson or the King version.  They invited all the kids in the audience to come up and march through the audience waving flags while they played.  I've included a short video here:

Afterwards we moved a block or so to the fields behind the community center for a spectacular fireworks show.  We were there a half hour or so and fireworks were going off all around during the whole wait time.  Some people had set up in the same field and entertained us for that whole half an hour before the actual show.  The show itself was outstanding.  I won't bore you with pictures of fireworks.  They looked like everyone else's firework pictures.  All in all it was very enjoyable.  It was great to see so many people thankful for America.  There were no politics whatsoever, just Americans celebrating the greatest country in the history of the world.

The Motorcycle Diaries, Kansas Edition, Days 5 through 7 / This Old House (but not mine)

 Well, it was Interstate Highway System from Bennett to Abilene.  Cruise set at 80 mph, no wind to speak of, an acceptable ride.  Made it here in about seven hours (it's Tuesday June 30, in case you're keeping track.

Chores to do for my cousin:

1) Wire new back porch.  Not bad, boxes and wiring were already in so my job was to add switches and outlets, then hook up power to the whole thing.

From here.  Bottom left slot, just waiting to be used:

Yes, those are fuse boxes and old, old, old.  Right now upgrading is not in the plan but having an electrician come in and install a breaker box from the main feed is probably a good thing to add to the list.

110V for all the switches and outlets, 220 for the dryer.  That took a bit of thinking but I'll be using this fuse box, currently connected to a 220V plug but only with one leg actually connected.  I'll probably disconnect and remove the one on the porch as it won't be needed.

One of the joys of living in a little farm house 25 minutes from town is that you live 25 minutes from town.  So when you are planning your electrical work you make a list of everything you might need, you buy extras, and then you discover halfway through that you are short something.

Short a white outlet.  There's an argument that I could just install one of the cream outlets, but then I'd have to take it back apart at some point and that's a hassle.  So the project sits until I can get back into town.  Today is July 4th, however, and I'm pretty sure that all the shops in town are closed, so that means either Sunday (they may be closed then too as it's a small town) or Monday.

Here's an interesting workaround that the drywall/wiring guys did so that the porch would have light in the meantime.  Took me a bit to figure out precisely what they were doing, then I realized that the extension cord was just feeding the two wires that went to the light switch and then up to the light circuit in the ceiling.  OK.  That works.

2) The mice.  The house sat vacant all winter since my cousin lives in the Philippines most of the year.  The mice had free reign and now have to be reined in.  I'm not particularly freaked out by mice, but I'm not a big fan of the poop everywhere you go.  The house itself was cleaned by a friend of the cousin before she or I arrived, but that still leaves closets, behind furniture, etc.  Plus a lot of small construction garbage that we are cleaning out, along with its poop collection.  Traps, poison, etc.  My cousin will be in the house til October, then back to the PI, which presumably means that she'll go through some of this again next year, but that's up to her.

Yesterday morning AND this morning, however, I woke to chewing noises.  Today grabbed my flashlight and found a mouse in the closet just outside my bedroom door.  He cruised off down the hall after we stared at each other for a while.  Was he stuck in the closet or was it just a part of his route?  No idea.  Meanwhile there are banging noises coming from downstairs.  Down I go, only to discover that a mouse has gotten stuck in one of the mouse traps but guess what isn't powerful enough to kill that mouse, just to trap it.  I have no idea what cousin wants to do with the mouse so I just left it alone.  It's been a couple hours and it's still banging away down there so clearly in no danger of dying from the trap.  Cheap garbage but it did catch a mouse.  I'm a "bait" guy rather than a trap guy but there it is.  We'll see.

Update: Another mouse dead in another trap, this mouse was just big enough that it couldn't totally get him.  Threw dead mouse and live mouse out in the field.  Live mouse still in trap and he'll eventually die and we'll retrieve the trap to reload and reset.  Peanut butter gets you two mice in one night.  Comment if you want pictures of dead mice. 😁

The Motorcycle Diaries, Kansas Edition, Day 4 (June 29)

(Posted late due to internet issues, and then forgetting about it once I got to Kansas.  This was Monday, June 29)

Well thank goodness I'm out of the bad weather.  That was just horrible. Finally I can now relax and enjoy the rest of my ride.

Is there any way that anyone knows to take a picture of wind?

This morning, leaving Montpelier, ID, I decided to avoid the interstate highways.  I have to be in Abilene by July 1 (have to is strong, but that's when I said I'd be there).  I have two solid days plus could theoretically arrive on July 1, so more than two days.

East on Highway 89.  Otherwise you follow US-30 to the Interstate.  What a beautiful ride.  Sweeping curves, canyons, a KOA campground in which I could have also stayed.  Then you turn right on some little back highway which takes you to ...

... US-30?  Are you freaking kidding me?  But then it gets you off 30 eventually and takes you north and east through Wyoming.

OK, keep in mind that the plan was to poke around, visit little town museums, etc.  Except that the highways going through Wyoming don't have ANY towns!!!!  So I rode an extra 200 miles  to get on the Interstate highway at Rawling, WY.  

Wouldn't have been so bad, it was a nice ride, except, did I mention wind?

The Wind River range, panorama view:

Insert picture here when I have proper internet:  🤔  (Struggling to get things to upload from hotels.)

I should have turned around when I saw the signs saying "Closed to high profile vehicles weighing less than 26,000 lbs due to winds 55+".  What can I say.  I'm stubborn and I process slowly.  By the time it occurred to me that I should go back, it was a long way back and might as well push on. 

Nope.  It was about 200 miles back to the interstate that way, with a howling gale bashing me the whole way.  The interstate was no better, once I reached it, but it was three hours shorter according to Google Maps.  Sigh.  I mean at least it didn't rain.

Well, by the time I reached Colorado it had started to warm up.  I stopped and stripped off all the gear (sweatshirt, jacket, gaiter, beanie, First Gear gloves), just in time to hit Fort Collins rush hour traffic.  I took the toll lanes, no idea if motorcycles are free but the last thing I needed was two hours of rush hour back up.

The Motorcycle Diaries, Kansas Edition, Day 3

Decisions, decisions. Ride over Homestake Pass towards Bozeman, by all accounts the worst pass in Montana for weather; take I-15 down towards Idaho Falls and go through Monida Pass, or just go back to Blaine and get my car, thus losing two full days of travel. Well going back to Blaine would have been pointless no matter what, cause my truck is in the shop and my car threw a cylinder misfire code the day before I left. Homestake eliminated because everyone from my cousins to the gal at the gas station said so. Monida it is. Turns out it's hard to tell that it's a pass, perhaps because you're already so high up. I kept wondering when I was going to get there, and then there was a sign saying 60 miles to Idaho Falls. So that was easy. Uncomfortable as it rained all the way through the pass, but easy.

Behind me:

Before me:

Halfway decent through Idaho Falls and on to US30. Almost stopped at a very nice KOA just down 30, Lava Something Springs Something, looks like a resort, but it was only 3:00 and too early.

Stayed at the Clover Creek Inn in Montpelier because it popped up first on my Google Maps and showed a pretty reasonable price.  I usually stay at Best Western because of the consistency, quality, and points.  However, it's gotten expensive.  CCI was $109 with my military discount.  A bit run down from the outside, it's a three sided compound with parking in the middle.  However the entryway as you drive in had green grass, nice picnic tables, and flowers blooming.  The office and the room were nicely appointed.  Staff super friendly, room clean and smelled nice.  I'm giving it a 5/5 just because of the price, otherwise it would be a solid 4/5.  The only down side at all was the wifi signal was weak in the room as I was across the parking lot, so I couldn't post this update last night.

Gentleman bought my dinner at the Ranch House cause I'm a veteran.  For the record, that embarrasses me, but I also accept that it makes him feel good, so I'm gracious and thank him.

The Motorcycle Diaries, Kansas Edition, Day 2

Friday was a glorious romp in the woods compared to Saturday.

Left my campsite in Newport, WA about 0830.  Only six or seven hours to Missoula, because I'm going up through Kalispell, just to check it out.  It's still nice-ish.  The lake for which my campground, the North Shore KOA was named for.

Does the phrase Winter Storm Warning ring any bells to anyone?  Yeah, I didn't see that at all.  Didn't look at my weather map because, well why would I.  I already knew it was going to be a chance of rain.

Instead, just as I was approaching Kalispell it opened up.  I couldn't see anything.  Including the sign saying "Slow to 15mph for roundabout".  Thankfully I saw just enough out of the corner of my eye to think I should slow down more than I had when the downpour started.

For the record, it's not a good idea to slow down too much in a downpour like that.  Even though you can't see the road, and you can't see enough to get off the road, the people in cars behind you can't see either.  So you run the risk of being rear ended.

So to allay your fears, I slowed down a lot, made it through the inch or so of water that was sluicing through the roundabout, made it down the hill on the other side, and into the first gas station I saw.

Which is when the hail started.  😒

I have no pictures of the storm.  It was the last thing on my mind.   Which is why I don't have a viral youtube channel where I film all the horrible things that happen to me.  

So made it into Missoula, on and off rainstorms but nothing like the Kalispell episode.  Drowned rat is the expression that comes to mind.  Wish I had my full face helmet but I never take it with me on trips as it most likely won't get used and just takes up space hanging from the luggage.  And of course it's Sunday so nowhere that might sell a helmet is open today.

Next steps?  Either push on, chancing the fact that there's a pass with a Winter Storm Warning prominently displayed on every possible way to Kansas, or turn back where the passes are lower.  I could probably get home no problem today but then I'm home and not in Kansas.  So push on it probably is, wishing I had a full face helmet.

And try to remember to take pictures of the worst of it.

The Motorcycle Diaries, Kansas Edition, Day 1

 Not an auspicious beginning.  The weather decided not to cooperate.  I've been watching the forecast which has said "Rain until 11, thunderstorms after".  Gah!  

I love thunderstorms but would love even more to sit in my chair on my front porch and watch the lightning,  preferably with a glass of something in hand.  If you care to comment, what's your go-to beverage for summer thunderstorms?  I've been shifting to cocktails and away from mixed drinks.  Things like Old Fashioneds, Negronis, etc.  When I drink gin it's poured over ice.  Gone are the days of tonic water and lime.

Hit the road about 0830.  Not really raining but threw the rain jacket on and wore chaps, which I wasnt planning on.  On and off rain.  Stopped at the Harley dealer cause they had some special order small parts for me.  Wasnt going to get them now but they open in 10 minutes so good chance for bathroom break.  They have a 260th Anniversary edition which I love.

On down the road.  Highway 2 to Wenatchee and beyond.  All the way to Newport, really, although at some point Google decided I should take a bunch of side roads before getting back on 2.  I assume they had their reasons.  Weather promised thunderstorms as well as rain but the former never materialized thankfully.

Why is that picture upside down?  No idea.  It isn't upside down in my phone.  Oh well.

KOA just outside of Newport is nice.  Ive stayed here before.  Friendly staff, good amenities.  Can recommend.  Tomorrow up to Kalispell and then down to Missoula.  Need to stop at a sporting goods store cause I forgot fuel and refills for mosquito repeller.

The Motorcycle Diaries, Kansas Edition, Day Negative 1, Preparation

Headed for Kansas.  25 days on the road, 5 to get there, 12 days in Abilene, 3 back, and 5 in Richland, WA.

Bike is packed.  First trip longer than 600 miles on the Road Glide.

Not thrilled with the amount of stuff on top but it's light.   Touring bike doesn't have any more room, it's just distributed differently.  The tour-pak limits you because things have to fit.  It's a bit like playing Tetris.

Actually this post could just as easily have been titled Day Negative 1 through 14.  I started by making a list of everything I normally take.  I'll be camping, staying with relatives, and staying in hotels.  It's the first thing that makes it complicated, but it saves a lot of money.  I have to have a tent, a sleeping bag, and because I am getting older, an air mattress and a folding chair.  No more sitting or sleeping on the ground.  I also like to have a coffee maker (Aeropress) and a Jetboil, which I wouldn't need in a hotel.  Some firestarter, a small hatchet, that's about the minimum.  That stuff is mostly in the bag strapped to the top of the tour-pak.

Then I went out, set up a folding table, put everything on the table, and started packing.  Once I had everything in I made a list for each storage container: left and right saddlebags, tour-pak, T-bag strapped on the passenger seat.  It's a lot of stuff.  Then I realized I hadn't packed my sleeping bag and had to start over, which is when I added the small duffle on the tour-pak rack.