Two Trips in One

Monday Mystery Tour
March 19, 2012

Sorry for the delay in posting about the last two days of our trip. I just got busy living life so completely that I ignored my blog. I figured that I’d start off the week with a Monday Mystery Tour post and make part of the subject Days 5 and 6. So here goes.


And Oh, by the way, I hope everyone that decided to do so had a great St. Patrick's Day. Please allow me to inform you that today, March 19th, is the feast day of St. Joseph, St. Joseph's Day, my namesake. Have a cream puff or two to celebrate and pinch the cheeks of someone you love.

We left Roswell, NM on day 5 and drove through the high plains of New Mexico with a breakfast stop in Clovis. Into Texas with a quick overview of Amarillo, then into Enid,Oklahoma where we started to head north towards home.

DJ and Anna didn't catch the name of our new friend from Roswell, NM

I do have a couple of photos to share. The one above of the kids at the International UFO Museum, and the one below of a couple of the half dozen beautiful flower pots I scored in Santa Fe.

Colorful Flower pots will adorn our deck this summer

We used Interstate 35 through Wichita, Kansas and ended the day in Kearney, Missouri. Our last day, day 6, we completed the trip. Other than scenery and plates of food at restaurants, we didn’t do anything but drive and arrived in River Falls by 3:00 PM on Friday. My bike rode safely, following close behind me and in my rear view mirror the entire journey.

We logged 2680 miles in six days, the bulk of that, 1576 miles, coming on days 1 and 5. On days 2 and 6 we logged another 804 miles. Those middle days, 3 and 4, we didn’t have long days in the car and just got ourselves to where we wanted to go in New Mexico. No rough weather at all was noted.

We had a great time together, saw some wondrous sights, ate good food most of the time, swam, laughed, learned and enjoyed the road time together.

Upon returning home Friday afternoon, we unloaded the car and sorted out our trappings. I concentrated on getting my motorcycle unloaded off the trailer and called a friend. We decided to ride over the weekend and we did.

I met Ed last year through a Triumph motorcycle forum called Triumph RAT, Riders Association of Triumph. He doesn’t live too far from me, just down river, and we have made it a point to get together and ride when we can.

This past weekend, with its unseasonably warm sunny weather, had many motorcycle enthusiasts out along the beautiful river bluffs. Ed and I linked up for a Sunday ride. I put in around 200 miles, mostly on pavement, but we did get off the hard top and onto some dirt, gravel and muddy slime complete with three, count ‘em, water crossings.

We started with breakfast where Ed’s spousal unit, a Triumph rider in her own right, joined us. She left to return home and do some activity with the children, Ed and I continued with an unplanned, where-ever-the-road-takes-us, kind of a ride. I learned of a new road I had never been on and the experience of the Rustic Road, complete with the water crossings of small creeks emptying into the Mighty Mississippi, was a complete thrill.

All that riding worked up an appetite, so we headed for the river town of Stockholm, WI and a stop at the Stockholm Pie Company. The Cherry Berry is to die for and won a contest recently. The crust is divine. Even the accompanying coffee was delicious, enhanced by the pie methinks.

A slice of the award winning Cherry Berry, Raspberries with cherries, just heavenly

I had a camera with me, but I took no photos of the motorcycles and our smiling faces, but I did get a shot of that exquisite pie and my friend Ed at an outdoor table, in shirt sleeves, in mid March. Believe me, if you lived in Northwestern Wisconsin or Minnesota and were familiar with the usual weather patterns, you’d know and understand what a treat this is to be able to get out the motorcycles, and on dry pavement!

My friend Ed with a slice of PIE

The PIE ride started with another mutual friend of ours named Mary. Although Mary and the rest of us are pie aficionados, PIE actually stands for Pie Is (just an) Excuse, to get together and ride. Some sort of breakfast or lunch meal, or a stop like the Stockholm Pie Company, is always on the agenda for such a motorcycle ride, we just call these excursions Pie Rides.

It’s Monday morning now. VA appointments this week, three of them. The reports should be good. One of them is with the eye clinic. Might be discussing some surgery for cataracts and astigmatism.

I had a real fine trip with my two oldest Grandchildren and a great weekend of riding my motorcycle with a good friend. Along with that, a wonderful rest of the family waiting for our retrun. I know I have a lot to be thankful for as I cannot forget the time in the hospital during last November and December and how I wondered if I would be alive, let alone able to  travel and ride again.

Now, I know there are some people hurting out there. Either themselves or family members, great friends and people they love that are Elders and waiting for their call home. I send positive energy along with Peace, Love and Kindness out to anyone that needs it. Take what you need, and pass the rest on for others to use. 

Peace