A Guy’s Blog.

Frank:  Today this is going to be a “Guy’s Blog”, a manly blog.  There will be no girly prose here today for we are going to speak of big, nasty, manly machines and rough killer terrain. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

My buddy Richard up in Ennis told me about both the EBR1 and the “Craters of the Moon” in Arco, Idaho.  Now Arco is about as small a town as it is possible to get.  One Main Street with one traffic light flashing Red/Yellow, and about the most pleasant RV Park (Mountain View RV Park) we’ve been in a lot of years.  How Arco managed to situate itself between the EBR1 and the “COTM” Monument is beyond me.  Not to mention that all three of them are about 50 miles away from the nearest anything in any direction.  There’s a whole lot of nuthin’ in that part of Idaho!

The EBR1 is the “Experimental Breeder Reactor #1”, the world’s first nuclear reactor.  It was built in 1951 and decommissioned in 1964 and is now open to the public.  Tours are free and I happened to walk in during a slow moment and got a personal tour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_Breeder_Reactor_I

http://www.nps.gov/crmo/index.htm

By the way, a “Breeder Reactor” is one that produces more nuclear fuel than it consumes.  Now that’s a neat trick!  I’ll ‘splain how it works.  You put U235 (which is scarce), next to U238 (which is plentiful) and the U238 becomes U239, which can be used like U235!  Cool huh!

Besides the tour I spent a lot of time in the parking lot looking at what appear to be huge heating systems or furnaces for large office buildings.  What they really are, are two prototype nuclear powered aircraft engines for a proposed Air Force Bomber.  The plane never happened.  The project was scrapped before it got off the drawing board, but the engines actually ran!  They each have almost 200 hours of real operating time.  This wasn’t theoretical, them suckers ran!  They also built the (then) largest domed hanger in the world about 40 miles out in the desert for the plane, and a lead encased tractor-locomotive to move the monster around.  They had big plans!  (I wonder what that hanger is being used for now.)

EBR1 is about 18 miles east of Arco.  Eighteen miles the other way is Craters of the Moon National Monument with its vast fields of (formerly) molten lava, and impressive tubes from which the lava flowed.

Vignette 1:  We were looking for EBR1 as we approached Arco but didn’t have a street address for the GPS.  We did have the “Coordinates” so we entered those and the GPS promptly took us hither and yon and eventually down a small road that petered out to a dirt track heading out into the desert with a sign next to it that said: “End of county maintenance.  Next gas 110 miles.”  We decided that 1) it didn’t really look like the type of road we wanted to drag the rig down, and 2) since there was a big equipment yard available for a u-turn that we should take it as a sign to turn back.  So we did.

Later at the RV Park I asked for directions and she said, “Go to the traffic light, turn right and go eighteen miles.”  So I did and there it was, right on the side of the highway.  We had actually driven past it on our way into town.  I have no idea where the GPS was trying to take us.  Sometimes I think that thing hates me.

Vignette 2:  We ate free today.  Breakfast was a free serving of pancakes, eggs, and coffee at the RV Park in Arco.  Can you believe that!  I love Good Sam RV Parks!  Lunch was leftover chicken from our dinner last night at the same RV Park café.  Tonight’s dinner was a mess of free vegetables from the garden of the RV Park, here in Caldwell, Idaho.  After he checked us in the owner led us to our spot and then pointed out his “garden” (It runs the full length of the side of the RV Park) and said there’s corn, squash, onions, carrots, melons, (and a bunch of other stuff I don’t remember).  Help yourself!  So Cheryl went “shopping” and then sautéed a huge pan of fresh vegetables.  I ate two full ears of corn plus the big plate of veggies she put in front of me.  I feel soooooo healthy!  Once again, I gotta say, I love Good Sam RV Parks!

Ride on!  Ride safe!

Frankie

(Cheryl will do some girly prose tomorrow.)

Ennis, Montana: Sunday Evening, July 28, 2013

Cheryl: By 7:40 a.m. we were on the road out of Cody, Wyoming heading for Yellowstone and the wide-open-no-speed-limit roads of Montana. Yellowstone proved to be an easier pass through than we anticipated, so we arrived in Ennis  at 1:30 p.m. Now, we’re all set in a familiar RV Park where we’ve stayed a couple of times previously.

Next morning: Monday, July 29, 2013

This morning dawned bright, clear and COLD! I woke up around 5:00 a.m., jumped out of bed, turned on our trusty little heater, and jumped back in bed! It’s 7:40 a.m. now, and warming up both outside and in the trailer. I’m moving kind of slow this morning with pajamas still on and the dogs under the covers with me as I write this. I've got to throw on some clothes pretty quick and take them outside for their morning stroll!

Yesterday, Yellowstone gave up some of its riches to us as we, along with many other vacationing, Sunday drivers, inched our way through its amazing terrain. Bison were on the roads causing cars to stop and grown men to jump our wielding cameras dangerously close to them. We drove past several stretches of open meadows dotted with large herds of Buffalo. It’s heartening to see them coming back in such numbers after being so devastated. 

We also watched deer and antelope play . . . wait, isn't there a song about that? At any rate, we also enjoyed seeing streaming puffs from thermal pools along the way.

Last evening Frank went in search of a penny machine in Nevada City to get “squashed” pennies for his grand-kids’ penny books. After struggling with the world’s oldest and in-much-need-of-maintenance penny machine, we finally got two semi-acceptable pennies. Today we visit with Pam and Rick and tomorrow strike out for Seattle to see kids and grand-kids.

Frank says, “What SHE said.”

 

Cody, Wyoming and the BBM and the DUGM.

Cody, Wyoming.

We got to the "Buffalo Bill Museum" at about 9AM and dragged ourselves out of there, shell shocked, saturated, satiated, sedated, worn out, and in total sensory overload at about 1 PM.

First of all, that which I have been calling the BBM is actually called "The Buffalo Bill Center of The West" and rightly so as it actually consists of five separate museums clustered around a central hub.  It is ginormous!

The museums are:

The plains Indian Museum.                 (We didn't go in there.)

The Buffalo Bill Museum.                    (Fantastic)

The Photography Gallery.                   (Beautiful)

The Whitney Western Art Museum.   (Didn't see it.)

The Cody Firearms Museum.            (The largest gun collection in the world. I spent two hours there until my eyes glazed over. )

We pooped out after only 4 hours. We can go back as the admittance fee is good for two days but I really think those two days need to be separated by a year or so.

You'd think that after the BBM I'd be museum'd out.  But nooooooo. 

I drove into old town Cody to press a couple of pennies for my grand kids and stumbled 

onto “The Dug Up Guns Museum.”   As the sign says it has over 900 guns on display, all 

dug up from all over the world.  Most are from the US and from the frontier days, the civil 

war, and up to WWII. It was fascinating!  I enjoyed the heck out of it! 

The guns are displayed just as they were found, all rusty and deteriorated, but with cards 

telling where they were found and the make and model of each. Some had probable 

histories described based on the year of the gun and the location found.  The histories 

were well worth reading.  All in all I'd put the DUGs museum on your must see list if you 

ever head this way. 

Odd Thought:  When Cheryl and I used to tour the country on our Harley we would invariably be approached in a parking lot or campground by an “old guy” who would tell us that, “he used to have a bike just like ours and he used to ride all over the place just like we were doing”, and I would smile and listen to him blather on until I could politely extract ourselves from him and be on our way.  Well yesterday a two-up Harley parked in front of the camping cabin next to our RV spot and I was halfway out the door on my way to tell him “I used to have a bike just like that …” when I caught myself and forced me to go back into the camper  and sit quietly and leave them alone.

My, my, I’ve crossed over another milestone on the way to old fartdom.

Getting old sucks and is only offset by getting old.

Frank

PS:  I do not know why this posting is formatted weird. (If it is.)

July 26, 2013.  Cody Wyoming.

Frank:  Odd thought 1:  If you ever decide to have a water pump failure while on vacation, try to schedule it in a small to mid-sized town (Sheridan, Wyoming is good) where there is a (your brand) dealer six blocks from where you notice the water gushing out of the bottom of the engine.  Also schedule it on a day when you had already decided to stay in that small to mid-sized town so you don’t lose any vacation days.  And, oh yeah, if the dealer is a) nice, and b) competent, and c) puts you right at the top of the schedule, those are nice points also.

Odd thought 2:  Today, as we drove on Route 14 from Sheridan to Cody, and were at 8740 feet up in the air, 50 miles in either direction from anyplace, with the tranny in low gear, the engine turning 4000 rpm, and the speedo showing 35 mph, and I sure was glad the water pump had pooped out the day before in Sheridan.  Even though we have Good Sam (free) emergency towing service I sure didn’t want to test it way out and up there.

Odd thought 3:  Going up to 8740 feet is fun (?) and going down from 8740 feet is just as much fun (?)!

Odd thought 4:  Greg Brown is an old hippy-dippy-beatnik who plays a mean guitar but mumbles the words to his songs.  If you are a fan (Cheryl is) and know the words (she does) he can be most enjoyable.  I’m not, and I don’t, so I managed to catch some shut eye during most of his songs.  Cheryl didn’t notice so the evening came off OK.

Odd thought 5:  Wyoming Route 14 is staggeringly beautiful.  One of those roads you really should add to your Bucket List.

Odd thought 6:  I hate the popularity of, “Bucket List.”

Odd thought 7:  The Buffalo Bill Museum here in Cody is said to be a two-day experience.  We’ve allocated all day tomorrow so I guess I will find out.

Odd thought 8:  A friend just sent me this link to a song by Billy Joel.  I think I may have found my new personal song.  After all, I’ve ridden my motorcycle in the rain many times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie5-LrulBGk&sns=em

Odd thought 9:  My previous personal song was, “It ain’t me babe” by Johnny Cash.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwD4t9gcLb4

Odd thought 10:  Cheryl and my, “Our Song” is, “Love is a rose” as sung by Linda Ronstadt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVhlJWjcgS0

Odd thought 11:  That’s all.

Ride On!

Frankie

Greg Brown Tonight

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Cheryl: Just checking in to practice using the iPad for blogging and try to insert a picture. It turns out that Blogger doesn't work with Verizon (or so they say), so I can't get photos directly from my iPhone. However, "insert photo" did pick up photos from my iPad, so I'll try inserting one from my Camera Roll stored there (weird). There sure is an enormous learning curved for me with all this new (to me) technology!

Our KOA campground is jammed packed since last evening, and I'm wondering if it might be due to the Greg Brown concert tonight in Sheridan. I've got my fingers crossed for the truck to be fixed today and for the concert to be a good one (worth waiting for).

So here's a picture from my iPad Camera Roll (I hope)

 Mary-Louise Parker (above) and flowers from home (below)- Still getting the hang of photos uploaded from my iPhone to Blogger from Google Plus App - Maybe I'll get better at this? It remains to be seen!

Blog - Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Okay, so we bought an iPad so we wouldn't have to bring our old, slow laptop with us on vacation. Of course, we brought it anyway just in case and have been using it to create our blog entries. Today I'm testing out our capabilities for blogging using the iPad.

That said, we've hit a bit of a snag again today! I'm beginning to think this is the longest "shake-down" trip in our vacation history. The Dodge truck decided to light up with a warning message on the dash this morning while we were on our way to shop for groceries at Walmart. Frank drove on over to a former Checker store, so they could hook up their test equipment to our truck's computer. It seems we have a substantial  cooling system leak confirmed by the coolant puddling up under the truck when Frank peeked under there. Luckily the warning lite alerted us before the truck overheated, and we dropped it off at the Dodge dealer in downtown Sheridan. We're beginning to feel like we live here!

Frank rented a black classy-looking Toyota Camry LE, and I like its interior much better than my two-year old Camry at home. Sigh! Anyway, the dealer said they would work on the truck on Thursday, so we're hoping we can continue our trip on Friday morning as planned.  It may have been good Karma deciding to stay in Sheridan to see Greg Brown in concert on Thursday night. Out on the prairie pulling the trailer on the scenic route 14 over to Cody would not have been an optimal time to have this kind of problem. All in all, I think we lucked out this time!

Our laundry and shopping are all caught up and yesterday afternoon we went to the movies to see Red2. My daughter, Stacie raved about it on Facebook, but once again we think we've crossed some imaginary "old-age" line preventing us from enjoying today's spoofs. However, we did enjoy the first Red movie when it was playing. I still haven't seen The Lone Ranger, and it's playing in Sheridan, so if we get bored this afternoon with reading and relaxing . . .

By the way, we expected a "postage stamp-sized" movie screen at Sheridan's only theater and were blown away by a huge screened, stadium seat auditorium with Dolby surround sound. The outside of the theater is plain and unassuming, but inside (Frank says and I truly didn't notice this) its appearance looked like something very ornate out of the 1940s.

On location in Sheridan, Wyoming,
Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, and John Malkovich

Fun with Jeremy and Leigh

Monday, July 22, 2013

Cheryl: We’ve spent a busy three days with our friends Jeremy and Leigh who arrived in Buffalo late Friday evening. On Saturday the four of us trekked over to Sheridan to enjoy “Main-Street-America” once more and visit the King Saddlery and Museum. The store looks unassuming from outside, but after pouring over their extensive merchandise the trick is to move out the back and on across the alley to the area of the store where you can buy a beautiful saddle, ropes of all lengths and sizes, and an array of custom leather goods. Attached to this large workshop you’ll find the amazingly large museum of saddles of all kinds and eras along with Indian and cowboy artifacts, knives, guns, taxidermy, buffalo rugs, a carved-panel hearse, weavings, jewelry, photographs, and much, much more!

I’m not sure how long we lingered in King’s, but it was well over two hours or so. Then, after a further shopping tour of Main Street, we stopped at Sanford’s Restaurant where the wall space brimmed with old license plates and assorted western paraphernalia, leaving not one spot uncovered. We chose a booth near the back and enjoyed large plates of sweet potato fries and sandwiches.

Around 4:30 p.m. back in the trailer in Buffalo, Frank and I watched the second disk of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. (Frank:  In Swedish, with subtitles.)  By the time that ended we were tired puppies after a full day of being tourists, and we conked out for the night.  I think I’m getting all this in the right order.

On Sunday, we fixed a picnic breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs to surprise Jeremy and Leigh when they came to pick us up at 8 a.m. for a trip to the Little Big Horn Battlefield. Sitting outside our trailer under the trees at the picnic table made for a great start to a long sightseeing day. It was at least an hour and a half ride out to the scene of Custer’s Last Stand. The bus tour narrated by a very articulate and knowledgeable Crow guide helped give us a better understanding of what transpired over the several days prior to, during, and after the battles that raged there. We think Custer got a “bum rap” after hearing how he and his men were trapped by an overwhelming band of warriors. (Frank:  They were told to expect 300 to 500 Indians, but instead encountered 8000, 3000 of which were warriors!)  The National Park with its excellent visitor center, and what we learned and the expansive landscape that greeted us made the long trip over and back worth it. We ate a hearty lunch at the trading post there and scurried home to watch the last disc of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy before wearily packing it in for the night.

Today Jeremy and Leigh picked us up at the trailer, and we returned to downtown Buffalo to eat breakfast at The Busy Bee Restaurant. Leigh and I went upstairs to see the room where she and Jeremy are staying at the Occidental Hotel. The hallways up there were filled with exhibits quite like you’d find in a museum. Downstairs we visited the Virginian Restaurant to see the table inside what used to be a vault, the Billiard room, bar and another museum-like display in the downstairs hallways. Many famous people have stayed there, and we enjoyed roaming the lobby and seeing all the memorabilia.

Back in Jeremy and Leigh’s rented, luxurious, top-of-the-line Jeep Grand Cherokee with sun roof, leather bucket seating and all the bells and whistles, we struck out once again for Sheridan to see Trail End, a 13,000+  square-foot mansion not far from the middle of town in a top-of-the-hill wooded neighborhood. Frank and I both love to visit historic homes, and we agreed in all the many we’ve visited this one stands out as by far the best. The presentations of documented photographs perfectly explained the lifestyle of this family both in the city and on their nearby ranch. The mansion sparkled as if a cleaning crew flew through the entire place daily, and the woman at the front desk greeted us with a lovely summary of what our self-guided tour would show us. The ballroom on the third floor absolutely stood out to me as the highlight of the tour. Frank and I even danced to the music as if we were among the elite who swished across the floor in the distant past. It seemed magical, and we wished we could enter that world to take a peek at what it might have been like to actually be a part of an era so grand.

The lovely woman at the mansion’s front desk recommended a Mexican restaurant in Sheridan where the cook surprisingly has trained in French cuisine. We were treated to an unexpected sumptuous lunch and should have walked a couple of miles after we ate. Instead we got back in the car for the short 35- mile drive back to Buffalo where we said goodbye to our friends with the intention of meeting them for ice cream downtown around seven this evening. Tomorrow morning we bid them adieu as they continue on their trip to Deadwood and beyond before returning to the UK.

Frank and I will move the trailer up to the KOA in Sheridan tomorrow and spend a couple of days there in order to see Greg Brown in concert on Thursday evening. Then we’ll travel over to Cody, WY for a couple of days before making our way to Ennis, MT to visit with our friends, Pam and Richard.

With love from the intrepid travelers,

Frank, Cheryl, Peanut, and Cleo Chica

Frank: Yeah, what SHE said.

Rally Finale

Good Times, Goodbyes, and Godspeed

Friday, July 19, 2013

Frank:  Well, it’s over once again.  There were goodbyes, handshakes, and hugs.  Susie, our esteemed President of 15 years has just ridden out on her Norton, heading back to Michigan. She’s riding alone with her only safety net being other Norton Nuts travelling in trucks, vans, and campers along the same route, and her cell phone.

We just said goodbye to Josie, our rally-week granddaughter.  We first met her at the rally in Colorado when she babysat our dogs while we went on a day ride.  Now she’s about to be a senior in high school and will have graduated by next year’s rally.

I find it hard to believe that this club has existed for 38 years.  We’ve had marriages, divorces, kids, and possibly even grandkids in the club ranks.  And all because I hung a notice in a Norton dealership back in 1975 looking for some riding buddies.  Can you believe it?  That notice brought six other Norton owners to my house and we called ourselves the U.S. Norton Owners Association.  I called us “The magnificent seven.”   And member #7, Steve Cantrell was here at the rally!  He’s always said that if he had just sat on the other side of me at that meeting he’d have been member #2.

For this club to have continued for so long has to be more than that just we all like Nortons.  We are a great big family, held together by bonds much more than a silly machine.  We really love each other, enjoy each other’s company, and we get to have a great big family reunion each summer.  It’s great.

On the back cover of my book, “Motorcycle Arizona!” is written, “The ride is the objective; the destination is just the excuse.”  Well, when it comes to this club, “The family is the reason; the bike is just the excuse.”

Ride On!

Frank

Cheryl: Because I met Frank way back in November of 1980, I’ve had the privilege to tag along with him on almost all his motorcycle adventures. I’ve met countless stellar people and treasure the friendship of each and every one of them. Together, Frank and I have friends in almost every state, in the UK, and Mexico. Reasons; occasions that bring folks together matter more than we sometimes realize. As we’ve aged, we’ve come to appreciate more and more the connections and camaraderie of the INOA.

Enough introspection and moving right along to yesterday’s adventures. Frank and I trucked 35 miles north to Sheridan, WY. After a lunch at a nice rib and steak restaurant, we scoped out the stores of “main street America” that we remember of so long ago. There’s even a J.C. Penny with the ancient tile lettering above the entrance. How often do you find an anchor store like Penny’s downtown these days? We spent hours trekking in and out of clothing, fly fishing, sundry, and kitchen shops lining the streets of this “too-good-to-be-true” western town.

We even stepped into the lobby of the WYO Theater and were invited into the auditorium to choose our seats for the Greg Brown performance next week on Thursday night. The woman sold us our tickets and described the best places in Sheridan to dine before the show. We chose the upscale place across the street and copied down the number on the window to call for reservations. I can hardly wait! She also told us about the Powder Horn Restaurant outside town at the local country club, and we’ll try to catch a lunch there with our friends Jeremy and Leigh. The views across the golf course and countryside beyond are billed to be spectacular as is the food.

We returned to the trailer in time to walk the pups, take a nap, and stroll down to dinner under the big white tent for the awards banquet. It’s always fun to hear about the bikers’ adventures and misadventures getting to the rally, how far they rode, and how their entries in the concourse event show fared. Then the door prizes called out according to the numbers on the wrist bands begins with some items donated being very expensive and others just plain fun. A happy, but weary bunch woke up this morning to say their goodbyes and take off on the road home. Some were packed up and on their way as early as 6:00 a.m. with miles to put under their wheels before gliding under cover of their own carports and garages. We wish them Godspeed and the joy of the ride.

Love and hugs,

Cheryl, Frank, Peanut and Cleo Chica – Wild Ones All

  

Councourse in Buffalo on the Bozeman Trail

Frank: Yesterday we rode the bike down to the center of Buffalo to the town baseball park where the concourse bike exhibit was taking place.  The club opened the show up to the local townsfolk the local car clubs and about 10 very nice (and one very “Rat”) cars showed up.  I expect that the show being held on a Wednesday cut down on the number of cars that were able to show up.

My favorite car was the “Rat.”  The guy had taken a hulk out of a field and grafted a whole front end from another car on it, jammed a 400 cubic inch engine in it, cut 12 inches out of the middle to shorten it, made all of the systems work so it is street legal, and left everything else just as he found it.  He parks it outside, even in the winter, just to improve the patina.  I love it!  It must drive the local law enforcement nuts!

We had almost 300 Nortons and other Brit-Bikes on display.  It was a really nice turn out.  As it worked out there were only two bikes in the “Custom Café” category so I guess he and I will split 1^st and 2^nd places.

There was no shade in the field and it was sunny and hot so Cheryl walked downtown and explored the local shops while I sweltered, socialized, and answered a lot of questions from the local residents.  It was fun.

Ride On!

Frank

Cheryl: Buffalo’s small town shops, while quite limited, offer some interesting window shopping. A couple antique stores, a few small cafes, a gallery, a western shop, and an upscale resale store. I wandered into the resale shop just to browse and left with a great bargain in a leather Mondani of New York purse in perfect condition for a mere $12. It’s just the right size to throw over my shoulder and tuck under my arm for safe-keeping while riding passenger on the bike.

By the time I covered most of the shops on one side of the main drag and sat down at a convenient table and chairs in the shade next to a street corner park, I couldn’t believe 5:00 p.m. had rolled around, meaning the concourse had ended. I scurried on over to the fairgrounds, bypassing the craft fair with a live band I had intended to check out again, to find Frank still out in the field answering questions about his bike.

Most of the participant bikes departing in waves didn’t convince Frank time to leave had arrived, so I wandered across the street and sat by Clear Creek to watch a couple of young boys playing in a small waterfall in the middle of the creek. Soon Frank called on the cell and I “scrambled?” up the bank to join him. I don’t think scrambled really applies when you consider it took me some time to even get upright after sitting on the ground with my back up against a rock.

I took a short nap before dinner of burgers, chips, beans, slaw and a cookie down at the main rally tent where they handed out the awards for the field events and bestowed some door prizes on lucky wrist-band number winners. The bike awards for the concourse show will be this evening at the banquet. Friday will merely be coffee and goodbyes in the a.m. We’re staying a few more days here in this lovely RV spot at the top of the hill because our friends Jeremy and Leigh arrive on Friday. We’re thinking of visiting some historic spots a ways north in the little town of Sheridan with them.

I just found out that Greg Brown performs on July 25 at the WYO Theater in Sheridan. I’m hoping Frank will want to stay a couple of days longer up there so we can see the show. He’s one of the folk artists whose music my son-in-law John Gallagher introduced to me some time ago. I’d love to see him perform in person. He’s quite the showman. If we decide to do that, we’ll start out for Montana on July 26.

Sending love to you from the Bozeman Trail,

Buffalo Bill, Clamity Jane, Big Nose Kate, and Doc Holliday

Young Men Riding Nortons - Future of the INOA

When this young man navigated his bike expertly through the mass of bikes staged for the field events, you'll hear the comment, "Only a young man could do that!" We're fortunate to see some young faces in the club and hope it spurs a trend.

Hat Race 2

Background Action

Motorcycle Field Events - Hat Race

Watch Background Action of Video

Motorcycle Field Events

Ride the Plank Success!

Norton Motorcycle Field Events

Ride the Plank

Cheryl: It’s Wednesday already and the concourse (display of bikes and awards) will be in downtown Buffalo this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. The Wyoming Chapter organizers have planned a car show alongside the bike display, so it will be a terrific place to take photographs.

Yesterday afternoon we thoroughly enjoyed the field events, including the motorcyclist-slow-race, passenger-pin-the tail-on-the-donkey-while-blindfolded, passenger-grab-three-different-hats-from-hay-bales-and-toss them-in-a-ring, and motorcyclist-ride-the-planks-on-the-ground. Not to mention the find-your-own-boots-in-a-pile-of-boots-put-them-on-jump-on-your-bike-and-ride-across-the-finish-line race, which I totally missed seeing (the sneaky trick with this race is finding and tossing your buddy’s boots 20 or 30 feet away so he has to run to get them). Not a single person suffered an injury and not one bike went down because the events at the rally are planned for safety and carried out on a field of grass. Hopefully we’ll be able to post a video with this post so you can see some of the action.

Life yesterday can definitely be termed GOOD with chocolate ice cream and a cookie for dessert up at the campground office last night, Frank entering the slow race for the very first time, visiting the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum in Buffalo in the morning (Gatchell was a pharmacist among other things, traded with the Indians and started a huge collection of items donated by them and others for his kindnesses), and Frank giving a tech talk, about installing an electric starter in place of the kick-starter on his Norton, for 50 or so people in the big tent at 8:00 p.m. while I vegged out watching Walk the Line on our brand-new trailer TV/DVD player. Good, yes, incredibly, good!

I feel blessed at age 68 to still be out enjoying life in spite of the annoyances of aging. I’m inspired by all the 60 and 70-something men and women riding super-human miles on motorcycles to get here. It’s hard to complain about our cushy mode of travel after seeing them arrive all smiles and proud of themselves for the feat! 

Ride on!

Frank: Equation:  Bucket List=Bucket List-1.  Yesterday I reduced my Bucket List by one item.  I have wanted to try the “Slow Race” for several years and this year I took the plunge.  I had a theory, and it went like this:  Most entrants used the “rev the engine real high and slip the clutch” method to make the bike move slowly.  I have always felt that it would be a better technique to simply keep the engine turning over at idle or close to it and allow the bike to creep forward by itself.  I thought that would give better control.

I was completely wrong.

I “DQ’d” the first time by riding outside the lines of my lane, and in the second run lost to the other ride in my heat by about a ba-zillionth of an inch at the very end.  The guy who did win was so good that he simply rode his bike a few feet from the start and then stopped all forward motion, balanced the bike by standing up on the pegs, and waited for his opponent to DQ or complete his run.  Then he simply rode up the finish line.

On the other hand, the Gatchell Museum was really slick.  It’s bigger than it looks and is full of interesting artifacts and historical information.  I really enjoyed it.

As Cheryl said, I gave a tech-talk on the electric starter kit I installed on my bike.  Since I have a complete backup of the database from my home computer here with me I spun off 15 photos of the installation process onto a USB thumb-drive and had them printed up at a small shop downtown.  Then when I got to the presentation area I found they had a digital projector available so we projected the photos and passed the book around in the audience.  The talk was pretty well received, which was nice as I was asked to do it just the day before when one of the rally organizers saw the starter motor on my bike.

Ride On!

Frank

July 15, 2013: Odd Thoughts.

Frank:  We just rode the Norton down to the Bozeman Steak House for dinner.  Our original choice was the Winchester Steak House right across the street from the RV park entrance but since it was so close I turned left instead of right and blasted out Rt.25 for about 10 miles just to let the Norton run.  The limit was 65, we were doing 10 over and memories of “doing the ton” (100 mph) danced through my head.  I guarantee the bike was up for it but I no longer am.

I love our little camper trailer.  It got chilly last night so we flicked on the heater and took the chill off.  This morning we had coffee perking while the air outside was still laden with morning dew.  Then we took hot showers, got jacketed up and rode into Buffalo to a cute little café called the Busy Bee in the Occidental Hotel. 

In the afternoon one of Wyoming’s famous thunderstorms rolled through our camp.  Thunder!  Lightning!  Loud noises!  Rain too heavy to see through!  And all the time we were sitting in our warm little camper sipping tea and trying to keep the pups from going nuts because of all the unfamiliar noises.  It lasted about 30 minutes and then just rolled away to entertain some other part of town.

When the sun came out all the water on the ground turned to steam and the camp turned into a sauna.  But that too was short lived and the moisture cleared up and the prettiest afternoon you can imagine blossomed.

We walked around the park and reconnected with friends from last year, and friends from the years before, and friends from as long ago as 1978!  Yeah, can you believe this little club of mine has existed for 38 years!  Amazing!

In fact, I had this scenario running through my head.

Lady at registration table:   “What is your membership number?”

Me:  “One”.

Lady:  “One?  How did you get number one?”

Me:  “I started the club”

Lady:  “Really?  The club has been around so long I assumed you were dead!”

But it didn’t happen.  The registrations were filed by name not number.  It’s too bad; it would have made a good story.  Hmmm, maybe it just did.

Cheryl:  The president of the INOA, Suzi Greenway-Haenggi rented a large RV from a local company here, and it was all set up in a site at the campground when she arrived at the rally. The rig houses Suzi and two friends and Norton owners from New Zealand. While Frank and I were visiting with Suzi there were people there from Australia, Mexico, the UK and Hawaii! The small space was incredibly jammed, but nobody seemed to mind.

Suzi’s place is always a magnet for the late-night crowd and people come and go all day every day. She seems to have endless energy and a genuine love of people. She also owns and rides her very own Norton. Her enthusiasm for the Norton rallies is contagious, and she remembers almost everyone’s name from year to year. She can talk your ear right off your head in about 15 seconds and boy howdy does she know how to party. Being around Suzi either ignites a similar craziness in people or simply wears them out in a hurry! Frank and I think she’s a very special lady and enjoy her unquenchable spirit.

While I napped this afternoon, Frank trekked down to Suzi’s RV and ran into our friends from Birmingham, Alabama, Brian and Diane Slark, who had just arrived in camp. They rode a BMW motorcycle all the way here! We visited Brian and Diane two years ago and toured the Barber motorcycle museum where Brian works. I’m anxious to see them around camp tomorrow.

It was great to take two short rides on the Norton today with Frank, one for breakfast and another for dinner. However, the pace of the day and the brisk weather has conspired to wear me out. I’ll be ready for bed sooner rather than later tonight. I hope the partiers have a great night of it, but I’ll not be among them. What happened to those days when we could ride with the wind and then dance away the evening? I’m just happy to have a warm dry place to sleep and not have to crawl into a damp sleeping bag in a tent tonight!

Wishing you sweet dreams and soft pillows,

King Frank - INOA Member #1, Cheryl - Queen of Clubs, Princess Cleo, and Prince Peanut