Memory Leak » Oshkosh Trip

Oshkosh Trip: Epilogue

john — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:44:34 +0000

For those just finding this, click to start at the begining, or any other day: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 19.

[ Click to go interactive ]

Some trip facts

Mileage: 5230 on the odometer (GPS was almost always on, but, not quite)
Stops for gas: 39, or ~134 miles per tank. (F800 range: ~230 miles, Goldwing range: ~150-160 miles).
Gallons used: 95.25 gallons which makes for 54.9 MPG average for the trip — not shabby at all.
Fuel cost: $262.03, or an average price of $2.84 per gallon for mid-grade fuel.
States covered: 13
State line signs successfully captured for the ride report: 3 — and it wasn’t for lack of trying. But, I wasn’t going to stop, just to snap a photo of a sign…
Family feuds: about 4 minor ones over stupid trivial crap like: being too hungry to function and not stopping soon enough when I knew better (sorry Dad); or wondering: what’s the next highway number? How far till that? How far till we get to such and such? What time will we get there? Where will we stop next for gas? (“I don’t know, look at the map. I don’t know, here’s the map” …. *long pause of indignant silence* …. “Feel free to lead if you’d like” — It’s OK Dad, pay-backs are a bitch and I’m glad you didn’t give me the indignant silence when I’d ask you a bazillion questions about things as a kid ); or pulling away from intersections too quickly and without waiting (Really? OK, sorry Dad), or staying up too late/getting up too early (I always knew that’d be an issue!).

(Hi Dad! — Don’t let me get away without you telling your side of the story! I love you too!)

Gear that rocked

The Airhawk seat cushion was the best money spent on comfort mods.
The silly o-ring cruise control. Just engage by rolling into the crack between the bar-end weight and the throttle grip and relax the right hand! I left it “engaged” for most of the highway miles, even with both hands on the bars.
Mesh pants/jacket — great in the heat. Although the trip was *much* colder than I ever would have anticipated, the ability to layer a wind-proof shell outside, and warmth inside worked out very well to stay comfy.
My home-brew GPS setup. It’s a Garmin car GPS inside of a RAM Aquabox with a homemade bracket mounting it to the homemade “dash”. I’ve got it hard-wired into ship’s power and an audio jack by the seat to plug into headphones to listen to music as well as the turn-by-turn directions. The best part about the mounting location is that it’s in front of the bars which make a perfect arm rest to steady the hand when working the interface.

What I’d do different

Skip the 6K service on the road. I’d have changed the oil prior to leaving, and then had the bike serviced some place I knew I’d be stopping at for a while (like the Boise area). That half-a-day in the Nebraska dealership could have been spent doing much more interesting things.
The tire situation certainly could have been planned better. While I’ll never buy another tire with no tread in the middle, I’ll also be more proactive once the tire has squared off.
I’d pack food/snacks and stop at some roadside places to eat a snack, rather than stopping for sit-down lunch every day. Anything to make the stops more flexible is a bonus as the majority of the stops are at the least comfortable/interesting places: gas stations.

Final thoughts

This was my third multi-day trip (first, & second) on the cycle, and by far the most ambitious. The first two were definitely helpful to get things dialed in and this trip worked out amazingly well in part because of already having 5 long days in the saddle to figure things out (BTW — Thanks, Mark, for helping make both of those other trips happen!)

I’d like to have left a day earlier and taken my time along some of the route, but, the cookie didn’t crumble that way. Although, it seams that we didn’t spend any time checking the sights along the way, the reality is we spent our sight seeing time on slower roads, seeing things that wouldn’t have been possible rolling the super slab. After all, the trip was all about getting some place, seeing the sights there (airplanes!), and then getting back. The only way to really do it more leisurely is to take more time — the miles still have to be covered one way or another.

Someday I’d like to do an open ended trip with no particular time to be at no particular destination. Probably spend several days touring the Rockies, amongst other places. Definitely do some camping along the way.

All joking aside about family feuds and such, I had a great time traveling with my father. We seamed to work well as travel buddies going down the road and our mutual love of the aviation made the destination all the more enjoyable to share with one another. This trip was too long in the making, and now I’m regretting not having purchased a bike sooner that was capable of doing the distance and joining in on past trips. Thanks, Dad, for asking if I’d like to go, year after year. It wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

Which, leads me to my lovely bride — a big thanks to her for taking care of our three kiddos for the ~2 weeks that I was gone prior to meeting in Idaho. And then having the courage to take the 3 kids on a road-trip to Idaho all by yourself — I’m just in awe of how patient you are.

To the readers that have made it this far, thank you too! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I have putting it together. All thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated

– Fin –

Oshkosh Trip day 19

john — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:28:52 +0000

Day 19: The last push home — 406 miles

Sadly, this trip came to an end on this last day of travel.

The day started with a happy toddler that awoke in her giant “hooo tell” sized bed, as she likes to call it. After packing up the baby cribs and toys and other stuff you can’t live without when traveling with kids, we made a quick stop into the motel breakfast to get some food in the tiny grumbly tummies.

Maia (oldest at 3) saw the cereal bin full “multi-colored Ohhs” (ala Fruit Loops), and she was very excited and wanted to try them. She doesn’t get sugar-bomb cereal at home, and she most certainly doesn’t get it just prior to being cooped up in a car all day. Bad parent that I am, I lied to her and said it was yucky and we couldn’t eat it, but the flake cereal was OK.

With a long, dejected look of disappointed, she proffered that maybe we should try and see if it really was yucky. To which, I assured her it was yucky and prepared a bowl of corn flakes for her.

Later, Maia keenly observed someone getting a bowl of Fruit Loops and she was very concerned that other people were eating the “yucky” cereal and maybe we should throw it away to keep even more people from getting the yucky cereal. Hmmm, this is why you don’t tell “little” white lies to your kids…

[ Click to go interactive ]

Unfortunately, my camera/memory card flaked out on me and about half of the pictures I took were corrupted. A few of them I recovered the thumbnail image just to save an important memory. I’m afraid my camera didn’t much like bouncing along in tank-bag for the last 5K miles.

The morning trip was a fairly quick leg south on US-395. I was humm’n along at 10-15 over the limit through rolling hills on a fairly vacant stretch of the highway when I was literally startled by a CHP cruiser that blew by me with lights a flash’n but no siren. Twas the third encounter with the Man that I thought I was busted, but, only because I’m a worry wart about that sort of thing.

CA-32 was a very fun road

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/640sec, 18mm focal L. @54 MPH, ~170mi from prev photo, map

In my quest to take lesser traveled 2-lane roads, CA-32 was just what I was looking for. I took off ahead of the family around about here and figured we’d catch up some place later.

Traffic

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/500sec, 29mm focal L. @45 MPH, ~7.4mi from prev photo, map

The best part of CA-32 is that it’s posted at 55 MPH, even through all the twisties — you’d have to really be tearing up the road to get into trouble with speeding and, frankly, there are too many blind corners to get that crazy (for me).

Good pavement + twistie + 55MPH = legal fun — never you mind the speed when this pic was captured :hide

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/500sec, 35mm focal L. @64 MPH, ~6.5mi from prev photo, map

And, all good things must come to an end. Buh bye twisties, hello Central Valley.

Welcome to the Central Valley — Hot, hazy, and flat is the norm here.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/2500sec, 22mm focal L. @68 MPH, ~25mi from prev photo, map

Heading to port? — Any bet those are empties?

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/2500sec, 70mm focal L. @75 MPH, ~15mi from prev photo, map

The Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys (aka Central Valley) is a hugely agrarian area with the top 4 counties for agricultural sales in all of the US.

Miles of orchards

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/2500sec, 18mm focal L. @57 MPH, ~24mi from prev photo, map

The projects of Marysville?

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/1250sec, 22mm focal L. ~4.9mi from prev photo, map

There’s just really no good way to get back to the Bay area. We ended up taking CA-99 and CA-70 south through the middle of the valley. Looking at the map, I see there were many more imaginative ways I could have covered the distance. Ohh well, more roads to explore next time I’m in the area.

Buzz kill — fortunately, he only stayed on the road for ~6 miles or so.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/800sec, 65mm focal L. @64 MPH, ~2.6mi from prev photo, map

The Sacramento area has seen a terrible decline in real estate (Sacramento Flippers in Trouble is a favorite, almost comical site illustrating just how bad it is). But, really, what did they expect? There’s nothing but land out there to build upon. There is nearly a limitless supply for the house shitter to come around and plop down more tracts of McMansion developments were your neighbor’s house is only 10 ft from yours. Classic over supply scenario.

Why real estate is worthless out here

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/2500sec, 18mm focal L. @76 MPH, ~30mi from prev photo, map

It’d been a long time since breakfast, and the natives were getting restless riding in the car. I get a call on the one-way cell phone link to stop and grab a nibble with the family.

First fast food of the trip

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/320sec, 24mm focal L. ~4.6mi from prev photo, map

Maia was very happy to get some french fries. The babies just wanted to be out of their car seats.

At least there was good company

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/30sec, 29mm focal L. ~0ft from prev photo, map

After food, Maia was promised that she could go to the “play land”, but, it was closed and all the equipment was gone. Going for a walk with dad was not an acceptable alternative.

Road weary toddler — She was promised play equipment, but it was broken.

, ISO , ƒ/, sec, focal L. ~0ft from prev photo, map

After “lunch”, Valerie took the kids the fast way home, just to get it over with for them. I the took the opportunity to go exploring and ride the levees that form the shipping lanes into the central valley.

Riding the levee on CA-84 — The land on the left appears to be below sea level.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/1000sec, 18mm focal L. @49 MPH, ~26mi from prev photo, map

The Merluccius — Gee, you think they fish(ed) for cod?

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/1250sec, 29mm focal L. ~1.2mi from prev photo, map

This levee keeps Ryer Island dry. Although it may not be obvious in the photo, the land behind the levee is below sea level. There was a giant pumping station that kept this section from flooding.

The levee roads were fun, although the ground had settled leaving rolling, bumpy pavement for much of it. But, there was practically no other traffic and I just motored along at my own pace. I wasn’t so lucky to see any heavy ships making their way. Maybe another time when I explore more of this area…

More land under water

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/800sec, 18mm focal L. @54 MPH, ~2.2mi from prev photo, map

For miles and miles, the GPS had been recommending I make a U-turn and head back. But, the map looked like the road connected, so I just kept on going. Little did I know, the GPS was just doing as it was told to avoid ferry crossings in it’s routing selection. CA-84 is linked by a ferry across the canal into Rio Vista.

Just in time for the ferry

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/640sec, 34mm focal L. ~1.2mi from prev photo, map

I pulled on board, and asked how much the trip across the canal was and the operator chuckled and ask if I paid my taxes…

Cheaper than a bridge? — A publicly operated ferry.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/125sec, 18mm focal L. ~272ft from prev photo, map

And, no sooner than I was on the west side of the canal, the road would take me immediately back to the east side.

Back over the river — CA-12 out of Rio Vista

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/640sec, 18mm focal L. @34 MPH, ~2.3mi from prev photo, map

Out of Rio Vista, it was obvious I was approaching “civilization”.

Antioch Bridge and Shell Refinery — One of the least traveled toll bridges in the bay area.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/800sec, 55mm focal L. @66 MPH, ~8.6mi from prev photo, map

Vasco Rd out of Byron

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/640sec, 70mm focal L. @61 MPH, ~16mi from prev photo, map

I had the GPS routing configured for “shortest route”, as I am wont to do because it usually takes me a path I’ve not taken before. First time I’d ever been to downtown Livermore — weirdest place in the bay area full of scientists and cowboys. Well, maybe less so on both counts these days, but, back in the day…

Old town Livermore

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/640sec, 29mm focal L. ~12mi from prev photo, map

Back on CA-84, it heads past the Vallecitos Nuclear Center. More places that the scientists worked, although, not affiliated with Livermore Labs as I had always thought.

Small nucs — Used for power until ’63, now just a small research reactor is active.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/800sec, 60mm focal L. @52 MPH, ~6.4mi from prev photo, map

Just a few miles from home now. It only takes 7 lanes to handle the traffic…

Buh bye 2 lane roads — I-880 heading into San Jose

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/320sec, 18mm focal L. @73 MPH, ~13mi from prev photo, map

Home sweet home

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/10.0, 1/30sec, 18mm focal L.

Back where it all started from.

For the record

NIKON D70, ISO 1000, ƒ/4.5, 0.6sec, 18mm focal L.

Oshkosh Trip: Day 12

john — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 08:23:08 +0000

Day 12: Butte, MT to Weiser, ID — 470 miles

[ Click to go interactive ]

I wandered down to the continental breakfast at the motel and had a terrible cup of coffee and some snacks while sharing a table with a cook. I didn’t quite catch the relationship, but, he was working for a rancher that’s found a clever way to increase the revenue of his cattle operation by operating a mobile B-B-Q rig selling the finished product directly to the consumer at fairs and other large events. Smart folk out there doing better’n than just scratch’n a living off of the land…

Leaving Butte — A chilly 48˙F at 7:20.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/320sec, 18mm focal L. @63 MPH, ~0.6mi from prev photo, map

We made a quick run up I-90, and then cut off on some back roads heading for MT-43. This smokestack really had me guessing. Check out out the satellite map image. Clearly, it’s had some use over the years.

But, to the west, and slightly south of the stack in the red hills, note the “small” mounds of dirt that form concentric rings and lines. You can actually make out the divots where a dozer dug down to pushed up the mounds. What the heck are those all about?

Or, maybe that’s not a smokestack. Maybe it’s an alien docking tower and the mounds are where they dumped their supplies? Or the bodies after running their experiments? Inquiring minds want to know!

Turns out the stack is the last remains of the Anaconda Smelter. Built in 1919, it’s 585 ft of brick wall; one of the tallest free standing masonry structures in the world.

Bizarre smokestack

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/800sec, 55mm focal L. @54 MPH, ~26mi from prev photo, map

The smokestack quickly faded away heading down this picturesque tree-lined road.

Mill Creek Road

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/800sec, 18mm focal L. @64 MPH, ~6.0mi from prev photo, map

Gorgeous valley — Love the free-standing fence.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/640sec, 35mm focal L. @61 MPH, ~8.5mi from prev photo, map

But, all that scenery wasn’t doing anything for the temperature. Forty minutes after leaving Butte, chilly gave way to downright cold as the temperature dropped to 42˙F. Yet again, I had put my rain gear on over my mesh riding pants/jacket just to keep the wind out and some of the warmth in. Except for the burn across the Nevada desert, I’d have been better off without the mesh gear for most of the trip thus far. Completely unexpected for a July/August trip across the Midwest.

It’s supposed to be getting WARMER — Down to 42˙F

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/320sec, 18mm focal L. @60 MPH, ~6.5mi from prev photo, map

But, I did have the heated grips going, occasionally even (intentionally) bumping them up to the high setting.

Barn by the river

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/1000sec, 18mm focal L. @71 MPH, ~7.2mi from prev photo, map

MT-43 — don’t get too excited, it was only 2 bends.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/1000sec, 18mm focal L. @70 MPH, ~3.6mi from prev photo, map

Chilly or not, it was a perfect day with totally still air. The temperature could only go up as the morning ebbed.

Mirror Pond

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/800sec, 22mm focal L. @64 MPH, ~11mi from prev photo, map

We stopped in the tiny town of Wisdom to warm up and grab some breakfast. The coffee was tasty and hot, warming the inside while the sun beamed its warmth on us through the window, as if it were apologizing for not getting the job down earlier.

More Sturgis traffic — Can’t imagine those tires do anything for the handling…`

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/800sec, 70mm focal L. ~11mi from prev photo, map

By the time we’d finished reading the paper over breakfast, the morning air had soaked up some heat. The day had shaped up nicely and there were many good roads expected ahead.

Continuing west on MT-43, we’re heading for US-93 in Idaho.

Fun little road

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/800sec, 38mm focal L. @68 MPH, ~32mi from prev photo, map

Welcome to Idaho, and all that. It’s the state I spent my formative years in, and I still call it “home”. But, in all those years, I’d never been to this part of the state and was excited to be riding the ‘cycle through.

Got it!

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/800sec, 18mm focal L. @38 MPH, ~3.0mi from prev photo, map

Leaving Montana we headed down Chief Joseph Pass to get down to the Salmon River. The pass was loads of fun with fast sweepers and some tight switches, all on great pavement.

Good times

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/800sec, 18mm focal L. @46 MPH, ~0.8mi from prev photo, map

After zipping through some of the corners, I slowed up in order to let Dad catch up. The Goldwing just doesn’t corner like the F800.

Taking in the scenery

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/1000sec, 18mm focal L. @49 MPH, ~1.7mi from prev photo, map

The road passed through some fantastic canyon walls following the river. It proved to be tough lighting to capture on the camera with the wall in shadow, but, this gives some idea what it was all about.

Canyon road

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/160sec, 29mm focal L. @66 MPH, ~14mi from prev photo, map

US-93 follows some of the area that Lewis and Clark explored as they passed through on their way west.

Heading up the Salmon River

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/2000sec, 27mm focal L. @65 MPH, ~5.7mi from prev photo, map

River cuts

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1000sec, 40mm focal L. @63 MPH, ~2.7mi from prev photo, map

Even with all the Sturgis traffic the last few days, the roads were especially active with weekend bikers taking advantage of the perfect weather.

Weekend riders — possibly heading to Sturgis…

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.0, 1/2500sec, 34mm focal L. @64 MPH, ~9.5mi from prev photo, map

Welcome to Salmon, ID

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.0, 1/2000sec, 31mm focal L. @26 MPH, ~4.0mi from prev photo, map

Well, crap — this isn’t good. My rear tire is down to the cords!

Trouble

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.0, 1/80sec, 50mm focal L. ~0.4mi from prev photo, map

We stopped for gas in Salmon. I’d been keeping a close eye on rear tire since I was getting on past 8K miles on it. By design, the Metzler Z6 has no tread in the center. But, it also lacks even a minimal tread depth measurement “hole” to determining how worn out it really is. I had figured I’d need to change it while visiting with the family and my estimation was it hadn’t worn appreciably in the last thousand miles and I’d be just fine to get to western Idaho where it’d be a simple matter to find a tire in the Boise area.

Salmon is effectively the middle of nowhere. I called the lone moto shop listed and asked if he’d happen to have any motorcycle tires. He answered in the affirmative.

“This is probably a long shot, but do you happen to have a 180 55 17 on the shelf?”

“Is that some sort hot rod street bike tire?” (I always love getting a question back in response to question)

“Umm, well, yes, it’s a road tire”

“Yeah, I’ve only got dirt bike tires here.”

Greeeaaat. Well, now what?

Yeah, it’s squared off — but, I didn’t estimate it was *that* worn out

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.0, 1/80sec, 50mm focal L. map

There was little choice in what to do about the tire situation — just take it easy and keep going down the road. It was Saturday, the earliest I could have gotten a new tire in would be Monday.

Quarter Earth — halfway between Middle Earth and “End” Earth?

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.0, 1/1600sec, 34mm focal L. @60 MPH, ~13mi from prev photo, map

Bluffs over the Salmon River

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000sec, 18mm focal L. @61 MPH, ~3.5mi from prev photo, map

The tire situation weighed heavily on me. Thankfully the scenery gave plenty of reasons to let it slide to the back of my mind.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1000sec, 46mm focal L. @59 MPH, ~4.1mi from prev photo, map

Contrast — red rocks against gray

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1600sec, 18mm focal L. @46 MPH, ~8.2mi from prev photo, map

Following the Salmon River up US-93 was very enjoyable. Traffic in our direction was light, to nonexistent, and we still made fairly good time, even taking it easy around the corners.

Carved Canyon

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1250sec, 18mm focal L. @52 MPH, ~3.8mi from prev photo, map

More Bluffs

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1600sec, 25mm focal L. @57 MPH, ~23mi from prev photo, map

The Three Rivers Quarry is the source of some rather unique purple and yellow striped flagstone.

Three Rivers Stone Quarry

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1250sec, 25mm focal L. @60 MPH, ~15mi from prev photo, map

Chutes and Slides

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1250sec, 24mm focal L. @50 MPH, ~6.5mi from prev photo, map

Columns

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/800sec, 40mm focal L. @57 MPH, ~2.8mi from prev photo, map

The kid in me wants to sit at the top of these hills and throw large stones down the slide to see how much of a chain-reaction can be formed knocking other rocks down the slide. But, I suspect it’s more stable than it looks based on the formation of what appears to be paths making diagonal cuts up the side.

Note the trails — Looks like the mountain goats and deer have formed a few paths.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1250sec, 35mm focal L. @58 MPH, ~3.8mi from prev photo, map

Sawtooth Mountains — Williams Peak ~10500′

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1600sec, 25mm focal L. @49 MPH, ~31mi from prev photo, map

ID-21 — through the Challis National Forest.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/2000sec, 18mm focal L. @65 MPH, ~20mi from prev photo, map

Along the way, we stopped and checked on the tire at various times. By now, one spot had visible metal exposed. The good news was the metal would wear slower than the rubber and since the rest of the tire was better than that spot, I’d be OK, right? Yeah, suuuuurrre! Logic wasn’t giving me significant confidence…

To add insult to injury we were on one of the best twisty roads of the entire trip, and I was taking the corners like I was riding a dressed out Harley.

Heading up the pass from Lowman — this was heartbreaking.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1000sec, 18mm focal L. @45 MPH, ~38mi from prev photo, map

Volcanic layers

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/800sec, 18mm focal L. @50 MPH, ~33mi from prev photo, map

By now, we were almost to Boise and I was just feeling like I might actually make it!

Lucky Peak Reservoir — The basalt flow that filled the valley is what forms the bluffs.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1000sec, 18mm focal L. @55 MPH, ~7.0mi from prev photo, map

Lucky Peak Dam — Note the 2 colors of rock showing the different quarry sources.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1600sec, 18mm focal L. @45 MPH, ~6.9mi from prev photo, map

The volcanic signature is all over this area. Once upon a time it must have been quite the fiery cauldron…

More basalt flows

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1250sec, 18mm focal L. @59 MPH, ~1.0mi from prev photo, map

My wife and kids had arrived at my folk’s house the day before and, unfortunately, they carried a nasty, incapacitating stomach bug with them. It started with one of the twins and then moved on to the other twin a day later. By this day, my wife had come down with it.

So, if there was going to be a time to see my new nephew, this potentially could be the only time depending on how long the sickness took to work through.

He’s quite the angel, especially with the newborn sleepies.

Visiting Henry — all of 2 days old.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/1.8, 1/100sec, 50mm focal L. ~8.9mi from prev photo

My folk’s place is in Weiser, about 70 miles northwest of Boise. The tire had about 1/10 circumference with the steel belts fully exposed. A wise man would have left the bike at my sister’s house and jumped on with Dad to get home to Weiser. But, there were several reason to just push on: there’s a shop full of all the right tools in Weiser; All the stuff packed on the bike. And, then there’s the possibility of getting sick and then having to deal with getting the tire fixed without infecting my sister’s family….

I just pushed on to Weiser and watched the tire pressure monitor like a hawk. 320 miles later after noticing the first evidence of chords back in Salmon, I had definitely borrowed a few more miles than I should have. Needless to say, I’m not putting a Metzler Z6 on as a replacement; it’s just too ambiguous determining when it’s worn out.

Pushed my luck

NIKON D70, ISO 200, ƒ/9.0, 1/25sec, 34mm focal L.

After 12 days on the road, I finally got to see my family, half of whom were completely ill. My oldest (three year old) daughter, Maia, was so excited see Grandpa Jack. Me? I got an, “ohh, hi dad”. Gee, it’s so nice to see you too, Maia!

My poor wife, Valerie, gave me a look of such mixed happiness and crappiness and “I’d love to kiss you, but I’m not going to infect you”. 12 days with the three kids, including several days of road-tripping to meet me in Idaho, and she gets thanked with a nasty virus. Talk about making a guy feel completely worthless for abandoning his family.

Ohh well, it’ll be easier next year for her since the kids will be older…

Continue onto the next day…

Oshkosh Trip: Day 11

john — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:09:31 +0000

Day 11: Bowman, ND to Butte, MT — 522 miles

[ Click to go interactive ]

We got out of Bowman early as we had a fairly full day’s worth of miles to cover to get to Butte.

Early start — On the road at 6:45 local time.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/500sec, 18mm focal L. @71 MPH, ~12mi from prev photo, map

It was chilly in the morning, mid 50′s — I had all my layers on, including the top and bottom of my rain suit. Looking west, I was glad to have already been dressed for rain.

Looking ominous — We’re gonna get wet.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/250sec, 29mm focal L. @69 MPH, ~25mi from prev photo, map

The terrain in in this area was a welcome change from that of the last few days heading across the Midwest.

Dirt mounds — These were all over. What’s with the “ledges” sticking out of them?

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/250sec, 18mm focal L. @65 MPH, ~1.9mi from prev photo, map

So, welcome to Montana, and all that … lousy amateur with a camera who couldn’t shoot the broadside of a barn if it was standing still.

Alkali beds at the bottom of the wash

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/500sec, 18mm focal L. @71 MPH, ~14mi from prev photo, map

Rain — just a brief pause allowing me to snap a photo. Still got water on the lens…

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/400sec, 24mm focal L. @58 MPH, ~71mi from prev photo, map

We stopped in Miles City to get gas and breakfast. It was one of those long, lingering breakfasts where you look outside the window and then try to get the waitress to bring by some more coffee just to have an excuse to linger some more. She became wise to the ruse by the second or third cup after we’d already finished eating. With the cold shoulder from the waitress, we finally motivated and took the cold shoulder of the weather.

Strata buttes — I like how the layers continue into the next peak at the same elevation.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/1000sec, 55mm focal L. ~55mi from prev photo, map

After a brief run down I-94, we took a right at Forsyth to continue on down US-12. It finally stopped raining and it was time to shed a layer — which amounted to me changing my gloves since I still wanted the rain suit for warmth. Gave me a moment to look over the train yard from the bridge.

Coal yard

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/400sec, 44mm focal L. ~56mi from prev photo, map

This part of US-12 through Montana was all kinds of fun. Narrow, marginally maintained, and full of stuff to look at. My kind of road!

Gnarly outcropping

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/2000sec, 18mm focal L. @63 MPH, ~5.6mi from prev photo, map

Old school house? — Note the boot on the fence post in the foreground.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1600sec, 65mm focal L. @74 MPH, ~18mi from prev photo, map

But, there was one heck of a wind from the cold front that was pushing the rain through. The strong crosswind keeps you nimble on the bars.

Crosswind — A nice lean into the gusts.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/1000sec, 18mm focal L. @79 MPH, ~64mi from prev photo, map

US-12 through Montana had quickly become a favorite road of mine thus far on the trip. Something about high, often rolling plains that were interspersed with hills and peaks. Few towns and very little traffic — what more could you want?

US-12 — One of the many hills between the valley planes.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/1250sec, 50mm focal L. @79 MPH, ~10mi from prev photo, map

Eroded cliffs

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/1250sec, 18mm focal L. @75 MPH, ~6.3mi from prev photo, map

Seeing all the river/water erosion through this valley made me wonder at the time if it could have been part of the Glacial Lake Missoula flood that shaped the scab lands of eastern Washington. Judging by this map, it clearly wasn’t.

Must have been one heck of a river through here once upon time.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/1250sec, 35mm focal L. @79 MPH, ~1.7mi from prev photo, map

The windsock at this small grass airport was pointing about 60-70˙ to the runway (and the road in that area). Good day to practice crosswind landings

Crosswind — It wasn’t howling, but, it was a good stiff breeze.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.0, 1/2000sec, 50mm focal L. @60 MPH, ~56mi from prev photo, map

Sandstone ledges

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/8.0, 1/1250sec, 29mm focal L. @65 MPH, ~5.2mi from prev photo, map

It fascinates me why different layers of the strata can be strong enough to resist the erosion and form the ledges at the top. Or, maybe it’s just that the water cut down below and spent more time chewing on the lower layers?

More evidence of an old river wash

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/8.0, 1/1250sec, 25mm focal L. @64 MPH, ~0.7mi from prev photo, map

Rock climbers paradise?

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/8.0, 1/800sec, 70mm focal L. @76 MPH, ~16mi from prev photo, map

It was pushing 1300 local time and I was hitting the “need food now, don’t talk to me” wall. My stomach turns off my brain and I lose all patience and manors; it’s not my best character trait. I don’t remember what it was that set me off, but it ended about halfway through a roast beef sandwich at a cafe across the street from this locomotive in Harlowton.

Sorry, Dad, for not quite growing up yet after all these years.

Electric locomotive

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/500sec, 18mm focal L. ~40mi from prev photo, map

After lunch, I was in much better spirits to check out the prime mover.

3000 Volts DC — That’ll light you up!

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1000sec, 18mm focal L. map

And now, the rest of the story — beats typing

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1250sec, 18mm focal L. map

Back on the road, I couldn’t get enough of the wide open spaces, capped off with formidable hills in the distance.

High plains

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/2500sec, 24mm focal L. @74 MPH, ~27mi from prev photo, map

And, occasionally, those hills cross our path.

Rolling hills

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1600sec, 40mm focal L. @73 MPH, ~13mi from prev photo, map

Continuing west through Montana on US-12. The cold front was passing through well behind us and, save the wind, the weather was fantastic; warm when we stopped, slightly cool down the road.

And more long straight roads…

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/2500sec, 34mm focal L. @75 MPH, ~25mi from prev photo, map

Prior to this trip, I hadn’t spent any significant time traveling through Montana. I couldn’t get enough of the scenery.

Gorgeous countryside

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1250sec, 70mm focal L. @78 MPH, ~8.8mi from prev photo, map

I think they get some snow here — and wind, too.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/2000sec, 65mm focal L. @68 MPH, ~14mi from prev photo, map

My favorite sign — Now, if only there wasn’t a truck just ahead in the corner.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1600sec, 18mm focal L. @67 MPH, ~20mi from prev photo, map

Hardly a knee dragging corner. Gonna have to get a fixed camera mount one of these times to get some better action shots.

Foolishness — 2 hands on the bars…

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/2000sec, 18mm focal L. @67 MPH, ~397ft from prev photo, map

Gett’n bored heading in to Townsend. Took a while to get the camera angle just right.

More bugs — Mmmm, they’d be tasty treats with an open face helmet.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/9.0, 1/400sec, 70mm focal L. @67 MPH, ~12mi from prev photo, map

A left at Townsend onto MT-287 and a quick stop for petrol to make it into to Butte.

I-90 — Through Cottonwood Canyon into Boulder Valley towards Whitehall.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/8.0, 1/1000sec, 44mm focal L. @79 MPH, ~46mi from prev photo, map

This absolutely cracked me up. My first thought was that they were saving themselves some work not actually putting the rooftop bag, ya know, on the *roof*. But, turns out it’s legit and that’s the way it’s supposed to be!

I dunno, seems awfully sketch to me. Especially since they didn’t bother using the bottom straps to keep it from swinging side-to-side around corners.

Fanny pack — Ya know, for cars!

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/8.0, 1/800sec, 18mm focal L. @80 MPH, ~2.8mi from prev photo, map

Such a lovely name for a strip mine: Golden Sunlight. But, golden it most definitely is — let’s see 500K ounces of gold reserves times $1k/oz minus extraction costs of $392/oz is a nice cool $300 million in profit. Yeah, that’d qualify as Golden Sunlight to me!

Interestingly enough, in looking up some info on this mine, I learned that Montana is the only state that has banned open pit, cyanide leach mining to extract minerals from ore. Of course, it’s probably also one of the few states that actually has gold reserves sufficient to have a problem with OPCLM. What with gold at $1K/oz, clearly they can afford to use more modern (and costly) methods that do a better job of containing the cyanide.

Click the map link under the photo and go to satellite view to see the extent of the mine.

Golden Sunlight Mine — Formerly one of the largest open pit cyanide leach gold mines before the ban.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/8.0, 1/640sec, 70mm focal L. @79 MPH, ~1.6mi from prev photo, map

Crazy rock formations — Didn’t get a good picture, but, you get the idea…

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/8.0, 1/500sec, 40mm focal L. @76 MPH, ~21mi from prev photo, map

Heading along I-90, there some awesome rock formations that I just wasn’t able to get pictures of while on the move. Anyway, you can sorta get a small glimpse from the above/below pics. Love the vertical points.

Spires of rock — knife edge vertical slabs.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/8.0, 1/1000sec, 31mm focal L. @70 MPH, ~4.1mi from prev photo, map

Down we go — Almost into Butte

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/8.0, 1/1000sec, 24mm focal L. @66 MPH, ~5.4mi from prev photo, map

We checked into yet another Motel 8 and I asked the nice lady at the desk where I might go to get a looksee at the Berkeley Pit. She looked at me like I must have been blind and gave me a good jovial rib’n:

“How could you possibly miss it!?!”

Silly me, that’s a darned good point; it’s supposedly ginormous. “There must be a decent place to look down over it”

“I don’t know what all the fuss is, it’s just a big hole in the ground”

“Yes, but, it’s not everyday you get to see a Superfund site in person. What else is there to do in town?”

At which point she concedes that’s about all there is and whips out a map and points to the Pit visitor’s center then runs her pen down the best roads to take there.

If you haven’t guessed by now, I have a thing for mining. Back in my younger and dumber days, we used to go spelunking into abandoned or inactive mine shafts just to see how far back they’d go.

Visitor’s entrance to a Superfund site

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/8.0, 1/250sec, 18mm focal L. ~8.2mi from prev photo, map

Panorama — 1.25 miles across, 1780 feet deep, over 1000 ft of which has filled in with water.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/13.0, 1/320sec, 18mm focal L. Panorama merge of 5 images.

Quite literally, this mountain supplied the copper that electrified America: 22 billion pounds of copper (22,000,000,000)have been recovered since the first mines started in 1880 through 2000 — enough to pave a 4″ thick 2-lane road 900 miles long!

The PH of the water is 2.5 and there is so much copper in solution that they are mining the pit *water* for the copper it holds!

The water level is currently below the water table, leaving the local ground water uncontaminated. When it rises another 130 ft, (estimated to reach that around 2023), they’ll have to bring the water treatment plant (shown below) to full capacity in order to keep the water level below the critical height that would contaminate the aquifer. Lots more info here.

Mining the water for copper

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/13.0, 1/320sec, 70mm focal L. map

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/40sec, 22mm focal L., map

The other interesting factoid is the amount of shaft mining that went on prior to the strip mining operation. Anaconda Copper Mining Company claims there were 42 miles of vertical shafts, and 10,000 miles of horizontal shafts in the Butte Hill!

Note below that the pit is 1780 ft deep and that’s barely scratching at the surface compared to the shaft mines.

The dark blue lines at the bottom are over a mile underground!

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/30sec, 40mm focal L. ~0ft from prev photo, map

Back from dinner and sight seeing, the parking lot for the hotel had filled with bikes heading to Sturgis. However, this is the guy that got my attention.

My local Yamaha shop that I visited as a teenager had a poster of Vmax boiling the rear tire (pretty sure this was it) that forever cemented the bike as totally bad ass in my mind — no matter how impractical it may or may not be when the first corner comes around.

I got to chatting with the guy and he’d hauled that trailer West across Canada and was making his way back east. Note the gas can in the back. What does a Vmax have, a 4 gallon tank? And gets mid 30′s MPG? Crappy range — even without the trailer!

Ballsy

iPhone, map

Another day down. The battery in Dad’s Goldwing was holding up fine and hadn’t given us any trouble from the reduced charge it was getting.

Tomorrow: tire troubles in the middle of nowhere Idaho.

Oshkosh Trip: Day 10

john — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 07:07:18 +0000

Day 10: Watertown, SD — Bowman, ND — 360 miles

[ Click to go interactive ]

We got a fairly latish start, getting out of the motel about 0930 local time — which could only be my doing as Dad’s an early bird. Of course, no sooner than we’re out the door, we have to make the mandatory Starbucks run, and I can’t remember why Dad wouldn’t have gotten his fix already, given the hour.

Tanked up on coffee, we are about to depart Watertown when Dad pulls over unexpectedly and begins removing the side panel on the Wing. The charging voltage is lower than normal, especially with a load on the system (like brake lights). He’s wired in an analog voltmeter, and it registers a small increase as the engine revs, but it’s definitely lower than normal. Well, shit. Now what?

We pop over to a gas station and find out there’s a Honda shop a few miles down the road.

Trouble with the Wing — The alternator wasn’t alternating so well.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/400sec, 35mm focal L. ~2.5mi from yesterday’s last photo, map

They had a good digital multimeter and we find that with most of the electrical load removed (tail lights, head light, etc) that it’d get up to 12.9 volts at highway RPM; little more than treading water. The Goldwing has a 3-phase alternator and we figure that one leg of it has gone tango uniform. With a clamp-on ammeter, we’d have been able to know for sure, but, that’s more diagnostic tools than most shops have. I’ve probably not mentioned this, but, both my Dad and I Electrical Engineers; how many EE’s will it take to change an alternator?

Well, as it turns out, it’s full day’s job to yank the engine in order to gain access to the alternator. Ohh, and it’s about an $800 part to buy new. Tough call — we decided 12.9 volts should get us home…

Checking the wiring

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.0, 1/320sec, 27mm focal L. map

After our already late start, we finally made our way out of Watertown a little after 1100 local time. I follow Dad just to make sure there’s no problems.

Finally out of Watertown

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/500sec, 18mm focal L. @74 MPH ~36mi from prev photo, map

Too close to the lake

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/500sec, 56mm focal L. @73 MPH ~1.4mi from prev photo, map

There are so many natural lakes around here, it’s hard to believe. Click on the link above to get an idea. Looking at the terrain map for the above/below photo, the water literally has nowhere else to go.

No outlet — Looking at the terrain map, there’s no outlet for this lake. Not exactly the best place to build…

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/640sec, 70mm focal L. ~0.3mi from prev photo, map

The plan after coffee was to get down the road and stop for breakfast. We rolled into Webster at the crack of noon. So much for plans…

Webster, SD

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/640sec, 18mm focal L. @15 MPH ~5.1mi from prev photo, map

We pulled into a diner for brunch and were greeted by this feisty little rat dog. It was none too happy about us being there; it was seriously pissed. And all at the same time, ridiculously funny with its yappy little bark leaning way out guarding the car. I egged it on a little bit just to keep the laughs going — I’m sure the dog’s owner was watching the entire scene and getting equally pissed.

Attack dog

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/640sec, 40mm focal L. ~0.8mi from prev photo, map

Following lunch in Webster, SD, we turned west on US-12.

So many little lakes

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/2000sec, 27mm focal L. @75 MPH ~17mi from prev photo, map

More ethanol

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1600sec, 34mm focal L. @74 MPH ~26mi from prev photo, map

It’s interesting how interruptions like a train crossing cause an insatiable need to do something else. I twittered and took pictures. Dad cleaned the windshield. Priorities…

As good a time as any to clean the ‘shield…

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1600sec, 18mm focal L. ~25mi from prev photo, map

So, I might have mentioned this already, but the ability to absorb so many smells in the air is one of my favorite parts of motorcycling. Although, with that comes the need to endure the not-so-pleasant smells that are also out there.

Fresh carrion, anyone?

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/2500sec, 25mm focal L. @70 MPH ~51mi from prev photo, map

Among other things, my dad is a beekeeper. The Adee family is a well known in apiary circles because of the size of their operation: the run something like 80,000 hives! To put that into perspective, my mom and dad run 300-400 and that keeps them more busy throughout the year.

And since I’m on the subject, here’s a plug for my dad’s online store if you happen to need some fresh honey. It’s good stuff

Dad made special note of Adee’s bee operation — Largest beekeeping operation in the world.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1600sec, 70mm focal L. @50 MPH ~6.9mi from prev photo, map

So far, the Golding was holding up OK. There were a few times that I wished he hadn’t pulled the fuse for the brake light, but, fortunately, not excitement.

We got down the road a ~140 miles and stopped for gas. Dad was awfully worried about the battery giving out on him in the middle of nowhere. A service station had a battery that was about the right size, and he bought and had them fill it and put it on the charger.

Gett’n a backup battery

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/10.0, 1/500sec, 70mm focal L. ~0.7mi from prev photo, map

We had some time to kill while the backup battery was on the charger. I walked about and took a few photos. Oddly enough, we’d been following these railroad tracks since Webster, and I hadn’t yet seen a train. These 2 locomotives were the sum total for all the miles we following these tracks.

Time to kill — Wait’n for the battery to charge.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1600sec, 29mm focal L. map

Saw this in the convenience store.

A proud lot here in Roscoe, SD

iPhone. map

After about 45 minutes or so, we called it good enough and loaded the spare battery into the trunk of the ‘wing and continued on down US-12. Awfully nice having all that space!

Hoffman Farms roadside art — It looks like it’s trying to be tumbleweed person, of sorts.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/10.0, 1/1250sec, 52mm focal L. @72 MPH ~26mi from prev photo, map

As the afternoon wore on, we were starting to get a quartering headwind — had to pay the price sooner or later for all the tailwinds we got going east.

More lakes

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/10.0, 1/640sec, 56mm focal L. @73 MPH ~9.5mi from prev photo, map

The Oahe Dam is supposedly the 15th largest earthen fill dams in the world largest earthen dams. A measly 200 feet of water height from the dam creates a pond that is 231 miles long — 4th largest reservoir in the US.

Oahe Reservoir — aka: the Missouri River

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.2, 1/6400sec, 34mm focal L. @49 MPH ~44mi from prev photo, map

Crossing the Oahe Lake (reservoir)

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/8000sec, 29mm focal L. @50 MPH ~563ft from prev photo, map

There’s many arms that spider around from the reservoir.

Arm of Lake Oahe

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.2, 1/8000sec, 38mm focal L. @61 MPH ~3.2mi from prev photo, map

Rolling hills and fighting wind — even the ‘wing is getting some lean going.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/4000sec, 70mm focal L. @73 MPH ~4.5mi from prev photo, map

This is the third time crossing this reservoir.

Another arm of Lake Oahe

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.2, 1/5000sec, 34mm focal L. @69 MPH ~7.3mi from prev photo, map

I was starting to get bored and tried a portrait at speed…

Bugs — just a light crop that afternoon.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/3.8, 1/6400sec, 22mm focal L. @76 MPH ~33mi from prev photo, map

Field of purple — (focus focus focus!)

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/10.0, 1/640sec, 70mm focal L. @71 MPH ~62mi from prev photo, map

Gorgeous farmland

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/10.0, 1/640sec, 40mm focal L. @77 MPH ~7.4mi from prev photo, map

All along the route in South Dakota, I saw these “Why die?” signs. The other side has “Think!” in large letters. I have to admit, I thought they were marking the locations of underground electrical or gas lines and the red “X” had some words around it to say “no digging”; all just a clever reminder to call the utility company before digging. Most of the time, they put the signs far off the side of the road, about where a buried pipeline would be.

But, after spotting one closer to the lane, I finally noticed all the words: “X marks the spot” and “Drive Safely” at the bottom. And, then, just as the imperative suggested, I did think. And shortly after that, I saw several of the signs grouped together in one location on a bridge. It seams that bridges, corners, and very near to city limits are the most fatal places on the roads. Some states put crosses, but, I can’t help but think these might have slightly more impact.

Sobering reminders

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/10.0, 1/640sec, 70mm focal L. @61 MPH ~9.3mi from prev photo, map

So, welcome to North Dakota, and all that — missed another sign.

We were slowed by repaving operations and had to wait for the “follow me” car. Throughout most of US-12, I’d been thinking to myself how nice the road surface had been. As I’m sitting there waiting, I took a good look at the old pavement and tried to find any sort of flaw in it. All I could think is this must be the result of the stimulus spending. Creating “make-work” projects because politicians really only know how to do one thing well: spend other peoples’ money. Doesn’t mater to them *what* it’s spent on, so long as they grab the biggest slice of the pie they can get their greedy mitts on.

Working on a perfectly good road — complete waste of our money

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/10.0, 1/640sec, 18mm focal L. @15 MPH ~49mi from prev photo, map

OK, I’ll get off my soap box now. Thanks for letting me vent….

This is what they were paving over — Do you see anything wrong with that tarmac?

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/10.0, 1/1250sec, 18mm focal L. @58 MPH ~1.1mi from prev photo, map

For most of the miles along US-12, this railroad followed a similar route. Didn’t see a single train (not counting the 2 engines) on the entire route. I suspect it’s mostly used during harvest to get the crops out.

The jointed rail certainly isn’t built to be a high speed mainline railroad.

Unused railroad

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.0, 1/2500sec, 22mm focal L. @69 MPH ~19mi from prev photo, map

More idyllic farm land

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/1250sec, 48mm focal L. @69 MPH ~10mi from prev photo, map

We made our way to Bowman, ND just fine without any battery troubles on the ‘wing. As soon as we got off the bikes our phones were a ring’n with news that my sister’s baby was born. I became an uncle; fourth grandchild for my Dad. Just 2 more days on the road and we’ll be able to visit the little tyke. We celebrated with a steak dinner.

The next day we roll Montana.

Oshkosh Trip: Day 9

john — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:06:04 +0000

Day 9 — Beaver Dam, WI to Watertown, SD — 502 Miles

[ Click to go interactive ]

Our time at the show ended before it got old. I could have easily stayed another day and visited the seaplane base, or just explored more of the show at Whittman. But, my wife was hauling the kids up to Idaho, and truth-be-told, I was missing the family a bit. Also, my sister was due to have her baby any moment now. All things considered, we decided to hit the road and make it an easier 4 day trop to Idaho rather than take in more of the show and have hurry back in 3 days.

I must have been tired from all the walking the last few days — I didn’t pull the camera out until at least an hour into the trip.

WI-16 — Twas a nice road.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/400sec, 55mm focal L. @65 MPH, map

We popped onto I-90 for a few miles to get to MN.

Limestone spires — Along I-90

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/250sec, 62mm focal L. @70 MPH ~48mi from prev photo, map

I’d read it was a gorgeous ride following the river up. Probably should have stayed on the Wisconsin side, but, US-61 worked out well. Indeed it must have because I didn’t bother to take a picture until 30 miles off the interstate in this boring little stretch where the river was hidden from sight. Ohh well…

And, BTW — welcome to Minnesota and all that; missed another sign. What am I, 2 for 7 at this point? Have to go back and tally the score.

US-61 — Following the Mississippi toward Minneapolis

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/640sec, 50mm focal L. @70 MPH ~107mi from prev photo, map

For the near 100 or so miles we followed the river, I didn’t see a single barge or ship. ‘Twas a stark contrast to the southern portion of the river that I recall from other trips. Maybe they were all hiding in the sections where the trees blocked the view.

Lock and Dam #5 — Built in 1935

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1000sec, 34mm focal L. @67 MPH ~2.0mi from prev photo, map

No boats. Must be because it’s a weekday…

Reservoir behind the dam

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1250sec, 18mm focal L. @60 MPH ~29mi from prev photo, map

Marina — I don’t really think of sail boats on a “river”, but, this isn’t just any ole river now, is it?

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1000sec, 18mm focal L. @28 MPH ~8.9mi from prev photo, map

Limestone outcropping

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/800sec, 38mm focal L. @46 MPH ~20mi from prev photo, map

Should have stopped in this town. Something about it that just made me curious. But, instead, I kept the hammer down and we pushed on.

Red Wing, MN — Love the “old” brick buildings.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1600sec, 22mm focal L. ~1.1mi from prev photo, map

More corn — This all looks so familiar. It’s like deja vu, or something.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/400sec, 18mm focal L. @59 MPH ~18mi from prev photo, map

One thing I’d starting taking note of is all the “toys” for sale along the sides of the 2-lane roads. Lotta Harleys, a few dirt bikes, an occasional ATV. Perhaps this area is struggling worse than others. I tried to take pictures of all of them, but, I was too slow on the camera most times. This proved even harder than state-line signs….

Toys for sale

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/320sec, 22mm focal L. @37 MPH ~1.0mi from prev photo, map

US-61 — Said goodbye to the river.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/800sec, 40mm focal L. @62 MPH ~5.9mi from prev photo, map

Irrigation! — Hadn’t seen that since leaving Colorado. Didn’t think they needed it out here…

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/800sec, 18mm focal L. @62 MPH ~641ft from prev photo, map

I’d had a fuel stop plotted out that I’d been watching on the GPS for the last 50 miles or so. I could sense that Dad was getting nervous and I was stretching his comfort level a bit far — both in fuel and just getting off the bike comfort. Such a bad son, I am. At least I bought the coffee

Coffee Break — I was slave driving without stopping till we needed gas, so, we could afford the time for coffee and to check out the map.

Canon PowerShot SD870 IS, ISO 400, ƒ/2.8, 1/320sec, 4.6 mm focal L. ~18mi from prev photo, map

We skirted south of Minneapolis, and I had the GPS set to fastest route, but, we ended up meandering through lots of stop lights and surface streets. Just as we were about to make some time, we started getting heavy drops of rain so we pulled over to suit up. Dad had been following the storm on his Nexrad capable GPS, and he was ticked that I hadn’t followed the plan we had talked about at the coffee shop.

I hadn’t realized the “plan” was so formidable and I was really just letting the GPS do the navigation work. The confusion seamed to be about the same road that’s labeled with multiple designations (like US-212 and MN-25) and where those designations part company. Somehow it became my fault for leading us directly into the rain. I just bit my tongue and kept it to myself that since he had the superior GPS with weather capabilities, perhaps, maybe he should have taken the lead on a different direction if there really was a way to avoid the weather.

Ohh well, the rain doesn’t really bother me. I already had half of my rain suit on (for warmth), and it wasn’t anything to put the rest on. I don’t really see what the big deal is with riding in the rain in any case.

Gonna get wet

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/60sec, 18mm focal L. ~26mi from prev photo, map

We got some mild-moderate rain for maybe 20 minutes and then it spit on us for a while longer and then it was done. No big deal.

Out of the rain

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/1000sec, 18mm focal L. @69 MPH ~46mi from prev photo, map

My daughter would love this town — The planets and spaceship painted under the water tower is classic.

Camera corrupted the file — no info @33 MPH ~37mi from prev photo, map

Round about Clara City, the road was blockaded over the railroad bridge and they had detour signs up. It would have been trivial to get past the signs and see if we could have weaseled our way through the detour. I probably would have investigated more if I was solo. Alas, I just followed the signs and played the good sheeple.

Race’n the train — Wasn’t much of a contest, but the detour was annoying.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.0, 1/640sec, 62mm focal L. @52 MPH ~48mi from prev photo, map

Right around Granite Falls, Dad had built a bit of a lead on me when I saw an oncoming LEO. Of course, I was speeding, (but only a little bit). However, just after he passed me his brake lights are on, and I watched in the mirror as I saw what looked a U-turn. But, I was just rounding a corner at that moment and he was of sight. I didn’t know if he’d actually turned around to follow or not and coming out of the turn, all I saw was a pair of headlights. I was totally freaked out — was he testing me to see if I would speed up thinking the coast was clear? Why weren’t the headlights overtaking me? How many miles would they follow me?

I probably spent a solid half-hour doing the speed limit and checking six out of sheer paranoia from those headlights that just stayed a few hundred yards behind me. Finally someone came and passed us both, and I relaxed enough to step it up. Dad had gotten so far ahead of me, he’d just about pulled off the road by the time I’d caught back up him. In hindsight, it was all rather silly…

Around the detour — by this time, decided there was nobody

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.0, 1/2000sec, 18mm focal L. @65 MPH ~34mi from prev photo, map

Rows of corn… — Can you tell I’m fascinated with the Midwest’s corn?

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.0, 1/500sec, 62mm focal L. @65 MPH ~3.3mi from prev photo, map

Rays of sunshine

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.0, 1/2000sec, 24mm focal L. @67 MPH ~28mi from prev photo, map

The day was starting to wear on, especially with the detour adding another 30-40 minutes more time than we were expecting. I’d stuffed a bag of trail mix in my pocket and so I pulled it out to keep the energy up.

Turns out it’s damn hard to actually eat anything while wearing gloves and a full-face helmet. Most of the trail mix ended up on the side of the highway as rabbit food.

Note the bag of trail mix stuffed tucked into the bars.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/5.0, 1/400sec, 18mm focal L. @71 MPH ~17mi from prev photo, map

After about a 12-hour day, we finally made it to Watertown. The Motel 8 parking lot was full of hogs, I reckon going to Sturgis.

We did the “where-to for dinner” routine, and I saw a brewery in the search and made the call. It was Dempsey’s Brewery and it was fantastic. Might have been the road weariness and hunger, but the beer was excellent, and the Wiener Schnitzel & Spätzle hit that spot that needed filling; I slept good that night.

Best beer of the entire trip — The glass was layered in frost — just a hint of it left at the bottom by the time I snapped this

, ISO , ƒ/, sec, focal L. ~38mi from prev photo, map

Continue on to Day 10.

Oshkosh Trip: Day 8

john — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:48:39 +0000

Second day of Airventure 2009

Today promised to be a good day weather wise. The sun was out, the temps were perfect, the humidity was down — it was just a beautiful show day.

Manly engine — How does 600HP (500HP continuous use) of turbo-charged V8 oomph tickle your fancy?

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/8.0, 1/1000sec, 42mm focal L., map

Avro Lancaster — from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Ontario, Canada

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/800sec, 28mm focal L.

Some info Andrew Mynarski if you re wondering why it’s flying the Canadian flag.

Steady Here — What exactly does that mean? Is that the Brit’s way of saying “don’t go past this line if you want to stay out of the props”?

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/8.0, 1/250sec, 92mm focal L.

White Night II

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/9.0, 1/320sec, 50mm focal L.

When we arrived the White Night II was just a bustle with activity. Supposedly Sir Branson was there getting a lesson and systems overview so he could participate in the afternoon’s flight.

White Night II — There was a flurry of workers doing all sorts of stuff to it, for some reason…

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/9.0, 1/400sec, 28mm focal L.

In the photo above, note the large aluminum I beams that form the tow apparatus. They can’t pull on the nose wheel like normal since each one is so far off centerline.

The area of the wing above the scissor lift is shown in the photo below.

After thought? — I can only hope that these have something to do with connecting to SSII. I can’t think of any other reason they’d be hanging on the outside of the wing like that. Maybe there’s a cover that they are supposed to hide inside of?

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/9.0, 1/80sec, 210mm focal L.

Progression

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/9.0, 1/200sec, 110mm focal L.

Vortex generators on the tail of the White Night II — With 600MPH aluminized “duct tape” holding them on. Last minute fix for some problem?

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/9.0, 1/250sec, 70mm focal L.

Corporate whore

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/9.0, 1/640sec, 60mm focal L.

Departing for the mass RV formation flight — More of this to come…

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/9.0, 1/250sec, 120mm focal L.

Cessna 195

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/9.0, 1/160sec, 28mm focal L.

Mass RV formation — They’re just gett’n warmed up…

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/9.0, 1/250sec, 155mm focal L.

Part gyro copter, part motorcycle — They Butterfly Super Sky Cycle

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/10.0, 1/125sec, 30mm focal L.

Getting it together

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/10.0, 1/100sec, 155mm focal L.

Safari Helicopters — Homebuilt chopper. The one on the right won the Lindy award.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/10.0, 1/125sec, 28mm focal L.

Dialed in! — Now they’re just showing off…

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/10.0, 1/250sec, 300mm focal L.

Lots of practice to make that happen — They make it look easy to fly 37 planes in formation.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/6.3, 1/320sec, 300mm focal L.

Turbine DC-3

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/6.3, 1/160sec, 28mm focal L.

Best look’n Albatross I’ve ever seen — Love that paint job.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/8.0, 1/200sec, 28mm focal L.

Rows of Swifts — This one makes my elbows hurt just look’n at it.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/11.0, 1/125sec, 110mm focal L.

P-51C

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/11.0, 1/200sec, 28mm focal L.

Venture Model 20 — Tiny little wings, yet 61 knot stall speed and and a scream’n fast cruise.

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/7.1, 1/500sec, 155mm focal L.

Predator — Never realized how big they were.

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/7.1, 1/400sec, 50mm focal L.

Buisness end of the Predator — why do I feal like, somebody’s watching me?

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/7.1, 1/320sec, 28mm focal L.

Just a small bomb — Also known as a “cookie”

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/7.1, 1/400sec, 28mm focal L.

P-51D ammo feed — Note that every 5th round is incendiary tipped (tracer)

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/9.0, 1/500sec, 28mm focal L.

Yours truly — Having a seat in a gorgeous P-51D

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/9.0, 1/500sec, 55mm focal L.

Panel of the P-51D — Fairl well equiped and IFR capable.

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/5.0, 1/500sec, 28mm focal L.

Rows of P-51Ds — Big frick’n prop that the Rolls-Merlin swings.

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/9.0, 1/400sec, 65mm focal L.

Rows of Boeing Stearmen

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/9.0, 1/640sec, 28mm focal L.

Not a real Zero — But, a pretty good likeness.

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/6.3, 1/1250sec, 92mm focal L.

Rows of T6′s / SNJ’s — The T6 category is my favorite at the Reno Air Races — the competition is fierce!

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/13.0, 1/200sec, 46mm focal L.

B-25 Mitchell — Can you believe it was found abandoned in Wilmington, DE in 1975

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/13.0, 1/80sec, 28mm focal L.

Get your graffiti on

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/13.0, 1/400sec, 135mm focal L.

Rows of T-28′s

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/13.0, 1/250sec, 42mm focal L.

Double-Decker — Airbus A380

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/13.0, 1/200sec, 300mm focal L.

Just a few tires to change — not exactly a shocker that they use Michelin’s…

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/13.0, 1/200sec, 300mm focal L.

Stunt it! — No camera tricks being played here. Note the hard left rudder deflection.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/7.1, 1/1000sec, 300mm focal L.

On the binders

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/500sec, 300mm focal L.

Like a sore thumb

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/640sec, 220mm focal L.

Who says choppers can’t do tricks?

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/400sec, 300mm focal L.

Twin Beech Model 18

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/500sec, 300mm focal L.

This was truly an elegant show to watch. Very graceful maneuvers.

Twin Beech Model 18

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/800sec, 300mm focal L.

Look Ma, no hands!

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/800sec, 300mm focal L.

Arrr! Thar be a treasure that’away

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/500sec, 300mm focal L.

T6 team heads in to show center

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/10.0, 1/400sec, 300mm focal L.

Opposing loops

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/640sec, 300mm focal L.

The sound is awesome — You can hear the throttle adjustments being made as each pilot works to keep the same speed as their lead.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/640sec, 300mm focal L.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/640sec, 300mm focal L.

T-28′s are look’n good — Thus, starts the hour of warbirds.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/640sec, 170mm focal L., map

A Mustang feels for the runway

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/6.3, 1/640sec, 300mm focal L. ~0ft from prev photo, map

Corsair flyby — All sorts of stuff during the warbird hour.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/640sec, 300mm focal L. ~0ft from prev photo, map

Ford Tri-motor — Love the tail-cone on the landing light.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/11.0, 1/125sec, 42mm focal L. ~0ft from prev photo, map

Heritage flight — P-51, A-10, F-86

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/11.0, 1/320sec, 155mm focal L. ~0ft from prev photo, map

T-28 puts on an aerobatic show

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/9.0, 1/320sec, 300mm focal L. ~0ft from prev photo, map

Smoke rings — The T-28 was doing aileron rolls and left these behind.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/640sec, 300mm focal L. ~0ft from prev photo, map

And so concludes our time at the show. It went on for another 4 days, but, that was all we’d get to see.

The next day we hit the road and started east.

Oshkosh Trip: Day 7

john — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:45:03 +0000

Opening day of Airventure 2009

I know you’re all hungry to see airplane pics, so, let’s just get to it…

Name that airplane — It’s the plane I shall buy when I win the lottery — the *big* lottery! Seats about 12 (depending on configuration).

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/4.5, 1/800sec, 48mm focal L., map

I wonder if she has to buy her own plane or does Cirrus write it off?

Indeed — Patty Wagstaff does kick ass.

NIKON D70, ISO 200, ƒ/22.0, 1/25sec, 27mm focal L. ~0ft from prev photo, map

Icon dubs this the “jet ski of aircraft”.

The new Icon amphibious 2 seater — with car-like interior.

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/9.0, 1/200sec, 55mm focal L.

F86 leading L39′s

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/9.0, 1/1600sec, 300mm focal L.

Dirty Wing on the DC-3 — All those rivets and bolts add drag.

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/16.0, 1/80sec, 35mm focal L.

I have a thing for flying boats. The Albatross has always been a favorite. This would be the second plane I’d get upon winning the lottery. You know, you need a well stocked hangar to properly support the mission for the day.

Grumman HU-16 Albatross — my other dream airplane

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/9.0, 1/125sec, 28mm focal L.

Grumman HU-16 Albatross — There’s literally a bed in the nose.

NIKON D70, ISO 250, ƒ/9.0, 1/160sec, 30mm focal L.

Grumman Goose — with turbine conversion — nice!

NIKON D70, ISO 250, ƒ/9.0, 1/200sec, 38mm focal L.

Retractable pontoons on the Goose

NIKON D70, ISO 250, ƒ/9.0, 1/160sec, 28mm focal L.

They aren’t joking about busiest tower. In 2000, I flew in with the Mooney Caravan that is fortunate enough to have an FAA sanctioned group arrival plan. During the arrival, the group “owns” 2 parallel runways (OK, one is actually a taxiway) for a few minutes time; long enough to get 70ish planes landed, two at a time with each group separated ~4 seconds apart. Sounds tricky, but, it’s better than the standard arrival.

The other way to fly in requires following certain land marks in until spotters on the ground call you on the radio a few miles away from the airport and space you out with other traffic doing the same thing. Nearing the runway, a different controller assigns a landing location on the runway and they land 2, sometimes 3 planes at a time on the same runway! They have giant colored “dots” on the runways and you are instructed to land accordingly to keep the traffic flowing. Typically, all this happens without the pilots talking to the controllers — it’s one-way communication to insure the frequency stays open for the controller’s usage. They often ask the plane to rock their wings if they understood the instructions. It’s a well choreographed ballet.

Worlds busiest control tower — At least for that 1 week period

NIKON D70, ISO 1000, ƒ/8.0, 1/200sec, 300mm focal L.

No appearance was made by SpaceShipTwo.

Scaled Composites White Night II makes a fly by — Was Burt on drugs when he designed this?

NIKON D70, ISO 1000, ƒ/8.0, 1/3200sec, 300mm focal L.

This was all we saw of the Thunderbirds. I’m not sure what the deal was or if they were schedule for later in the week.

The back seater appears to be having a blast — what a lucky bastard

NIKON D70, ISO 1000, ƒ/8.0, 1/5000sec, 300mm focal L.

Pull’n Gs — need more zoom for that distance

NIKON D70, ISO 1000, ƒ/8.0, 1/5000sec, 300mm focal L.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/2500sec, 300mm focal L.

This was a bittersweet sight. More info here.

P-51C — “Red Tail” — I’m happy to see this very rare bird flying again. I’m sure Don Hinz would be too.

NIKON D70, ISO 1000, ƒ/8.0, 1/4000sec, 55mm focal L.

This looks like a hoot to fly

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/20.0, 1/400sec, 28mm focal L.

Got 25,000 pounds to hoist up to a remote location or a massive fire to douse? Give these guys a call…

Reborn Sikorsky Skycrane

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/7.1, 1/2000sec, 300mm focal L.

Ungainly contraption

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/8.0, 1/2000sec, 55mm focal L.

Just a few T-34′s — The Navy paint schemes are holding a tighter formation than those in Air Force colors.

NIKON D70, ISO 500, ƒ/8.0, 1/800sec, 200mm focal L., map

Unfortunately, the air show was cancelled for the day due to weather and we got rained on riding back to the hotel. First actual rain of the trip.

Contine on to the second day of the show…

Oshkosh Trip: Day 6

john — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:50:37 +0000

Cedar Rapids, IA to Oshkosh, WI, to Beaver Dam — 327 Miles

[ Click to go interactive ]

We were on the road at 0700 local time and made our way to a Starbucks so Dad could get his fix. When we walked in, the barista and the cashier were reading the paper behind the counter — not a single customer present. In the time that we ordered and consumed our caffeinated treats, I counted 2 drive-up customers and a walk-in. Hope they do better business during the weekdays.

Gett’n out of Cedar Rapids

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/4.5, 1/500sec, 18mm focal L. @57 MPH ~41mi from prev photo, map

We had a fairly easy mileage day to get to Oshkosh. The show didn’t officially start until the next day, but we could purchase our tickets and check-out any of the displays that were setup.

No more corn fields! — The closer we got to the Mississippi, the fewer corn fields there were.

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/4.5, 1/1250sec, 50mm focal L. @73 MPH ~65mi from prev photo, map

Had I looked at the map more carefully, I’d have realized that we could have turned right on US-20/IL-35 about 1/2 mile ahead and just caught the NW corner of Illinois and claimed another state on the trip without adding any distance at all to get back onto US-151. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Finally arrived at the mighty Miss — Entering Dubuque, IA.

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/4.5, 1/1600sec, 18mm focal L. @61 MPH ~6.0mi from prev photo, map

The Mississippi holds a mystique for me that I’d guess is similar to the mystique of the ocean to those that live in the interior US. I’d like to explore it some day on the bike, or even better, on a boat.

Buh Bye Iowa

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/4.0, 1/2000sec, 29mm focal L. @60 MPH ~2.6mi from prev photo, map

Welcome to Wisconsin

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/4.0, 1/800sec, 29mm focal L. @60 MPH ~593ft from prev photo, map

Layers — Not far down to bedrock

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/10.0, 1/250sec, 44mm focal L. @67 MPH ~9.4mi from prev photo, map

I actually spent some time tyring find a fun road to take on the way through Wisconsin. But, www.wisconsinmotorcycling.com makes it really difficult to use when you need to go from points A to B. Road names don’t do any good for those unfamiliar with the area and they need to show a map of all listed roads. Ohh well, we rolled US-151 for lack of anything better.

There’s probably some fun roads in WI — But, I didn’t really find them.

NIKON D70, ISO 320, ƒ/10.0, 1/160sec, 46mm focal L. @67 MPH ~0.2mi from prev photo, map

Get’n my fill of greasy spoons — Breakfast in Platteville, WI. Oddly, they actually had WIFI.

iPhone, ~9.2mi from prev photo, map

We stopped at the motel and dumped off our gear and then headed to Whittman Airport to get our show tickets and avoid the lines the next day. We were able to catch a sneak peak at some of the displays.

The Sherpa has some incredible performance numbers. For instance, loaded with 1500 lbs of payload/fuel it only needs a 102ft take off roll — very short! Although they don’t have the video posted that they were playing in the booth, check out these if you want to get a feel for what those numbers really mean.

Back country flying on steroids! — Ridiculously short take off and landing rolls with ridiculously heavy loads.

NIKON D70, ISO 200, ƒ/4.0, 1/400sec, 18mm focal L. ~158mi from prev photo, map

The Cirrus Jet

NIKON D70, ISO 200, ƒ/4.0, 1/250sec, 18mm focal L. map

It was sad to see this display sitting in the location that Mooney Aircraft normally resides. Mooney didn’t show (currently not building planes, last I heard), and I think EAA needed the revenue from their space — so we got a boat in place of the fastest production built piston aircraft out there: the Mooney Acclaim. Sign of the times in aviation, I’m afraid.

Didn’t get the memo — AirVenture is an *airplane* event.

NIKON D70, ISO 200, ƒ/10.0, 1/125sec, 18mm focal L. map

We have officially arrived!

NIKON D70, ISO 200, ƒ/10.0, 1/160sec, 40mm focal L. map

Most of the displays were not open, so, we made our way to dinner and then to the motel. You can’t find a motel in Oshkosh that will sell you a room by the night — 1 wk minimum during AirVenture at $200+ a night — no thanks!! So, we stayed 45 minutes down the road in Beaver Dam.

Continue to opening day of Airventure….

Oshkosh Trip: Day 5

john — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:22:11 +0000

Day 5 — Omaha, NE to Cedar Rapids, IA — 312 Miles

[ Click to go interactive ]

Today was all about getting the 6K service done on my bike, and since the dealer didn’t open until 0900, that made for a nice relaxing morning to “sleep in”.

Got into the bimmer shop about 5 till 9 and Richard, the Operations Manager, was a bit more proactive and got the paper work going after a few minutes milling about. Talked to the service tech and explained the problem of it dying a couple of times on the trip and my suspicion of a venting problem.

The 6K service amounts to a glorified oil change and the tech has little chat with the bike’s computer to see if it thinks anything is wrong. 1.5 hours later, the he was done.

Problem #1 — the rear tire pressure monitor sensor has been slow to respond and the computer has 40+ fault codes registering this problem. I had seen this in the past, and forgot to mention it when I handed the keys over. His response: “take it to your dealer and have *them* upgrade the SW on the bike.” WTF!?! It’s under warranty, why didn’t *you* take care of it? What were you doing for the last hour?

Problem #2 — why is the bike dying? His response: “I don’t know. There’s no faults registered in the computer.” Well, gee, really?!? Maybe because it doesn’t have a frick’n sensor for fuel starvation? I asked if he’d checked to see if the fuel tank venting recall had been done and he didn’t know.

Problem #3 — I’d removed the tank bag so it wouldn’t be in his way if he needed to remove the faux tank cover panel. After getting the bike back, I find that he’s conveniently trapped one of the snap buckles inside the panel when he reinstalled it. So, 8 torx screws later, I recover the strap and buckle and put the panel back on.

Problem #4 — I later discovered that he’d forced the seat past my luggage rack and ripped a 3/4″ tear in the back of the seat while doing so.

So, all in all, $192 for an oil change and a torn seat. I left feedback on their website and got a note back from the owner. He apologized for my experience and offered to talk if I felt the need.

Since I don’t have anything nice to say, … I’ll stop at that. You be the judge if you care to give BMW of Omaha your business.

Wait’n around at Omaha BMW — Gett’n the 6K service done on my bike.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/3.5, 1/1000sec, 18mm focal L. ~16mi from prev photo, map

This was one of the locals. They have a travel log if you are so inclined (it’s a bit annoying as the pages aren’t linked together). I didn’t figure out who the owner of the bike was while waiting on the service; probably an interesting chap to talk to. I’m not so sure I could do quite that much adventuring with my wife on the back — she’d want her own bike

Just a few miles traveled

iPhone

Finally, about 1100 we were on the road and heading east again. The plan was to get off the super slab and pickup US-30 outside of Omaha.

Buh bye Nebraska — Bridge over the Missouri River heading into Iowa.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/1600sec, 50mm focal L. @64 MPH, map

2 state-line signs in a row!

Welcome to Iowa — It’s not out of focus, it’s just all the ethanol vapors.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/1600sec, 18mm focal L. @67 MPH ~0.8mi from prev photo, map

I find it very interesting what one state’s g’ment thinks is important compared to other state’s. Does it really serve any purpose to state the minimum speed? I don’t believe the farmers are really trying to drive tractors on the freeway…

Speed bounds

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/1600sec, 18mm focal L. @67 MPH ~653ft from prev photo, map

I sometimes play a rail fan when I’m not a motorcycle geek, or airplane freak.

Electro Motive SD70M — Union Pacific 5086

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/1600sec, 70mm focal L. @63 MPH ~55mi from prev photo, map

Your’s truly — Me taking pictures of Dad.

Canon PowerShot SD870 IS, ISO 400, ƒ/8.0, 1/500sec, 4.6 mm focal L. @62 MPH ~4mi from prev photo, map

Compare and contrast: finely woven blend of natural and synthetic fibers producing reinforced street clothes vs armored moto gear. My dad grew up riding motorcycles (literally before he was legal to do so) and they just didn’t wear helmets, much less have any laws requiring them. Ignoring the safety of a full-face helmet, I take it off and observe the smattering of bugs and I couldn’t imagine cleaning all those guts off my face every time we stopped to get a bite to eat. I feel naked wearing street clothes on the bike. Alas, I can’t get my dad to wear a seat belt in the car — no sense in trying to convince him to put on moto gear. I’m just happy he wears the little shell in states that don’t require it.

Funny thing is, he was the one that got hot all the time.

Dad taking pictures of me — He’s just putting the camera in his pocket. Note the ethanol plant in the background.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/1600sec, 18mm focal L. @59 MPH, map

Dad spied this soda shop while searching for a place to eat on his GPS near Denison, IA — and a find it was. They food was good (not great), but, the atmosphere more than made up for any minor shortcomings elsewhere.

Reiney’s Soda Fountain — Doesn’t get any more authentic than this.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/3.5, 1/20sec, 18mm focal L. ~1.9mi from prev photo, map

Denison was the home of Dona Reed. They have a beautiful theater dedicated to her and adorned with memorabilia. Reiney’s shares the building with the theater and proudly displays some of her posters.

(huh, we just had a small earthquake as I typed that last sentence. ~4.0 centered in Hollister, CA — rather unsettling)

Reiney’s Soda Fountain

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/15sec, 46mm focal L., map

I *knew* they grow allot of corn here. But, the concept of planting only one crop year after year on the same ground is foreign to me. We always rotated through various crops to keep the soil balanced and healthy. I just wasn’t mentally prepared for the endless miles of nothing but corn fields.

Look! A corn field — Who’d have thunk they have these in Iowa?!?

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/1600sec, 70mm focal L. @63 MPH ~19mi from prev photo, map

Another corn field! — Missed the shot of the house, but, with that barn, it made the perfect farm house you’d see in the movies.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/1250sec, 60mm focal L. @63 MPH ~26mi from prev photo, map

Also, I sense that Iowa is very proud of their ethanol. I reckon it’s been a boon for the state; using up all that perfectly good food to make fuel, driving up the price of corn. Say what you want about our dependence on foreign oil, but, ethanol is not the answer as it costs far to much energy to produce. Seams like every other granary has been converted to an ethanol plant; you can hardly buy fuel without it in the state.

Not converted to an ethanol plant — … yet

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/2000sec, 70mm focal L. @61 MPH ~2.9mi from prev photo, map

OK, it’s not *ALL* corn fields out here.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/1250sec, 70mm focal L. @68 MPH ~12mi from prev photo, map

It’d been so nice not seeing any rabid Raiders fan driving down the freeway with multiple 10 foot flags attached to their car or truck. You can literally watch the cheepo material getting tattered and shredded by the wind. It’s all a little bit silly in my book.

Raiders Fan — Don’t think you’ll see him in the Black Hole.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/1250sec, 70mm focal L. @62 MPH ~2.9mi from prev photo, map

And, just to keep the testing “honest”, the third sign from the left is labeled “Competitor”.

Test plots — AKA free advertising for seed growers.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/1600sec, 55mm focal L. @64 MPH ~8.0mi from prev photo, map

Coal train heading to the power plant — gotta keep those ethanol plants powered.

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/1600sec, 55mm focal L. @66 MPH ~11mi from prev photo, map

I laughed out loud when I saw this ski hill; you make do with what you got, I reckon. Back home, we’d call that the bunny hill.

Bunny hill

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/800sec, 70mm focal L. @69 MPH ~15mi from prev photo, map

I suggested my dad should do this conversion to his Goldwing and I was met with a brief chuckle and a cold, “Yeah, right” stare.

Whatever floats your boat — trifecta of trikes

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/500sec, 38mm focal L. ~19mi from prev photo, map

*yawn* more corn

NIKON D70, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/1250sec, 27mm focal L. @56 MPH ~106mi from prev photo, map

We checked into the Motel 8 in Cedar Rapids. We wanted to find a place to eat so we called the front desk to get the wifi password and the guy rattles off the following 26 character password “e2ca18a55d118405bb855a2ab5″. I’m not making this up!

Because, you know, size *does* matter! (ok yes, it does for the bit length of the KEY — a different thing entirely than the password). The funny thing is, they were using WEP encryption, which is widely known to be 100% crackable. Morons.

Tomorrow: We finally see a few airplanes!