Sunday, November 3, 2013

Lunch in Beloit, WI

I had been on the road solo for 5 days.  On Sunday July 14, 2013 I got off the Interstate and had breakfast in Deadwood, SD.   I took some backroads south and ended up at Crazy Horse Memorial and breezed by Mt Rushmore as it wasn't worth spending time there and eventually joined back up with I-90 heading East and I was getting a bit tired but I wanted to press on and put on more miles before I called it a day.  Eventually I was dozing off a bit so I thought it best to have a good sit down dinner so I took the next exit and ended up in Murdo, SD.  A weather front was closing in and it was starting to sprinkle a bit so after dinner I found a nice motel for $39. so I stopped for the night.


Before my trip I had been exchanging emails and the plan was to meet up with Coop as he was south of me at a MotoGuzzi Rally and our paths were going to intersect but I had not heard from him.   Also as fate would have it Dom from Denver, CO was going to be right on my flight path as he was enroute to Holmen, WI for his FIL's birthday.  He said I was welcome to join him at their friends and they would make room for me.

Monday, July 15th, 2013 was a pedal to the metal kind of day


I even had time to see the Corn Palace in Mitchell and after seeing the Wall Drugs signs on the highway for 100 miles I had to go into Wall, SD to see what the fuss was about


but other than these two places and a few snack breaks all I saw all day was


miles and miles of dotted lines.   This was to be my first 500+ mile day of this trip.  I got my signals mixed up as Dom said he would wait for me on "Main Street"


So here I am at the foot of main street and the Dom familymobile was no where to be seen.   After a few text messges back and forth and myself trying to get my bearings, I find that I was supposed to end up on Main Street in Holmen, not Main Street in LaCrosse.   I  headed south into the city rather than North to Holmen.  After about 20 miles later following my GPS


I spot Dom on the side of the road waiting for me, and then a bit later we arrive at our Host's home for the night


This is the 2nd time I have seen Valencia this year.  The first time when Dom was on his way to Alaska and he passed through Vancouver on his way north


I was assigned to the lady bug room.

July 16th, 2013 Tuesday:

It was my plan to be on the road by 9am lastest so after a quick breakfast and saying our goodbyes


I headed back on the highway heading south to Beliot which was about 150 miles south where I was going to have lunch.   I allowed some extra time so I could spend some time sightseeing


I started to see familiar names on the exits and eventually I took the one into Madison, WI.   I found the traffic heavy and there was lots of construction on the main drag heading into town so I diverted onto some side streets so I could see the lake


It seems like you are able to see the Capital building from every direction


It was very hot and I was sweltering in my riding gear so I stopped across from Capital Square

My time was running out and I had to get moving towards Beloit and it was a maze to find my way out of town


I found my way along this causeway along the water.  I tried to take video but my GoPro was acting up and freezing up  (I fixed the software update in Portland ME) so while I thought I was recording it wasn't

I started blogging early 2008 and back then there were only a handful of bloggers.  This particular person actually lives in Chicago and over the years we did build up a distant friendship and I always thought that if I ever had a chance to come near Chicago that we would have a chance to actually meet.  During the past couple of years she has had some "challenges" but we have remained in touch in spite of her not posting and I was fortunate that she had the time free and she said she would ride the 2 hours East to meet me in Beloit, WI so I didn't have to mess with the Chicago traffic and deal with all the toll roads

The suspense builds in my mind as I approach our meet point and I park next to her familiar Beemer which was across the street

    "Jessie Owens"  BMW F800ST                                                       Beloit, WI    July 16, 2013

I park my Beemer next to her's and I wonder how I am going to recognize her but all is well as I noticed her helmet sitting on the table.   This was a day that I never thought would happen . . .


18 comments:

  1. Way cool! I was wondering if you had the opportunity to meet. I guess I figured that you would've made the time no matter what especially for such a well known moto-blogger.

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    1. Richard:

      Nothing would have stopped me from making this happen. Ever since I was planning my trip I have a sort of word association in my mind. Goes like this: Fairbanks = Richard, Corvallis = Troubadour & Trobairitz (and also Bluekat & Ron), Denver = Dom , Kingston = Karen and Chicago was no different.

      On that day I was waiting for you to send me an email as my Spot didn't move for hours. If you go to street view you can see where we had lunch

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    2. Actually, I had assumed that you had met up and I did look on street view a couple of times when it looked like you stopped.

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    3. Richard:

      thank you for being my guardian angel and for keeping me out of harms way. I really appreciated it but I kept looking at my phone for messages, so I knew you knew . . . it was the Bushell & Peck

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  2. Bob it's nice to see the gaps filled in for our summer narrative. Did you post something on Kicking Horse? I remember you saying how amazing it was. Or maybe the Kicking Horse installment is yet to come? Along with the Buffalo Bill segment?

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    1. David:

      I loved the Crazy Horse memorial and would have stayed longer except I had people waiting for me in PA so I had to hurry through, here are a couple of photos in here

      http://wetcoastscootin.blogspot.ca/2013/07/recap-am-so-far-behind.html

      of course I have more. I got good vibes when passing through Keystone, lots of bikes and outdoor seating. It would be a good place to go back. I also managed to loop around Sturgis so I missed going there and I didn't want to "backtrack"

      I should have a few photos of the Irma in Cody, WY . Busy place, lots of people there and lots of bikes

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    2. Ed:

      You already know my plan for 2015, we could "hit" Keystone on our way back . . . We could ride into the Black Hills of SD and go to Crazy Horse Memorial again. I saw all those bikes there with people sitting outside eating and I wanted to stop too, but it's better with company

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  3. Ahh, Wall Drug, tourist trap. You never made it to NJ?

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    1. George:

      You must have missed my request before I left. I asked everyone to check my "spot" for location and if I was near to send me a message and I would do my best to zig and zag a bit. I missed another High Profile Blogger as it was a weekday and she could not take a day away from work and because I was with others, I could not deviate from the plan, otherwise I would have gone to Long Island

      Yes, Wall Drugs . . . I mean when you see their signs for 100 miles in every direction you just have to follow your nose and go to their store. and YES, I did buy something there which I needed. I guess you know they give away free ICE and free COFFEE

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    2. Oh yea, the free coffee, it was crazy when I went in there.

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  4. Call me insecure but I don't think I would have put the Ladybug room on the blog! Hoping an update to the Chicago visit is forthcoming?

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    1. Dan:

      I am very aware of security. I turned off my SPOT and I didn't mention any names nor where we were and no one would know where this was unless they had been there before.

      I really liked the Lady Bug room. I wished I had a theme room like this except it would have been better if there were Pink Lady Bugs.

      Yes, I know you and Richard are impatient but the first week of every month leaves me a bit time challenged and I have a meeting tonight.

      I have been working on a photo project which is consuming a bit of time and I can't mention anything about it right now, except to mention that I am working on it. I even dug out my old Photoshop books, but they were dated so I had to buy a more current one. So between reading my book or blogging, right now the book is winning

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    2. I'm at a loss as to what the issue would be with posting a photo of the "Lady Bug Room"...

      What am I missing?

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    3. Richard:

      Everywhere I went, I turned OFF my SPOT2 GPS tracker a mile+ before I reached my destination. I even set up the Spotwalla with secure zones and only you and a handful of others had access to the real findmespot link. I generally don't photograph in private homes and I was also careful to not take any photos of my hosts, unless they were bloggers themselves, or use real names unless they had already been posted. All photos were taken pointing "away" from their homes

      I also asked permission from my lunch buddy in Beloit if I could post her photo, otherwise I wouldn't be blogging about it.

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    4. Just wondering what Dan's comment was referring to. I understand that you were careful to turn off the SPOT device but what was the harm with the room photo? The picture on the nightstand? Location data in the EXIF

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    5. Richard:

      I have a GPS in my camera but I never turn it ON so there is no location data and the picture is too small to see anything. I am not sure but I think the EXIF data is lost when I use my image resizer program. I'm sure we will find out eventually

      I have taken many photos of my Lic plate when most others would "black it out". I would be safe to say that most of us can be found anyway using the 'net. It's hard to disappear in our technological world.

      One question for Dan. On google street view I think you left your screen door open. Is this right ?

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  5. Bob, I'll call it a communication error that prevented us from meeting this summer. By that Monday, I was long home from the Guzzi Rally and had been at work all day. I was watching Spot and knowing nothing of your meeting Dom in LaCrosse (really Holmen ...:) ) guessed that you'd stop for the day around Rochester, less than an hour from us. By the time I caught up with you again via Spot, you were out of MN and on to the east.

    Next time!

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  6. Meeting a friend face to face after so many years, how exciting!

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