On the way home from Redmond, Oregon - Day 13

Total Miles = 477

Driving out of Butte, MT on I-90 E this morning was beautiful with more curves, rock formations and green trees. But quickly, the landscape turned to the typical look of Montana.

Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful, but it looked basically the same for 400 miles! Stops were made in Bozeman, Columbus, Custer, Miles City, Glendive, and finally I stayed in Wibaux at the Beaver Creek Inn.

Today consisted of interstate driving and was kind of boring. I spent my stops re-adjusting my new Airhawk seat cover (I had too much air in it) and the windshield. I had to keep raising it. My new ZTechnik windscreen really makes a difference at highway speeds. A nice UPS man in Custer helped me re-attach the windscreen. I realized as I headed down the road that I didn't extend the brackets on the windscreen, so I stopped at the next exit in Bighorn. I watched the UPS guy pass by and then lost a piece of the bracket for 20 minutes! When I arrived in Glendive to rent a hotel room, the hotels were all full. Thankfully, Jonny had called ahead to Wibaux and reserved a room for me there. And good thing too, because I was getting tired!

On the way home from Redmond, Oregon - Day 12

Total Miles = 446 miles

Today, I woke up refreshed and well-rested and was on the road by 8:30. The landscape as I left Walla Walla was breathtaking. Amber waves of grain as far as the eye could see. And when the landscape was green, it was very green. The contrast between different crops was so vivid. I thought it couldn't get any better and then I reached the Idaho border and rode US Rte. 12 across Idaho... 200 miles of winding, curvy roads through national forest. I didn't encounter one stoplight or one stop sign for the entire 200 miles. The road winds along the Lochsa River. The beauty was truly awesome. My pictures do not do them justice, but here they are.

Walla Walla wheat fields with contrasting green fields.

The next town beyond Walla Walla - Yes, that's a camel!

The view along the Lochsa River in Lowell, ID.

Resting by the Lochsa River.

They really do sell cows! - Drummond, MT.

Once into Montana, the speed limit increased and in Missoula, I found 90 E where I buzzed along to Butte, MT. My new windscreen did wonders and I didn't mind the highway speed at all.

Staying in Redmond, Oregon - Day 10

Total Miles = 0

No time to ride when you are working like a dog. Up by 6:00 a.m. to shower and ready to work the booth around 8:00. On my way to the showers, I snapped a pic of the mountain range.

The rally site is in a beautiful place. In keeping with tradition, The Chicago Region BMW MOA Owner's Association rented a tent for club members to gather during the rally.

It is nice to have a place to catch up and get out of the sun. Our last day in the booth was busy and VaVaVroom sales were the best of any of the days. In keeping with tradition, Fred cooked for all of the Bob's BMW booth staff. I swear they were the best tacos I've ever had!

Staying in Redmond, Oregon - Day 9

Total Miles = 0

So my good buddy, Fred, let me in on a little secret. In the RV park at the rally site, there are showers that are barely used because most of the RV's have their own. So, no wait for showers this morning! Yay! Even though the band played until midnight the night before and kept me up longer than I would have liked, I felt less tired today. Here's a picture to give an idea of our tent area.

My first stop of the morning was to visit the LD Comfort booth. I am a big fan of their products - long distance riding underwear. I have the shorts, tights, and long sleeve shirt. I decided on my ride out that I needed to buy the cooling sleeves - for two reasons. One, if you wet the cooling sleeves and put them on your ride they really will keep you cool! Two, because I have long arms, there is agap between my glove and jacket sleeve. The cooling sleeves covers that gaps and helps ward off dehydration and sunburn.

We had brisk sales again at the booth today. I did take a little break from selling in the afternoon to give a seminar on women's motorcycle apparel. It was well attended and I was pleased to hear that many participants found it helpful.

That evening, I had dinner with VaVaVroom's new sales rep in Arizona, Lisa Malachowsky. We chatted about strategy and plan to take Arizona by storm when we return home. I then went to visit my friend, Jonny. Jonny had torn a muscle a few days earlier at the rally and had been in the hospital. He was recovering well and won't need surgery, but in our discussions about riding home, he came to the correct conclusion that he should not ride home. It is just too risky. He will ship his bike back and fly home. Although we were very disappointed, I know it is the right thing to do. After that settled, I chatted with Sandra, Scott and the Canadians. They are a funny bunch!

Staying in Redmond, Oregon - Day 8

Total Miles = 0

While the BMW MOA rally is a ton of fun, it is also exhausting! I decided to get up at 6:00 am or earlier every day to ensure a timely shower. (The lack of showers this year at the rally is frustrating!). Today reminded me how being on your feet for ten hours straight can be wearing.

However, we had a lot of fun working the Bob's BMW vendor booth today and we sold a lot of stuff. And I do think the booth looks great!

For dinner, I was invited to the BMW ON Magazine contributors dinner. I invited a Chicago Region BMW MOA club member, Mike. It was interesting to hear a BMW Motorrad executive speak about the future of BMW (it looks bright!).

This is Vince Winkel, the editor of the magazine. Vince had tried to play a joke on me in front of everyone, but didn't have the right prop. The prop in question was a thong. Hmmm. I'm glad he couldn't find the prop.

After dinner, Mike and I hung out with the other Chicago club members in our gathering tent. It was nice to see our friend Scott from Neenah, Wisconsin. We met him last year and adopted him as an honorary Chicago member.

Staying in Redmond, Oregon - Day 7

Total Miles = 45

Now, the business part of my trip begins. Today, at the BMW MOA rally in Redmond, Oregon, I will be selling VaVaVroom through the Bob's BMW booth. We spent the better part of the day setting all of this up. The best part of the day was receiving a new, free windscreen for my motorcycle - a ZTechnik brand - much needed. Since my bike was used as the demo bike at the vendor booth, I get to keep it! That is awesome because I was going to buy one anyway! In the evening, I joined Bob Henig of Bob's BMW and Sam Henig (his son) and Fred Oppido (my fellow booth workers) for the BMW MOA Ambassador's dinner. Here is a picture of Sam and Fred.

I also ran into my old friends, Walt Fulton and Nancy Foote, of Streetmasters Motorcycle Workshops (pictured here in their Streetmasters red!).

After the dinner, Bob, Fred, Sam and I took a really quick ride to Smith Rock. We stopped to see "the rock" over looking a beautiful stream with hikers below and rock climbers above.

This trip has been full of beautiful and inspiring geography.

Riding to Redmond, Oregon - Day 6

Total Miles = 320

Days like today make days like yesterday all worth it.

The highlight of the day was riding Hwy 26 in Oregon through a mountainous, cavernous, gorgeous (gorges!) landscape. Roads just technical enough to engage us but not tiring. I highly recommend this route to any riders or travelers. On our first gas stop, we encountered some fellow BMW travelers (see our helmets all lined up together?) and the inside of the gas station had a bison head hanging as well as other local game.

It also had funny signs up all over - reminding customers not to pee on the seat in the washroom, etc. We arrived in Redmond around 5:00 pm at the BMW MOA International Rally site. We found a place next to some Canadians that quickly become friends. Mike from Trenton, Ontario and Jerry and Sharon from Niagara Falls. They are a ton of fun and we enjoyed dinner with them at Coyote Ranch. A good time was had by all, ay.

Riding to Redmond, Oregon - Day 5

Total Miles = 442

We had a lovely brunch at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Sandra and I parted ways with Jonny at this point. Jonny was riding north to participate in an Iron Butt. Sandra and I were heading west to towards Oregon.



As we left Yellowstone Park, we saw more bison and beautiful sites. As you mayhave heard, there is a lot of construction going on in Yellowstone. We waited for 30 minutes at one point due to a lane closure. We met two very nice couples from North Dakota on Harleys. It takes a while to get out of Yellowstone. Yes, there is traffic and construction, but I found the stay there completely worth it. I only got to see a small portion of what the park has to offer but the sights I did get the chance to see were truly amazing.

Our plan was to continue on Hwy 20. This took us through Montana briefly and then into Idaho. We missed an exit for Hwy 20 and had to re-route northwest for a bit. On this road and when we returned to Hwy 20, we encountered very high winds. At least 50-60 mph. It was scary and I was so tense!

I'm pointing to the place on the map where we rode through 50-60 mph winds.

Because we were riding through desert, there was nowhere to stop. We tried stopping once, but just got blown around more. So we carried on until we reached the town of Unity. After resting and getting our nerves under control, we carried on.

There were winds but they felt like baby's breath compared to what we had just been through. The rest of the ride was quite nice. We rode through the Idaho National Forest, by the Magic Reservoir and saw lava rocks along the way. I didn't know what they were then and I was puzzled by the sight of them. Our stay for the night was in a Comfort Inn in Boise. Ron, the manager, gave us a good rate. Thanks, Ron! We met some other fellow BMW riders, who were on their way to the rally as well.

Riding to Redmond, Oregon - Day 4

Total Miles = 108

After breakfast in the Canyon Lodge cafeteria, we headed for Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park. Along the way, we encountered hordes of bison. We stopped to take pictures and came very close to some of them. Too close for my liking! I couldn't believe how many people walked really close to these bison to take pictures. Bison weigh up to 2,000 pounds and can travel at 40 mph. Every year, park visitors are injured by bison.

We also took pictures by Yellowstone Lake in many spots. We stopped at one of the many sulfur springs, which was cool, but the highlight was seeing a bear down below from a small cliff. It was fun to take a picture at the Continental Divide, but watching the famous Old Faithful erupt was even more fun. Our final destination for the evening was the Mammoth Hot Springs, which are in the northwest corner of the park. The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel was built in the 30s and quite nice. After dinner, there was the most vivid rainbow I have ever seen.

We then enjoyed a challengingwalk to visit the many locations of hot springs in that area. Below Sandra contemplates the meaning of life watching over Cleopatra's Table.

Riding to Redmond, Oregon - Day 3

Total Miles = 360

We left our lovely motel in Douglas, WY at 8:30 am in search of the World's Largest Jackalope and the world's even larger jackalope!









We were lucky to see them as they are quite rare : ).




We also got a quick look at the locomotive museum.



On one of our gas stops, someone walked off with my coat (which was sitting on my bike) and left it in the parking lot. Nothing was gone. Were they looking for a wallet? A nice lady found it and brought it inside. Luckily, I was walking by just as she was doing so. Note to self: Don't be so trusting in tourist areas! We had a beautiful ride on U.S. 20 by a lake into some elevation. Sweepers! My favorite. Alas, it started to rain and we had to be more cautious. By the time we got to Thermopolis, WY, the wind were blowing something fierce.



We ducked into the Fountain of Youth Diner to assess the situation. A quick internet search alerted us to a serious storm so we decided to wait it out. Yummy food there - tater tots, brisket. Mmmmm.

Bear spray? Let's hope a situation where that would be needed never arises. Just in case, tips on how to handle a bear attack, here.

When the stormed cleared, we made our way to Yellowstone! As we took winding roads through Yellowstone to our cabin at Canyon Lodge, we passed bison and saw spectacular views of Yellowstone Lake. Words cannot describe the beauty. The sun was going down, creating a beautiful blueish purple hue over the lake. We made it to our cabin just before dark!

Riding to Redmond, Oregon - Day 2

Total Miles = 442

The motel in Osmond, Nebraska was very nice and new! The nearby mini-mart ladies were also very nice. We left Osmond around 10:00 am - too late in my book, but we were on our way. As we continued on U.S. 20 west, we went through many small towns, including Eli with a population of 2.

I've never seen the sky look so beautiful with the wide open spaces, big blue sky with fluffy clouds dotted across the landscape.





Our favorite stop of the day was in Merriman, where we stopped to rest and eat at the Sand Cafe. An old fashioned diner with pictures of customers on the wall, shakes and malts with fresh ingredients, and the best club sandwiches ever - fresh ham cut from the bone. It makes a difference!

When we went out to our bikes, Sandra and I discovered ants in our helmets! Lesson not to put your helmet on the ground!



This little guy hitched a ride on Sandra's bike.



After we crossed the border into Wyoming, we say many longhorn sheep and bison. We passed through a town called Lusk - known for the only legal cathouse in Wyoming at one time. They are no longer in service but there is a monument to prostitutes on the outskirts of town. We settled on Douglas as our resting place for the evening. There was a little league convention in town, so we were lucky to find a room at the Super 8!

Ride to the BMW MOA Rally in Johnson City, TN

My friend and riding buddy, Sandra, and I embarked on our third annual trek to the BMW MOA Rally. This year the rally was in Johnson City, TN. Here is a travel journal of our trip.

July 13, 2009

402 miles in IL, IN, KY

I left my place in Chicago at 10:00 AM and headed over to Sandra’s to put air in my tires and to pick her up. We left there around 10:45. Took the Skyway to 65 South in Indiana, then off to Kokomo, IN to have lunch with Tom Lowdermilk, the host of Side Stand Up. Tom treated us to pork tenderloin sandwiches and cheese burgers at the local pub. (Thanks, Tom!). Here is a picture of Tom and me after the feast.

Tom gave us a great route towards the KY dams and around Lexington. We hit the best route (229 South) at night. It would have been so fun in the daytime. We probably started looking for camping too late and there was no where to stay on the last stretch, so we rode until midnight until we found an Econo Lodge in Georgetown, KY. For $50/night, it was actually a pretty decent room. Other than a moth in Sandra’s bed, it was clean. Finally to bed at 1:00 AM.

July 14, 2009
312 Miles in KY,VA, TN

The next morning we planned our route – mainly 460 – 11 to 66 to 25 East to 58/421 to 181 South to 23/26 to Gray, TN for the BMW MOA Rally. Great riding especially on 11 and 66 in Kentucky. We arrived at the rally around 6:30 PM, found one Chicago Region BMW MOA member, - Skip and chatted with him a while. We then found Hank and Cindy, also CR BMW members, who led us to the Chicago Region tent and camping area (shown here).

We set up camp and finished that just in time to call in to my segment on Side Stand Up. Tom and I interviewed Sandra on her experiences with track days. I think she inspired a few listeners to try it! We finished that up just in time to join Hand and Cindy for dinner at Alta Cucina in Johnson City, TN. Great meal! Fresh food. Highly recommend it. When we got back it was late and to bed by midnight.

7/15/09
139 Miles in TN and VA

Got up at 6:30 AM to shower and eat. With a little caffeine I made it over to help Bob Henig and his crew set up the vendor booth for Bob's BMW. Sandra offered to help me get the VaVaVroom – wear set up and that made it go a lot faster. Bob was nice enough to bring in lunch. I think the VaVaVroom display looked pretty damn good. Check out a picture here.

After we finished there, we stopped at a gas station and saw Vince Winkel, the editor of BMW Owners News. Here is a silly picture of Vince and me.

We then took of on a short ride. Little did we know how much fun we would have. From Gray we took 23/26 NW to 81 North to Route 19 to 80 East through Hayter’s Gap (pronounced Highters). It was beautiful with lush green trees and fields, winding roads and then it got real interesting. Amazing switchbacks and sharp curves. It was so intense, I loved it. It was like a mini Tail of the Dragon. We barely saw any cars and no other motorcycles. We stopped at the Hayter’s Gap library to the washroom. Karen Poston, the librarian (and a talented musician and singer, was super nice (picture here). She asked us to sign the guest book, gave us a bookmark and recommended a restaurant for dinner. We found her restaurant – Harvest Table in Meadowsview, owned by Barbara Kingsolver and Steven Hopp, who has written many books on good eating. The food is all organic and really it was an amazing meal. Sandra and I shared the Black Bean and 3 cheese Quesadilla and Shrimp Sausage Jambalaya – yum. Attached to the restaurant is the Meadowview Farmer’s Guild – a quaint general store with locally made candies, honey, scarves, quilted bags and more. Really a great place.

It began to sprinkle as we were leaving so we got moving and jumped on 81 to 23/26 back to Gray. The ride wasn’t bad at all. We were happy to share our route with our friends at the camping area. Many new people arrived and it is becoming quite the gathering. See here how it looked with all of the tents. And this is before it got crowded!


July 16, 2009
2 miles in TN

Ah, the joys of camping. Difficult to fall asleep last night, even with earplugs and Tylenol PM. When it started raining though I found it easier – drowning out the people talking (or maybe the raining drove them inside) and someone snoring nearby. Up at 6:00 AM to shower and get ready for a busy day. Long lines by 7:00 for the men’s showers – ha but not for the women – for once we don’t have to wait.

Working at Bob’s BMW was fun this morning and we sold a lot. I gave a seminar on Women’s Motorcycle Apparel at 1:00 PM, similar to the one I gave last year. The room was full and we had great participation. You can find an article with the content of the presentation here.

On the way out of the seminar, I ran into Paul Loconti – who I met last year at our hotel in Gillette. See the Gillette, Wyoming blog for more about Paul. I visited my friends at LD Comfort in the afternoon and then went to say hi to Nate Kern, my motorcycle racer friend, at the BMW demo booth. Here is a picture of Nate introducing the new S1000RR.

Sandra and I were invited to the BMW On Magazine contributors dinner. Good food, nice people. They gave us a case of beer as a parting gift so we took it over to the CR- BMW MOA tent for the climb. After a short stay in the beer tent, we called it a night. It’s been hot – hearing it will cool off tomorrow.

July 17, 2009

0 miles in TN

Cold shower at 7:30 AM – but at least I didn’t have to wait in line. Coffee and donuts in the CR BMW tent and then off to a busy morning at Bob’s BMW booth. I was excited to find the Belice BMW riding jacket and pants significantly reduced at Blue Moon Cycle’s booth. $350 for both - what a deal! I will have to get the jacket altered but it still worth it. I'm sure I saved at least 40%. Sandra, Jonny and I tried to see Nate Kern’s presentation on his successful racing career, but there was standing room only by the time we got there. No room except for in the hallways. I went back to Bob’s booth and it was still busy. (Yay!)

Afterwards, I found Nate Kern and took him, Tallie Shelton (Director of Sales for the Johnson City Convention and Visitors Bureau) and Jim Doyle (Nate's pit manager) to the CR BMW BBQ. Many of the club members have heard about Nate so it was nice to introduce him. On the way to get funnelcake. I received a call from Dee Jones. another friend we met last year at Gillette. He had decided to come to the rally. It was really great catching up with him and hearing his crazy stories. Then Jim Doyle came along again and then Nate and Tallie in a side car. The rest of the night was spent in the CR BMW tent talking about riding and ghost stories! Jonny's story was the best.

July 18, 2009
80 miles in TN, NC

“Slept in” until 7:00 AM. Cold shower and breakfast. Worked at Bob’s BMW booth for an hour. Then I ducked out to take a short ride with a group from CR BMW. From Gray, TN, we rode 25 East to 107 South at the TN/NC border 109 turns into 395. The group continued on 226 North I turned back right before that to get back to work Bob’s booth. After shutting down the booth, we went over to see the presentation of the awards and raffle prizes – great prizes by the way! Bob bought The Bob’s – BMW Road Crew dinner (Thanks, Bob!) and we relaxed outside Fred’s airstream trailers. The picture here is the entire crew - Henry, Fred, Mike, Denise, Sam and Bob. When they headed back to their hotel, Sandra and I made our way back to the tents. What a nice surprise to see a great fireworks show. It lasted a long time. Then with our new friend, Scott from Neenah, WI, we made our last trek to the beer tent. Not much sleep again – getting to bed at midnight plan to get up at 6:00 AM to pack up and leave.

July 19, 2009
339 Miles in TN, KY, IN

Up at 6:00 Am but slow going – wet tents and disorganization delayed departure. Here is a picture of the Chicago gang (plus Scott from Wisconsin). With the help of Dan Trampel; Jonny, Sandra and I decided on a route – which was 23 North through Kingsport, TN. I was leading and missed a turn. Luckily, I figured it out, in time and we didn’t have to back track too much. With the help of Jonny’s GPS, we found the road we were looking for – Rte 15 through Kentucky. It was a nice pretty route. Jonny needed to get home tonight, so he left us to take Rte 75 from 64 W North while Sandra and I proceeded along 64 West – stopped at a rest area and saw fellow club member, Sue Daniels, and met some other BMW riders. We checked our directions and found a quick way to 421 North. This was the best road fo the day. Beautiful farmland, sweeping curves.

A nice woman at a gas station in New Castle, KY, gave us directions to get around the 421 detour and get to our final destination for the evening Madison, IN. A cute resort town on the Ohio River. Lots of B&B’s and Antique shops. Too tired to camp. We found a Comfort Inn and ordered Domino’s pizza! Hot showers!

July 20, 209
381 Miles in IN, IL

Wonderful to sleep in a bed! And an actual 8 hours too. Up at 6:30 AM, packing and complimentary breakfast at the Comfort Inn. On the road around 8:45. How did that take us so long? Well I guess we spent some time planning our route. Which was 56 West to Salem, 135 North to Morgantown. Once again many thanks to Dan Trampel for the suggested toute. 135 was a great road – who knew Indiana has such great roads? Lot of curvy roads, through open fields and wooded areas. The ride was really amazing for all but one part, I think I ran over a turtle and hit a bird. I saw the turtle and either I got target fixation (or turtle fixation) or he jumped out in front of me, I think we all know what happened. Sandra says she saw a bird hit my bike but I didn’t see it and I couldn’t find a splat. Well hopefully they are both ok. I felt SUPER bad (and not like the movie). Maybe I just scared the turtle and nicked him a bit. Moving on to better thoughts. Food. We had lunched at Kathy’s Café in Morgantown. Great fresh food. The hot ham and cheese sandwich had ham shaved from the bone, fresh backed chewy pie and coffee is only a dime if you buy food. Our waitress was a delight.

From there we took 252 West to 44 West briefly to 39 North through Clayton and Danville, IN. 236 West through Roachdale 231 North, 234 West. More great roads. Lots of cornfields, open fields in little valleys, more curvy roads, and wooded areas. After we rode through Georgetown and Cayaga, IN we're not 100% sure which roads we took to get over to Rte. 49 in Illinois. We thought we could figure out how to ride by some state parks on county roads (that weren’t marked on the map). Well we did with the help from a nice man from Illiana Seed. We did find a couple gravel roads down the way but over all it was nice to fly along the country roads. We picked up 39 North somewhere west of Catlin and flew by the cornfields and farmhouses until we reached Kankakee. Stopping for gas and McDonald's for dinner. Sandra walked into the men’s room and couldn’t figure out why there urinals in there. She walked out and checked the door, looked up to see the manager watching her come out. No – she didn’t get kicked out. He laughed and said he was watching to make no one else went in. After our healthy dinner of cheeseburgers and fries we took 57 North to 94 East to the city. Home by 8:00 PM.

Really a great trip, amazing riding, got to know some club members better, connected with old friends, good for business. And confirmed that those who wander are not always lost (but sometimes they are).