DAY #6 (SATURDAY)...GRANTSVILLE, MD. TO HUTCHINSON, KS...1165 MILES (2766)

First of all........all the picture posted in the Blog are larger than they appear. Just click on them for full size.


I'm sure some of you wondered what happened to me on Saturday evening. Some probably thought I had gone straight to bed in a motel somewhere, after such a long day. Well.......that's not even close. When I was ready to leave my first gas stop, the KLR wouldn't start. Everything came on, but no sound from the starter. (All of this probably could have been prevented if someone had cleaned my bike....I won't mention any names) Being as tall as I am, I was able to push start it while on the bike, and I finally got it started. It got easier as the night went on, as I ended up doing this at every stop. The temps were in the low 40's and it was pouring down rain (seems to be the norm anymore). I was afraid if I stopped and let the bike cool down, I wouldn't be able to get it started cold by pushing, so I just kept on going west. I ended up becoming an Iron Butt member, riding all the way home on Saturday evening/Sunday morning. I pulled into my drive on Sunday at 9:30 a.m., after riding 1165 miles in 18 hours.
I really wasn't sore, which I attribute to my wooden beads that Jack makes fun of all the time. I personally wouldn't make a trip of this length without these beads because they make all the difference in the world. It was a long night, and I'm not sure I would ever do it again, but I thought at the time I had a good reason for doing it. The bike started in the garage today after I got home, so it can't be anything real serious.
Now for the important stuff.......the event was great. Even with the weather the turnout was great. This group of people I've come to know at these events are just great. All of you are like part of my family (you to Carol, even though you wouldn't clean my bike), and it's always nice to put faces with those I've never met before.
Thanks Joe and Carol and everyone else that was involved for planning Thumpercafe #22. It was a great location and I'm sure everyone there had a great time. This is the first one I've attended where it was raining, and it kind of added a special feeling to the day. Everyone was in a good mood, because considering the weather, they got out because they wanted to, not for any other reason. It was their choice to make the best of it despite the rain. I'm looking forward to seeing all of you at the next one.
Motor Mike

Our humble leader...#000

Yep....this is the women!!!!!!
It looks like she's sleeping, but it's not because she worked hard at cleaning my bike.
You know I love you Carol.... :o)

DAY #5 (FRIDAY)...MOUNDSVILLE, WV. TO LA VALE, MD...191 MILES (1601)

We left Moundsville, WV on Friday morning around 9:30, riding SE on highway 250. We stopped in Mannington, WV. for breakfast. This restaurant is the "real deal" and so are the owners. Jack and I love to eat in places like this, getting to know the people in the community. The food was great too. Thank you so much Danny and Wendy for your hospitality.


Riding on SE to 50 highway, we headed East to highway 219. We made a quick stop at the WV National Cemetery which was quite impressive.



Then it was on to Grantsville, MD., the site of Thumpercafe #22.



After checking with the restaurant to make sure everything was ready for Saturday, we rode over to La Vale, MD. where we are spending the night with about 10-12 other FSSNOC members. We had supper together then back to the motel for a good nights rest, hopefully.


I will start for home on Saturday afternoon, just as soon as the event is over. It is 1130 miles to my home, and Jack and I have ridden 1600 miles getting here. I'm pretty sure we haven't been lost for 500 miles, so I will attribute it to having so much fun we didn't want to stop. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
My next post will cover some highlights of the event.
Motor Mike

DAY #4 (THURSDAY)...COLUMBUS, IN. TO MOUNDSVILLE, WV...395 MILES (1410)

We left Columbus this morning with fog and rain. Imagine that!!!! The picture taken below is just as we were leaving Columbus....I TOLD YOU IT WAS FOGGY!!!!


The rain wasn't bad until we got to Cincinnati, Ohio, then it poured. We rode across Ohio 50, then turned NE to ride through the Wayne National Forest. It did stop raining while riding some of the twisties along this route, but then started up again late afternoon, and followed us all the way to West Virginia. It's supposed to rain all day on Friday too, but we're used to it by now. We had a great day riding through the countryside, which is predominately Amish. I even got pulled over by an Amish Police Buggy......questioned why I was wearing a helmet. He seemed to think that I should wear the traditional garb, but I'm not sure how much protection a bonnet offers. Hey wait........I think these are worn by the women!!!!!!!Why did he insist I wear this thing?? Looks good though, don't ya think?? By the way...check out the tree colors. They've started changing up here.


Not many pictures taken today. It's hard to take pictures when it's raining.
We've ridden through the state of Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and now West Virginia. Tomorrow we will add Maryland to the list.
Talk to you Friday night...
Motor Mike

Day #3 (WED)...LITCHFIELD, IL. TO COLUMBUS, IN...356 MILES (1015)

We left Litchfield, IL. this morning about 9:00 a.m. with cloudy skies, but no rain, riding southeast to Illinois 50, then east on 50, crossing the Wabash river at Vincennes, IN. Riding east on Indiana 50/150/56, then north on scenic Indiana 135 to Nashville, IN. We stopped in Story, IN. which is shown in one of the pictures. Traveling on North on 135, we visited Bean Blossom, IN., the site of the covered bridge in the pictures. Traveling back south on 135, we rode Indiana 46 to Columbus, our stop for the day. The day was beautiful, with cloudy skies and only a short period of very light rain.
That's it for today. Talk to you on Thursday night.

Motor Mike

Story, Indiana

Story, Indiana

1800's Covered Bridge

DAY #2 (TUESDAY)...STOCKTON, MO. TO LITCHFIELD, IL...394 MILES (659)

We awoke this morning to see fog, mist, and wet pavement once again. By the time we left the motel the fog was gone with only a light mist in the air. A few miles down the road we had dry pavement. It looked really strange compared to what we had seen the day before, but it was a welcome sight. A few more miles down the road it got real bright........could this be the sun? It was........and boy did it feel good. We had a beautiful ride across Missouri 32, then crossed the Mississippi at Chester, Illinois, the boyhood home of Popeye. We then rode up to ride a section of the original Route 66. We've ridden this highway in a lot of the states, so we wanted to add this one to our list, especially since Jack turned 66 this year.
When we checked into our motel this evening, the gal at the counter told us we reminded her of the "Wild Hogs". We told her that she didn't know how close she was with that description, and that description was a definite improvement over the night before, as we were the "Wet Hogs" Oh.....I forgot....I wasn't going to say any more about that.
Talk to you Wednesday evening.
Motor Mike

Lunch stop in Missouri

Mississippi River bridge in Chester, Il.



Jack insisted I sample the water from the Mississippi

Route 66 in Illinois

DAY #1 (MONDAY)...THUMPERVILLE TO STOCKTON, MO...265 MILES

Sorry for not posting on Monday evening. I had no internet access.

Jack, Jim and I left Thumperville mid-morning on wet pavement. It took less than 60 miles before we found the source of this wet pavement. Over 200 miles later it was still raining, but we were still mostly dry. We figured out that rain gear was not designed for hours and hours of use without leaking somewhere, but overall it really wasn't bad. Out of all the Thumpercafe's we've ridden to, this is the first one that we've had ANY rain, so we were about due. One positive was that we had no bugs. We spent the night close to Stockton Lake in Missouri. Three words could pretty much describe our first day....WET....WET...WET. "And that's all I have to say about that"
Talk to you Tuesday night.
Motor Mike