Sunday, May 19, 2013

Living Right....Not Sure Why/ GR3

Normally my Rally Posts roll out chronologically, but this one has to start differently; we'll start with Sunday morning and then go back to Friday.  The reason?

I lost my wallet this morning.  I knew where it was while we were packing up and made a mental note to myself that I'd want it in my water-proof jacket pocket (radar said rain) rather than inside my jeans pocket, under my riding pants.  Things got fuzzy after that mental note however.....

I could blame Dave (probably won't) for poking at me about the fact that for once, he was packed up before me.  That may or may not have led to my being distracted.  Anyway, both of us on the bikes, we headed north out of Soldier's Grove on Tavern Road, the most direct way north and out to Hwy 61.  Up the remaining couple of miles to Readstown, then northwest a few more miles when I started feeling for my wallet 'lump' and wasn't finding it.  I pulled over, greatly surprising Dave since we'd just picked up our full head of steam.

Off the bike, looking everywhere obvious but finding nothing, it was back to the rally site, looking, at speed, as closely as we could for something brown along the shoulder.  No sign of the wallet on the road, in camp, no reported turn-in's, everyone alerted, no choice but to head north and use Dave's money to buy a tank of gas half way.  With not only a tank of gas, but breakfast too, we split off in our respective directions for home.

Once home, I had everything unloaded, looking 5, maybe 6 times through each stuff sack, tank bag, saddlebag, etc.  A seventh time wasn't helping.  We packed up wet this morning, dew was thick so I hung everything up while searching and was just ready to head into the house to start calling credit card companies when I heard a Triumph Tiger and a flat BMW twin in the driveway.  You should know that motorcycle engines have never sounded better than those two did as I came around the corner.

"We have something of yours" sounded even better if that's possible.  Stuart and Marty, as we now know, started out almost right behind us and in that short time that I discovered my error and got turned around, they had stopped, gathered up my toooo many cards, cash, etc. and we met what must have been shortly thereafter.  Marty said, "we thought it might be you two guys going back but we didn't think it made sense to try and chase you down" and I agree with him.  They stopped in nearby Stockholm, Wisconsin for pie and left a message on my work phone.  My work phone was in the tankbag, being recharged so I didn't get the call until after the wallet was back in my possession.   Big thanks to our fellow rally attendees and to Dave for keeping me out of a real jam.  Changes will be taking place before my next ride and rally.

Now on to the good stuff......

Dave and I met for breakfast down in Alma, a few sprinkles along the way but no serious rain.....yet....



Since I had picked out such a nice GPS Route, we stuck with it for awhile, that is until the rain-soaked roads, many of them gravel, were getting a bit much for both (all) of us.  Justin is more patient that a canine deserves to be.


In the Lions' Pavilion, Soldier's Grove, noon-ish on Friday and very quiet.


Registration, it was still early and would get busier very soon.


The rain stopped, the sun came out, turning into a beautiful afternoon.




Louie perusing one of the Twins.....


It was decided that rather than eat at the Pavilion, the Pony Club of America doing the fund raising Friday evening, we'd walk downtown and try the fish fry.  Each year, Friday's Dinner meal is put on my a local church, club, group, etc. as a fund raiser, the Lion's themselves taking care of the Saturday evening meal.  I felt a bit guilty about not supporting the Pony Club, something I tried to remedy later in the evening.

After dinner, we walked between these beautiful fruit trees on our way back.  First without Slow Residents and then I found some.




Humps, poly-sided, square, round.......they're in there.


New.....and old.


Saturday morning, early and the beginning of a lovely, warm day.


After breakfast, Dave, Justin and I headed out for as much gravel and as many steep, narrow roads as we could find.  We met with a great deal of success.

Here we stopped for a Justin break (it felt pretty good to us as well).


An old barn on Smiling Goat Road.....


Back to town, more tents......


More bikes....



It's pretty hard not to enjoy the goings' on from the park's gazebo.......



Saturday evening, dinner soon, door prize list checking and announcements soon.


Justin wasn't the only pup present......236 registered attendees and 2 dogs by my count.


The Pony Club girls came around later in the evening, selling raffle tickets as a fund raiser.  Since I hadn't enjoyed their burgers for dinner, I felt obligated to buy tickets, something I rarely do.  During breaks that the Blues band took, winners were announced.  I was lucky enough to bring a heavy and substantial mug home.


Our spot...


Not everything was from Germany


Bob left his Stelvio Moto Guzzi home and brought the KLX instead.  He and his buddy most likely found more gravel than we did.


Iowa Paul had his bike and a few accessories for sale.....


Sunday morning, heavy dew, fog in the valley and time to pack up.


The winning "Oldest Bike" machine......5 rolling wheels in this outfit, plus a spare or two?


Just a few short miles less than 500 for me, a great weekend, made especially so with the return of my Wandering Wallet.  The Minnesota BMW Hiawatha Rally at Money Creek in two weeks.

I'll be there.

11 comments:

  1. I've had 2 wallet episodes over the years. Both with happy endings! I'm glad everything turned out OK for you. Looks like it was fun!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Erik,
      This was my first episode since I was a little kid and lost mine playing in a friend's treehouse. The rally was another good one and it was good to see everyone, many of these folks unseen since August.

      Delete
  2. Glad the wallet turned up ... and that you were able to share the weekend. Loved the sea of tents.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The tents always appear in some random distribution. This rally, unlike most of the others, is held in a park with paved roads, making the bike/tent locations somewhat separate. Without pavement, bikes are often parked nearby their respective tents.

      Delete
  3. Glad, the story turned around and you had fun. I had to snigger at the slow residents walking sign.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sonja, I was a lucky guy this weekend. When I caught sight of that sign, I needed to get it captured and luckily, the guys were willing to play along.

      Delete
  4. Whew, so glad your wallet was returned to you. Good thing your driver's license had your home address on it. Now we know why the DMV does that.

    Great pictures. Although part of the days look a little soggy in the mist it looks like you had a great time.

    I too laughed at the "Slow Resident's" Sign, mainly because we laugh at the "slow children at play" signs and wonder why they are making fun of the slow kids.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trobairitz, I was concerned, knowing that anyone that might look me up had no idea what my cell number was. I keep my personal number mostly private, but my company cell (smart) phone goes along and I just happened to have a business card inside. Peg's business card was in the wallet as well and Marty joked that they were holding off calling her number, just in case having my wife "know" might be something to approach cautiously.

      I'll be adding and taking away some things in my wallet to make this easier for everyone, just in case there's a next time.

      Delete
  5. Great report and pictures. Hard to believe that only a few weeks ago there were all those pictures of snow and breakup. I noticed that you still have the lowers on but removed the center section is removed. Is this for cooling?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Richard. We've all been mentioning how quickly the snow gave way to summer.

      I have no answer for you re: the center section......no idea mine was missing. I do have an oil cooler, do you?

      Delete
    2. Yep, an oil cooler is at the top of that section. I removed the center section and the left lower last weekend trying to debug a weird fairing vibration and its a lot colder riding. It's going back on tomorrow...

      Delete