Coop's Corner: A (long) Riding Weekend

Sunday, October 17, 2021

A (long) Riding Weekend - 2021/10/17

First of all, a chicken update and with that, a very kind gift from Mike.....thank you!

Easy ladies....there's only room for two at a time, you'll all get a ride! Now that they're in full pantaloons somehow girls just doesn't seem respectful enough.

Kevin called midweek wondering if we could get together for a ride on Friday. He offered various options to make it work, one of them being trailering down from the Mpls suburb so that we could get an early start Friday. That subtle mention of Thursday and an overnight had me thinking...if we was free on Thursday, I'd take the day off and we'd camp overnight, riding both Thursday and Friday.

That's in fact what we did.

Breakfast in Kellogg...

Not very many miles on this one...

This was kinda cute....the sign said LOCAL TRAFFIC ONLY. I was willing to participate in that group but he started waving his hands and shaking his head. ".....it's dusty and there's rocks...." I'm not sure if he was being sarcastic or if honestly thought we were on $50k Customs.

So we turned the corner and rode on Minnesota's only non-paved state highway. By my definition it was dusty and rocky.

This from MPR News.....

Considering our dry summer, crops seem to be bounteous.

Round barn....

Half and half road...naturally we chose the gravel half.

Darlene is at least 75 by now...I've been riding by this barn for at least 5 years.

We missed Bucksnort but made downtown Pilot Mound.

The 'gator is still terrorizing those that pass over the bridge.

Hwy 250 is done Mike...satiny is how I'd describe it.

Lanesboro was busy....

The Zumo has no tolerance for lunch stops.

Some of the shacks are small and some are not.

Tomato soup and grilled cheese in camp Thursday evening...

An early and cold start Friday morning, breakfast in Wabasha. 42 degrees outside and 49 in the van at 5:30.

Friday morning crossing the bridge at Wabasha.

Peach pie in Mondovi....

Route 66.....yes, really!

Thursday...just over 200 miles on the GPS.

Friday....166 miles according to the Zumo.

We had the campsites until 4pm on Friday and I pulled out from Kruger just a few minutes before .

Campground and picnic area.

The Zumbro River valley...

Saturday morning at Diamonds, then home and back on the Helix to edge closer to making my 30k on the odometer.

Mike's Whizzer....

Rush River....

Sunday, another perfect day for Helix'ing.

At the last Guzzi Rally, Jim reminded me that one of my photos taken over in Wisconsin was just down the road from where he lived....."Stop by sometime!"

This morning's goal was 1) find some more leaf color 2) get some drone video of harvest in progress 3) make the last 180 miles to see the Helix odometer turn 30000.0.

I knew about what it would take distance-wise and had a good idea that Barron County would give me all 3 of my goals for the day. When I was east of New Richmond a ways, Jim's reminder about how close I'd been popped into my head. I did a quick search with his name and town on the Big G and his address appeared. The Zumo was pleased to once again have a solid goal, although I kept OFF ROUTE'ing, forcing it to RECALCULATE.

Timing was perfect. There in the front yard, the mower pilot looked up and waved...."I knew right away it was you...." he said. A wonderful happenstance half hour for us both, we covered a very lot of ground. I learned about his new acquisition, a project, something new to keep him out of trouble this winter. Both of us already excited about next year's rallies.

Really enjoyed that Jim, great to see you and get caught up. Stay safe and well!

226 very casual miles for the day....all 3 goals accomplished.

Looks like some nice mild days coming up....;)

6 comments:

RichardMOctober 18, 2021 at 10:39 AM
Nice Fall weather!
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motormikeOctober 18, 2021 at 7:39 PM
Lanesboro ...... with the " Harley " apparel store... full of knock off Harley... apparel... the bedsheet change'n capital of Minnesota ( B and B's ).... huge Rhubarb, aka ruffage, fest... ice cream shop across the street from where the " tubers " bus stops to let the tubers out ( river tubers ). Love ice cream and .. Hwy 250... it's not long but nice two wheel fun. :) :) :) :)
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EricOctober 19, 2021 at 6:34 AM
Always enjoy your writings and your adventures. Glad you were out enjoying it all.
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Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

"That's what they've called me the last sixty-eight years," he said, looking past her face to the hills fast darkening under a single star. "I reckon the woods are free for those that like to walk there."

The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)