FINISHED

We arrived in Lexington, SC today to drop off Matt. It's been quite the experience. These things never go as planned or as unplanned as the case may be. And they always go so much faster than you would ever think. I cannot believe two months went by so fast. I also believe it's something everyone should do at least once in life.

This land is so large and so beautiful. I stand in AWE of God's creation of just a small part of this wonderful universe. Anybody who ever thinks this planet is overpopulated has never been to Montana or South Dakota or Wyoming, etc. My advice to you when life gets too complicated, overstressed, overworked, etc is to just travel.

I would like to say I know what is next. But I don't. I'm sure I'll be posting from time to time and letting you know what is going on. For now, I think I have about 20 things to cross off my bucket list. Matt and I appreciate all your prayers, support and words of encouragement over the last several months. The feedback from each of you has meant so much. Just know I love you all and God Bless, Art.

SIOUX FALLS - FALLS PARK

Every now and then God just throws a little surprise in your life. Yesterday was one of those days for us. We spent the previous night at Sioux Falls, South Dakota and were given a "hint" to go visit the falls. I had low expectations that were happily surpassed. Falls Park is one of the nicest city parks I have come across. It is not just one falls but numerous ones. Alot of history to this city and river.

We are in Missouri today in between Kansas City and St. Louis. This will probably be our last day "WEST" of the Mississippi River. We really are not pushing the miles and pretty much shut it down about dinner time. I imagine we will be back home in 2 or 3 days. It's been a great trip to say the least and I'm sure Tonto is tired of the home cooking. Glad there is a Macaroni Grill next door. God Bless, Art

THE INFAMOUS CORN PALACE

We couldn't leave South Dakota without a trip to Wall Drug in Wall S.D. and the world famous Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D. Yes it is designed with corn. We stopped by Falls Park in Sioux Falls today and I'll post those pictures soon. God Bless, Art

SUNSET ON THE MISSOURI RIVER

Below are pictures of the sunset tonight here in Chamberlain,SD which is on the Missouri River. It was just stunning and I'm glad I was able to experience it. I hope you enjoy, God Bless, Art

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

We left Glacier National Park yesterday and are on I-90 heading east. I visited Glacier 33 years ago with my college roommate. At the time it was the most awesome thing I had ever seen. I remember the "Going to the Sun Road" and how stunning the views were. It was forever etched in my mind as one of those "I've got to see that again" experiences. Well I guess I'm jaded now, because after the Grand Canyon, everything else so far pales in comparison, including Glacier. I will give Glacier a second (but not close).

The Going to the Sun Road has fallen into a dismal state of disrepair and is currently in the third year of a TEN-year rebuilding period. And yes it's only costing the taxpayers 3 BILLION dollars. They are working on the section at Logan's Pass, which is the highest point on the road, and it is a goat path right now. The road is 52 miles long and I rode the victory the entire length. It took about 2 hours with all the delays and it just didn't have the allure I remember from 33 years ago. So put Glacier on your list in about 8 years.

There are still about 19 active glaciers I believe. At one point they say there were 150 glaciers, like a million years ago. The computer models indicate all the glaciers will be gone by 2030, which will probably be about when they finish up the road construction on The Sun road. As far as wildlife, we did see a black bear, some mountain goats and a few small critters. I took a boat ride on St. Mary's lake whose watercolor is just perfect due to the minerals flowing into it from the glaciers.

I know there is a God, well I knew it before, but how else do you explain we run into Sturgis, SD on a Friday night of bike week?? Yes Tonto got the victory down and I headed into town. I came, I saw and I left. Maybe next year I'll spend more time checking the scene out. Hope you enjoy the pictures. God Bless, Art

RIGHT TURN HEADIN' HOME

We came up the coast yesterday, stopped at my favorite world travelers, "Lewis and Clark National Park" and good old Fort Clatsop and then made that right hand turn back east at Aberdeen, Washington. I'd like to say I'm somewhat bittersweet about this direction, but it would be a lie. I'm really kinda of depressed that the end is in sight. I just have to believe Lewis and Clark felt the same way when they left Fort Clatsop and returned east. While I miss everyone back home, when we were headed west it just seemed this adventure would last a long time. Now I'm not looking for sympathy from anyone as I am so grateful for what we have done, seen and experienced. It's just that the end of this dream is in sight and I really don't want it to end. So please nobody wake me up yet.

After 6,000 miles I figured it was about time to change the oil in the Magic Bus and after conferring with my GM guru he confirmed my suspicions. Seeing how we were already parked at wal mart and the only rv repair shop couldn't get us in today, I threw caution to the wind. I promptly this morning walked in wal mart, purchased my $6.50 oil filter, a $2.98 oil filter wrench, a 10 qt super safe EPA used oil container and 2 gallons of good old well new Mobil One($42.00). Oh, did I mention the previously purchased shop towels?

I actually found the drain plug and had the proper 15mm wrench to take it off. I also noticed two filters one blue and one red. Well just in case anyone out there ever has a 8.1 litre gm vortec engine, avoid the red filter as I think it is for the transmission. Everything under the motor went pretty smooth but when it came to filling the motor with the new oil, we had just a slight gulf oil size spill. Remember the aforementioned shop towels? They worked pretty good and I figured what was left(really it wasn't that much) would just be a good seal coat for the parking lot.

So with that out of the way, Tonto and myself made it across the street, to first a great health food store. And right next door was a great organic fresh fruit and veggies farmers market. Well call mama and tell her Aberdeen is not all bad!! We hit the road and headed to Tacoma and our friendly Camping World store for a much needed exterior water inlet valve. Yes I installed it myself and so far there is no leaking, woohoo!

Our next stop before sticking it in the wind is Glacier National Park so I guess this is my last post for awhile. I'm thinking we will be home in the next 7-10 days and by then I'll be cheerio and dreaming about my next dream.

P.S. I put my house on the market this week and if anybody wants to buy it, we are "stacking 'em deep and selling 'em cheap"! Until then, I love you guys and God Bless!! Art

HWY 101 North

We left Eureka today and headed up north on the great Pacific Coast Highway 101. We didn't make it very far as there was so much to do. I think we might have done a 100 miles today. We stopped at a few beaches with the Redwood National Park thrown in between. Just one of those days where you go "WOW!" We eventually got out of California, but barely into Oregon. I stand in awe of the Redwoods, much like the Sequoia's we saw at Yosemite. Check out the pictures below.

We spotted this sign at the first beach we stopped at. Just wondering what a "sneaker" wave might be? Matt said no problem let's skim.

This does not end well I'm betting.

Yep that's how I'd do it.

M R DUCKS!

WOW WOW WOW is all I can say.

Let's put this in perspective.

Just something else to do.

A tree growing on another tree. I'm thinking freeloader.

Next beach and contemplating more skimming.

Just like riding a bike.

EUREKA!!!

We left the madness of Yosemite Sunday a week ago to head over to San Jose (well actually Los Gatos but who has ever heard of that?). We spent a few days visiting with friends, really family from a long time ago and had a great time. We spent one day scouting the coast for "The Mavericks". Yep another world class surfing spot when the moon and stars are aligned. If you are ever out this way I'll give you a hint, look for Pillar Point. It is also where Mark Foos (who? go google it for yourself) met his untimely death a few years ago.

On Tuesday we took the magic bus to San Francisco. We parked the bus somewhere near Fisherman's Wharf. I avoided Lombard Street to the best of my knowledge. To this day I'm not sure how we got it there. We had a great car escort is all I know. Yes I left my camera in the bus so no pictures this time. If you put away your politics and sexual orientation for just a minute, San Fran is an awesome city. I would put it in my top 3 favorite big cities in the USA. You'll have to guess who are the other 2. The Wharf is just great with it's street musicians, mimes, magicians and all those other crazies. We took a cable car ride, which was a first for me and saw other parts of the city which were just as awesome. If you have never been here, GET HERE!

Tuesday night we headed out to Stinson Beach for some dry camping and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge for Highway 1. Well at night hwy 1 and 101 all look the same. Just one wrong turn, a right instead of a left and we said goodbye to hwy 1 and Stinson Beach. So we headed towards Redding and spent the night parked next to the highway. Redding is in northern California about 150 miles east of the coast. Temperatures ranged from the 60's to 105. We arrived in Redding on Wednesday and found an inexpensive rv park and rested for a few days. Hence, no updates. Redding is home to Bethel Church and the worship group Jesus Culture. They were in town but their event was sold out and no amount of pleading on my part would free up any tickets. Maybe next time.

So instead I took the victory out and rode Rt 299 that runs between Redding and Eureka. It is now one of my all time favorite motorcycle routes. It has tight twistees (about 10 miles) like tail of the dragon and big sweepers like Cherohala Skyway and beautiful scenery of mountains, valleys, lakes and rivers. The riders in the group will know what I'm talking about, the rest of you fire up your sports cars and check it out.

So today we headed out to Eureka on the same route and it just wasn't as fun as the victory ride, but enjoyable anyways. Eureka was 150 miles away on the coast. Eureka's temperature range is a low of 50 and a high of 59 today. You got to love that Pacific breeze. Plan is to head up the coast maybe to Coos Bay Oregon and start towards Glacier. Sorry about no pictures. I miss you all. God Bless, Art

OKAY JUST A COUPLE FROM TODAY