In The Bag

Today as we arrived in my home town of West Orange, NJ we grabbed final INK for the National Park Tour. This puts us at the count of 136 parks in 27 states. We began the tour on August 7, 2016 when we picked up the Spyder in Chicago, grabbing the I&N Canal National Heritage Corridor in Lyons, IL, We finished the tour at Thomas Edison National Historic Park in West Orange, NJ on July 24, 2016.

The Iron Butt Association National Park Tour Master Traveler requires a minimum of 50 parks in 25 states within 1 year.

I&N Canal and Chicago Portage National Historic Site in Lyons, IL



Thomas Edison National Historic Park in West Orange, NJ



The Paperwork to the IBA



As we were heading to West Orange I came up with another journey that will start next year in the July timeframe. This one is gonna take about 30 days on the road, maybe more

Silver in the Road

I have been haunting MeAsWe for the last 3 weeks or so, asking if she went to the Post Office. Constantly asking "Did they come yet". Even wrote to Ira. The day after Ira got back to me there was an envelope at that post office. One problem, it was addressed to MeAsWe. I threw at her (well that might be an overstatement) and said here's yours, maybe mine will be here tomorrow. She cut the envelope open and the IBA had included both our certificates. I went from disappointment to grinning from ear to ear.

Alot of riders will tell you the piece of paper means nothing, but for me it does. Call me shallow, self indulgent or plastic, these certificates just do something for me. As of 2010 some 33,000+ riders have completed the SaddleSore 1000. As of 2010, only 84 riders has completed the National Park Tour Silver certificate. In 2011, 7 more folks earned the Silver and as of 11/01/12 only 1 other person, other that us, earned a Silver.

This is my 3rd National Park Tour. MeAsWe has completed 2 Tours. We both started one other tour which was cut short.

 

Tour of Honor 2012 - Wounded Warrior Project

I saw this tour last year on the FJR Forum, but it only covered a few states. I remember reading Warchild's ride report and the SS1K he did. My thought then was this is kinda of neat. The tour benefits the Wounded Warrior Project, certainly a very good cause. It is also hooked up with the IBA, since there is a special Saddle Sore 1000 associated with the tour. Information on the Tour of Honor, simply follow the link.

Info on The Wounded Warrior Project

Essentially the tour involves going to specific memorials around the country to take a picture of the memorial, your bike and rally flag. We will incorporate this tour with the other 2 tours we are doing when we head south.

Our Flag

1500 Miles for BBQ you say

So I am sitting at the computer Sunday morning. MeAsWe has just gotten up and having her first cup of coffee. I surf my way to the Smoke Chasing 2012 site to print the rules out for MeAsWe. She is a great navigator for the Grand Tours we do, especially picking out something that is not right. Well she is reading the rules for the 15/15/15. I have planned our trip to Florida to finish up our National Park Tour with the 15/15/15 in mind. Do you know once you cross the border into West Virginia, BBQ places seem to cease to exist.

Here's the Side dish for the 15/15/15:

David Morrow's 15/15/15 Iron Gut Challenge

Riders must visit 15 BBQ joints, in 15 different states or provinces, in 15 days or less with Kansas as a mandatory state.
All riders who complete this challenge will receive a limited edition jacket pin designed by David Morrow and 25 bonus points.
Submission must be made in accordance with sections 2,3 & 4 of the rules. This includes the bike/sign/passport photo and the name and address of the BBQ joint visited in each state. Riders MUST also produce a receipt from the BBQ joints visited or a nearby gas station if the BBQ joint is closed. This will validate that the ride was completed in 15 days or less.
This challenge is in no way affiliated with the Iron Butt Association or its corresponding rides. We do however encourage our long distance riders, and especially those who complete this challenge to check out the IBA, subscribe to the magazine, and complete an IBA qualifying ride.

So after she gets done reading, MeAsWe said you never mentioned we are going to Kansas. I said we are not. She says well you need it for this one.

Panic, I immediately start thinking my whole route, all 4000+ miles of it are for crap. MeAsWe underlines the word Kansas, just to make sure I understand all of the rule. I throw her a highlighter, this is the salt for the wound.

I jump on MapSource, bring up our 2012 file for the trip and find the most western point of our trip. That is right around Russell Cave in Alabama, which is just south of Chattanooga, TN. From this point I create a route from this area to Fort Scott in Kansas. (it was convenient, since I have the visitor center as a way point). 704 miles one way. Hmmmm, only 704 miles times 2 is 1408 miles. Then a big grin and maybe even a little bit evil of a grin. If I route myself thru some National Parks in Arkansas and we head due east on the way back to Chattanooga and then head south I probably could squeeze another 100 miles to bring the total over 1500 miles.



A Bun Burner 1500 is born.

Go West Part Deux - Planning Stage

This morning I finished the routing for our trip out west. We will be riding 16 days and cover right around 4300 miles. We have done more miles in the same amount of days, but I did promise we would be in before dark. We will let the forest rats own the night. Our trip will cover UT, ID, WY, MT, WA, OR, CA, and NV.

Our planned National Parks parks will be:
Golden Spike
City of Rocks
Craters of the Moon
Nez Perce
Grand Tetons
Yellowstone
Glacier
Fort Vancouver
Mount Ranier
Whitman Mission
Crater Lake
Lassen Volcanic
Lava Beds
Whiskeytown
Tulelake
Great Basin
Timpanogos Caves

These will cover Washington and California for our Silver National Park Tour certificate from the IBA. Next spring we will head south for Florida and pick up Maine during the summer or even this fall to cover the four corner states. READ HERE

We will also pick up one barbecue joint in each state for Smoke Chasing 2011 so that we end up BBQ Pit Masters (1 joint, 15 states). We are at the Smoker level (3 joints, 5 states) right now.

I haven't counted the number of towns that will be covered for An Affair with Water, but as a guess it is probably over 40. We are not going to go way out of our way for the Water Towns, but when close we will go seeking the Post Office. Some of the towns that come to mind are; Great Falls, Idaho Falls, Columbia Falls, Salt Lake City, Bear River City......

We are also grabbing a bunch of National Historic Landmarks. On the agenda is Bonneville Dam, Experimental Breeder Reactor 1, Two Medicine Chalet, Temple Square, Timberline Lodge, and many many more....

We will attempt to see the infamous Shoe Tree and the new sprouting one in Nevada along the Loneliest Road (US 50). This 70' cottonwood tree was adorned with 1000's of shoes in the middle of Nevada. It was cut down by some vandals in 2010. I hear there is another one sprouting from the shoes that lie on the ground next to the original one.

We will cover the Northwest Passage, Volcanic Legacy, Historic Columbia River Highway, Chinook Scenic Byway and White Pass Scenic Highway all of which are America's Byways. Last year we covered Beartooth Highway, Chief Joseph, Flaming Gorge and Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway. CHECK THEM OUT

This weekend will be the final preparation of the FJR before shipping. This time we will pack as much on the bike as possible. Less we have to carry thru the airports. I might even wash the FJR before it leaves, well at least the windshield and Laminar Lip. We deliver the bike to Allied Van Lines in Franklin, MA on Aug 1.

On Aug 11th we board our plane to Salt Lake City to begin this journey. We will ride right past the spot where we were taken out last year. Maybe we will stop in the Antler Bar and buy a round for some of the folks. They sure deserved it in the help they provided during the night we will never forget. It was the 175# buck last thought. I am hoping we get to ride the whole Going to the Sun road this year. I heya thars snow in dem hills. Ranier and Mount St Helen may have snow as well. Tulelake was a Japanese intermnet camp during WWII and probably the worst of them to boot. This was a black spot on our history in the US. We might even watch Old Faithful again. There is so much to see, that one trip just doesn't cut it, but ya gotta start somewhere. Better to have done, than dreaming about doing it.

Day 4 - Crosstown Traffic Yellowstone Style

27 degrees out and we gotta get an early start...Brrr. Even the FJR gives a bit of, whoa man thin my oil. Today will we head north in Yellowstone to Obisidian Cliff, back and head out the east entrance for Chief Joseph Scenic Highway and the Beartooth Path. From Red Lodge we head out I90 to US89 to White Sulphur Springs and if we are making good time maybe to Great Falls. Either place with an early rise the next puts us within striking distance of the Going to the Sun road somewhere around 11:30. So thats the plan and when traveling long distances, in unfamilar locales, one has to be flexible and go with the flo. This will prove to be an understatement.

The Pony Express Motel is located in West Yellowstone, MT right outside the entrance to the park. This a simple motel and if you don't need the newest and greatest accomodations, I would recommend this place. It has a blend of the 40's, 50's. The phrase In with new and out with old, would be in old, update, update, update. I acutually connected to their WIFI. What more could you ask.





The owners recommended Running Bear Pancake House. Said it was the best place in town. Probably the owner's brother. So off for a quick bite, especially coffee. Typical tourist place, high prices but goood food, 6.95 for 2 pieces of french toast with butter. That's pricey in my mind.





Breakfast done we follow this couple on BMW's into the park. Insignificant at this point. When we entered thru the gate, the guy told us there was an accident about 3 miles. We got a taste of Yellowstone in crowded conditions. It took us 30 to 45 minutes to travel 5 or less miles.



Finally passed the accident we head north on the Grand Loop Road for Obisidian Cliff, a National Landmark. Seeing Yellowstone in the morning is totally different visual experience than late day, evening.



We pass the sign expect up to 30 minute delays due to construction. It's Sunday and of course they won't be working. This is us waiting for the OK to go.



So now we are behind schedule at least 1 1/2 hours. We ride and ride, the Waypoint comes up arriving Obisidian Cliff. We keep going because this was an estimate on my part that I placed in MapSource. The topography in Yellowstone is very diverse. Tall mountains with trees, smokin geisers, tall mountains with burnt trees from the fire of 1988, high plateaus, massive lakes, small ponds, large river, tiny streams. Visually this place is not boring.











We having been traveling too far at this point and I decide to pull over and check the Yellowstone pamphlet map. My estimates are never this far off. The map confirms my suspicions. We must have drove right past the cliff. Turning around I pull up the WP and head back for Obisidian







Another overstated landmark ala Plymouth rock. But the ride has more than offset the disappointment of the particular site.

We are seriously behind schedule and figure Great Falls is out and we are diffently shooting for White Sulphur Springs. We will just start out earlier than planned tomorrow.

These guys keep getting closer and closer



Lake Yellowstone



Remnants of the fire of 1988



Last INK spot for Yellowstone. There are a total of 7 stamping locations in this park. Acadia NP in Maine has the same number



Stay tuned for Part 2 of Day 4

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IBA National Park Tour #2

When MeAsWe got her certificate the other day and I did not receive mine, there was a bit of concern. On her list of recent finishers my name was listed. Of course I started to scan back in my memory pushing some of the cob webs out of the way, maybe I put N Uxbridge down and the IBA association had mailed it to Uxbridge. Dang this was gonna take a while to straighten out and I already bought a frame for the Certificate.

This morning that yellow card was in the box. When I walked out of the post office yesterday, MeAsWe said "didn't come?", to which I said "it will show up, no big deal". Well that was a cover up. I don't know what it is, but there is something meaniful behind that piece of paper.

Number three is well underway in it's plannng stage, ready for execution beginning September 9th.

MeAsWe Gets Iron

Yesterday MeAsWe went to the post office like any other day, she spun the dial and put in her 3 alpha character code and open up the door. There it was, the Postmaster's yellow card, indicating there was a package to big for the slot. The Postmaster retieved her package and prominently displayed on the address label was Iron Butt Association.

MeAsWe received her certificate for the National Park Tour we completed last year. I asked her what her thoughts were when she opened up the package and saw the certificate. A sense of excitement, making her grin ear to ear, and the feeling that comes from someone recognizing what you had accomplished. In the motorcycle world the Iron Butt Association is about as good as it gets


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Indiana Dunes - Riders of the Lost Routes - Day 1 thru 3

Back from the Midwest. We traveled thru 11 states putting 2914 miles on the Connie. The Connie with just over 46K in less than 2 years, continues to perform like a charm. Overall it was an uneventful trip (sorta) and one thing I can say is Indiana and Illinois are 2 very boring states to ride in. Our major objective was to pick up a National Park in both Indiana and Illinois to complete the required 25 states for the Iron Butt National Park Tour. To that end we added 4 states, INKED 16 National Parks and hit on 17 Landmarks. Weather was hot or maybe we should describe it as brutal, in the 90's for all of the trip, some rain, some wind and some lightning.

Overall Route

The first major stop was Niagara Falls, however we picked up 6 or 7 Landmarks along the way in Albany, Schentectady, Oneida and Rochester.




It was very hot and humid out. Our mesh pants and jacket works very well, however sometimes additional assistance is greatly appreciated.


MeAsWe has never seen the falls

Next stop was the Adams Power Plant, a National Landmark. Following the GPS we ended up in a neighborhood with boarded up houses and a street that had a Jersey barrier blocking off the rest of the road. The houses looked perfect for what one would imagine as crack houses. This would be one of many as I said to MeAsWe, "see I take you to only the finest neighborhoods, don't I". Not finding the power plant we scooted out of there and headed for Buffalo.

In Buffalo we INKED at Teddy Roosevelt's Inaugural site. This is where Teddy assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination.

It was a quick stop in Buffalo and we headed to the 2nd nights destination, which was my friends house in Geneva, OH, Harold. We got there around 7 or so and chatted until around 11pm.

On the 3rd day, our major stops include the Merry Go Round museum in Sandusky, OH, and the Ypsilanti Auto Museum in Michigan. Since Mentor, OH is on the way I just had to stop at James Garfield NHP.

Getting in and out of Mentor took up alot more time than I had planned. We traveled along OH Rt 2 and US 6 to Sandusky to grab a Brass Ring

Ypsilianti Automotive Heritage Museum is an INKing spot and we captured the state of Michigan for the NP Tour. The museum was the last Hudson car dealer in the US. Ypsilianti has a deep history in the automotive world. Preston Tucker's family owned a tool and die company in this town, GM produced the Corvair here. The Willow Plant facility was originally a B24 factory built by Ford. After the war the Kaiser Motor company built the Kaiser and Frazier auto's in this plant and finally GM bought the facility to produce automatic transmissions.



Some of the cars at the museum








High tailing it out of Ypsilanti we headed for Michigan City in Indiana via US 12 coming across this place.




I can't imagine what the traffic is like on race weekends. US12 is a 2 lane highway and as far as I know this is the main entrance to MIS. I can now say I have been to Sturgis, just a bit mis-directed.

We ended Day 3 in Michigan City, Indiana, just outside our next National Park, Indiana Dunes.

I'm Certified

Stay tuned for NPT Part Deux, coming soon to a byroad near you