EMO's Diary

We started out fairly early Monday, August 10 from Deadwood since the weather was so nice and we wanted to enjoy the ride BEFORE it got hot! By the time we loaded up, most all of the Sturgis folks had left (and we didn’t even hear them!). We didn’t have all that far to go. Our plan was to get to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in good time so that we could get a camping spot and check out the park. Since getting back out west, camping spots have become rare in some parts! The drive up US 85 was really nice. The road was excellent and the views go on and on and on! It was sad to think that as recently as 150 or so years ago, these same views would have been nothing but herds of tens of thousands of bison. Really hard to imagine since you can see just about forever! The road was pretty straight most of the way with lots of elevation changes to make it somewhat interesting. Oh, and did I mention the views? We had a pretty stiff tail wind most of the way (while pointed north) but it also kept us on our toes when we shifted either east or west for short periods. It was about 225 miles by the time we found ourselves cruising through Medora, ND where the entrance to the south unit of the park is. The park is comprised of two units, a southern unit right off I-94 and a northern unit about 50 miles further up US 85. We were really surprised how beautiful the area is. Similar to the badlands of South Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt National Park is however, much prettier. We took the 36 mile scenic drive after setting up our camp. Along the route you’ll see three or four extensive prairie dog towns, great overlooks of the badlands and lots of bison. Be careful though, they aren’t as friendly as they might appear and buffalo chips are really slippery when on the road! The park also boasts a great collection of petrified wood but that requires a 16 mile hike or horseback ride from within the park or a 3 mile round trip hike from a point on the western boundary of the south unit.

Our night included really good temps with the low in the upper 50’s. Perfect sleeping weather! Tuesday August 11, we packed and were on the road early again with plans for about 200 miles since (once again) campsites are hard to come by in far eastern Montana. Our only stop included Fort Union Trading Post National Historical Site right on the Missouri River. You have to want to come here because it is WAY out of the way. Less than 75 miles from the Canadian border, Fort Union is partly in Montana and partly in North Dakota. THE principle trading post on the Missouri River, the fort wasn’t a military fort but like Bent’s Old Fort in southeastern Colorado, it was all about economics. We watched the film first, (as we always do since it clues us in to what we want to explore further) then headed out to tour the grounds. The fort that exists today is a complete reconstruction from plans made in its early years. The original fort was dismantled after the US Government bought it at the beginning of the Civil War and used the materials for Fort Buford at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers (which can also be visited not far away). Fort Union was a fascinating place. Its life spanned the longest of any other frontier fort lasting 39 years from 1828 – 1867. In its heyday, Indians would camp all around the fort and after a lengthy trading ritual lasting sometimes 8 or more hours (before any talk of prices etc) the prices were set between the chief of the tribe and the traders and all the members of that tribe traded at the set price(s). It all worked! Too bad it went south later as the white man infringed upon the Indian territories (among other things). Fort Union has also had its share of notable visitors including Prince Maximillian, John James Audubon, Jim Bridger and others famous in western history. Once leaving Fort Union, we picked up on US 2 west into eastern Montana. Here the views go on even further than forever (if that were possible)! Beautiful farms were folks measure their driveways in miles, not feet. On many of the farms the winter wheat was still not cut and the golden fields stretched for miles. Setting the cruise control at 5 below the posted 70 mph, it was quite a relaxing ride as we soaked in the scenery as the GTL purred along as it always does. With no cars to pass and only slightly rising temps, we had a wonderful day. It’s on rides such as these that you can get really lost in your head. When we finally got to the Fort Peck cutoff, it really felt like we had been in a trance the whole time. How great it was! Other than the constant clash of grasshoppers on the bike and our lower legs (they sit on the road and hop to their demise just as you get to them), it really was a memorable trip. Our camp was at the Downstream Campground of the Army Corps of Engineers Fort Peck dam on the Missouri River. We were early so we got a nice shady spot and relaxed the afternoon away. By evening, the mosquitoes were out and we turned in. Being only about a half mile from the dam, when the horn that could be heard 20 miles away went off at about 2:00 in the morning for what seemed like 5 minutes, we were instantly awake. We have NO idea why it happened except that either the dam was getting ready to fail or (and most likely) it was a warning to get off the water due to lightning in the area. Either way, we were awake then! By morning it was damp and cool with the weather expected to be in the triple digits later. We packed and hit the road for the 300 mile run to Great Falls. MT.

Since it was to be weather brutal later (high’s in the lower 100’s AND bright sunshine to bake you to a crisp), we decided to hotel it in Great Falls. Our ride out US 2 was again a wonderful ride (since it was so early). It is really pretty in eastern Montana albeit long and the scenery unchanging. Every now and then you get a glimpse of the Missouri River and I often drifted off to thinking about how Lewis and Clark must have felt as they traveled the same countryside in 1804. It probably looks very much like they saw it with the exception of the farms and fences. Other than that, it is fairly pristine. I spotted a National Park sign just as we were getting into Chinook, MT. that read Bear Paw National Battlefield. I don’t know when it happened but I have been tuned into only spotting (reading) brown signs for some time now! We took a quick left and found ourselves at the Blaine County museum that also serves as the visitor center for the park. This museum is a must stop! We were amazed at the number and quality of the displays! The film chronicling the plight of the Nez Perce Indians was really well done. We picked up the brochure on the Nez Perce National Historic Trail since we’ll be visiting a number of the battle sites throughout Montana and into Idaho (where it all began in September 1877). Bear Paw was where Chief Joseph finally surrendered while another band of Nez Perce escaped to Canada (only 40 miles away). The whole story of the Nez Perce is worth investigating! We’ll be experiencing the story in reverse. As we made our way off US 2 and onto US 87 towards Great Falls, the skies started to darken and I was sure we were going to get a storm! I set the cruise a little faster at the posted 70 mph (it seems ALL roads in Montana are 70 mph, even these two lane ones) hoping to beat it out. We got lucky because by the time we arrived in Great Falls, it was only a sprinkle to us. We didn’t get to see too much of Great Falls Wednesday but what we did see we really liked. It is a very nice city set right on the Missouri River. There used to be falls here but they are now quasi-falls with power stations at each of the five. Lewis and Clark only expected to see the Great Falls as the Indians had told him but they encountered five, hence the difficult (most difficult of the whole trip) 18 mile portage.

Thursday August 13 arrived and we were off to the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center in Great Falls. Our plan was visit there and get more information on Lewis and Clark and to make Walmart in Butte for some additional supplies. After a short planned 200 miles, we hoped to be around Anaconda, MT by the early afternoon. What a center it turned out to be! The Lewis and Clark NHT Interpretive Center is an excellent museum set right on the cliffs of the Missouri River just downstream from Great Falls (the town) and Eagle Falls (the last falls traveling upstream). It boasts an excellent theatre, a walking museum that chronicles the trip of Lewis and Clark from start to finish with artifacts and information galore! If you visit any Lewis and Clark site, make it this one! It was SO inspiring that we hope to make plans to complete the entire Lewis and Clark NHT next year with all the significant stops even though we have seen many already. We had a great run down I-15 to Butte. The weather cooperated as the temps never peaked 90 and a lot of the way it was in the high 70’s. We made our Walmart pit stop and were soon on MT 1 headed towards Anaconda. If you recall from our journal last year, this is where I spent a week in the hospital around 1987 after missing a turn on my then 1981 CB900C. We wanted to get our same campsite from last year at Lodgepole Campground just at Georgetown Lake but it wasn’t to be. We ended up at an even better place a few miles east on MT 1 called Spring Hill. Maybe not near the water but it came with LOTS of real estate (take a look at the picture)! We set up all out gear and plan to stay a few days. There is so much in SW Montana to explore!

Stay tuned, much more to come in SW Montana and as we head into the northern Rockies and explore Idaho and! Lots more to see! Greg & Cynthia.

We had a great visit (for a second time!) with our friends in Charlotte. We arrived on the 20th and left the 24th. After spending time to get the oil changed at BMW of Charlotte (another favorite BMW dealer and our third service there!) and working around the house making an alteration to their kitchen counter, we bade them goodbye. Heading back up I-77 towards West Virginia, our plan was to make a big day of it and get into southern Ohio to camp. We had great weather all the way to Shawnee State Park which is located right along the Ohio River. Two stretches of road are worth mentioning- I-77 through West Virginia is a really scenic drive. It is a toll road but for $7.50, we drove from the North Carolina border to Charleston, WV on a really great highway. Also, the drive along the Ohio River on US 52 is a must. Needless to say, it is curvy but not so much so that you can’t enjoy the scenery at the same time. Our camp at Shawnee State Park was great! The cooler temps made for a really nice sleeping night and the low humidity was perfect. The park is definitely worth the stay if in the southern Ohio area.

On Saturday July 25, our first stop was after a short trip down OH 125 in Georgetown, OH. There we saw the boyhood home of Ulysses S. Grant and the schoolhouse just up the street from his home. Grant spent his younger years at the home until he was 17 and left for West Point. Interesting visit and Georgetown, though small, is a quaint town. We left Georgetown and headed north to our next stop(s) in Dayton. First was the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. Next to the visitor center is the bicycle shop the Wright brothers used for about two years from 1895-1897. Very cool. The displays included the machine shop where they made all their parts, a typical turn of the century dry goods store and bicycles from the era. In the Visitor Center next door they had a complete exhibition of the Wright Brother’s accomplishments. Little did we know that even though they are credited with the first flight, it wasn’t until later in a field not far from this bicycle shop (in the present-day Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) did they perfect flying with their Flyer III. This plane was completely controllable, unlike the first flight in North Carolina, and spent 40 minutes flying around the fields. The film presenting all this and more was really good! The whole area is a “don’t miss” and was very inspirational for us. From there, we made our way south-west onto US 50 and our camp for the night at Versailles State Park.

On Sunday, July 26, we continued on US 50 west for quite a ways (we recommend this road too!) until we turned south on US 231 headed towards Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. Nestled deep in southern Indiana, the memorial is an inspiration. If you aren’t familiar with this period in Abraham Lincoln’s life, it is worth closer inspection. Lincoln lived here during his formative years and the story behind it all is moving. We really enjoyed the presentations and the center is filled with original items that Lincoln used, letters written by him and a chest believed to have been made by his father, Thomas. It was great! Also, there is a walking trail that takes you to the Cabin Site Memorial, the Lincoln Spring and Pioneer Cemetery where Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln is buried. It was interesting to walk the grounds our 16th President did and see much of the country as he probably did. From there, we continued west to New Harmonie (spelled correctly) State Park on the banks of the Wabash River. And was it HOT! We got a really nice campsite away from the maddening RVers (who run air conditioners to our envy, all night). We just couldn’t get cool. We even rigged up our fan at the top of the tent but it really only blew hot air on us. By morning, we had a pretty good downpour that set the stage for another hot day of riding the 1600. But hey, we’re riding our BMW!

We left early Monday the 27th hoping to beat the heat but that would prove to be just a dream. We packed our stuff wet and by the time we were on the road (8:00), the sun was out but the temps were nice. We back-tracked a bit to Evansville, IN and caught US 41 north to Vincennes. It was a short run to the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park. There, we learned a bunch about a hero of the Revolution we had never heard of! Clark was the oldest of 10 children, the youngest of who was William Clark of the Lewis and Clark fame. What George accomplished during the winter of 1799 was astonishing! Marching about 200 miles with only 175 troops or so, he and his men braved the Illinois winter (which is unpleasant at the best of times…sorry) and captured the British Lt Governor and secured the Ohio Valley and beyond for the Patriots. This led the way for the British to give up what we now know as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, effectively making the Great Lakes the international border with Canada. It also paved the way for the Louisiana Purchase. Quite a feat huh!? Clark is definitely worth further study. A real unsung hero.

Now back to the heat- we had made plans to hotel it in Sparta, not too far from St Louis and another National Historical Landmark at Fort de Chartres along the Mississippi River. All told, about 200 miles for the day. After leaving George Rogers Clark, it was nice while tooling across US 50 once again right up until about noon. Then it got really hot! I don’t know about you but I say it is just as hot, if not hotter in the Plains than it is in the southwest. At 95 degrees and 70+ percent humidity, it was blazing (along with the sun)! I find the GTL to be pretty hot on my lower legs while moving and really hot when we stop or go slow. I keep the keys to the trailer in the right lower pocket and they get really hot after driving in that heat! Ah, the price we pay for perfection! It was great to get into some air conditioning of our own and watch the thunderstorms from the safety of our hotel room once we were in Sparta, IL.

Tuesday, July 28 started out pretty good but the day before was going to prove to be just a warm-up (pardon the pun) for later today. We had a short run up to St Louis after we found out that Fort de Chartres National Historical Landmark was only open Thursdays through Sundays. That was a bit of a bummer because we won’t be able to count Illinois as a state in our National Parks Tour. Anyway, by the time we got to Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (where the Arch is), it was already 90 degrees at 10:00 am. The forecast was for a heat index of over 110 degrees. We needed to make our visit shorter than we really wanted. Consequently, we didn’t hang around for tickets to go up in the Arch but rather spent time exploring the Memorial. The Memorial is housed in the Old Courthouse, where the first two cases regarding Dred Scott were heard before the Supreme Court heard the case in 1857. The building is amazing! It really dominates the St Louis downtown and is filled with loads of history. We left there and headed south on I-55 for the short run to Ulysses S. Grant National Historical Park. Located on the farm White Haven owned by his father-in-law but later his and Julia’s (his wife), the farm and house are open to guided tours but we didn’t take one. The heat was really building. We did spend time in the Visitor Center and once again, raves for the film about Grant’s life. If you are interested in knowing more, pick-up Grant’s memoirs. An excellent book with loads of information about the Civil War too.

We bugged out of there to get to REI to re-supply (since there are no REI’s in the next two or so states) before it got too hot. Once done, we picked up I-44 south towards Springfield, MO for our second hotel in as many nights. It was HOT! Ninety-eight degrees just about the entire 200 miles. I know the heat index was into the 100’s. Yes, it is as hot, or hotter, in Missouri than the desert southwest. No amount of shade makes the heat less intense! By the time I reached in the side pocket for the keys at our hotel, they were almost too hot to handle! We finished off the day at 275 miles and totally worn out.

Wednesday July 29 started out hot just like the past few days but the weather forecast was for cooler weather Thursday. By Thursday, we planned to be in Russellville, AR. We weren’t going to have it today though! Today, we planned two stops- Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield and George Washington Carver National Monument. Our first stop was only 15 miles from our hotel. In 1861, Wilson’s Creek was the opening battle of the Civil War in Missouri. Though a disaster for the Union, it did focus their attention on the troubles in Missouri. In addition, the Union general, General Lyon was the first general to be killed in the war. His death proved to be a powerful rallying point for the northern people. There was, as usual, a great film and the displays in the Visitor Center were first rate. Another 40 miles and we found ourselves at George Washington Carver National Monument. What a wonderful location! Carver was a VERY talented fellow. Not only a scientist, Carver was a talented painter and knew how to knit and crochet (really well)! Examples of his work are on display in the Visitor Center. Even though his great wisdom, brilliance as an educator and his timeless message for us are outstanding, he will be remembered best for his work in transforming peanuts into a whole host of other products! This National Monument was also a small yet fascinating place to visit and learn something new. We highly recommend the visit. It was getting on about noon and the temps were climbing fast. We blasted out onto I-49 south headed towards Bentonville (Walmart’s headquarters) with a planned exit onto AR 16 over into the Ozarks in the hope the temps would drop some. They did, and by 10 degrees, dropping from 98 to 88 in only a few miles. We made a very brisk (not in the temperature sort of way) ride down AR 16. Another great Arkansas rode seemingly built for motorcycles! By the time we got to Russellville, it was hot again only now 104. Very unpleasant…but knowing we’d be there a while, seemed to make it better.

The wrap-up of July went like this- We drove 3,961 miles in July bringing our total for the year to 20,581 or 11,793 since we left Las Vegas on May 12. We’ve racked up 63 parks for the month totaling 143 for our 2015 National Parks Tour. Our state count grew by 10 for a total of 26, one more than is required to qualify for the Tour. The K1600GTL continues to perform flawlessly producing an average of 44 mpg. It helped a lot to lose the bag from on top of the trailer! The other plus is that the seat we had re-done has broken in nicely and we are both happy with that. Another plus is the protection the Aeroflow K1600GT screen is providing. So, all things are great with the bike too!

After our planned visit with Cynthia’s cousin in Russellville again we’ll be ripping into Kansas, Colorado and then to North and South Dakota. Stay tuned, much more to come! Greg & Cynthia.

Our plan for Tuesday, July 7 was to get as close to Boston as possible to park the bike. I did some investigation and riding our GTL into Boston proper pulling a trailer was not a safe idea. Besides, like New York City, at these historical sites there is no way we were going to park in front of any of them to get a picture of our K1600 in the foreground! We decided to take the train into Back Bay Station and subway it to the heart of the city. That was the safest option and frankly, the most convenient.

We started at the Boston National Historical Park Visitor Center located at Faneuil Hall (pronounced like Daniel) that is also a National Historical Landmark. Faneuil Hall was actually on the waterfront in Colonial times but along with Quincy Hall, are about two blocks away now. From there we walked to the harbor front to visit Boston Harbor Islands National Recreational Area to see the attractions of the Boston Islands. Back at Faneuil Hall, we picked up the Freedom Trail that is a walking tour trail that links the majority of the historic sites in Boston. It turned out to be a great walk! Winding through the downtown area and over into Charlestown where you can find both Old Ironsides (the USS Constitution) and Bunker Hill, the Trail is a must. We did that portion early by taking the harbor ferry from downtown to the Charlestown Navy Yard and walking back via the Charlestown Bridge. Don’t forget, in Colonial times, people really didn’t live far from one another and cities weren’t that big. After the Charles River crossing, we wound our way through the older part of Boston, the north end. Along the way we saw Copp’s Hill (where Charlestown was bombarded from) the Old North Church (site of Paul Revere’s signal), Paul Revere’s house on North Square and stopped to have lunch at the Union Oyster House (the oldest restaurant in the country AND a National Historical Landmark) and then finally back to Faneuil Hall. All the aforementioned were historic landmarks. Back in the center of town, we walked to the Old State House where just on the sidewalk in front, was the site of the Boston Massacre. All these places have pretty powerful histories! After, we made our way further along the Freedom Trail to the Old Corner Bookstore and Old South Meeting House. I guess by now you’ve noticed that a lot of places are ‘old’! We had a wonderful time in Boston and so much so, we plan a return visit. Just SO much to see and all of it just the kind of things and places we like to explore. All in all, we bagged 12 historic sites and had a wonderful walk through a time in our nation’s history that was crucial and quite heady! Back on the train, we were at our hotel in Worcester in no time.

On Wednesday, we planned to be in Acadia National Park by the afternoon and since it was only about 300 miles, almost all highway, we decided to stop at Minute Man National Historical Park (the North Bridge area) and Lowell National Historical Park. The Minute Man Historical Park is actually a park that starts in Lexington, where on the Lexington Green, the King’s troops first confronted the Patriots. From there, the British Army marched on to Concord and at the Old North Bridge (the bridge across the Concord River) the shots that were heard around the world took place. Though not the original bridge, the area is very cool! We got to stand in the same place that we Patriots confronted a detachment of British soldiers and, in an act of treason, returned fire and killed fellow countrymen. There, the Revolution began.

After our visit, we headed to Lowell, MA to see the beginnings of the industrial age in America. There, at the Lowell National Historical Park, you can visit turn of the century water powered textile mills that employed thousands of immigrants. Not only that, it was also the beginnings of what we now know as the ‘company town’. Prior to this age, there were no villages or cities developed specifically for the purpose of housing factory workers. Not only can you take a boat tour of the canals that wind through the remaining mill buildings (that have been preserved as condos and the like). Tours are available to see the mill operations and all the related support businesses. Very interesting. We found out that Lowell was developed in the later period of the industrial revolution yielding to Pawtucket, RI, in the lower Blackstone River Valley where is site of the first textile mill in the United States (1793). We’ll get to that in a few days! Because Lowell is so close to I-495, and it is a pretty interesting place, if you miss it, you’ll miss some pretty important history.

Back on the road, we headed up I-495, eventually linking up with I-95 and the long slog up to Bangor, ME. I say it’s a slog because I can’t tell you how many times I have driven this road back and forth to Newfoundland many years ago. Before we knew it, we were headed off I-95 to take ME 9 and US 1 to Ellsworth and onto ME 3 to Bar Harbor. Thinking that I knew where the Seawall Campground was, I just motored on without checking the GPS or map. That little oversight cost us an hour of touring the Blue Hill Bay area of Mount Desert Island and put us at the campground around 5:00. But no worries. Our plan was to stay for three nights and RELAX. And relax we did. The weather was great, high 70’s and no humidity. The only downside was the mosquitos. We were prepared though, having bought the screened 10x10 canopy at REI before we left Baltimore.

Even with that, our tour of Mount Desert Island, up Cadillac Mountain and through the park road was really nice. The park is broken up quite a bit with private land around park land but it is not too hard to tell where you are. No houses are in park land! Acadia is a nice National Park and the first east of the Mississippi. While on a run up to Ellsworth to our weekly Walmart visit for resupply, I eyed a business at the airport that offered biplane rides. Well, since we got a floatplane ride in Florida, it was time to scratch a biplane ride off the list! Built in 1996 as a replica of a 1935 biplane, it didn’t take much to convince us to sign up for the 40 minute flight that actually lasted more than an hour. After getting specific directions on how to get seated (in the front of the plane), I asked the pilot if he’d do any loops for us to which he replied, “sure, if you want”. All I can say was from the time the rotary engine fired up to the very end it was an awesome experience. Once airborne, we headed out over the water to see some lighthouses and Bar Harbor from the air. Next thing we heard was Steven, our pilot say, “are you ready for a little excitement?” We couldn’t wait! Then we went into a STEEP dive, rolling over and descending an unknown amount of altitude we leveled out and tried to keep our composure over our excitement! A biplane ride is a MUST! The owner was right when he said that flying a biplane is REALLY flying. We couldn’t agree more. After a little more sightseeing, Steven took us on another similar dive before we headed back to the airport. The whole experience was a BLAST! We highly recommend it!

It took more than a few minutes to get my land legs back and feel completely at ease riding the BMW back to the campground but we’ll never forget that ride! Once back at our camp, we relaxed the day away and a walk on the rock strewn beach was beautiful. By our last day, Saturday July 10, we started to get the travel itch and by Sunday, July 11 we were greeted with a sunny day, perfect for motorcycling and our trip back south to Massachusetts.

We decided to take I-95 from Bangor all the way south instead of the cut-off we did on the way up. It was a good decision until we got to just north of Boston. Since we were headed to just south of Boston, it seemed like a good idea, since it was Saturday, (how bad could the traffic be?) I planned our route right through downtown on I-93. Well, it can be pretty bad. Combined with the 90+ temp, humidity and traffic, it was a pretty miserable trip from New Hampshire to Wompatuck State Park just outside Quincy, MA. This is a great campground! Not far from the red line subway, it is only about 30 miles from Boston (this will be our next base camp). Besides, there is an REI close by. A note about the GTL- since we lost (traded for lighter, smaller equipment) the majority of the stuff that was piled up on the top of the trailer, our mileage has greatly improved. No longer were we seeing the high 30’s, we are now getting in the low to mid-forties mpg. That’s pretty good.

We’ll be off to a few places in Rhode Island after a visit to Adams National Historical Park and then a visit to NYC to see Cynthia’s cousins and aunt and uncle. Till then- Stay tuned, much more to come! Greg & Cynthia.