After 2 days of recovery---last post!

Greetings my friends,

After 2 days of recovery at home, catching up with Indy and friends, I thought I would finally make my last post for this trip.

First, I would like to thank my wife Cathy.  She is a saint to put up with me and my crazy dreams, like this trip.  She is a wonderful person, wife, mother and friend.  It was tough being away from her for almost a month.  Despite me being home, she is at Myrtle Beach until this Friday, along with Conor and Zach.  I can't wait to see her again late Friday. 

I also want to thank my kids and family for all their support.  It meant a lot to me to know they were paying attention to my trip via Facebook, Twitter and this blog.  It was nice to know they were with me during my trials and tribulations.

I thank everyone else who has gone for this ride with me and kept up with my silly postings and blog.  I originally thought it would be a good way for me to capture my thoughts on this epic journey and to stay in communication with a few people.  Turns out, I think quite of few followed me to Alaska and back.  That was cool to know as I was traveling.

So a few things I need to cover.

1. What clothes did I take with me?  I took 2 pairs of shorts, one pair of lightweight sweats, 1 long sleeved shirt, 3 t-shirts, one pair of jeans, 4 socks, 3 pair of underwear, bicycle shorts (what I wore under my riding pants), riding pants, rain pants, riding jacket, rain/electric coat, 2 pair of gloves and my trusty Shoei helmet.  I washed my clothes 3 times in laundry facilities and my biking shorts in the sink a few times too!
2. How much did I spend on fuel, rooms and food.  I don't have a total completed yet, but probably $2-3k.  Not bad for a major bucket list checkoff!
3. How's Red Velvet?  She is sitting in my garage recovering like I have been only I have showered a few times and not her. She suffered no damage that I know of.  I need to change the oil/filter and air filter.  The Heidenau tires I purchased in Calgary held up very well with about 7,500 miles, they look like they still have plenty of life left in them.  The slow leak in the front tire was cured with the fixaflat.  

So what's up with the title of my blog/trip?  For some reason, the book by Robert M. Persig called "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" has stuck with me for many years.  I think I was first turned on to the book in high school in English class by Mr. Queener or Mr. Powell.  I did not understand it that well then and some might debate how much I understand now.  The idea of the book is the debate on what is quality.  The book talks about this during a 14 day motorcycle journey of a father and soon across the US.  The book details two types of personalities: those who are interested mostly in gestalts (romantic viewpoints, such as Zen, focused on being "In the moment", and not on rational analysis), and those who seek to know the details, understand the inner workings, and master the mechanics (classic viewpoints with application of rational analysis, like motorcycle maintenance) and so on.   This idea has stuck with me for a long time and I have been interested in Zen for many other reasons.  Am I in the moment or want to know the details?

So the idea of the name of the trip comes from the book but also my idea that being able to achieve a big goal of riding to Alaska takes a Zen like approach and the attention to details, just to make it.
Sorta make sense?  Maybe not, either way the title makes sense to me.  I did this trip alone because that is how I wanted to do it.

Next up, wow we are very lucky to be alive and have all of the opportunities we do living in the US.  We should not forget this and take advantage of it.  Don't get stuck in the doldrums, get out and explore and set your goals for a journey.  What do I mean?  Get out and see our great national parks and the Canadian parks, like Banff and Jasper are spectacutlar too.  Everyone should make a similar journey some day.

The next time you are driving your car, truck, van, whatever and the urge to get on your phone to text or email....stop, don't do it.  Life is short.  I can't believe how many people I saw on their phones in some manner and they were not fully engaged in what they should have been, and that is driving.  It's scary when you see it and you are in your car...it's way scarier on a motorcycle.  Also, do pay attention to people on motorcycles, don't treat them like another car, truck, semi or whatever.  Give them plenty of space and respect.  I can't count how many people tailgating me on this trip 10 feet or less behind me.  It's not a good feeling to know you'll lose for sure if a sudden stop needs to be made.   Back up and give motorcycles space.  Also, if it is raining hard, dark, hailing, misting, etc., it's probably a good idea to stop texting and turn on your vehicle lights.

Somewhere along the way I started thinking of all the people I have ridden motorcycles with and it made me happy, happy, happy to do so!  I thought I would mention as many as I can think of, sort of a shout out to my riding brethren.

My dad, Ned Grewell, taught me to ride a motorcycle way back when, mastering a clutch, which was very mysterious way back when.  We have ridden on dirt and pavement and it all has meant a lot.  My best friend Scott Hoy and me have been riding together since the mid-80's.  He's a very methodical safe rider and I always have fun riding with him.  My BMW bud, Gary Stratton...he's taught me a lot about BMW's and ridden the most/furtherest with me...out to Calgary a number of years ago and also raced with me in the Buckeye Dual Sport 200 a few years ago.   All my childhood friends, like David Biddle (RIP), Scott Ehmann, Eric Seebach and many others from the Parkridge area riding what is now called Gantz Park.  Jesse Hopkins and his kids, Colin and Shaun, wow we had many great times riding on our dirt bikes and wrenching in Jesse's garage (master carb rebuilder).  Conor and Zach, some of my best memories with them is riding on our property in Licking County and tracks with the Hopkins.  The Whitt's clan (Terry, Terry Jr, Colin and Nate) riding the Hatfield McCoy trails, was always awesome.  My co-workers, Kyle Carroll, Leonard Issacs and John Boice---I aways have a blast riding with them.  Larry Macioce, who always seems to have a new bike and all of them have been way cool---and is fun to hang with.  My cousin Dave Warner, always fun and a cool rides.  My other cousin, Jimmy Albright, owner of Justified Defiance...a real hardcore bike builder and rider.  My Mothman rider buds (everyone above), plus Dave Clark, Tim and Pam Teeters, John & Andrea Kochensparger, Bill Bartram (Alaska rider himself), Kenny Caroll, Kory Caroll, Damian Macioce.  I am sure I have missed many others but I was doing this off of my 49 year old memory...I'm gonna forget people...so sorry.

So I had a blast and thanks for all the thoughts, prayers and encouragement, I could not have done it without you!

Day 24 - My last day traveling home

So my focus today was nothing more than making it home to Grove City, OH.  Nothing was going to stop me much...ha!

So Red Velvet was spry today after I checked her oil, added a few pounds of air to the front tire and she was ready for the day.  It rained very early this morning before we were up and I was hopeful for a dry day of riding due to a look at the weather last night and reports from home.  Well I got about 20 miles down the road and I could see rain off in the distance and everyone traveling the opposite direction had their lights on, so I pulled over and put on the rain gear in the parking lot of a truck stop.  It started to rain about 10 minutes later...after about 30 minutes of riding in the rain we stopped at a gas station to fill up.  It was miserable and I was a little wet.

As I pulled out of the lot, it started to pour, really hard.  I kept going, got on the freeway and could barely see and I stayed about 50 yards behind a tractor trailer rig.  It got worse, sheets of rain, I really struggled to see and it was really windy and cold.  I felt cold water leaking in everywhere.  I kept going and just missed a temporary sign of some kind that had blown onto the road...I would have wrecked for sure if I hit it.  I stayed behind the truck and his line.  Cars were pulled over to wait it out...but not me...I am too headstrong.  I rode through it in 20 to 30 minutes.  Later when I got off the freeway, a guy in a truck next to me said I was a bad as* for riding through it.  I told him I had no choice.  

So it warmed up a bit and I started to dry out some, then it rained again.  I blamed all of this on me criticizing Chicago politics in my last posting...I was passing through all this weather in Illinois. 

The storm behind me, with my mustache on prominent display.  I just might keep it if Cathy let's me!

   

Hers one minus the mustache.

Red Velvet and my gear drying out at lunch time.  I think the buttpad might look cleaner in this picture!

First time I've seen this in a public restroom, Chick-a-filet.  I took a sip because I needed it.

The storm would not leave me alone!

I need to fix a mention I made in my last post thanking Brian Irwin with a shout out for his recommendation to take I74 out of the Quad Cities instead of going through Chicago.  Turns out the props should have gone to Sara Irwin's father, Mr. Schaefer had suggested this and Brian just relayed it to me.  Sara's father could not let the son-in-law take credit, so she let me know today.  Hahaha Brian!  Also, I appreciate the offer to stay the night at their house near Moline, but I had already reserved a hotel room.  It turns out Mr. and Mrs. Schaefer had been in Columbus over the weekend and we would be passing each other on I74.  Darn if they didn't see me on the freeway and called Sara to let her know.  Nice folks and I'd like to meet them sometime!

Cool old trailer...I need one of these.  I like the red wheels.

I passed Jere Mounts in his cool modded van somewhere near Peoria.  That's Jere, A-1 for fun! 

I really want something like this. The guy towing it had a big smile on his face.  I bet his mechanic, parts and paint guy have a big $mile too.

This sign made me happy, happy, happy!

The best thing about today was coming home and my Mom, my sister Kari and her kids Jacob and Emily were there to greet me.  And I can't forget Indy....he was elated to see me!

I traveled 540 miles in 12 hours today.  I am Happy, Happy, Happy.

I will post my last blog entry tomorrow to wrap it up.  Thanks for all your support.

Day 23 - North Dakota is windy and MN drivers like the left lane only

So it rained last night and looks like rain as I leave Bismarck, ND this morning.  It's a bit cold and me and Red Velvet are in a bit of a haze.  We geared up and took off pointed towards Minnesota. I decided to put some Steely Dan and then Pink Floyd on the turntable and it worked me through the morning.  So we stopped at a roadside rest to make a few adjustments due to the strong wind coming from the south (right to left), which is annoying.  The flags in the picture tell the story.  It was time for Green Day, simple but interesting music.

I noticed a guy checking out Red Velvet and he asked if it was mine.  I confirmed and he said he really liked it and said it looked like something from a Mad Max movie.  I liked that and said thanks but Red Velvet was a little offended.  The morning ride was for the most part in uneventful, except for the wind.

This guys trailer is for a motorcycle but it must have been too windy for him to ride.

I stopped in Fergus Falls, MN for gas and lunch.  I also wanted to take off my rain gear, so that it would rain later...and sat next to Red Velvet to take off my boots to remove my pants and the rain liner...this is what you do as an adventure rider, change clothes in the parking lot.  I noticed some wings hanging low on Red Velvets left side and attached to the wings was the rest of the bird.  I don't recall hitting it but since it is close to the exhaust header, it should be done by dinner.  

So I passed through St. Cloud, MN and thought of John Sauer, who retired from AHM and someone I worked with for many years.  He lives and commuted from St. Cloud which is a haul!  I remember telling him about my dream to ride to Alaska and he always asked about it.  Seems appropriate that the clouds were so beautiful when I traveled through St. Cloud!

I hope somehow he knows my dream came true.  I also thought of all the AHM and now MCM people I have worked with as I went through Minneapolis.    Folks like Deb Lindbo, Mary Sieracki, Ann Shaw, Gary Dressel, Betty Raasch, Karen Gmiterko, Russ Gavin and all the others.  Good people and I enjoyed working with them all.  My music choice was Prince and then Dylan, both from MN.

So my friend Brian Erwin (married to Sara) texted me and suggested a great way to avoid traveling through or near Chicago.  I like Chicago, but not the traffic, the politics and their ban on guns all the while as many people are murdered there everyday.  Sorry for the political statement, but I thought Brian's idea of passing thru the quad cities in Iowa was great and it changed my itinerary and I set course for south out of Minneapolis and I took Rt. 35 and then followed Google maps, which is awesome. I reserved a room in Iowa City.  

I put on some Rush for the afternoon, at the suggestion of Duane "Ghost Rider" Graham, a fellow hardcore rider.  Rush always gets me going.  Here are some random pictures while on the road. This is in Iowa, notice the wind turbines.  Good stuff!

My office this afternoon.  I miss my real office at work and all my coworkers. 

Cool looking clouds.

Nice corn fields..

Beauty sunset in Iowa...bad picture of it...it was spectacular for 30 minutes or so.

My office at night.  I put on one of my favorite albums, Santana's "Zebob"...don't know it?  Download it and thank me later.  Tonight was the first real ride at night for about 1.5 hours and I was spooked by the thought of animals on the road.  I saw several deer at dusk.  Plus my helmet visor is tinted for sunlight...so it was just glasses keeping the bugs out of my eyes.

So....I left Bismarck at 8 AM and arrived in Iowa City at 10 PM.  A long day of riding, for a total of 729.6 miles, my longest amount so far for one day on this trip.  I also passed 10,000 miles for the trip so far.  I have about 500 miles to get home tomorrow...hopefully the weather and traffic make it painless!  Have a great day!

Day 22 - Long day thru Montana & South Dakota

So I left Butte, MT without any Evel Knievel stuff, but I guess that is what Amazon and Ebay is for...so we left and headed east on I94 instead of I90 to avoid all the Sturgis traffic and I prefer the northern route east.  It is kind of boring but I had plenty of time to think and reflect, which I need to do more often.  For the music followers I was all over the place today.  The Clash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Who, The Rolling Sones Hank Williams Jr and Bob Dylan.  I heard some of it and some of it was just background noise for my thinking and reflection.  The great thing about today was no rain, it was nice to be dry for a day.  I did not take many pictures due to the heavy thinking taking place or actually, I just was not really into it today.  

I stopped at a roadside rest hoping to take a short nap laying in the shade until I saw this sign.  So I just napped on Red Velvet for 50 or so miles instead.

I almost ran out of gas on this road in Montana. I waited too long to make a stop and then had to baby Red Velvet 40 miles or so to the next gas station.  She is not getting very good mileage as I ride in the 80-90 mph range.  We were also into a strong head wind and often cross wind that was brutal. I got a headache from the turbulence of my helmet bouncing around in the wind.  I do love Montana though, it is extremely beautiful with its many different landscapes.  I would love to live here someday.

So anyway, I made it to Bismarck, ND and I still have about 1100 miles to go to get home.   iam feeling a bit of dread the last couple of days because it is pretty boring and because my adventure is ending soon. I wish Red Velvet had Warp speed and I could use it to get home now!  Cathy and the boys made it to Myrtle Beach safely and my mother-in-law Marge is taking care of Indy.  I hope to be home Monday and I know Indy will be happy to see me!

Goodnight friends.

Day 21 - heading south to cross the border

The smell of fresh clean rain in the summer is something I like but on a motorcycle it can get on the nerves a bit.  I woke up at 7:30 AM thinking I would give Red Velvet a wash, but when I looked out of the window of my room, yep it was raining.  So I went back to bed.  The hotel I stayed in is called "Sandman" and it lived up to its name, I was out cold until 9:30 AM.  The hotel is a Canadian chain and if you see one, stay there...it was really nice and connected to a Denny's restaurant which is what I had for dinner last night.  So here is Red Velvet after I packed her up. I parked her last night in the bicycle area, she liked that.

So I have made an important decision...it has been weighing heavily on my mind.  I had originally planned to go south to San Francisco to see my cousin Scott and a motorcycle rider friend, Ron.  Then from there go and see my friend Leann Haskins Katchuk who lives in the mountains in Carbondale, Colorado and then the Householder clan in Denver.  So I have decided to end that dream and point homeward to Grove City, Ohio.  Cathy and the boys are headed to the beach today and I want to get home to take care of Indy.  From my room in Calgary this morning, it will be 2,000 miles to get home.  I am shooting for late Sunday or Monday.   I am sorry Scott, Ron and Leann, plus the Householder clan. I am going to get out your way sometime soon!

 I stopped and filled up with Canadian petrol for the last time, ding.  $43.66 to fill her up.  I will be glad to get back to gallons and mph, and cheaper gas and taxes.  

Not long after...the first delay...still in Canada.  

I saw a few planes hanging around....

I passed this retro pulling a retro.  It was an older couple getting out for an adventure.  Good people...Check out those curtains, do they match the sheets?

I busted down to the Sweet Grass border crossing after riding in rain off/on for over an hour. This what  I saw 1 kilometer from the crossing.  A line, a long line.  

I was in line about 1 hour...no rush...I wanted to see US soil again.

I was curious about the guy with his honey on a Kawasaki KLR 650...dude is on a budget.  The passenger lady looked out of place and butt was mostly on the heavy duty luggage rack (for a reason) and had a death grip on her significant other...no backrest for her.  They were on their way to Sturgis and I bet she takes the Greyhound bus back home.  They guy on the ape hanger Harley actually pushed his bike the 1 kilometer to the crossing.  I asked him if he needed me to tow him up there.  Haha! I think he was not too confident riding slow with his armpits higher than his headband.  Oh how I love to tease my Harley brethren.  Ha!

This is what it looks like just before approaching with my visa and a drug sniffing dog, I kid you not. I was sniffed and other than the whiff of my buttpad the dog gave me an okay to proceed.  

My buttpad has it own twitter account now.  Red Velvet is jealous.  The road into the US...felt great...today's music selection was Allman Brothers(Eat a Peach), Joe Walsh, Mudcrutch and Chickenfoot (which my riding buddy Larry Macioce turned me on to).  USA, USA, USA!

I stopped to get some petro, in good old gallons...for cheaper and this pulled up next to me.

That's right, it's a Hondabago!  They were headed to Sturgis for the first time and I told them to stop and put some HD stickers on it and they would be okay.  Nice folks from Calgary.

So I rode down Rt. 15 as fast as I could, away from Canada.  Now I like Canada and Canadians, but my fake "eh" accent was wearing me thin.  You have to say "eh" three times for every sentence you make with the locals...I like it but I'm ready for some central Ohio accents.  Before I knew it I was through Great Falls and the riding and landscape tuned from plains to sweet canyons, like you see in the cowboy movies.  Rt. 15 from Helena to Butte was one of the best two hours of riding I have ever done.  Oh, and I LOVE the 75 mph speed limit in Montana!

It rained off/on all day, but I did not let it bother me...I was happy, happy, happy....(for you Carol) to be back in Montana...Then I saw the coolest rainbow, it was huge.  A great sign of being in the US again.

I pulled into Butte and ran up to the first hotel...big demand for rooms because of everyone heading to Sturgis.  I got the last room and its a sweet suite!  It has a jacuzzi! 

I cleaned up and went to the front desk to ask where I could go to be close to where Evel Kneivel used to hang. I am a big Evel fan, I got a blank stair so I just rode around and stopped at Fred's Mesquite Grill.  Great choice..I had Dead Guy Rogue (in honor of Evel) beer and mesquite cooked chicken sandwich...oh...it was good to be out of Canada.  If you are in Butte, MT...stop here for sure.

Tomorrow I hope it does not rain. I bet the hotel never imagined a floor lamp being used to dry out boots.  Have a great weekend!

Day 20 - Kind of boring day...until I got to Beaver Lodge

So here it is 20 days of riding and I am sick of it!  I need a break from the riding.  But I got on Red Velvet at 7:30 AM this morning and got the heck out of my gross hotel.  As a rule shag carpet from the 70s and bathroom towels that a dark brown should be a high alert to avoid, but I was stuck because of the wreck on the mountain last night.  We pointed ourselves towards Edmonton because I have never been there and it was due east.  It was nice and foggy going up the mountain this morning and a crisp 57F.

Once I got to Dawson Creek, I had breakfast at McDonalds....I know, but it was handy.  Then I hit Walmart next door, and bought Fixaflat (dang slow leak on front tire is getting worse) and a new headlight bulb for Red Velvet (a casualty from our trip to Arctic Circle).  I got all that taken care of and got back on the road.  This mornings music was Pantera, Metallica and Foo Fighters.  It does not get much better than that.  

I cruised through Beaver Lodge and there it was.

The biggest beaver I had seen in a long time.  It dwarfed Red Velvet.  This jogged a good memory from work.  Some know this story, so may not, but here it goes... Several years ago I was doing what I did each day and walk by my teams cubes and said good morning. I went by one office and to my surprise, there was a giant rodent in one associates office.  Not a real one, but it was a beaver suit and head for an adult to where.  The person who shall remain nameless, just sat there like nothing was different and said good morning to me.  This person had dressed up as a beaver for a children's party over the weekend and it needed returned after work.  This person brought it in the building because he could not safely secure it in their Jeep.  That's your clue.  It was great, and I really enjoyed going by the cube to see the beaver head sitting there.  Thinking of it makes me, happy, happy, Happy!  So ther is my beaver story.

Here is another happy picture.  I've seen all kinds of cars, trucks, etc.

Bless him, nice VW rig and he had to have it wide open and hitting 70 clicks (Canadian for going 70 kilometers).  I just noticed this but I think in my rear view, that just might be John Boice flying as my wing man in his Honda Ridgeline.

Here is a great selfie.  Wow I look good!  My visor actually looks clean.  I have mastered cleaning it as I am riding down the road.  I spray on a little cleaner and use a small cloth...and 20 minutes later, repeat.

Check this out...what is this contraption next to this bridge?

If the bridge gets washed out, this thing is used to get people from one side of the river to the other during an emergency.   Scary looking to me but I'm sure Zach would have jumped right on it.

The rest of the day was boring.  I rode through big rain storms in Edmonton and Calgary...but I put my rain gear on and stayed dry.  

I have not gotten questions about the name of this blog.  So I will wait until tomorrow to try to explain.  On the road tomorrow, I will repeat what I did today except the music will be a little more mellow.  Have a great day everyone!