My Last Year In Pictures

I generally do this so I went to my "Labels" and found that I've put up very few.  That might have something to do with very few posts this year.

Anyhow...
This boat definitely ran aground... repeatedly and the final cruise was a complete shipwreck. This is N MI not NE OR, and my view from my window

What? A Harley isn't enough trouble in your life?

Turkeyday, Harley, Lake Michigan

So, WTF?

I suppose I could add something... but why?

Turkey Day

Sometimes nice things happen to you, even in Northern Michigan, on Thanksgiving. This picture isn't real good, but I was squatting on the center line of US31 on T-day with my camera phone.

It was almost 70F and the sun was shining and it was behind me when I got to this spot. Today, the next day, at 3:30pm it is 30F, snowing hard - sideways. Yeah well, welcome to N MI. That is looking west onto The Big Lake, aka Lake Michigan, just south of Petoskey, MI where I now live.

It is blowing hard enough to cause the wall mounted bathroom exhaust fan external flappers to clap - that is making my landlady's dog, I'm dog sitting, crazy. He is a Jack Russell so... I hope everybody had as good a T-day as I did.

The New View From My Window

A couple weeks ago I made a rather long move - like a 2200 mile move - from Baker City, OR to Petoskey, MI. I'm still trying to fit a three bedroom house with a garage/shop into a one bedroom with storage. Packing, driving, unpacking, and suffering from geo-social shock explains my absence from this blog.

Looking somewhat SW from my sliding window in the living room. Petoskey is over in that general direction, past the hill and on the edge of northern Lake Michigan.  Depending on which side of town you're trying to get to it is about 5 miles.  (Click Pics For Full Size)

Out to the NE is my landlady's house and my '74 K5 Blazer. Previous to the move I sold "the fleet." While I have no use for it, I'll sort of miss the old '50 Chevy COE. I'll much more miss the '62 Chevy II and for driving and gas mileage the '04 SSR is a real loss. I needed money and I needed to not have a huge insurance bill. I've driven the '78 K20 Chevy work truck longer than any other vehicle I've ever had, but I could move one vehicle and a utility bed truck that could get all of 8 mpg and seat three tightly just wasn't in the cards.  The driveway is very light colored because it is sand, if you scrape the ground anywhere around here you get sand and it takes some work to not track it all over the house...

Since you can't go much over 10 miles in any direction with out running into water, lakes, I figured I probably needed something that floated better than the Harley which is parked in the garage past the "hole in the water you throw money into."  This thing is a '94 18' Four Winns with a 5L 215HP Ford V8 and it can scoot - the test drive showed it making 50 mph, which is darn fast on the water.  While I was paying for it and doing the paper work the shop winterized it - so I have a large expensive yard decoration that, unlike the Harley, I can't ignore... all damn winter.  Yeah, it's 11AM and 39F and over cast which isn't too bad for the last two weeks - at least it isn't raining or snowing, like it has been.  Baker County is semi-arid - which means a couple less inches precipitation and you've got desert - did I mention shock?

There are a number of reasons why this move happened and not a bit of it had to do with wanting to leave my friends and the country side of Baker City. I shut down the construction contracting business last fall since I couldn't afford to subsidize it any more and this summer my wife and I decided to divorce which meant selling the house since she was moving and neither of us could afford to buy out the other. All that and my mother's age of 85 years and the closest child 3 hours away made it seem that with little employment opportunity it sort of fell on me to get within her neighborhood. Mom's place is about 25 minutes away, close enough that I can help her out whenever she needs it and still far enough that she can - heh - still like me.

It is odd and kind of claustrophobic to ride the country roads and not be able to see anything unless you're topping a hill.  The humidity is sky high compared to Baker City, though most places aren't that dry.  The air does smell clean and 'The Big Lake" is present - in damn near everything.  The snow fall is an issue, the lack of it the last couple years - but I think I'll have to do it to judge exactly what they mean by "lack."  I lived near here for a while 30 years ago and the lake effect snow fall was considerable.

I'll make new friends and get used to the climate.  There are a lot of roads to ride and it is rural (well, crowded compared to Baker County) and I'll have plenty of water to fish and play on.  Large change is never easy and I've not only lived in Baker City for the last 24 and change years but also 22 years in my house there after never living in one place in my adult life for more than a couple years. 

Maybe I'll start putting stuff on this page a bit more regularly.  Anyhow, hi to all my readers.

Oh yeah, I won't suffer political shock of any big degree, this area is as "Red" as OR2 - lots of NObama and Defeat Obama signs, I guess with rMoney it's hard to know what to be for...

A Deserted Island Missing Some Folks

Um, that ship will never sail...

Scrooge

I'm not in the mood but here's your damn Christmas/Holiday Card. No pictures of over decorated trees or white stuff on the ground or cutsie family portraits. You get Harley because, well because I like 'em.




No, I don't know why the picture is cock-eyed, operator error...

Taken near Glacier Nat Park.

Just When You Think It Could Be Worse

You find out just how much worse.



I wasn't anticipating three layers of comp roofing over the wood shingles, rat bastards hid a layer with a trim board. Well that sucked, hmmm, all that rot? Not too nice that there are two layers of wood shingles where I expect one. Ooooh rat bastards. No you shouldn't see the ground through a roof and wood shouldn't be mush either. I got all the junk torn off, it makes a truly impressive pile, and replaced wood shigles with decking and roofed the dog in.

The house is a rental that is empty with a couch and chair and bed and I get to squat until I'm done. I've got a laptop and Milwaukee job radio for company. Bend is rank for getting around in and my truck gets a whole 8 mpg so I'm pretty much stuck. I went out to the back awning for a Camel a little while ago, it is raining steadily ... and pouring onto my debris pile. That's close to a thousand pounds of comp in bits and pieces and big chunks all mixed together and on top like a cherry a big bunch of wood shingles. The thing that is annoying (being polite) is that it is supposed to go below freezing and snow. If it does that I'm going to have a giant ice cube of crap with slippery stuff all around to try to load into a wheelbarrow and into a dumpster.

Sometimes I'm ever so glad I'm me. I get that mess cleaned up I get to go home. I wanna go home. Whine, snivel, piss, and moan.

Hero Worship

Anything "Poppa" does is the best thing in the world. When this picture was taken, 17 months, almost every other word was "Bike." Three times a day he wanted to go see it and touch it and name parts. Big words for a tyke, things like handlebars and headlight and simpler stuff like frame and tank.

With riding season winding down I've been playing a bit of Xbox 360, games like Dragon Age, Oblivion, and Mass Effect 2. The first one for played to any extent was Dragon Age and thus the Xbox and games in general got named "Dragon" after the logo that flies across the screen and roars. He is pretty consistent about begging for "Dragons." It doesn't matter that Mass Effect 2 has none, it will do as "Dragon."

It is charming to be my grandson's hero and to the extent that time alows I return his affection and attention. At times I do have to go make a living or do something other than be the companion of a year and half boy. He doesn't seem to fuss about it, but his attention is more intense if I've been gone. I have to wonder how it will play out as he discovers that I'm really just a guy and not a demi-god. Well, I love him and that will have to do.

Something To Do - Fun To Be Had

So, I'm on my way to Bend, OR to tear off a couple layers of composition roofing and install the stuff on the trailer on the back of my truck. I do have to cross three mountain ranges to get there, 200 miles away and it has been snowing and icing and stuff like that. This is a 1978 Chevy K20 4x4 automatic with a 400 CID small block with a covered utility bed full of tools. Behind it is my car trailer/work trailer with 4400 pounds on it. Fortunately it has trailer brakes and the truck has studded snows on all four, and it has been in 4x low range and L1 on a couple down grades. In case you aren't getting it, this entire show weighs about 13,000 pounds and stomping on brakes ain't a smart thing to do, and neither is riding them.

Damn, I know how to have fun. Especially now that I'm in Bend and it has snowed and rained and frozen and been pretty ... shitty.

And then there was Street Vibrations in Reno, NV and as you may be able to tell, at the end of September there wasn't any snow...


The bike is mine but I didn't get to keep the pretty girls. The professional that was shooting the models has some more on page three.

You want to try to guess which was more fun? No prizes for getting it right.

A Church Just Because

Nothing of particular note about this picture, it was taken not too far from the ND/MT border in ND.
(click pic for full size)

This church is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, if memory serves the nearest town was about 20 miles. My guess is that its location has to do with horse and buggy travel.

On the western edge of the Fort Peck Reservation in MT there is a Spanish style church also in the middle of nowhere but I had no good opportunity to get a photo thanks to no shoulders and a gravel entrance drive up quite a steep hill - something that never works well with this bike and especially with luggage piled high. That one was all boarded up.

As I've noted, there isn't much out here in ND/MT so missing the chance to get a good photo is disappointing. US 2 is fairly narrow and high speed (70 mph) so the entire lack of shoulders in sections means fooling around parked on the road is damn bad idea.

I'm getting ready to pull out of Havre, MT this morning and I'm posting this while waiting for the temperature to warm. 55F is a bit cool on a bike at 70 mph and it also looks as though I'll be riding into ... rain. Yuck.

Weather Maker

I left Ashland, MI in pretty nice weather, temps in mid-60s with a light breeze. About 20 miles from Superior, MI the wind began to pick up out of the NE and the temps began dropping with increasing humidity. Here's the reason why.

(click pic for full size)


This is the port of Superior and north is the port of Duluth, WI - on Lake Superior. The largest body of fresh water in the world is larger than many states and over 1000 feet deep and stays 45F year around. It doesn't effect weather, it virtually creates it.

I expected to get 40 miles inland west and get away from that but I ran into another weather system packing wind and a ways back from that edge, rain. Just a bit into ND I found that rain and spent about 4 hours in the rain suit cooking along at 75 mph. The difficulty is that the rain suit is essentially a sail and the helmet attempts to drag the head backward. Fairly reasonably, I'm tired and bedded down in Rugby, ND.

Upper Penninsula

Lake Michigan seen from the Upper Penninsula, there is a whole lot of water thare. It is quite sufficient to seriously affect the weather in its neighborhood.
(click pics for full size)

The Mackinaw Straits Bridge is impressive no matter what man made structure you've seen. It is also usually windy which makes motorcycles and the steel grate lane interesting.

Yes, it pays to remember that people were here. Lots of casinos around here.


This stuff was taken on the way to Michigan.

Finally

(click pic for full size)

I'm real sure you can't tell the difference but Montana is behind me. I made it to Rugby ND and it was too cold for as tired as I was to go farther in the dark. This puts me about 200 miles from MN. 1541 miles traveled since Thur morning so I'm holding to my 500/day. I lost track of the mile markers the last few miles but I believe it is 650 road miles across Montana on US 2, a long ways and not real interesting riding. I've sure met a lot of real nice people on food and gas and rest up stops. That is one of the things about lightly traveled routes, the locals still like new folks that are friendly and interested in them and their locale.

I've had fun and the bike is a hit with those interested in such a thing.

Crossing The Rockies

At the top of the pass there is a monument to Pres TR.

Then there is the rest of Montana, most of it - a long damn ways. I'm posting from Havre, MO and worn out. Quite cold tonight for August.

Outside Bonners Ferry

Read the sign for yourself
(click pic for full size)



I didn't realize until I posted this that I'd gotten the Walmart truck I played tag with for 300 miles.

Getting On The Road

If you start with a bike like this there are some things you need to do to use it for a trip.
(Click pics for full size)

Harley makes a quick detach seat back and package tray. Oddly enough, the dealer had this in stock - nothing else, ever, you order before you need.

You can then create a mess like this.

Now the truly odd thing about the last picture taken outside High Desert Harley Davidson is the other bike owned by the pretty lady - it is the black and lime version of mine which pulled in as I was finishing loading after the 20K mile service. You will probably never see one of these except at a bike show and rarely then - there were 2500 made in one year only. A fair number will have been bagged and garaged as investments but even without that this is a tiny number and just being in the same place at the same time as one is really unlikely. We were both stunned and spent a few minutes "competing" with how much we love our bikes.

I got away from High Desert HD at about 1:30PM and headed north on ID 55 to US96. Temps were climbing toward an expected 103F which wasn't too bad as long as I was moving at around 60 mph. It was a nice ride until I ran into a storm front that was packing 40-50 mph winds filled with smoke and dust.
This crap took most of the fun right out of this ride. You will note the entire lack of a thing like a windshield. The winds were coming from the range of the right side, head on, and left. The cross winds were enough to get most bikes parked and as stable as this one is it required attention. At one point a head wind was sufficient to make the front end very light on the road, like losing traction... Yes, I slowed down.

I am in Sandpoint,ID about 40 miles from my junction with US 2 which I'll take east. I checked in about midnight (too late and too tired to think about camping) and the miles logged from Baker City show as 559 miles. I fell asleep within minutes of getting into the room. I woke back up awhile ago and showered and posted this, now I'm going back to sleep...

You Think I Don't Know How To Have Fun?

Maybe you think all I do is ride a Harley and play at politics, not quite. My little operation is named CHBIII Enterprises Inc and its business is construction contracting - in this case roofing. This is a turn of the century house with wood shingles under composition shingles, in some cases a lot of them - like 5 layers in places. You could call this work considering that it is 26 feet of ladder from the ground to the first jack plank and these architectural shingles are 3 bundle square packaging and a bundle weighs in at just under 90 pounds. Yes, packed up on my shoulder to the 10 pitch roof (40 degrees) and it is summer, temps from mid-80s to mid-90s.

(Click pics for full size)

I generally avoid some sorts of practices, if I roof over an existing composition roof I remove the preceding roof's hip and ridge shingles and I do not wrap field shingles over hips and only one side over a ridge. The "roofers" who went after this thing not only put on too many layers of comp, they wrapped over the hips and went over the preceding hip shingles - the result was well over 3 inches of shingle and a forest of nails.


The above picture is from the only small roof section with only 2 layers of composition over the wood shingles. There are two methods of dealing with a wood shingle roof, one is to take off all shingles and put OSB or plywood over the skip sheeting (wood shingles were applied over planks spaced a couple inches apart) or if the wood shingles are in fair shape and the customer doesn't feel a need for a smooth roof to go over the wood shingles. Going over wood shingles with 3 tabs created an obviously lumpy roof and the tabs sealing down was somewhat questionable, architects have performed well for me over the last 20 years in this application. So you understand, redecking very nearly doubles the cost of the roof for a fairly minor improvement in performance.

I thought I'd managed to get the cell camera level to give you a feeing for being up high on something steep, not such a good job of that. You'll just have to tip your computer until the trees in the background are upright.

It is a fact of life that construction contractors are considered rip-offs by a large percentage of consumers and that those engaged in manual labor are over-paid ignoramouses. Next time somebody comes up with that kind of crap feel free to ask if they'd do this for any amount of money if they even began to have the physique to do it. I'd bet not, and I've heard from enough people who've tried simple projects that they'd never ever do it again. This has been hard filthy work and I'm not complaining about that - I bid the job, after all - but I do get pretty tired of people acting as though only their level of education qualifies them for decent income.

The World Is My Oyster

I'm 14 months old and visiting my Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandpa is a construction guy and he never seems to do things half-way. Grandma went out and bought a plastic swing with nylon rope hangers about three feet long which Grandpa thought posed a bit of a problem considering the best place to hang my swing. Grandpa got some galvanized chain you could pull a truck with and added another three feet and wound up with something he could swing on - if he'd fit.

***Click on pics for full size***

Grandpa is a pretty interesting guy so I like to keep an eye on him, even if he isn't pushing me. He's got that camera thing going on again.

A minute ago I had my sippy cup with juice in it, I don't have it now because it is great fun to watch it fall and Grandpa pick it up. It's really cool to grab it from his hand when I swing up to him.

The camera thing is pretty nice but cameras don't run all the time and they seem to miss the moment, that little space of time that happens when the camera isn't doing the picture taking. I really like my swing but Grandpa makes Grandma crazy with it. He'll pull me head high and let go while Grandma shrieks, "Not so high!" Grandpa just laughs since I'm wearing a seatbelt and I couldn't even manage to get out of the swing on my own much less fall out. I love to go high, and what that camera missed is the wind blowing my hair up and my mouth open to catch that breeze. Grandpa will pull me way up and let go and then sit down and watch me until the swing slows down. I like it all but the best is going high and fast so I kick my legs until he comes and gets me going again. Sometimes he'll stand and push me and I like that best because I keep going high.

Maybe you're too old to really get this without doing it so I'll try to explain. My Grandpa loves me and tries to keep me happy like today. I've got my sippy cup with good juice in it to drink and I'm swinging high and fast while Grandpa watches me. The wind is in my face and it's a beautiful warm morning. I make faces and Grandpa laughs and so do I. Yep, the world is my oyster. (I'm not sure why that means what it means - and neither is my Grandpa)

Memorial Day Baker City

If you decide to live on the 45th parallel at 3500 ft at the foot of 10K ft mountains this is what your Memorial Day is likely to look like. Beyond looks there is the the matter of weeks of low 60s for highs and rainy days. So it did rain today, right on my ride which involved about 10 minutes of misery until I made it into Union at the far end of my loop.

We do ordinarily get 5-12 days of weather in May that make you really glad it's here, not more than 5 days this year. We have a motorcycle rally 6/11-13, Hells Canyon Motorcycle Rally, and I have hopes. This is some of the best riding in the country, in case you're interested.

BIg And Little

Gus and Brayden
***Click for full size***


Gus is eight years in February and Brayden is nine months. Gus at 150 pounds and Brayden at 20 pounds. Gus lies around a lot, Brayden crawls a lot and walks if he can hang onto something.