little towns

Staying off the interstate and other heavily traveled four lane roads is a prerequisite for having a good time on a motorcycle trip. This means that you go rolling through a lot of little towns. While I wouldn't want to live in a little town I'm glad other people do so they can provide me with an enjoyable experience. I find a lot of entertainment in stopping at a ma and pa owned restaurant or gas station to stretch my legs and catch glimpses of Americana.

My favorite kind of town is the county seat town with the courthouse in the square and little shops lining the street on all four sides. I've found that you can park your cycle, find a decent locally owned restaurant, and a few interesting shops to stroll around in, which makes for a pleasant break from the road.

I buy Shell gasoline if I can get it, but my favorite kind of gas station is the kind where you can pump your gas, go inside and buy a Coke, sit down at a makeshift booth or table, kick back and look at some newspapers and magazines. Local people come in and make small talk with the owner who is also somewhat of a mechanic and is working on someone's car in an attached garage off to the side. Those kinds of places are disappearing from the landscape, which is too bad because when you're on a motorcycle trip your goal isn't usually to just "gas and go". I like to linger, stretch, and plan the next section of road which is always better than stopping along the side of the road like we did in the picture above. That was actually because I got cold and had to put on my jean jacket . My brother is very patient with me.

Small business owners have a rough go of it these days and so they try to put a lot of hooks out in the water to maybe snag a customer or two. That explains the combination library, restaurant and photography shop in the top picture. It's funny, and you can't blame a guy for trying.

wow, I didn't know how much you cared

Notice the new linc on the sidebar, LM. Earlier today I was looking at his blog which has a new improved, Beatlesque look and I clicked on "Friends". I was surprised to see a linc to "sometimes you need an old man." What a compliment. It is always much better to see that someone has included you with their friends than to realize that you've been removed ... ouch.


LM's site is called "Rooting for the Underdog." That's a pretty good description because when someone is ranting on and on about some self-abosorbed subject, LM will give the underdog perspective. I need that sometimes when I'm making fun of girls with tattoos at funerals, and other such nonsense. He is an expert at placing orders at Taco Bell, would enjoy having a motorcycle that doesn't run, and can effortlessly make you feel like a fuddy duddy when you deserve it.


LM and I worked together for awhile in a faith community. Those were some fun months for me. It was one of my greatest disappointments when he decided to leave. So, check it out.

Bro Ride bugs and grub

Your face does not make a very good windshield. My brother and I finished the "Bro Ride 2007" which consisted of 800 miles in three days stretching from Donovan, Illinois throughThorntown, Indiana, the Indianapolis Monument Circle, Nashville, Salem, French Lick, Bedford, Terre Haute, Perryville and Danville, Illinois, just to name a few.

This year I used an open face half helmet because of the heat. The temperature was in the nineties and even one hundred so the idea of having my whole head in a plastic bucket 6-8 hours a day didn't appeal to me. Of course I don't have a windshield on my motorcycle so all the bugs plastered on me. I caught a big flying grasshopper in my forehead above my right eye and it stuck. I had to turn my head to one side and then the other to get the wind to blow it off my forehead and then clean the bug juice off the next time I stopped. I caught another enormous flying grasshopper on my lip and that really hurt. Yes the bug juice was gross but I was spitting like crazy trying to keep from swallowing any. I was successful. Sometimes I would see a Monarch or Swallowtail about to cross my path and I would cheer for them, "Go little Monarch, fly high little Swallowtail.....oh...too bad.

Best Restaurant on the trip was "The Good Table" in Kentland, Indiana. For $5.25 I got a chopped steak as big as a platter, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad, rolls, crackers, aaaannnd a bowl of ice cream for dessert. Honorable mention goes to Monicals Pizza in Danville, Illinois. You can't beat Monicals for pizza.

More to come on the Bro Ride

it's okay if it's my idea

Obama says that if there are terrorists (like Bin Laden) in Pakistan and the president Musharraf won't do anything about it he would send in troops.

Those words sound pretty strange for a guy who berates other lawmakers for voting for the Iraq war. I ask, what's the difference between Bush sending troops to Iraq and Obama sending troops to Pakistan?