Visiting family

June 28th through July 6th I went traveling through North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Montana.
What a great trip.
Three Thousand Two Hundred Miles.
I visited in Fargo, North Dakota with Grands Katrina and Justin and Great Grand Vian.

That Vian, he is something else. Always smiling and making everyone around him laugh. Good one K & J.
Then on to Minneapolis, first stop at Twin Brother Dean & Bev's Garden and Vinyard in Monticello.
Here's Dean at Perkins for breakfast.

Had a great time at the graduation party at Vivian and Dave's, but it was raining and I didn't get any pictures. Under the canopy(s) everyone enjoyed the party and another of Viv & Dave's Grandkids has been graduated from High School.
We went to a wedding reception in North Minneapolis and saw Krystal Lonnquist and Adam Harvey. It was a great time at the reception while visiting with many Lonnquists.

Krystal & Adam. They are off to a great start. Thanks Krystal for the great pictures you sent.

I hadn't visited Tomah, Wisconsin for several decades. It was fun visiting some of the houses Lois and I and the kids occupied during the Tomah years.
This one was the first house we ever owned. It was on North Glendale Ave.

While living here the kids went to Kindergarten at the Lemonweir School.

 We built a house in 1967 on the other end of town. On the corner of Madison and Madison, the kids used to say.

It was a good visit when I had lunch with an old co worker from WTMB, Patrick J. Adler
He was Patrick J on the air.
Early the next morning I made the run through Fort McCoy on the Interstate. I remember well the morning I hit a deer with the motorcycle a few miles out of Sparta, Wisconsin. Sure glad I had that helmet on. Of course, it wasn't much good after that. The whole side was mashed in. I had lots of Asphalt Rash that morning, along with a broken collar bone.
Stopped in LaCrosse for a visit with old friends Jack & Ethel Sobotta. I remember them as The Country Caravan, a great country band in the 70's.

They sure don't look like they are in their 80's, do they?
Of course I don't either. Do I?
Had a good ride through the rolling hills of southern Minnesota and saw mile after mile of wind turbines spinning in the wind and making lots of electrical energy.
I had a good ride up I-29 to Dawson, MN for a visit with Allen and family. Well, good except for the rain and wind. That was a cold wet ride and I was glad to finally arrive in Dawson, more than ready for a hot cup of coffee and a great lunch with Allen, Pam, Laura and Lydia.
Good Grief, how did those two kids grow up so fast?
The sun was shining the next morning and I was ready for a nice long ride over to Sturgis and Deadwood, South Dakota. First their was a Lonnquist Farewell.

I-90 across Southern Minnesota and into South Dakota was an awesome ride.
I went to through Sturgis, SD with only a short stop at the Motorcycle Museum. It was great with over two hundred old motorcycles, some with sidecars. I told the kids they had motorcycle here that were even older than me.

Following the museum tour I headed a few miles down a great winding, twisting road to Deadwood. A couple of years ago when Lois and I went through here with Diana, Jared and Linda, Jenny found us a neat motel on the edge of Deadwood for just $35.00 a night. It was clean, neat and had plenty of room. I pulled in for another stay. The front clerk said, "Well I will have to charge you $45.00 since this is Thursday and the Fourth of July weekend is starting."
I told her my daughter Diana had stayed there a few weeks earlier and told me to be sure and ask for the specual $35.00 rate.
The lady replied, "Well, I guess it's not really the Fourth of July yet, so you can have the room for $35."
Nice lady. I'll stay there again.
Breakfast in Sturgis the next morning and of course it had to be at the Sidehack Saloon.
If you ever visit Sturgis you should try the Big Breakfast.
That is, if you dare to order The Garbage Omelet. It was actually very good and very, very filling.

Even if Dale Coyner in his book Motorcycle Travel does caution you to eat light to enjoy the ride.

I had planned to visit the Lehman Trike factory in Spearfish, but pushed on through on Sunday morning when it was closed.
Visit www.Trikeit.com to see what my friend Dan Herstein does with the Lehman trike kits.
Wyoming came up fast once I made the run through Spearfish.
It was in the 90's and I stopped often for water.

Really nice Visitor Center just over the Wyoming line.
Nice folks and free coffee for visitors during the Holiday Weekend.
Pulling out of the visitors center I had to make a quick stop.
I had never seen a full size airplane mounted on a pole and being used for a weather vane.
You don't see that every day. But there it was. Turning in the breeze. Pretty neat.

This was a long days ride through 90 degree weather.
I planned on going all the way from Sturgis to Billings, Montana, just over four hundred miles.
Too far for an old guy to ride in one day.
A lot of hills in Wyoming can slow you down, but on a couple I was behind a truck and they sort of pulled me over the top. That was easy.
Worked good until I somehow got behind a semi that was trying out the new 80 MPH speed limit that the state of Wyoming put in to effect that very weekend.
Well I used the brakes and got back down to a sensible speed.
After a good nights sleep at the Billings Comfort Inn I had a nice relaxing ride through the Montana mountains to Helena and home.
Three Thousand Two Hundred miles.
A great ride.
It is true you know.
After being married for sixty years, learning to live alone is a lot easier if you have a sidecar.
I'm heading for Washington DC to visit Grands Jason and Allison in late September, and then, with my new Mini Mate tent camper secured by a sturdy trailer hitch, the Yamaha 1100cc Classic, the sidecar and the tent camper will head on down the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Destination, Lake Mary, Florida and a visit with Diana, Ilidio and Jenny.
Maybe a cruise on the Disney Fantasy if Lorna and Rosario have their way.

I'll be in the Right Lane America.
How about you?
May your ride be long and may your Love Song never end.
Lonnie