Clam Chowder

Snow storm yesterday; so good day for a cream soup and I decided on Clam Chowder.

I make all of my cream soups with the same base; a roux. While a roux is usually made with equal amounts of butter and flour; I usually use more flour as it makes it thicker. As the link above states; it is cooked till it no longer has a flour taste. Once I have the roux I can add broccoli, or potatoes and cheese, or corn and bacon for a corn chowder; or in this case potatoes, celery and clams for clam chowder.

---

• 1 stick butter (1/4 cup)
  
• 1/3 cup flour
  
• 1 quart mile
  
• 1 small potato diced small
  
• 2 ribs celery diced small
  
• 2 cans minced clams
  
• savory salt and pepper to taste

---

• Melt the butter and then add the flour, stiring into a paste and simmer until the flour taste is gone.
  
• Slowly add the milk. At first it will thicken quite a bit, and then as you add more milk and continue to stir it will get thinner. It will slowly thicken back up as it reduces.
  
• At the same time boil the potatoes and celery until the potatoes are cooked. Pour off the excess liquid; but you don't have to strain it as having a little extra liquid as fine.
  
• Once the roux is a little thicker than you want the soup, add the clams including the juice; and then add the potatoes and celery with a little of the liquid. This should get it to about the consistency you want for soup. It will thicken a little as it cooks.
  
• Let it simmer over low heat until it thickens and to allow time for the flavors to mix. This can cook in a slow cooker for a few hours; or on the stove over low for 15 to 30 minutes

You can pretty much adjust any part of this for own taste. And once you have this; you can use it for many other cream soups.

Crock Pot Pork Roast w/ Cabbage

This took me 5 minutes to make and turned out really well.

---

• 1.5# Pork Loin - don't trim the fat
  
• Savory Salt
  
• Pepper
  
• 1/2 Head of cabbage cut into 4 wedges
  
• 1 Can Green Beans
  
• 1 Onion Chopped in about 1 inch pieces
  
• 1 Family Size can of Cream of Mushroom Soup

---

• Put Pork Loin in bottom of the crock pot, fat side up, and season with savory salt and pepper.
  
• Add cabbage wedges around the pork
  
• Put onion and green beans on top
  
• Cover with soup straight from the can, i.e, don't add any water/milk. In our crock pot I am able to cover the ingredients and have the soup form sort of a seal. This traps in the heat and keeps everything moist.
  
• Cook "all day" - This is usually about 10 hours for us

---

This turned out really well. The fat all "melted off" and because none of the veggies put off that much liquid, the soup/sauce was actually still pretty creamy. The pork was very tender.

Italian Stir Fry w/ Whole Wheat Cheese Tortellini

As usual - amounts are approximate as I just throw stuff together. This is one of Jaime's favorite things, except we usually put it on spaghetti; but based on something Tif said to me the other day I decided to go with a different pasta. I was looking for something whole wheat and saw fresh whole wheat three cheese tortellini and it worked out great.

---

• 1/2 white onion, julienne
  
• 1/2 green bell pepper and 1/2 red bell pepper, julienne
  
• one stalk celery sliced thin
  
• Small "stalk" of broccoli, flowers chopped a few time snd stalk sliced thin
  
• 5 cloves of garlic sliced thin
  
• 1/2 cup snap peas diced
  
• 5 mushrooms sliced - each one about 4 slices
  
• 2 boneless/skinless chicken breast; sliced thin and about 1 inch long
  
• olive oil
  
• 1/2 tomato diced
  
• 1 small can tomato paste
  
• 2 tsp oregano
  
• 1 tbs basil
  
• 1 package tortellini

---

• Boil water for the tortellini and add the pasta once the water is boiling, cooking according to directions while cooking the veggies - then drain until ready to add to sauce.
  
• Turn electric skillet onto 350, add a few tablespoons of oil and heat.
  
• Start preping veggies and add them as you prep them; stirring them in the oil as you add each one.
  
• Add herbs and garlic
  
• Add the chicken and stir-fry with the tomatoes until the chicken is browned and cooked through.
  
• Just before done add in the tomato paste and thoroughly mix until combined.
  
• When ready to server add in the pasta, combine and put into a large pasta dish for family style serving.

What are you?

I took the Harley to the grocery store the other day. Coming out there was a family in front of me and the mom was talking to another family who was in front of us. I loaded up the bike with the bags, put the cart away and was putting on my gloves and goggles when the 6 year old little boy turned and saw me.

"WHAT ARE YOU???" he asked with this excited voice.

Before I could say anything his mom responded with, "He's a super hero!"

The boy looked at me in awe and said, "oh..." and then climbed into his van.

The mom turned to me and said "He meant that in a good way" a little nervous. I just laughed and said, "I know."

So there... I'm a super hero. Brightened my day! :)

Mr. Gore: Apology Accepted

From an article in The Huffington Post:

Mr. Gore has stated, regarding climate change, that "the science is in." Well, he is absolutely right about that, except for one tiny thing. It is the biggest whopper ever sold to the public in the history of humankind.

Papa == Good Food

Tif & Kian are back from Korea, with tons of stories. One of them being that when Tif or Brian tell Kian, "Say Hello!" in Korean he waves at them. Yeah... my 18 month old grandson knows Korean. :)

Anyway - the point of this post. Tif said that they ate out quite a bit while they were there; and a number of times in some pretty good places. They were in an Italian place eating pasta and Kian took a bite, then looked around and said "Papa?". Brian said, "What did he say?", and Tif said "He's looking for my dad." Apparently this wasn't the only time that happened.

Yup... that's my grandkid. "Hey... this is pretty good food... Papa must have made it." Or maybe it was "Hey this is good, I bet Papa would like it." Whatever it was, when he eats good food he thinks of me. AWESOME :)

Wasabi and Dynamite

A great afternoon/evening in Denver yesterday.

Jesse Black invited me to the Denver Dynamite Soccer teams home opener. Game was at 7:15.

Seeing as I'd be heading to Denver, I called TommyT to see if him and Jennifer wanted to do sushi. Its almost always a yes.

We went to a new place that Tom had found with some guys from work. I don't know the name of it... but it was awesome. The thing that made it so great was good sushi and two new things I had never tried:

1. Seared pepper encrusted Tuna, and
2. Fresh Wasabi!

The tuna was awesome. Its just a very different taste. The pepper and tuna combination is almost sweet, but of course a bit hot at the same time. Just an excellent "different" taste.
The fresh wasabi was also a new taste. Almost like a picked pepper or something, in look and texture; but had the kick of wasabi. I'd pop a piece of sushi, chew it for a minute, and then throw a few wasabi morsels into my mouth and chew them up. Crisp/crunch and then the wasabi kick. Excellent! Something I am going to have to ask for every time I get sushi from now on!

After that it was up to the Dynamite home opener. It was so fun because I saw so many people I hadn't seen for so long - and all of the "kids" with their new babies. And then the game itself was great. First time I've ever gone to a soccer game! The first half was pretty much even (I think it was 3 to 3 at half) and then the Dynamite came out the 2nd half and dominated; with the score ending 11 to 6. They had some nice runs of 3 scores, and Jesse had 2 goals - which was very sweet. Everyone around me were either his friends or family, and the crowd would go wild when he scored - so it was very cool. And while most of it looked like targets of opportunity to me (but I don't know much about soccer); there were also some very finely executed plays with some great passes, feigns, and then score. Very cool.

And on the way home I stopped and got a Triple Venti Spiced Pumpkin Latte.

So all in all, a great afternoon/evening!

Chicken and Dumplings

It was a cold day, Melissa posted on Facebook that she was making pumpkin bread - and I decided on comfort food for dinner. This uses premixed ingredients - which makes if fast but still homemade.

---

• 2 Chicken Breasts, cut in 1" pieces
  
• 1/2 Orange Bell Pepper, diced
  
• 1/2 Green Bell Pepper, diced
  
• 1 Leek, sliced thin
  
• 2 Stalks celery, diced
  
• 2 14oz cans of chicken broth
  
• 1 "small size" can Cream of Chicken Soup
  
• Bisquick

---

I made this in a French cook pan, but it could also be made in a skillet.

Put broth in pan and turn on high, add vegetables and chicken and bring to a boil, then turn down on low and simmer. I let this cook for 30 minutes or more until we were almost ready to eat. Meanwhile make a serving of biscuits according to the Bisquick recipe.

When almost ready to eat, remove the chicken and veggies and set aside. Bring broth to a boil and spoon drop biscuits into the broth, cooking for 6 minutes on medium, covered. The broth will thicken because some of the dumplings will dissolve into the broth.

Remove dumplings and scrape the bottom of the pan if it got thick enough to start sticking. Stir in soup and add chicken/veggie mixture. Cover and immer for a few minutes until the soup is bubbling.

Serve!

Pictures are on this Facebook Album.

Tostada with Pumpkin Seed Honey

Based on recipe by Mission Foods

---

• Corn Tortillas Oil for frying
  
• 2/3 cup toasted Pumpkin Seeds (pepitas)
  
• 2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
  
• 1/4 cup Orange Juice

---

Fry the tortillas in oil until golden brown, drain excess oil on a paper towel.

Separately, melt the brown sugar in the orange juice in a pan and add the pumpkin seeds. Let simmer for 10 minutes.

Let cool for 15 - 30 minutes... if you have the time. This will let it thicken a bit. Its best if its a bit like honey or syrup.

Lastly, drizzle the tostada with the mixture.

---

I made these for a potluck so cut the tortillas in 1/4s like chips; with one whole one in the center. I let them sit out for 30 minutes on wire racks before plating them so that they syrup would soak in a bit - but it wasn't soggy at all.

Pictures can be found on this Facebook Album.

Stuffed Italian Vegetables

Jaime watched Dinner Impossible with Michael Symon and thought the Stuffed Baby Eggplant looked really good, so sent emailed me the link with "Dad - I think you'd really like this. You should make this for dinner on Thursday while we watch the season premier of Grey's. :)"

I read it and agreed! Then decided to do something "based" on that. :)

So the initial thought was eggplant, but then decided to extend it to multiple veggies - the taste would be good and it would be colorful: purple eggplant, green zucchini, yellow squash and red bell pepper. I figured I would just use mild Italian sausage, but then thinking about the Turkey Sausage Meatball recipe, I decided to mix in ricotta and parmesan. Then bake it in sauce, with mozzarella on top. The original recipe called for making a sauce for 8 hours. I had some left over spaghetti sauce I had made a few days before - and it was enough of a base to just add in some diced tomatoes and let that slow cook for the day until I got home to put it all together. Cooking the sauce "all day" when it has diced veggies in it; lets them all pretty much "melt" into the sauce and gives it a nice deep rich flavor.

So like all my recipes, here is the basic idea - experiment and adjust based on your tastes!

---

Sauce:
1 jar spaghetti sauce to start as a base,
or you can use some good tomato sauce. Probably about 3 cups
or a couple cups of sauce and some diced tomatoes
1/2 onion minced
1/2 green pepper minced
2 Tbl olive oil - gotta add that flavor
3 to 5 cloves garlic minced - depends on how much you want to "kick it up" :)

Add in some Italian seasoning - a few tbl of basil and maybe one of oregano

Let it cook all day on low in a crock pot

Veggies:
Cut 1 eggplant, 1 zucchini and 1 yellow squash in half length-wise. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon, being careful not to go too deep and puncture the outside of the veggie. Sprinkle kosher salt on the exposed flesh and let sit for about an hour (I did this for about 15 minutes because we were hungry). The idea is that the salt will pull the moisture out and so you won't end up with so much liquid when you cook it. You can put these upside down on a rack over your sink so that they "drain" as the moisture is pulled. Pat them dry when done.

Cut one bell pepper in 1/2 length-wise and remove the seeds.

Filling:
1 lb mild (or hot if you prefer) Italian sausage
1/2 cup of ricotta
1/4 cup parmasen
mix together

Cover the bottom of a 9x13x2 baking dish with sauce; stuff each veggie with the filling, and place in the dish. Given there were 8 halves, it was a pretty tight fit. So you made need another dish, depending on how many veggies you use and how big they are. Cover the veggies with shredded mozzarella and bake at 350 for an hour; or until the cheese is all melted and the filling looks done.

Plate and drizzle some of the sauce over the top!

---

I initially cooked it for 45 minutes - but it didn't look quite done enough. And at one hour the sauce had gotten quite a bit more thin - because more liquid cooked out of the veggies. So an hour seemed about right.

It was really good - but there is always room for improvement. :) - Next time I'll probably add a 1/2 cup of bread crumbs in to the filling as well; as I think it would have made a little bit better consistency.

Or another thing we might try, rather than the Italian mild sausage; is to use the Turkey Sausage Meatball recipe rather than the filling I posted above. It has a great taste and is probably more healthy.

Pics of this can be seen this Facebook Photo Album of mine. The first 3 pictures are for this dish.

105 Update & ABC Rally Tally

I'm in Billings at Marv's house! Wet ride in. The west was driving down a back road to met Marv and I went through a deep spot of water on the road and filled my boots. :( Oh well - they'll dry.

Getting less and less ABCs in a day, as I end up with less and less new stuff to get! Picked up ND, SD, and MT. Yeah, I forgot I was dipping into SD for about 20 miles or so. Stopped in Lemmon SD and called Marv - turns out Dave Newman (who I knew in Big Timber and is Marv's ex-brother-in-law) lives here. In too much of a hurry to get through the wet and cold to call him or anything - but interesting none the less. :). I'm now at 66! So everything else is "gravy" :). Change in plans, not going into Yellowstone and ID. Would make the drive down to Casper too long I think - and I don't want to push it. So I'm going to Big Timber, then back to Columbus and down across the Beartooth Highway to Cody, or Thermopolis or however far south I make it before calling it a day. That will give me a long day home on Tuesday - but that won't be bad as its pretty much country I've been through a ton of times and I'll be focused on getting home.

ABCs still possible:

1. WY
   
2. Colorado Springs
   
3. Douglas County
   
4. Yoder

So that puts me at 70! 4 over.

Funny thing on Yoder. I only need a 'Y' and I'll have all 26 letters for cities. Pretty cool! I only need the 'Y' and I was looking in ND, SD, Montana - and couldn't find anything except one city and it was quite a bit out of the way and didn't even look like it might be real. Drag. So I check Colorado and Yoder pops up... I'm like "Duh!" and then I figure maybe it doesn't really have a spot to snap a pic or something, but I checked last year's ABCs that I sent in, and sure enough I had gotten Yoder. So cool - just need to head out there some time after I get back and snap a pic.

Well enough for now - if I get in early tonight I made do some more pic updates, etc. - but then again the plan is to be home all day Wed before heading back out for a few days - so I might just do updates from home.

105 Trip: (Fri 05-Sep) Day 13 - Bemidji MN - 3707 miles

Not that many miles today - but they were cold and somewhat wet miles.

Left Thunder Bay later in the morning. Must have been 9:15 or so. I got up a little late - I think it was 7:00 or so! Then did some work, checked email, facebook, etc. Finally grabbed a few hard boiled eggs and a cup of coffee and headed out. It was cold, but for the most part sunny - just a few puffy blue clouds. So the hope was I'd beat the storm out of Canada and get to Bemidji before it rained.

Made it to the border, its not that far, and took a quick shot of the Canada sign and then some more shots of "Welcome to the US" while waiting in line. The line was moving pretty slow - but just sat there taking pics and enjoying the warm.

[Side note - if you are on facebook you've already seen all these pictures that are linked - but for those that aren't on facebook I'm including the links.]

Entered Minnesota, the North Shore of Superior and No Helmet Law!

As I was heading south I could see clouds building to the west "inland." I kept hoping they'd disappear the further south I got... but they didn't.

Got to Silver Bay and stopped for Gas at a little store. Waited to pay and ask the cashier about best routes, while she finished up a phone conversation.

No. I don't know if A won or not. The B squad lost though. I'm not sure about the A squad. I think they lost but we left before the game was over. 38 Special was playing in front of the casino. They were awesome! Awesome! They should play winterfest!

All in a MN accent of course. I love listening to "local" chatter. :)

Anyway - I asked her the best way to get to Bemidji (after asking her how to pronouce it... its Ba-mid-gee) and she told me that my map didn't have a new road they just built. "11,15,16 They are all the same thing!". Well its really Forest 11, County 15 and another County 16. "It will cut 45 minutes off your trip vs going to Duluth."

Well the sun south was calling - but I decided to make the shorter trip, turn away from the lake and head inland. The forest road was awesome: brand new, wide, and nobody but me on it. Curvy but not twisting - keeping the speed up the entire time so making good progress. Then I hit a detour, then the "Detour End" sign - and I'm on the little back road. Still paved - and still Hwy 16 - but not that great of a road and out in the middle of nowhere. At first I just had on the dew rag, then I added the beanie, then finally put a bandanna over my face. Yeah, it was getting colder all the time! And then it starts to rain and my goggles are fogging up and I can't see - so I push them up and I'm glancing over the top of them. I have NO idea where I am - other than I'm heading west - hopefully towards Hibbing. I finally see a sign "Welcome to Hibbing"... but there is nothing here. I'm on a country road with a few houses here and there. Great.

So this old guy is pulling his trash can in and I stop and ask him:

M: How do I get to the town?
OG: What town?
M: Hibbing
OG: Oh - just turn around and turn left and its right there!
M: Is there a gas station?
OG: No - for that you should go straight, then turn for a mile then go two miles and you'll hit 167 and Walmart is right there!

So I try and wipe the goggles off and head on my way - and all of a sudden there is this big Walmart and I pull in and gas up... and put on the full face.

This other older guy says "Kind of cold day for a ride!" and we talk and he asks where I'm coming from. "Silver Bay" - "Oh... you must have drove right by my place on 37." I tell him I was trying for 37, but ended up on the 16 detour and he's just grinning and nodding the whole time - like 'yeah, everyone does that.' He then tells me how to get to Grand Rapids and then Bemidji and I head out.

But its not raining *that hard* so I don't put the suit on - just the helmet.

Well I end up not making it to the "little patch of blue" and the rain is getting more steady, so I pull into this little Used car lot / gas station with the Open sign flashing but a sign on the door saying "Went to tow a car. Back later." But they have the pumps under a roof (like most stations) and I pull under there and start getting the rain suit out and situating everything.

Now I'm wearing 2 pairs of pants, chaps and rain pants; plus 3 shirts, leather jacket and rain jacket. I'm not cold. :)

Rain isn't coming down too hard and I'm pretty used to driving in it, so I just head on my way.

Finally make it into Bemidji and its no longer raining - although it looks like it could at any point. I end up driving around and getting a few more pics - one of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox! and then going for dinner.

Ate at the Peppercorn. Had salad, the Peppercorn NY Steak (best peppercorn sauce I ever had), a Honey Weiss beer (good), and bread pudding for dessert. Yeah... probably the last dessert I should get. It was great, but I'm not supposed to be eating that much sugar and I was pretty stuffed after. It just looked really good. Thumbs up on the restaurant... if you are ever in Bemidji!

Got to bed at a decent hour.

And now its 7:00 AM - I've updated facebook with pics and this blog - so time to get around and hit the road!

Today its off to Bismarck ND! I'm going to stop in Hazleton on the way. Well its not "on the way" but its not far out of my way. We lived there for several years. The town was 400 when we were there, and as of the 2000 census it was down to 207 with a wikipedia note of "To combat population loss, city leaders of Hazelton have offered free land and start up money for people to move there."

They also have a note in the discussion that says, "It is requested that a photograph or photographs be included in this article to improve its quality, if possible."

So hey... I'll be uploading some pics to wikipedia later tonight! :)

Well.. really should get around - looking out the window it is cloudy but not raining. Forecast calls for rain - but later in the day all the way to Bismark. Its another short day - only 325 miles or so - about 6 hours. So plenty of time to hit Hazleton and still get into a hotel early. And its supposed to be sunny which would be very nice!

Later...

Day 12 - The guy on the Yamaha

So I'm coming out of the mountains and onto the Great Lake and there is this pull off. I pull over to get some pics. There is a Yamaha touring bike of some sort sitting there running, and a car. I park and walk over and to the edge to take some shots. There is this older (yeah - older than me) guy with a helmet on and a yellow snow/rain type jacket. Not a slicker but a jacket. Looked pretty warm. Anyway, turns out he is from VA and was out at CO last year. Been to Sturgis, etc. The other guy is a local and we chat for a little bit out the trip to Thunder Bay and how pretty it is here "best kept secret. The Caribbean of the north."

I head out and tell the Yamaha guy, "Safe Ride" or something like that and he says, "Ride Easy".

A little while later I stop for another pic, and he drives by. Then I stop for gas in Wawa - and he's gassing up too. As I go to pay I say, "See ya later down the road." He grins and heads out. Later I pass him and wave. Then I pull into Marathon, drive around, and then get gas - and he pulls in. "Not sure where I'm at or where I'm going" and he laughs.

So I keep running into him all day.

Then I get to Thunder Bay, have dinner, and as I'm leaving to come back to the hotel and waiting for traffic to clear, he drives by without his coat on. Must have stopped here as well.

That was the last I saw of him; just thought it was interesting how we kept passing each other and stopping at the same gas places. I guess not that surprising seeing as there aren't that many stations, etc - but it was still kind of cool. :)

105 Trip: (Thur 04-Sep) Day 12 - Thunder Bay, ON - 3362 miles

Sunrise, as seen in this picture, was awesome. Was cold - around 54. Then hit a detour and through a small town and the bank said it was 48!

Going across the bridge was cool and I stopped and took a few pics of the island, then continued north. Got to Sault Ste Marie w/o incident and hit the border crossing.

• First guy asked me where I was going, what I was doing, and what I did for a living. Wrote some stuff down, handed me a yellow piece of paper and said "Pull forward, park and take that inside and show them your papers."
  
• Second guy - cop looking: "Where are you heading?" - "OK... take your papers inside" - didn't seem to friendly.
  
• Third guy - young guy at the far end; waves to me, and took my papers. Asked me the same questions, how long was I going to be there, etc. Gave me everything back and said "OK - have a nice visit."
  
• Second guy - waiting by the bike still. "Did he keep the yellow paper?" - "Yes" - "OK. Be on your way." Yikes!

Then I had to pull over to get a Canada picture... figuring he'd be right after me, but it was all good. Took some shots going over the bridge - cool - right over the locks - and then headed north.

The rest of the day was spent trying to make small towns. The third guy said I could make it to the "Canadian Carver" trading post and gas up there - that I didn't have to make it all the way to Wawa. So I stopped there and bought some stuff for Kian and Jaimer. Then on to Wawa. Ate lunch there at the 17th place (its in the pics I uploaded to facebook). Service wasn't that great, but the food was hearty and good. Excellent since I was cold. Then heading north again.

ON is BEAUTIFUL. I loved it. Kind of a mix between Montana/Colorado mountains, but with tons of mountain lakes and rivers... and a great lake! I'd be riding along in the mountains, and come around a corner and drop down to the lake. Crashing waves along the rocking coast line; then back up into the mountains, by a mountain lake, then back down to the coast again. Excellent bike riding - not too twisty, didn't drop speed too much, but windy and great roads (at least most of the way).

Finally made it into Thunder Bay - cold and a little damp, and there was a bike in front of me. Followed it here and there (when I was in the same lane) and then he got ready to turn and it was my turn too. I saw the Best Western so headed towards it - and the Harley dealer was across the street! So I pulled in, and there was the guy I had been following.

We chatted for a bit "Where ya from? Where you going." With a few "eh?"s thrown in there. :) It was a good talk. Then asked him where I might find a good local place to eat. He said, "Well right behind that building is Naxos. Its Greek, not local, but the food is really good.

So I went back to the Hotel; got settled in, and then tried it. It was EXCELLENT. Had,

• A pink spread for an appetizer. I had it before in DC - I think it was the same stuff. Made with carp eggs if I remember right. Yeah, its great.
  
• Avgolemond - a lemon rice soup
  
• Mousaka - I've had it once before in DC, and this was better. The tomato sauce / meat mixture was very meaty and had a rich taste. The eggplant was great. And the Béchamel was awesome. While the dish is tall enough that you might be tempted to eat some of the eggplant/tomato w/o the Béchamel... don't! Part of the overall taste is the rich tomato (almost like a spaghetti sauce) mixture along with the baked Béchamel that is on top. Eat them together and its a great taste!
  
• The Mythos Greek beer!
  
• Baklava - dense phillo with lots of honey, cinnamon and nuts, and finally
  
• A Baileys Coffee! Just the thing to take the chill off and finish off the meal

Did I mention it was awesome! Perfect end to the day!

Mileage total and quick update

Too tired to add detailed entries, maybe in the morning. But:

• Thunder Bay: 3362
  
• Bemidji: 3707.

Am in Bemidji. Got rained on quite a bit, but doing just fine. Was a cold day, but was bundled up. Turns out this is the head of the Mississippi and also the home of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. I'm pscyhed! :) I have pictures that I'll post later!

ABC Rally - tally

Woo hoo - picked up USA, Canada (again - just to be sure), MN, and an 'A' and 'B' county. I'm now at 63! So I only need 3 more and I will still get:

1. ND
   
2. MT
   
3. ID
   
4. WY
   
5. Colorado Springs
   
6. Douglas County

So that puts me at 69! 3 over. So I'm looking very good plus might pick up a few more.

105 Trip - heading into Canada

Sunrise at 7:00 here, so I'll be heading out around that time. Its 9.5 hours by car to Thunder Bay. 10 hours would put me in there at 5PM - and it will mostly likely take me 11 or 12, since I'll be stopping more often for gas; seeing some sights, etc. Temp is 59 degrees right now; so I'm glad I packed my warm coat and some other warm gear... "just in case." I'll have 3 shirts on this morning! Wish I had my thermal pants. I know, no where near the 20 degrees I ride in during the winter - but hey, I'm not on the road for hours then either!

Looks like Gustav is going to head North but hopefully miss me. I think if I make it to Thunder Bay before it hits I should be ok. Its supposed to rain here, but not till this evening - and by then I'll be at least a few hundred miles north. Hopefully on Friday when I had more west I'll miss it.

I'd LOVE it if it was sunny today, driving along parts of Superior. Just makes it prettier and warmer. But we'll see. Either way its all good.

Staying at Best Western again tonight and will have WiFi so will update tonight after I get in and get settled.

ABC Rally - tally

55 points! I'm trying to get 66 - so I need 11 more. I should be able to get:

1. USA
   
2. Canada
   
3. MN
   
4. ND
   
5. MT
   
6. ID
   
7. WY
   
8. Colorado Springs
   
9. Thunder Bay
   
10. Douglas County
    

So I only need 1 more - and I have quite a few counties left that I can get. So if I get a few more than the ones listed above; I'll have a few spares just in case they don't take them all - so I should be in good shape. :)

105 Trip: (Wed 03-Sep) Day 11 - St Ignace, MI - 2843 miles

Today I left Pat and Ward's and went up to St Ignace, getting ready to head into Canada tomorrow. I went 403 miles... but its only 161 miles away! :)

Col got Eddie's Ultra and took me from Pat and Ward's up to Gaylord. I called about 4 different Harley dealers, all over the area; asking for service. The answer was pretty much the same when I talked to them on Tuesday. "I'd love to help you out, but there were 6 bikes waiting this morning and there is no way I can get you in tomorrow." I called Gaylord (Zip's HD) and they said "Chuck is busy, can you call back?" - Sure. So I called back later, "Can I talk to Chuck?" - "This is Chuck!" I asked if I could schedule service tomorrow (Wed) and he said that he was fully booked so wouldn't schedule anything else... but if I showed up around 11:00 he'd "try and work me in."

So we showed up at 11:00 - and he dropped everything, got me written up, and got me in. "Should be about and hour or an hour and a half." And he got it done. Excellent. Its a brotherhood :)

As a side note... I thought me going 4K to 5K miles on this trip was pretty unusual. I've now met at least two other groups who have gone that far. Met 2 bikes in Ludington MI. "We went out to Los Angles and then up to Portland and back to Indiana last month... then didn't do anything for 2 weeks so had to come up to MI to put a 1K miles or so on the bike because we hadn't ridden much in 2 weeks." - Then heard some people talking in MI who had just got back from going out to Seattle and then into Yellowstone. And at Zips there was a guy from FL who was up for the summer and was heading back in a few weeks. He was scheduling his 85000 mile service. :) You just gotta love it!

Anyway - I planned on staying in Sault Ste Marie - but someone booked a room in St Ignace (45 miles short :( ) - So I got to the hotel at 2:15 and checked in. They had a great room for me - I asked for one close to the parking lot - the bike is right outside my door. :) - I then went up to Sault Ste Marie and went to customs to make sure that I could get in and out with a birth certificate and drivers license. And they said yes that would work. I then went to Paradise, Whitefish Point and down to Newberry; then back. The trip took longer than I thought and I didn't get back to St Ignace until 8:15! And the trip was pretty cold. There is a cold front going through and it was only 60! But it was just beautiful. Ed Jacobs told me about the route and he was right. It was an awesome bike ride. He also told me to try Timber Charlie's in Newberry. I was running late and didn't - but I did get a picture. :)

Got back to town late, hungry since I hadn't eaten since breakfast, and I stopped at the Hillside Cafe - which had a sign out front about home cooked food and "fresh whitefish." I wanted whitefish - hadn't had any since we were up here a few years ago. They handed me a menu and I said "Do you have the whitefish?" - "Yup, it was caught this morning!" - "I'll have it!" :) - Had that and salad bar... and coffee ('cuz I was still freezing) and it was all very good. Yum!

So - that was the day. I'm all caught up :) - Have to go upload a few pics and then hit the hay; since I plan on leaving very early. Its 8 hours to Thunder Bay by car... and I'll probably take longer. So I'm planning on leaving by 6:30 or so; so I can hopefully get in before 5:00.

105 Trip: (Tue 02-Sep) Day 10 - Milwaukee WI - 2430 miles

Well I was updating every day... but got behind, hanging out at Pat & Ward's for two days. Just too much down time to even want to get on the computer much :) - although I did do some work.

Sunday:

Left Milwaukee heading to Pat & Wards. Original plan was to take the ferry, but that just didn't work out. It was faster to go via land, because the ferry didn't leave till 1:15 PM. Terry, Ted and Kristi wondered if I'd be able to make it on my own, since I usually ride sweep. "Where are we going?" someone would ask, "I don't know... I'm following Terry", I'd reply. "How are you going to do, riding on your own?" Kristi asked. "I'll manage." So we left the motel, the turned left and I turned right... right behind 3 other bikes and ended up following them all the way to the interstate - probably 20 to 30 miles. :) Then on the interstate there were tons of bikes heading home from the 105. So I was pretty much in the company of bikes all the way to Michigan City or so.

Michigan City, IN. I stopped at the Harley dealer to get an ABC shot... but they didn't have any name/logo outside; so I couldn't get a picture. And this was to be my Indiana picture. So I asked them about it and the owner said they had a logo inside... and propped open the doors and told me to pull right in front and see if I could get the shot. So I pulled up on the sidewalk as close as I could get and a young girl who was the cashier came out and snapped a few shots... and they turned out. Cool. :)

Rest of the trip was pretty uneventful except the very end. Col and Eddie met me about 30 miles out and we all rode in together! Arrived and Ward was filming the whole thing. I forgot how he was with the video camera. :) Pat, Ward, Col and Eddie (and all their kids and one granddaughter) were there and we hung out and had dinner. It was great seeing them all and seeing Chloie (sp?). She is so cute! About a month older than Kian I think - and running all over the place. I miss the grand kid!

The rest of the time was spent just hanging out, doing a bit of working, eating great food and just being lazy. Did a couple of loads of clothes and got ready for the rest of my trip.

Oh - and Ward, Pat and I went on a drive around the country side and he showed me where they used to come when there were first "going up north." That was cool.

And then Denise and Ed came over on Tuesday night to visit. And Christin. (And yes, it might be with a 'K'. I'm terrible at knowing names of people I don't actually write to). But I should know soon because I think she is going to look me up on Facebook.

Did find out that Ed had two of his fingers mangled and mostly severed off in a machine accident a few months back! They re-attached them and he is just now starting to get some feeling.

Guess that is most of the family news. It was an awesome visit and a great chance to just relax and hang before heading into Canada.