Archive for August, 2006
Day 5 – Knee Dragging in Missouri
What a full day…
Shortly before 8AM we woke up to the sounds of another motorcyclist walking into the house, suited up in almost full gear, it turned out that we shared riding styles and safety concerns… Cool guy!
By 8:30AM we were all ready to roll out, 2 – Yamaha FZ1′s, 2 – Ninja 250′s (Our students for the day 
our new buddy Josh on his Honda 600RR, and one amazingly smokey Dodge Diesel pickup truck.
After a bite to eat at Panera Bread company (Cinnamon Crunch Bagels ROCK!) we set out to find some good curvy roads… Did we ever! After a couple of runs, dragging knee and showing the guys how to properly get off their bikes to keep them from continuing to drag their pegs, we headed back to the house so that Ethan and I could rush North to Des Moines.
We stopped once for food, twice for fuel and once to take a picture of a giant 8 ball. All day, it was around 106 degrees… HOT! I drank over 4 liters of water in those short hours, probably could have downed even more.
Me, with a HUGE 8 Ball! (Everyone should paint their water tower at least as cool as this).
The “Mighty Melt” which had excellent food (Somewhereville, MO)
Shortly before we arrived in Des Moines, I started experiencing some really weird riding characteristics, at first I thought it was just the wind, coupled with the added weight on the rear shock, but I quickly realized that I was REALLY low on air pressure. I topped it off about 40 miles South of Des Moines and by the time I’d helped us get thoroughly turned around in the city, it was back down to where it was dangerously low (Scary feeling!).
Another top of and a couple of dozen more wrong turns and we’d found our way to our long time friends, the Sorenson’s home… A delicious lasagna dinner and we were out the door to downtown Des Moines for a show at the Muse.
“Envy Corps”
From the Muse we took a quick ride over to Emily’s favorite “Spot”… The steps of the Capitol building. She said she’d only been harassed by the Police once, and that was at around 3AM, so we figured we were safe
Gave me the chance to get this cool shot though:
Still working to catch ya’ll up… Riding through to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, or Montana tomorrow, weather permitting.
Ethan’s Side –
Day 5 – Ninjas coincidence and Des Moines
We woke up early and took the guys riding on their Ninja 250’s, their friend on a CBR 600 rr came along as well. We rode out to Panera bread for breakfast and looked like a biker gang pulling in 
My dad called me and I told him who I was with and it turns out that the Eldridges used to live in PA and we had gone to their house looking at mini bikes. Now 10+ years later we were riding together in Missouri, it’s a small world after all. We rode some good roads, I got my knee down a few times, which was fun and we taught them how to get off the bikes and ride a little better. After riding, they went to work and we went to Des Moines.
The trip up was almost as hot as the day before but minus the traffic and with much prettier scenery. We filled up with super unleaded in a small town for 2.82! only to discover that at the next town it was 2.72. They need to start adding ethanol to the gas on the east coast. We arrived at the Sorenson’s house and went out on the town with their daughter Emily.
We went to Vaudeville Muse and listened to a band called “The Envy Corps†they were pretty good but I had more fun watching the crowd try to be cool and sampling the local brews. If you ever go to Iowa try Boulevard beer, I had their wheat ale and pale ale and I was impressed. After the concert we drove to the capitol building overlooking the city and hung out. It was a beautiful view and the place was deserted making for a fun evening. We got back to the house late and watched “Amileâ€. After 20 minutes the day caught up with me and I fell fast asleep.
Day 4 – Insane Heat, Traffic Woes, and Explosives
(Bold by Eric)
It was mid afternoon when we left the camp, headed North East to Rolla, Missouri where we were planning to stay with the Eldridges whom we met at the reunion. Three brothers, all homeschool graduates who run a machine shop and enjoy the finer things in life. By finer things I mean, motorcycles, 4 wheelers, guns, caves and blowing things up
The ride there was bloody hot, 107 degrees wearing full leather, lets just say I won’t be visiting a steam bath for some time. To make it even worse there was road construction and we had to sit and wait for far too long. We arrived, unpacked then went to see their machine shop. We ate some dessert with their family then went outside to see one of the brothers walking out with two large balloons, another brother came out with a Russian SKS and they told us to cover our ears. The balloons contained oxygen and acetylene, which when shot by a high powered rifle, well lets just say it was fun and the windows in the house shook It was a blast (pun intended) we then went out to a huge cave (it was amazing!) and rode 4 wheelers.
To top the evening off we went back to Dave’s house and watched “Faster†a moto gp documentary, which if you haven’t seen and like bikes, then you need to watch it.
The plans for the next morning included a couple of hours riding with the Eldridges to help teach them proper body position and to do our best to drag a knee in Missouri!
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Day 2 – Homeschool Alumni Reunion
Or, Photography Bliss and Minding Ones Manners…
What can be said of the HSA Reunion?
Well, where else will you discover over 100 homeschooled, denim obsessed, granola lovers?
Seriously though, it was a great time and an interesting experience, meeting that many homeschool graduates and seeing where they are in life now.
The highlight of my time was without a doubt the chances I had to improve my photography and play with other types of high dollar equipment… All said, I tested out around $20,000 in cameras, lenses and more… It was amazing!
This guy’s name is Riley Spiller he’s a photographer from MO and TN, and he does beautiful work! Shoots witha Nikon D1X and D200.
And this is Nathaniel Bluedorn, a photog from Illinois with a brand new Canon 5D.
A quick shot of Ethan during a meeting of like minded business owners.
A guy named Lincoln, jumping 3 ropes at once… Yup, we homeschoolers have no lives… It’s true.
And finally, in all their glory, the leaders and speakers of the event…
More posts coming soon!
(And the big news from this side, is that I’m making a drastic switch over to Nikon vs. my current Canon… I think a D1X is in my future!)
Ethan’s Side –
The HSA reunion
The camp unfolded like any other camp except for the unusual amount of denim jumpers Some other different included activities such as team geo-caching and old english style dancing, like in “Pride and Prejudice†Don’t worry along with the markedly homeschool activities we also did “normal†camp things such as play ultimate frisbee, hiking, praise and worship, relay races and eat cafeteria food.
There were several main sessions lead by homeschool graduates along with a few breakout interest sessions on subjects such as, writing, photography, music and small business entrepreneurship. The people were fun and it was neat to hang out with a bunch of other homeschool grads who grew up under similar circumstances. Homeschool grads have been compared to Missionary kids, they may be american by birth but grew up in a different culture so they don’t quite fit in with the “norm†of american culture. All in all the reunion was a blast and I will probably be back next year. To get more info on HSA got to… www.homeschoolalumni.org
Day 2 – Rain, Rain Go Away and Homeschool Camp
Ethan’s Side… Pictures and BOLD by Eric:
I drifted out of sleep to the unholy sights and sounds of falling rain. From my vantage point in bed I could see the window and the parking lot through the dripping wetness. I thought to myself, “what in the world do you think you are doing?†The first day into the trip and I already felt like turning back. But I was scheduled to speak that afternoon at the Homeschool alumni reunion in Mt. Vernon Missouri, so we got up, packed and ate a bad excuse for a breakfast, put on rain gear and headed out. Once on the road and dry under layers of plastic it wasn’t so bad.
We rode for several hours in the rain and as the rain broke I saw a sign for the historic homestead of Laura Ingles Wilder, the place where she wrote the little house on the prairie books. Being the good homeschool graduate that I am we got off at the exit, drove through a very small and quaint town to the famous homestead. We parked our bikes, de-geared and walked up to the historic home, it was a plain white cottage but now at least I can say I was there
The home itself:
Ethan, practicing his speech to an enraptured audience of benches:
A random bench in sepia tones:
As we walked down to the bikes I spotted this sign and had a little laugh thinking that we were definitely the “Fastest” traffic in this sleepy little town:
We got back on our bikes and rode the rest of the way to Mt. Vernon arriving at 1pm in time to meet with several other HSA people at Taco Bell. There we ran into Tom, an HSA and Harley rider. We rode up into the small Missouri Mountains to the Camp. It was a fun ride through beautiful countryside to a neat little camp nestled among the hills.
We arrived, unpacked and I prepared for my talk at 4:40. I gave my talk, “Coonskin Cap to College Grad†Homeschooling, how I survived and how I became a lifelong learner. The talk chronicles growing up as a homeschooler, the transition to college then “real life†with lessons I learned along the way. After the evening session we went to dinner, which was surpassingly good for camp food The rest of the evening involved hanging out, good conversations and frivolous ones as well Everything from, finding your purpose in life, to the question, “if a naked man is walking in the forest and a tree falls on him causing a female squirrel to stumble, is it a sin?†Yeah it was late and we were tired
Ethan Speaking at the HSA Reunion:
Campfire Time:
That’s all for today folks, we’ll be catching you all up with us, from both sides over the next couple of days… We’re about to roll out for Wyoming in just a few minutes.
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Day 1 – Tennessee to Missouri
Of Leaving Late, Long Roads, and Law Enforcement
Our preparations were frenzied.
We were supposed to leave first thing Thursday morning, and we surely had our hands full the previous days… Bike maintenance, luggage installation, parts that were shipped late, saying goodbye to friends and fiance.
It was nuts!
Wednesday (D-Day Minus One), was “final follow up day” and it was great, we tied up a lot of loose ends, went for a “Farewell ride” across the TN countryside with some friends and did some last minute wrenching on our bikes.
Here’s “Southern Boy” Josh/ Jolly working on Ethan’s front sprocket.
The next morning we woke up bright and early (aka: We overslept) hopped in my car and rushed into town. Before we could leave, we had some welding that needed to be done, and I had to pick up my hard bags from the Post Office that randomly closes early (Noon!) on Wednesdays.
After dropping off the windscreen parts that needed to be welded, we grabbed the hard bags and installed them in record time. Then, a quick trip to the DMV to get my bike properly registered, and a Prayer, and we were off!
As we rode through Dayton, I felt something like an explorer or a pioneer (I know, I know it sounds fruity lol two bikes fully loaded and setting off on a ride that few people would ever attempt to make. It was a pretty cool feeling!
On the road to Crossville, I discovered that I CAN in fact drag a knee on my bike, even with the full luggage installed 
(Definitely an accomplishment for me, and it’s fun!).
Our first stop was a gas station near Cookeville, where we met the lady that Ethan mentions in his post below. I snagged this shot to commemorate the first stop of this great adventure.
Moments after I took that photo, a trucker walked over to let us know that there was some major traffic on I-40 Westbound so we should hop on a back road (hwy 70) which ended up being a GREAT ride! Knee dragging corners, clean and smooth… It was a blast!
Of course being pulled over wasn’t the best, but such is life (See Ethan’s post for more info).
We finally arrived in Nashville after riding for almost 5 hours (Traffic!), we rolled into Opry Mills mall and had a much needed and delicious lunch with my dear friend Freya and her friend Amanda… It was great!
(Freya and I as we were getting ready to roll again)
By this time, we were already experiencing some serious heat… Riding through traffic had proven to be hellish and even with the water bladders we’d installed in our tank bags, we were still dying from the heat. After confronting more traffic on our proposed route, we jumped off the Interstate and headed North West on beautiful back roads towards Kentucky.
Our first sunset on the trip…
Our destination for this leg was the Homeschool Alumni Reunion in Mount Vernon, MO… After all of the traffic and delays we knew we wouldn’t be able to safely make it there in one day, so we decided to ride until we found a motel.
That came a full State later in “Future City” Illinois… The ride there, had been wonderful… Lots of miles, gorgeous scenery and finally, crossing the Mississippi (Always a monumental achievement!).
Why, oh WHY then, did we have to wake up to look out our window (at 6AM no less) knowing that we had to ride 8 hours through THIS:
A new update coming soon folks
From Nebraska,
Ethan’s Side –
After taking care of last minute business i.e. Eric finally getting his bike registered, picking up hard bags and installing them in the parking lot. We packed our bags, locked our cars, said a prayer and were on our way.
Leaving at 12:30 p.m. we headed north up 27 to 68 which we took to Crossville which was a fun ride full of grand views and sweeping turns. Before getting on I-40 we stopped to fuel up and fill our camel baks with water. At the gas station an older lady asked us the question that will most likely repeated throughout our trip. “Where are you boys headed?†We told her our destination and she replied that she was actually from Alaska and wished she could go with us The back window of her pickup was filled with old Alaska license plates. Providentially a truck driver stopped and informed us that I-40 was backed up with traffic so we headed out 70 W towards Nashville.
The alternate route turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. Blessing-wise if was a fun road to ride on, plenty of hills and tight corners but perhaps it was just a little too fun. As we came out through the mountains the road became long, smooth and straight. Heading down a small hill we saw ahead of us a black Chevy Impala pause then pull out directly in front of us. We both slammed on our brakes as the car quickly accelerated in front of us.
Such are the ways of cars and motorcycles, each a bane to the others existence. When a passing zone appeared we passed the car to leave the crazy woman driver behind. We came up on a truck and quickly passed as well with my bike finishing the pass just as the passing zone closed. To our surprise the Impala passed as well and began to tailgate us. Eric waved me to slow down and pull over to let mrs. crazy pass, when the lights came on. It was an unmarked, plainclothes officer 
She had us for speeding, passing on a double yellow and as icing on the cake Eric did not have proof of insurance with him. sigh. But after chatting for a while with her and the other sheriff that came up she let us go. It’s amazing what a little respect and smiling will do
After that incident we drove (albeit slower) into Nashville where me met some people for lunch. It was well over a hundred degrees and humid so we took our time eating. After Dinner we hit the road again heading southwest on I-40 to avoid traffic then took back roads all the way up to Cairo Illinois. It was a pleasant ride, watching the sun set and listening to Johnny Cash on my iPod. After dark we stopped for gas and I let Eric borrow my iPod because my ears were getting a little sore. A few miles down the road he pulled over and announced that the iPod had fallen from his tank bag we took a short hike up the road to look for it but to no avail. We mounted up again and road the rest of the way to Cairo, a small town on the Mississippi river.
At 11pm central time we pulled into a Days Inn, paid the inflated prices of a supply and demand market where the two are not balanced and hit the proverbial hay.