Oregon, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, etc

[pdedse]

You are so lucky to still have your mom and that she is sharp and livly. Lost my mom in 1986. Miss her every day. She has missed so much in my life. She is the one who convinced me to get back on a motorcycle after a bad wreck in 1968. Said I would regret it if I didn't ride again. She was so wise.

I can't imagine not having my mom around since 1986, sorry for that Ferret, but good mom yours! I know when my mom says something like "I wish I had..." I listen closely.

Wonderful story and write up and a lovely family also. You are a blessed man.

Thanks Redbirds, I am blessed. I have seven older sibs and all of us get along, all of us would help the other at the drop of a hat. We all have our professions, but mom would be most proud of the former.

pdedse, try the link again. I've trie to incorporate the changes; however, some of it may be foiled by Google Maps which sometimes has a mind of its own. Short of redrawing it all, I think I've done what I can. I had real trouble between Sweet Home and Corvalis where Google would not let me send you where I thought you went.

It was a mighty ride.

No worries, Cormanus, it was a treat for me to see my trip outlined like you did. It was very close the way you had it. Thanks again!
After a week with my mom, two sisters and brother, several home remod jobs, day outings here and there, it was time to head out. My destination leaving Champaign was Springfield, MO. I intended heading south on 57 and cross the Mississippi near Cape Girardeau and then explore some of the forested areas east of Springfield, but when I started doing the math, that was going to be one long day and my brother had limited time to see me that evening. So I took the most direct route I could while still avoiding St. Louis. Just didn't feel like riding thru big cities on the trip. So I headed west by southwest all day against a strong headwind, the first I encountered on the trip. I started out on 72 west and after Jacksonville, headed south and west on 54 towards the big river


This was a tough riding day. Quite hot and humid, I was taking one route when I really wanted to go another, and the headwind would not relent. I'm fairly tall at 6'4" and windshields always seem to just push the wind right smack into my forehead and my head gets buffeted, not fun. So when the wind blows, it takes me a while to grow used to it. By afternoon I was fine, and I had an awesome dinner with brother, but by next morning I had to pull out because he had some pressing work to do.

I didn't take many pics this day, but there was one funny thing that happened. I'm quite careful to follow a routine at the gas stations because I've learned from other trips that it's easy to forget something. Well, I pay for gas w/ card, check phone for maps and upcoming route. Then I get receipt from the pump and I'm on my way. The last thing I do is check my chest pocket of mc jacket for phone and billfold. This time, I didn't. I rode 2 miles down the road at 35-40mph and was just accelerating up the on-ramp to hiway, when I checked for my phone and wallet...and-it-was-not-there!!!!. My very first reaction was "my daughter is going to kill me because I'm always getting on her about not losing her phone"...my second was, no $ and no phone...not good...by the third second I looked back at my saddlebags and there they both were, just resting on top of the saddle bag, hadn't moved at all after 2 miles of riding. Ok...good...no harm done. Phew!

Day 7: Champaign, Ill to Springfield, MO: 442 miles

[pdedse]

Day 8: Springfield, MO to Topeka, KS: 299 miles

I began this leg of the trip more happy than the previous day because I knew the distance was shorter, the day slightly cooler, still winds blowing from the west, but I would be heading north a good deal as well as west. 300 miles meant more time to stop for photos. Little by little the topography was changing from Ozark to Kansas, if you know the area, you know what I mean, but in short...few trees and less hills, but for me no less interesting nor beautiful--and I mean that about Kansas.


I took 44 west out of Springfield after breakfast with brother, and then 96 to get away from the truck traffic. Saw some mid morning deer who obviously weren't respecting their limits to early morning and late evening hours. At Avila, it was 37 north to 160 and then west towards the KS border. I could smell it before I saw it--and I mean that as well, in a good way.


I was "back home", but still several hours from Topeka where I was born and where I still had two brothers to visit.

[Frulk_imp]

Keep it coming! I'm all in on this trip

[pdedse]

Storms were to my south and west, while I was heading northwest, so dodged showers that seemed to be dumping somewhere, maybe Wichita. All the sites and smells seemed so familiar to me, yet I had actually never been in this area of Kansas before. Fort Scott cathedral...


Wildlife...


I stopped at my bother's house in Auburn, but nobody home so I went to my other brother's place in Topeka...and back with family for a few days.
My hometown of Topeka, Kansas. My brother and I went on a hike near the Kansas River, by the Govenor's Mansion. I had never been out here before, except maybe when I was 12 and did a 5 day rafting trip down the Kansas River. Long time ago. What year did the Beach Boy's "Good Vibrations" song come out? That song was played incessantly that summer.



My eldrest bother is an accountant but has mad work working skills and a 40'x25 shop where he practices his craft. Makes music boxes, jewelry chests, chairs, tables, bookshelves, guitars, cabinets, benches...it it's made of wood, he can probably make it and most likely has the machine and tool for the job. He just finished building the shop about 6 months ago...has bathroom, heated flooring, nice ventilation system...just no one to clean it. Wish I had the space for my motorcycles!

He offered to show me how to make elegant pens

Ready? Here's the basics...pick your block of wood

Cut in half

Drill out holes

Should look like this

Insert tubing into cut out holes

Next step is to put the two pieces on a lathe and watch your expert brother do the next steps...but he let me have a go of it and I got a lot of it done, but he did the finishing touches so that there was some curvature to the wood.


Trying not to butcher it!

Compare to an untouched block, now it's ready for sanding (2000 grit, 4000, 6000, 8000, then 12000! it was more like sand cloth, not paper)

I found out that lathing is fun! Bits of non-pen flying everywhere! My son belongs to SAE fraternity so we engraved that on one of the pieces. Then sanding, sanding and more sanding followed by polishing, polishing and more polishing!


Finally, the pieces are ready for the hardware, clip, spring, actual pen cartridge.

The end pieces must be pressed on with a vice

Insert cartridge and you have a pen that costs $29 in parts and some sell online for $120!

[pdedse]

Before I left Topeka for Denver, I took some time to visit the downtown area. Grace Cathedral. Burned down a number of years ago, but has since been rebuilt

Topeka High School, still one of the most impressive HS in the States...but I'm biased as I graduated from there in '82.
The Topeka Capitol building. It just underwent major renovations to the tune of $360 million dollars. It did look awesome, inside and out. In '66 a tornado hit the dome and when I lived in T-town, the copper dome was green and you could see where they patched the damage from the tornado.


Day 9: Topeka, KS to Denver, CO 580 miles, my longest riding day.

I had every intention of making it to Oberlin, KS where I would break up the Topeka-Denver trip into two days. Said my goodbye to my brother...

And sped away...my brother snapped these as I drove away, not often you get to see how you look on your bike...I look like a dork!
It was cool this morning, and for the first time since I left Wyoming, I had to stop and put on clothes under the riding gear. The Kansas River before Wamego, on my way to Manhattan.

I really wanted to try some tacos here but it was too early in the morning

This was the only museum that interested me during the trip

I attended 5 undergraduate universities (St. John's in Kansas; one in Sevilla, Spain; Washburn; Kansas U; and Kansas St U.). Received my degree from KSU even tho I only went there 1.5 years. Lots of good memories.


KSU Wildcats!

Kansas...the sunflower state

I've been on hiway 70 far too many times to want to take that route again, so outside of Manhattan, I headed north / northwest on 24 to Smith's Center where I met up with 36


I think 36 was my favorite stretch of road during the trip, even tho some might take issue with it's,....uh...flatness.


No mountains and few trees, not many curves...just long stretches of straightness, some gently rolling hills...but mainly......f-l-aaaaa-t. I love it. Can see forever!
Got to Oberline around 2pm, much sooner than I thought and too early in the day to stop. Consulted with me sis in Denver and we thought about 5 more hours to Denver, so why not push through and she'd have dinner waiting. Sounded good to me! What I didn't think about was limited gas availability on 36. Filled in St. Francis, KS, but then there's no much till 36 meets with 70 about 35 miles before Denver, about 150 miles. How many of you get 150 miles on a tank with a 15-20mph headwind blowin' against you? I was getting about 38mpg against the wind. I wasn't too worried, because I thought I could always ask someone...but when you're out there, there's not a whole of folks to ask gas from. Was really relieved when this pump was open (store was already closed, but it's one of those un-manned pumps) and even more so when it accepted my card.

Looks like the scene from "Castaway" at then end when Chuck (Tom Hanks) has to decide which direction he has to take.

[Frulk_imp]

Good Stuff!

[Cormanus]

You look at views like that and wonder how there could ever be a hill anywhere.

[emptysea]

Thank you for capturing the beauty of the plains states. "Flat" is sometimes mistaken for "boring", but your story and pictures dismisses that notion.

[pdedse]

You look at views like that and wonder how there could ever be a hill anywhere.

Yep! And I love that feeling...of course, in modern times we know the Rockies, will come...the sun will rise...but first peoples? What made them so sure things would be better by marching toward the sunset, sunrise? It's a good feeling out there to think the cb has taken me this far, why shouldn't it continue to do so?

Thank you for capturing the beauty of the plains states. "Flat" is sometimes mistaken for "boring", but your story and pictures dismisses that notion.

Thanks, EmptySea...the view from beartooth is easy to see see beauty... the view from west oberlin, ks has a beauty of its own...maybe growing up in ks was training to appreciate the latter

[Cormanus]

You look at views like that and wonder how there could ever be a hill anywhere.

Yep! And I love that feeling...of course, in modern times we know the Rockies, will come...the sun will rise...but first peoples? What made them so sure things would be better by marching toward the sunset, sunrise? It's a good feeling out there to think the cb has taken me this far, why shouldn't it continue to do so?

Thank you for capturing the beauty of the plains states. "Flat" is sometimes mistaken for "boring", but your story and pictures dismisses that notion.

Thanks, EmptySea...the view from beartooth is easy to see see beauty... the view from west oberlin, ks has a beauty of its own...maybe growing up in ks was training to appreciate the latter

No reason at all. Your story answers in the affirmative—again—the question of whether the CB is an OK touring bike.