10-6-05
Off to the South Lands

My friend Rich came over the other day, which was a surprise. I thought he had gone south that morning and I would have to catch up with him somewhere in Texas or over in Creel, Mexico where there is a meeting of the www.HorizonsUnlimited.com  motorcycle riders. This is the same group meeting that I went to in Colorado this summer. They are riders that do long distance rides and often go around the world. It was rather cold day and Rich was dressed warmly with heavy gloves for the ride up to my camp.

This photo shows his bike almost fully loaded for the trip.

The weather was looking very iffy so Rich decided to hang out for a few days waiting for better weather as well as maybe ride with me. I had to stay another day, as I needed to talk with the title insurance guy about selling a piece of land to my friends Charlie and Jeanne. It looks like I will be able to do the land sale long distance via fax and overnight (maybe several days?) mail service.

The weather did turn to the bad side and he was sure glad he wasn’t stuck down in Wyoming in his tent in a huge snowstorm. It was not that good up here either.



It snowed only about 5 inches, but it was wet snow and it was blowing as it came down. It totally trashed the trees in town that were open to the driving snow. The leaves were still on the trees so they got really heavy with the snow on them. There were so many tree branches that came down that the power was out in town and all the way from Billings to the middle of North Dakota. I was fortunate that I am on a rural electric company that gets their power from the south and I kept my power. I had my little electric heater on full blast for three days now.

Today I went over and helped Rich load a couple of pickup loads of tree limbs and take them to a dump site that the town set up for such a purpose. As I drove around town I could see quite a few tree limbs scattered around folks yards.

I saw a guy riding a motorcycle in town this afternoon. I stopped next to him as he started undressing to go into a restaurant. I asked him how it was out on the road and he said, “it is !@#$%!! COLD”. He looked like he was pretty well dressed for it but when I got home and checked the temperature it was only 41.

We are going to head out tomorrow morning and the forecast is calling for a low of 37 and a high of 65. There is going to be another storm following us so we are going to have to keep on the road pretty steady. It looks like the weather is going to be much better down south.

If we can get to Creel before the HU meeting is over, we might find other riders headed south. It would be nice to get hooked up with others and keep track of them via email. I am sure we will find others along the way, or that is what Bill Shockley said was the story on his way down south and back.

I have my electric power to be turned off as well as my cell phone and Insurance on my truck and car. My motorcycle insurance will be off next week about the time I head into Mexico.  I took all the batteries out of the motorcycles, trucks and tractors and have them all hooked up to solar panels that should keep them topped off and hopefully keep them from freezing and busting this winter.

As far as I know I am ready to head south in the morning. The bike is sure well packed. I am sure I have more stuff than I need but will send it back or pass it along to others on my way if need be. I am going to have some extra warm clothes that will need to be sent back for sure. I did the same thing last year when I went to Mexico as it was –14 when I left and I sure didn’t need that heavy down sleeping bag and heavy wool long underwear in Mexico.

I am very pleased with my motorcycle and the job that Bob’s Motorwerks in Red Lodge, MT did on it to get it ready for the trip down south. In fact, I owe Bob quite a bit as he volunteered extra work and discounts on the parts for my bike as a way of sponsoring this trip. SO, I want to say: THANKS BOB, I really appreciate it. 

Road ready, Rx