27 September 2012......More catch-up

After leaving the Hoaster Family in Boulder CO I headed for Payson AZ to visit my brother Ernie Griffanti and his wife Vicki in Payson.  The plan was to arrive in Payson via Alamosa CO, Farmington NM, Holbrook AZ and Payson.  Traveling to Alamosa and Farmington there was some outstanding scenery of the Rocky Mountains and the Rocky Mountain Plains.  When I got to Farmington I called Ernie and we talked about by-passing the evening stop in Holbrook and spending an extra night in Payson.  So the nextmorning I got up early Partly because I wanted an early start and partly because I put the wrong local time in the clock and it woke me up at 4 AM instead of 5 AM.  Those Manhattan cocktails I'm making every night in the motel seem to affect the brain in a strange way.  I don't believe I've ever felt those Manhattan sensations before (har har).  Anyway, I ended up arriving at the Payson home of Ernie Griffanti and wife Vicki around 2 PM.  We had a beer and sat on the deck overlooking the 4th green of the Payson Country Club enjoying the peace and tranquility.  Of note for the day, my navigator for the day screwed up again.  She had been doing so well ever since I chastized her back in Kentucky.  We arrived in Payson and she was directing me to Ernie's home at the Payson Country Club.  She told me to turn right off AZ-260 W and go three miles and turn on some other street.  I turned right and was on a narrow hardtop street.  As I proceeded the street turned to dirt and I passed horse stalls and pens hoping that very soon the dirt track would return to hardtop.  Instead, I ended up in the front yard of a home with nobody home so I did a 180 and got back to 260W but not before having an angry conversation with my navigator.  Note, it is very unusual for me to get angry.  I took control and naturally, all Marines are good navigators and I ended up directing my navigator to the target.

When Ernie and I decided it was 5 O'clock somewhere, he made some Manhattans that made the hairs stand up on my arms, pretty weak but he was planning on getting better and really did.

Vicki, outstanding cook that she is, made a chicken dish with broiled potatoes, asparagus, salad and wine.  I never saw a paper plate.  I believed the governor of AZ was going to join us based on the table setting.  When Miss Vicki does something, she does it right and the table was beautiful.

This is the sunrise taken from the 2nd floor deck of Ernies house.  It was 0615 and the Elk rutting season was just starting and the male Elk were all bugling.  It was awesome hearing nature up that close.

I'm standing on the second floor deck of Ernie's and Vicki's home looking across the #4 green of the Payson Country Club.  The beauty of the entire area is awesome.  After taking these pictures, Ernie and I cleaned up and suited up and I took him on the motorcycle up to the local airport where they have a greasy spoon that makes the best chicken fried steak and gravy, fried eggs, hash browns and muffins.  After breakfast we waddled out to the bike and returned home.  The plan was we were going to take a couple hours and clean up the bike because it was in really bad condition with dirt and dead bugs.  We were about half way through cleaning the bike when Vicki got a call from the gal that watches her cat at their home in Scottsdale (Desert Mountain) AZ.  Seems the ice machine water systen was leaking and there was water on the kitchen floor.  So we jumped in Ernie's Corvette and headed down the mountain to Desert Mountain( 1 1/2 hour driving time).  Ernie found the shutoff valve and shut off the water,  We mopped up the water, went to Subway for lunch and headed back up the mountain.  We got the bike cleaned just before Annie and Jim Brister arrived to spend the night.  Annie and Jim have a place in Desert Mountain and a second home in Flagstaff AZ.  I have known Annie for a number of years from my visits out to see Ernie.  She and Jim were married a couple of years ago.  Vicki cooked another fabulous dinner and we spent the remainder of the evening catching up.     

Ernie's taking Vicki for a ride.  Notice how smooth he was.  The beer bottle never fell off the cooler.  He said that was similar to his flying abilities in the F-4 Phantom.  I let that one go with nary a comment. 

Next morning Vicki made a fantastic breakfast and then Ernie, Jim and I headed for the Payson Country club and a 0915 tee time.  It's a beautiful course with first class treatment from the staff, and yours truly played a very good round using borrowed clubs.  Shot 41 on the front nine and 47 on the back.  The back really got to me.  It was very hilly and we're almost at 6000 ft and I was puffing from the thin air.  Regardless, we had a good time.This is a picture of the Griffanti's and the Bristers.  After golf, the Bristers headed back to their Flagstaff home and Ernie and Vicki napped and what else could I do, so I napped too.  When we all woke up Ernie made Manhattans and we sat out on the terrace and watched the sunset



Next morning it was departure time and it was really hard to leave.  Ernie and I have become like brothers and each time I visit it is harder to leave.  But it was a great visit and I thank both brother Ernie and Vicki for their hospitality.  Now it is time for them to come East and allow me a chance to reciprocate.

My next visit is with Houn'dog Bassett and his wife in Austin Texas. Tonight is the first of three stop-overs before arriving at Austin.  I am staying in Socorro NM.  Of note today, I rode through Pie-Town NM.  There are two cafe's and that's it, not even a gas station.  But the owners of each cafe make daily fresh pies of all types.  I stopped and had a piece of warm apple pie with coffee. It was really great.  The owner came out and we talked.  He is originally from Baltimore.  I asked what kind of pies he had made for that day and he mentioned Strawberry Rhubarb.  I said I hadn't had that since I was a kid in Connecticut so he cut a piece, said it was on the house and thanked me for my service.  He had spent some time in the Coast Guard.  That about catches me up.  Goodnight folks.  I'm having a great time out here.  I'm knocking on wood, but so far I've been out 23 days and have had only one day of rain.

Saturday Sept. 22, 2012

I'm playing catch-up here.  The rides from Rapid City SD to Hot Springs and then to Cheyenne WY wer mostly uneventful.  The scenery was excellent riding through wide open spaces sometimes not seeing a car for ten or fifteen minutes but the winds were unbelievable blowing the bike all over the road.  It was especially bad in Wyoming.  For the first time ever I saw signs on the highway saying that when these lights are flashing, the road is closed.  A local explained that was because of tje tremendous snow drifts they get with the blowing winds.  Also in the fields right along the road you see these really big steel snow fences which help to keep the snow from drifting on the roads.

I left Cheyenne on the 20th heading for Boulder CO.  I had called Jill Griffanti Smith daughter of my good buddy and brother Marine Ernie Griffanti who I will be visiting in Payson AZ.  Ernie lived in Bozeman MT for many years and I went out there a number of years in the winter and stayed with him and the whole family would go down to Big Sky to ski.  Jill and her brother Ben were young kids then but great skiers.

Jill lives in Fort Collins Co which is right on my way to Boulder and we decided to meet for lunch in Loveland, just a few miles south of Fort Collins.  Had a real nice time catching up on her family but all too soon it was time to hit the road and head for Boulder and two days staying with Sam Hoaster and family.  Sam's dad is my ex brother in law and a good friend.  We used to visit the Hoasters in Atlanta when Sam, Mike and Kathy were little kids.  The kids used to like me to get on all fours and they would ride me like a horsey.  We also did some wrestling and I would throw them around the room, no injuries.  Sams brother Mike also lives in Boulder.  I got to Sam's place around 1330 and off loaded the bike and settled in.  Then Julie, Sams wife and the kids Reba(6) and Lila (3) came home and we had a nice time getting to know each other.  Reba is a little unsure of me but Lila has become my sweetheart.  She likes to play nosey so we rub noses numerous times.

The next day Mike called.  He lives on the outskirts of Boulder in a beautiful home at the 7,500 foot level.  He came down to Sams place.  Sam was busy doing business so Mike and I went to lunch at a really nice place in the walking mall in Boulder.  It was a shock after six days crossing Iowa, SD, and WY and seeing relatively few people to sit at an outside table and see all this humanity.  And what a sight it was, there were a few regulars but most that I saw were tatooed from head to foot or had rings through most any place on your body that you could imagine.  Boulder is a college town home of the Colorada Univ.  I'm wondering if Colorado Univ. actually recruits all these whacko's or they just show up on their own.  We had a nice lunch though and then I followed Mike up to his home in the mountains.  He has a beautiful home with an unbelievable view of boulder down below.  His wife Robin was home.  I hadn't seen her since Gina's wedding and that was so long ago, men hadn't started shaving yet.  Daughter Carley, a senior in high school wasn't home so I didn't get to see her but we had a nice visit and then I headed down the mountain because I was taking Sam and family to dinner.  Before dinner we did some picture taking and I had to assume the position of horsey and let Reba and Lila ride.



Julie, Lila and Reba





Mike and Me



Sat. Sam and Mike were going bike riding so they led me out of Boulder and south to Rt. 285 which takes you through the Rocky Mountains.  Again, you can't capture the beauty of the Rockies with a camera.  You have to see it in person.  I did take a couple of pictures which I will include.  I got as high as 11,500 feet and the temperature at the start was 44 degrees so it was time for some warm clothing.  I got to Alamosa CO around 1330 and checked into the motel and crashed for about a three hour nap.  It felt great and I am now having my Manhattan and trying to complete this portion of my blog.



Playing horsey with Lila and Reba



Mike and Robin



Sam, Julie, Reba and Lila



The haze is from recent fire but those are the Rockies in the distance


















Looking at the Plains of the Rockies from 11,500 feet

Tuesday Sept. 18, 2012  Rapid City SD to Sturgis, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument  and Hot Springs SD

What a great day.  Launched out of Rapid City around 0745 and headed North to Sturgis, another check on my bucket list.  Certainly not as wild as the annual motorcycle ride In but that's what I wanted.  I just wanted to say I had been there.  It is a beautiful area in the Black Hills of SD.  I rode around the town and it was a neat little town.  Then I headed for the back roads and down Vanocker Canyon heading to Mt. Rushmore.  What a change after riding three days across the plains of SD now I was back to riding mountains like TN and KY.  I stopped and took some pictures at Pactola Lake, just beautiful. 

Then I pressed on to Mount Rushmore.  As you approach the park there is an opportunity to stop and take a picture of the profiles of the president which I did.  Once you get to the gates you realize you are in a national park.  There is no charge to enter the park but you have to pay an annual parking fee.  How lucky I am, now when I get back to NC I can come back out to visit Mount Rushmore as many time as I want for a year without additional charges.  Hurrah!!!!  As soon as I get back I will start planning my next trip because I want to take full advantage of the $10 dollar fee for one year availability.  Mount Rushmore is really awesome.  If you look at the Presidents with binoculars you can see the Presidents eyes looking directly at you.  I didn't want to leave so I went to a restaurant on site and this is the second time today I noticed this was a government facility.  I ordered a Buffalo hot dog and what I got was a $6.75 hot dog.  But it was great just being there.

Next I rode about 17 miles south and visited the Crazy Horse monument.  It was good to see but is a very long way from being finished.  From there it was a short ride, 38 miles to my motel in Hot Springs SD.  Tonight I went next door to a nice little restaurant and had a Buffalo steak.  It was tasty although a little tough and will not cause me to give up beef.  All in all it was a really good day and now I must plan my day for tomorrow.

15 Sept. 2012  Sioux City Iowa to Watertown SD and visit with Jim Fortin

Lost my Nav Computer on the bike yesterday about an hour before arriving in Sioux City IA.  Of course, Garmin and Honda were closed for the weekend.  The local Honda dealer in Sioux City was unable to shed any light on the failure.  This morning I was able to get hold of Garmin.  After listening to what had failed and what I was seeing they said I needed a major reset (reboot) which takes two people.  They sent me the procedure to my email.  Luckily, there was a dealer in Rapid City and I went there and in thirty minutes we had the system back up.  But, I get ahead of myself.

As I crossed the state line from Iowa to South Dakota the first thing you notice is that the speed linit picks up to 75 on major highways and 65 on secondary roads and there are horrendous winds that blow constantly.  The traveling is good and sometimes you can go for 20 minutes and never see another car.

I got to Watertown around 1500.  I met Jim's wife Gloria and we had a couple of beers and covered everyone we knew in the F-4 Phantom community.  Jim is not doing real well.  In June one day he  had stopped his pickup and was going into an office to get support for the VFW.  He happened to turn around and saw his truck rolling backward so he ran to the passenger door to try to get it stopped.  aaaahe tripped and fell and the front tire rolled over his chest and grazed his head.  He ended up with six broken ribs, a punctured lung and a broken collar bone along with numerous cuts and bruises.  He spent June, July and August in the hospital and a rehabilitation center and just came home a couple of weeks ago.  He has a real hard time getting around even using a walker.  His son Shane also a former Marine came over from Doland about 50 miles away to have dinner with us.  Gloria cooked a great meal including an outstanding corn pudding that makes vanilla ice cream taste bland.  We loaded Jim into the car because he wanted to show me the Watertown VFW park.  It's a really nice spot on the shore of a lake and Jim's son took me to one of the slabs of names to show me the sixteen Fortin boys, fathers, sons, brothers and uncles who have all served their country.  We made it an early night and in the morning I had breakfast with Gloria and said my thank you's and goodbyes.  Gloria said she was so happy I had come to visit.  It had really brought Jim alive even if just for a short time.  Right after dinner we called Rat Williams and He was just diagnosed with lung cancer and had just finished his first chemo treatment.

16 Sept.2012............Watertown to Pierre (Pier) SD

The trip to Pierre was a short one, 200 miles but the wind blew really hard all the way and made it an interesting ride.  I stopped one time and took some pictures of the land trying to show the vastness of it.  It didn't work.  You have to see it with the naked eye to really appreciate it.  I was happy to get to the motel early.  I picked up a six pack and sat back and watched some Sunday football.

17 Sept 2012...........Pierre to Rapid City SD

We had a blue sky morning but the big change was the temperature.  When I started out it was 45 and got up to 52 by 0930.  I stopped in a little town, Cottonwood population 48, to get gas.  There was a little coffee shop/bar so I had a cup of coffee and started talking to a couple of really nice locals.  They were talking about one of their friends who had just gotten bitten yesterday by a prarie rattler and he was pretty sick and in the hospital.  They didn't have anti venom serum and had to fly it in from somewhere.  He was also telling me about sightings of mountain lions in downtown Rapid City.  I don't plan on going out this evening.  As I drove through the countryside I saw two Antelope and one ring necked pheasant 

I contacted Garmen and told them what had happened to my onboard GPS nav system.  They said I had to do a major reset(reboot) and it takes two people to do it.  Luckily Rapid City has a Honda dealer so I went by there and a really nice young gent helped me out and it is now up to full operation. 

 Tomorrow is a big day with a ride to Sturgis and then Mount Rushmore and The Crazy Horse monument.  I hope I get some good pictures. 

14 September 2012   Winterset to Sioux City Iowa

Two things I wanted to see while in Winterset were John Waynes home and the Bridges of Madison County.  I drove to downtown Winterset, a really neat small town.  I first went to the John Wayne park and got a couple of pictures of his statue and then around the corner of John Wayne Blvd and one block to his home.  The first thing I noticed was how small it was, four rooms.  It was nice and very well kept up with gardens all around the front.  I got there before the doors opened and didn't want to wait 45 minutes to see the inside so I departed for my ride to Sioux City.  And now the bridges......At one time there were 20 covered bridges in Madison County.  Today there are only six and they are provided excellent care.  Two of the six are located off the route I was taking out of town.  I saw the sign for the first one with a right turn off the highway.  Then I saw the dirt road I would have to travel for three miles to get to it and decided to try the next one, same thing, dirt road.  There was a postman delivering mail and I stopped and asked about the roads.  He said all six were on dirt roads and probably the same three miles to each one.  Needless to say, I missed the bridges.  Each time so far that I was caught on dirt roads, it has taken two hours to clean the bike and I wasn't up for it this time.  So off I went across Iowa.  It was a beautiful day  with 77 degree temps but very windy across the plains.  A couple of observations, first Iowa is a beautiful state and it goes on and on and on.  I could take hundreds of pictures and not capture the beauty the naked eye sees all around.  Also, Iowa has more dirt roads then the other 49 states put together or is it 57.  We'll have to check with Obama, he know all that geography stuff.  If anyone want to make a quick million, just come to Iowa and set up a bunch of car and truck wash franchises.  You'll make a bundle.  It was a really nice day of travel.  I hope the rest are just the same 

Sunshine and warmth

9 Sept. 2012

I'm backtracking a little because I downloaded some pictures to add to the blog.  I was totally unaware that the Washington monument had been moved but voila, as I approched Hopkinsville KY there she stood.

This is Lamberts Cafe in Sikeston MO., where they ask you if you want a hot roll and if you raise your hand the server tosses you one, sometimes from 20 feet or more.

Jake and Linda Jacobsen........Old friends from Marine Corps days.  Jake and Linda live in Heber Springs Ar.  They have a home right on the Little Red River just below a huge dam.  I came over the Ozark mountains from Poplar Bluffs MO to get there and it was a beautiful ride.  The scenery was fantastic and the weather was great.  Started out at 62 degrees with no humidity and the highest it got was 76 under clear blue skies, a perfect day for a ride.  They also have a second home up on the cliffs overlooking the dam and the river.  We shuttled back and forth between both houses.  We spent the next day and a half reliving our Marine Corps days and catching up on everyone we knew during those great days.  We had a great time but the visit was much too short.  I will meet Jake at 0730 for breakfast and then I am heading out for Davenport IA with a stopover in Jefferson City MO.  It's been a great trip so far.