We got back this afternoon from our “Make A Wish” parade in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Friday was a good day.  The ride to Sioux Falls was great and I was soooo glad to see Marilyn and Steve again.  Once I got re-acquainted with my cousins we had a great time.  We spent Friday night in the gnome house for our sleep over.  That was fun.  I’ve never had a sleep over before.  We stayed up much later than Mum and Pop, laughing, telling stories and munching on snacks.  We got up early and everyone got back into positions before Mum and Pop and Marilyn and Steve were even up.

Then it was off to the Grody’s house.  It was pretty fun to watch all of the other bikers ride up on their bikes.  The motorcycle ride in the afternoon was to raise money to send Veterans to Washington DC to see the Memorial Wall.  This year there was about 70 bikes in the motorcycle ride and when it was all over we raised enough money to send 5 Veterans.  How cool is that!  Before we left on our ride, the Grody’s had a group of people come and play the bagpipes to send us on our way.  That was pretty neat.  I never saw anyone play bagpipes before.  I think I’d like to get one to play but Mum probably won’t let me play it in the house.  I still maybe am going to buy one.

It was a hot ride but we got to stop lots of time and have something cool to drink and even enjoyed some food along the way.  Just as we were riding to our last stop for the day, things took a turn for bad.  Pop’s bike was following my cousin Don’s bike and my new friend Wally’s bike when suddenly BANG!, the two bikes crashed into each other.  Pop had quickly swerved to the left and was able to get around their accident but it was so scary.  I’d never seen a motorcycle accident before and I NEVER want to see one again.  Everyone quickly stopped their bikes and we all ran over to see if anyone was hurt.  Don and Wally were lucky and only had some minor bruises and scratches on them but the bikes didn’t look so good as you can see.

After the bikes were loaded onto a trailer and hauled away we went on our way to be in the parade but it wasn’t as much fun as the other years.  We all felt so bad for Don and Wally.

After the parade we rode to Don and Teresa’s house to see how the guys were doing and to look once again at their bikes.  By the time we noticed how late it was getting, Pop said it’s time to go.  BUT now it was raining and raining really hard.  I was so hoping Pop would decide that we couldn’t ride back to Marilyn and Steve’s house and luckily Teresa said “leave your bikes here and take my car home and then come back in the morning and get your bikes” so that is what we did.  I was glad.  I HATE riding in the rain!!!

This morning the sun was shining when we got up and so we brought Teresa’s car back and after saying good-by and having one last look at the crashed bikes we were on our way home. 

Saturday was definitely a “Day to Remember”, but I was so glad nobody was hurt bad.  I did notice Don was walking pretty slow this morning and he said he had a really big bruise on his butt. I wonder if he’ll put a picture on that on Facebook.  Probably not!

Once again we’re on our way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the “Make a Wish” motorcycle parade.  I’ve only been in the parade for two years but Mum and Pop have done it for 8 years.  They said I can go again this year.

This is so cool.  We’re going to leave this afternoon and do some extra riding to get there.  The temperature is very warm and the sun is shining.  How much better than this can it get for motorcycling.  We’re going to stay by my Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Steve house tonight and tomorrow night.  I like staying at their house.  She has gnomes kinda like me and I get to play with my cousins.  She has a real gnome house so tonight we’ll get to have a sleepover in the house.  I’ll bring my sleeping bag and some snacks and we’ll stay up late and tell scary stories.

Tomorrow we’ll ride the motorcycles all day and then be in the parade tomorrow night.  That is the best part.  Everybody takes their lawn chairs outside and watches us ride by.  They wave their flags and I wave back.  After that we’ll have a party and then Sunday morning we will ride back home.  It will be a short trip but oh so much fun.  I’ll tell you more about it when I get back.

Roulf, wish you were coming along but you’re probably having your own kind of fun.  Don’t forget about me and let me know what you’ve been doing.

After waiting for many days for our planned motorcycle trip to northern Wisconsin it was finally Thursday morning and we were all packed up and ready to go.

My Uncle Steve and Aunt Marilyn had arrived at our house the night before.  They commented about how rough the last 15 miles of road were and that the bike swayed so they were glad to arrive safe and sound.

Thursday morning my Pop backed his bike out of the garage, however when Uncle Steve tried to back his trike out it just made a really bad grinding sound.  When Pop looked under the back wheels of the trike this is what he found.

If you look really close you can see the broken part.  It was so bad the trike couldn’t be ridden and they were very very lucky they didn’t get hurt while riding that trike.  So we called to have it towed on a flat bed to the nearest mechanic.

Pop had to spend a long time trying to find out who made the conversion kit that was put on the bike and finally after many calls and much inter-net searching we found the part and Uncle Steve ordered it “Next Day Air” to the mechanic.

However that meant that we weren’t going to be going on any motorcycle trip since the trike wouldn’t be fixed until the next day.

No problem, we just all jumped into my Pop’s car and off we went.  We had a great time, the colors of the trees were beautiful and we even got to go to Tomahawk Days.  It wasn’t the same as being there on the bikes but better than staying at home.

Today was a really neat day.  Pop and Mum decided it was just a perfect day to go for a motorcycle ride so off we went.  Actually Pop and Mum had a particular destination in mind.  They wanted to see the yellow mustang convertible that a man wanted to sell.  Pop said why not take a bike trip and see the car.  The ride was great.  Not to hot, not to cold or windy. 

It only took us about 1 hour to get there but when we got close the traffic became bumper to bumper stop and go.  The man had told Pop that he had the car in a car show but Pop said there just couldn’t be that many people going to the car show. 

When we finally got into town I saw a sign called “Marigold Days in Mantorville, Minnesota.  There were people everywhere.  Arts in the Park, concession stands, the car show, and fire fighters having a water contest.  I already knew this was going to be fun.

First stop was at the car show to find the car.  We did and Mum fell in love at first sight.  The man who was selling it said “take it out for a spin and see what you think”.  So of course Pop said OK.  First thing he did though was to put the top down.  I jumped in the back seat and Mum sat in the passenger seat.  Pop said, “we got to get out of town, there are just to many people everywhere.  That was easier said then done.  Every street we tried to turn on was blocked by people sitting in lawn chairs.  Mum said “it looks like there is going to be a parade”.  Well Pop turned whenever he was able but it didn’t look like we were making any progress.  I was standing in the back seat looking out the back window and what should I see but horses with riders carrying flags following behind us.

I said, “Pop how come there are horses following us and how come everyone is waving at us”? 

By now you’ve probably figured out what was happening.  You’re right, we were in the beginning of the parade and people actually thought we were part of it.  I thought it was great fun and started waving right back.  We actually went about 2 blocks before Pop could finally find a street to get off.  Only problem was that street went right down the street where the concession stands were.  People standing everywhere.  Obviously we were the only car in the street and they gave us lots of funny looks as they had to move out of the way so we could get through.

Once Pop got back on a good street he decided we better take a rain check on a demo ride and gave the car back to the man and told him we’d get back to him on another test ride.

What great fun I had and now I just know we have to have that yellow convertible.   Just think, wherever we go people will wave at us just like today.  I’ll keep you posted, but maybe, just maybe!!!!!!!

I’ve unpacked my suitcase and am spending time just chilling out for a few days.  I’m tired, I’m sunburned, my feet are sore from standing on the back of Pop’s bike for 10 days, but oh so many great memories of our motorcycling vacation.

As you can see the helmet is off and so are the goggles.  I had to clean the bugs off the helmet.  Dang they make a mess but think of what my hat would have look like without that helmet.  It was definitely worth the investment and the wait.

My eyes are tired and Mum said that cucumbers would help refresh them.  I’ve never tried this before.  I’ll let you know if it works.  I had a really bad case of helmet hair, but that is starting to settle down some.  I just finished taking the pictures off the camera and put them on the video picture frame.  For the next few days I’m going to sit and look at them all and remember all of the fun we had.  Thanks Uncle Steve, Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Butch and Aunt Val, Mum and Pop, I had a great time.  You’re the best.