I was up at 5:00 this morning.  Pop got up to.  I was so excited about leaving I could hardly sleep last night.  I got my helmet and goggles on and Pop tied me on the bike and we all left at 7:45.  Stopped at the first Harley Davidson shop in Rochester, Minnesota because Uncle Steve’s trike needed a part.  Pop said there was no hurry to put the new part on Pop just fixed it with a POW (piece of wire).  Grandpa Veld would have been so proud.

I just love my helmet.  A giant bug splattered against my helmet but none got in my eyes.  Of course those goggles were a big help.

The sun was shining the whole day but it sure got cold when we got by Lake Michigan.  I told Mum that was just another reason for me to get that leather jacket.

Pop said we put 459 miles on the bike today. We gotto Escanaba, Michigan about 7:30 tonight.

I saw so many bikes going West to Sturgis.  I don’t care though because I’ve already been there and done that.  Tonight at the motel there are quite a few bikers staying here.  They are also heading to Sturgis.  A couple of them had just come back from Niagara Falls.  They said we’ll just love it.  I can hardly wait. I have to remember to tell those guys where to get their tattoo’s when their in Sturgis.

I’m so tired so I’m going to bed now.  Tomorrow night I’ll tell you what we did tomorrow.

The time has finally come. It’s almost time to leave for Niagara Falls.  I have my passport ready and my suitcase is packed.  I’m so excited I can hardly sleep at night.  I’ve never been to Niagara Falls before. 

Today my new Harley Davidson helmet finally arrived.  Doesn’t it look great.  The goggles arrived several weeks ago but I wanted to wait to show you so you could see the whole outfit.  I finally think I look like a biker.  Actually now I’m thinking I might need a jacket but Mum says I have to wait.  She says I’ve spent enough money on the helmet and goggles.

So as I said, Friday morning around 8:00 AM we leave.  My Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Steve, Uncle Butch and Aunt Val all arrive on Thursday evening at our house.  We plan to get a good nights sleep and wake up refreshed for a long ride on Friday.  We hope to ride about 500 miles the first day so we’ll be tired by the time we finally pull into our first stop on Friday evening somewhere in Michigan.

If someone out there has already made this trip, please leave me a comment on some interesting places Pop might want to add to his trip planner.  Pop has worked really hard on planning this trip.  Mum and I get to just ride along and look at all of the scenery.

I am planning to keep you updated each day and let you know where we are and what we saw that day.  Of course that depends on the motels we stay at and if my laptop works.  I’m going to keep a daily dairy so if I miss a day or so I’ll fill you in the next day.

Mum bought a new Canon PowerShot A480 10 MP Digital Camera with 3.3x Optical Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Navy Blue).  She said the old one was just to big and wouldn’t fit into her shirt pocket.  She’s been taking lots of pictures just to make sure she knows how everything works.  Mum says she made a good choice.  The pictures look great.

Like I said, I’ll keep you posted as we start this vacation.  Mostly I just wanted you to see my new digs! What do you think?

The evening of the day we did the poker run for World War II Vets we also rode in the Hot Harley Nights parade.  Now this is an absolute blast. This year we had 5,000 bikes in the parade.  I haven’t heard yet how much money we raised but I do know last year we raised over $180,000 for the ”Make A Wish Foundation”.

We all gathered in the Sioux Falls J & L Harley Davidson parking lot.  Of course with 5,000 bikes that parking lot was packed.  This year we were lucky because the temperature was in the low 80′s.  In past years it’s been in the 90′s and once you get the bike in the parking lot there is no where to go except wait for the parade to start. 

J & L does a great job organizing this parade for the “Make A Wish Foundation”.  They have food, beverages, bands and the Harley Davidson shop does a great business.  Each bike must buy a minimum of one bandanna, however many people also purchase their T-shirts which have the “Hot Harley Nights” logo on it.

Finally after about 45 minutes the bikes start slowly moving out of the parking lot.  As they are leaving the parking lot there will be 5-6 lanes of bikes side by side.  Bikers are such great, courteous people.  It moves slowly but very smoothly.  No accidents trying to get out of the parking lot.

One of the things I notice about fellow bikers is no one would even consider stealing from someone else’s bike.  Mum and Pop left me, their helmets, jackets etc. laying on the bike and one touches other bikers stuff.  I even noticed some bikes had GPS on their bikes and weren’t afraid to leave it unattended.  Isn’t that a great thing in today’s world!  I did notice my Pop put his in his pocket just to be sure.

Once we got out of the parking lot, we formed two lanes and held that position through the parade.  The parade route ran for 6 miles and OH!!! the people who came out to watch us.  So many people and kids on blankets and lawn chairs, waving flags and cheering us on.  I hoped no one noticed but I had tears in my eyes sometimes just because I was able to be included in this incredible cause.  

Pop says we can do this again next year.  Thanks everyone

This ride was one that I’ve been looking forward to all year.  It proved to be well worth the wait.

Friday afternoon Mum, Pop, our friends Joel and Lisa and myself left for Sioux Falls, South Dakota via Iowa.  We had some extra hours to kill so Pop decided it would be fun to go South before we went West.  Our destination was The Bare Foot Bar on Lake Okoboji in Spirit Lake, Iowa.

This was a cool place to eat because it’s right on the pier, lots of straw type umbrellas, lots of people and boats and everyone seems to be having a great time.  The service was excellent and the food was great.

After leaving there we arrived at my Aunts house around 9:00 and just starting to get dark.  I went to bed shortly after we arrived because I knew tomorrow was going to be a big day.

Connie and Donny Grode’s have a great place in the country near Sioux Falls.  Every year they organize a poker run to raise money for some worthy cause.  This year was no exception.  The goal was to be able to send at least 2 World War II vets who battled for their country to the memorial in Washington DC.  We accomplished that goal by raising $1500.  What a great feeling that is!

First I have to introduce you to Roxi.  Roxi is their Newfoundland dog.  Roxi is HUGE! but so very gentle.  I liked her instantly and I may say I think the feeling was mutual.  As you can see by the picture we took to each other immediately.  At first I was scared but how could you help not falling in love with this gentle dog.

Second was Connie.  I think Connie is so cute.  She did such a great job of organizing this ride and everyone appreciates all of the work she does to make this successful each year.  As you can tell Connie also was quite fond of me also.  I just love those pigtails.  Did you know that most girl gnomes wear pigtails?  That made Connie even more special.

We left on the poker run about 11:00 with at least 65 bikes forming a caravan.  Oh what fun for me especially since I sit facing backwards and I get to see all the bikes following behind my Pop’s bike.  People wave at me as they go past, some smile and laugh but I’m sure there good laughs.  What a sight to see that many bikes following each other riding through the hills and valleys for such a great cause.

All in all we did about 130 miles with three stops.  One of the stops was Davis Bar in Davis, South Dakota.  Population of 104.  Then suddenly 65 bikes roll into town and almost double that population.  The people at Davis Bar made us feel so welcome.  The weather was great – not to hot – not to cold. 

We finally arrived back at the Grode’s ranch for prizes, munchies and fun.  Mum won a gas canister to carry on the bike just in case Pop runs out of gas.

Connie already said they are planning another one for next year.  I know that I want to go again.  I think Mum and Pop do too.  Thanks Connie and Donny – you’re the best!

So Pop has this great idea that we should take the motorcycle and go away for a few days.  Always one for a new adventure, I packed my suitcase and away we went.

We left on Friday morning and the sun was shining.  Actually it was a really great ride that morning.  Everything is so green and the smells are great.  We stopped in Fairfax, Minnesota for a rest and a bite to eat.  I loved this park with all of the flags, I just had to have a picture taken.  Isn’t this what the 4th of July is all about?  See the flag on the back of the bike.  Can you imagine, I say, CAN YOU IMAGINE having that flying in your face for 350 miles.  I LOVED IT!!!

Then the weather started to change.  Rain, rain, rain.  Not enough to get really wet but enough to have the water running in my eyes.  I’m having a pair of google’s custom made and hopefully will have them before we leave for our Niagara Falls trip.  The ones I have aren’t designed for my shape head.  I’m also thinking about have a helmet made.  I’m going to call Harley Davidson to see if they can make one for me.  It will have to be pointed though as that’s the only shape us gnomes wear.  Pop let me wear his while they went into Mc Donalds for a bite to eat but as you can see it’s a little big for me.  It kept the rain off my face though.

My pop drove all the way to Granite Falls so we could see the falls. I was excited about that because the only other falls I saw was with my Sister.   We couldn’t find the falls so when we stopped for dinner that night, pop asked the waitress, where is the falls?   Guess what – there is no falls. What’s with that!

Next day we stopped by to see my Grandma for a little while and then headed back home.  We wanted to be back because my Sister, Brother-in-law and niece and nephew were camping nearby and had invited us to have dinner with them at the campgrounds.

Now those guy know how to camp.  No campers for them.  They sleep in a tent.  The campgrounds where they were staying is called Kamp Dels in Waterville, Minnesota.  It’s a really neat place.  They have a water park, a zoo, a golf putting course and lots of other stuff to do there.  It was to cold to go in the water park but we did go to the zoo.  Don’t know what these things are called but aren’t they weird looking.   I also got to pet goats, sheep, pony’s, a donkey, two baby deers, a baby calf  and lots of other animals.   Look at these chicken butts!  I thought that was really funny.

Finally we sat around the campfire.  Didn’t get to roast any marshmallows since my sister forgot to bring some but it was still fun.  I hope the next time they going camping I can stay with them because I would sure like to play in the water park.  Of course I’ll have to buy myself a bathing suit and some flip flops first.

When we got home we watched the fireworks in our back yard.  That was really cool.  I can hardly wait until next year.  I’m sure we’ll do something fun.