Orofino or Bust

The next stop in the “Mobile Ghetto” tour was to visit our friends Jess and Becky in Idaho. This turned out to be quite the experience. I had no idea I was going to learn how to properly mount scopes on rifles,  split wood using a log splitter for my first time, a “33” ton I might add, it doesn’t get any better than that and help rescue a couple of kittens left on the highway near Jess and Becky’s house. By the way, if the party discarding those kitten’s had gotten caught by Jess leaving those little guys I would probably be writing this story in the police station while I was posting bail to get Jess out! He was not happy someone would do that to kittens and muttered some offensive terms, the only printable one being vermin!

The kittens were so new that their eyes were barely open! As a matter of fact one of them only had one eye open so I called him “Mono”, short for monocular.  We figured if his name was Mono because of only one eye open then we may as well call the other one “Bino”, just to be fair. Becky took care of them overnight until she could arrange to take them to the animal shelter the next day.

However there were limitations of what would be tolerated in the house. It seems the two boys, Garon and Zeger, full grown German Shepherds were not going to tolerate Mono and Bino living under the same roof. So they spent the night in the garage in cardboard boxes with blankets for their own protection. I think I saw the boys licking their chops as Becky made them go back into the house for the night. The next day they were delivered to the shelter with a donation from Jess and Becky to help with their care.

Over the next few evenings I was given a crash course on how to properly mount a rifle scope. Interesting stuff, I thought you just lined it up and bolted it together, boy was I mistaken. Jess goes through quite a process to do it correctly and it shows when you test fire the rifle. I was sworn to secrecy and can’t give any trade secrets away in this blog. But now that I think of it maybe I should start singing like a canary because every time I visit Jess it seems I end up with a new gun! Last year I left his house with a new rifle and this year it seems I have acquired a new pistol.  Pretty sneaky.

During the next few days I couldn’t resist trying my hand at splitting wood with a hydraulic wood splitter I spotted out behind the house. Especially when I look it over and see “33 Ton” printed on it! This had to be an omen, me showing up and having a splitter with that number on it. Once I fired that sucker up and started shredding those big round sections of wood like they were Popsicle sticks I found myself grinning from ear to ear! What I remembered about wood splitting was the axe, maul and sledgehammer I had to use and what a pain it was to get through the wood. This made it almost fun having that kind of power at your disposal. Sort of like when I used to ride a CR 500 or a 490 Maico, you know, MAN’S BIKES!

I was having so much fun tearing through the wood until I took my first break and got a drink. It seemed I had created quite a pile of wood that needed to be stacked.  After a couple of rotations of splitting and stacking I finally ran the machine out of gas. There was still more wood so I couldn’t wait to get some gas and tear it up again tomorrow!

A few days later we were treated to a thunderstorm with lightning strikes that touched off several fires. The fires took off and created so much smoke that the beautiful surroundings were obscured and some of the local towns started evacuations. I watched the firefighting helicopters come down to fill their buckets from the river. It got so bad I was afraid they may close the roads so I figured it was time to move on before I lose the ‘mobile ghetto’.

#33

‘Riding is like licking Honey off a thorn’

OMG a BFF Ride

I got invited on a trail ride with a few guys in Montana. I was the youngest one in the group at 57 yrs young with the oldest being Montana John and his odometer is just about to roll over to 70.

The original BFF group consisted of Matt, Doug, Tim and Ron who was the designated ride leader on this ride since he knew the area best. These four were all hovering around the 60 thousand mile mark on their odometers. I found out these guys have known each other since their school days and have been friends through all these years. They still get together to ride motorcycles and enjoy each other’s company. It seems Montana John being almost 10 years older was an honorary member of the group after stumbling into the right motorcycle shop years ago. He met Matt who after some twists and turns in life runs his own shop called TWO WHEELZ in Butte, Montana.

The ride was very challenging and in a beautiful setting outside of Butte. We rode on a Wednesday and didn’t expect to see much trail traffic. It was a good thing because we rode some awesome singletrack with rock side hills, small creek crossings, superb wooded side hills and an occasional bridge leading to a LOT of switch backs. Well you probably know what switch backs mean, yup, steep climbs. It seems everyone did pretty well with the occasional mishap that would have someone picking up, kick starting or getting another run at the uphill turn.

The exception was Montana John. It seems he has a switch back limiter kind of like a rev limiter, after 3 or 4 he is ready to find another trail. Therein lies the problem, each trail led to another trail that led to more switch backs. The riding area is fantastic but so steep there are going to eventually be switch backs on just about any trail. MJ soldiered on and rode until he was pretty much “used up” to quote him. He still never quit and never turned around, pretty amazing at 70 yrs of life experience. We took a few breaks and helped him with some of the tight difficult turns and he made it to the top.

It was well worth the effort because the views were amazing! After a short rest to catch his breath rest and recover MJ even enjoyed the scenery, although he said, “been there done that, won’t do it again!”.   So I made sure to take some pictures of him up there so he could mount them on the wall sort of like a trophy. 9,000+ feet is an accomplishment for most riders.

We made our way down the hill while taking in the views, the photos just don’t do it justice. Still, MJ was not happy with the switch backs going down but had a MUCH easier time using gravity instead of fighting a losing battle with it.

When we got back to the trucks, changed clothes and loaded the bikes that’s when the beer, water and snacks appeared. The group hung out and B.S.’d for a while with no hurry to rush off since they had just spent the day with their BFF group and were in no hurry to call it quits. I could tell each guy appreciated their ride and time together. Our ride leader Ron was shaking his head quietly saying he didn’t remember that many switch backs the last time he rode it. I believe you Ron, but give MJ a few weeks he will come around.

#33

“It doesn’t matter where you ride, what matters is who you ride with”

Wing Sporting....Say What?

We went out for a ride the other day on a borrowed Honda Goldwing. I don’t know how it happened but we ended up on a gravel road doing a bit of exploring. As I rode along I began to wonder, if you take a Goldwing off the pavement is it considered dual sporting or is it a new sub group of riding, maybe “Wing Sporting”.

Anyway it was a lot of fun exploring at such a slow pace to actually see everything because I was being very cautious with Montana John’s bike. Also I was pretty sure if I dropped that monster I wouldn’t be able to pick it up!

We survived and rolled into the gas station with the low fuel warning light lighting up rather brightly, am I lucky or what! Saw some beautiful scenery both on and off road and had a great time. Montana has some great riding.

#33

‘The journey of a thousand miles begins by putting it in gear’

Happy 4th Celebration...Montana Style

Happy 4^th Celebration

 The new mobile ghetto now has its fist 1000 miles on it and is anchored in Helena, Montana at Montana John’s house.  MJ (Montana John) has a place here in Helena along with a bunch of motorcycles, from modern to vintage so obviously it is the perfect place to begin a riding tour.

Having arrived on July 3^rd it turned out to be a great place to watch a 4^th of July celebration. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed watching people celebrate the 4^th of July so much. Montanans go all out to celebrate living in the USA! The celebration started with a few fireworks in the neighborhood we watched from and continued until the city’s official display fired up. But since REAL fireworks are legal in Montana, even the stuff that launches into the air to light up and explode, the locals just about matched the city display. I couldn’t sit down to watch because there was a 360 degree display going off around me that had my head on a swivel to take it all in. Simply amazing! These guys know how to celebrate. I saw dads everywhere lighting stuff that launched into the air for their kids while being responsible and keeping the kids at a safe distance, parenting and teaching at the same time, imagine that!

The next day we woke up to cool weather and overcast skies but decided to go for a dual sport ride anyway. MJ and I fired up the bikes and headed for the hills. We made less than 20 miles and I was freezing my butt off! Fortunately MJ took pity on me and turned the route toward town to shorten the time he had to listen to me snivel about being cold.  Good call because we were back at his house for about an hour or so when it started to rain! Perfect, tomorrow we ride newly watered trails!!!

#33

“To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while”

#33...On The Road Again

THE MOBILE GHETTO

Well summer is here so it must be time to hit the road to find a few new trails and riding partners. We are about to load up the KX and the KTM to go looking for a few new places and people to ride with. This trip should be more like a vacation and less like the Beverly Hillbillies on tour. The reason is the new/used mobile ghetto, (an 09’ 5^th wheel toyhauler), should make this trip more like staying at a resort as opposed to camping!

I sure forgot how much time and setup it takes to prepare a vehicle to be road worthy. There are about a million things to check, attach, modify, move, improve and just learn about on a new vehicle. So I have spent the past week with a tape measure, drill, screw gun, and a myriad of other tools whipping this bad boy into shape. I think the last thing I should have to do is attach granny’s rockin’ chair to the top and get a bit of rope. Is that banjo music I hear?

#33    aka Jethro

“Today is the youngest you will ever be, live like it”