It is getting to be that time of year again so I am going to launch into my latest edition of a yearly tradition of relating the mostly boring details of our life here in flyover land. I have not been doing any blogging since last Summer primarily since I just can't get motivated to type it out. Typing with two or three fingers and a spell checker that is constantly interrupting my thought processes does slow things down a bit. Anyhow, for those of you that are waiting for the detailed details of our lives, here we go.
January, one of these years I think I will start in, say, March just to keep people guessing. Typically January started off really cold with near zero high temperatures and snow to boot. Now Jan and I are starting over with the grandkids with sports games in local locales. Leah is involved with basketball, and soccer in the Fall and Winter, so we get to quite a few of her games, and Sam and Gus are involved in soccer, football, and basketball too, so they and we stay busy attending and putting some miles on vehicles. On the 21st Jan and I flew back to Japan to visit Rachel, Hans, Josiah, Annika and William. The fight over always takes longer because of bucking the Jet Stream all of the way there, I think it was 13 hours long, luckily there are non stop movies to watch and at least 3 meals. If you scroll back through my blogs you can get a play by play of the time we spent there. Japan is such a nice place to visit especially when you have a place to stay and guides that know their way around.
February started in Japan with a shorter flight home and some jet lag recovery time. Jan is back volunteering at Leah and Aaron's school 2 days a week, and we were helping the Kuehl's move from their home in town out a few miles into the country to the acreage they bought from a dentist's widow from St. James. We were helping them move out there in between basketball in Godahl for Leah, and a trip to visit Jan's sister Paula and her husband Steve in Wadena among other things. Jan and I drove over to Rochester for a Chanticleer concert and a stay over at Gen and Steve's home. The next day was basketball there for Sam and Gus, they really have a lot of sports activities for kids in Rochester among other things to do. We are really lucky to have that city so close with all of the things that are available there. I did some work on the 94 Ducati, by replacing the steering head bearings, after noticing a notch for years. It turns out most of the work involves just getting down to place you need to get to, replacing the bearings wasn't too bad. Jan and I made a trip to Rochester for Gus's birthday party, some of the boys basketball games, and pick up a set of forks for our ST Honda that were getting rebuilt. As I have said, Winter is bike maintenance time in the part of the world.
March. Jan and I spent some time helping Eli and Lindsey move from their home in town out to the "ranch" in the country. Also the weather was moderating somewhat, with temps in the 40s. Actually it was 48 the day we celebrated Leah's birthday. Eli's brother in law gave him an old skid loader, so we went down to get it, figuring we would need to winch it onto the trailer. Imagine our surprise, when after getting the snow cleared and some shade tree mechanic tricks, he ended up driving it onto the trailer! After some tweeking, that machine has been very valuable at the ranch. Shortly thereafter I had several bikes out on long runs, with temps in the 60s. Spring came a little early this year, with warm windy conditions, getting the Stang out of the garage, and uncovering the trailer, etc.. I was helping Eli to get power back into a couple of their barns on their acreage. He was hoping to put those units into use somehow to generate some income. Riding and the weather continued to improve with only a little interruption from some snow.
April. Started out this year with celebrating Easter at our house with the whole gang minus the DeFors who are still in Japan for a couple more months. I finally got around to replacing the walk-in door on the garage that has been needing replacement for some time. Things were warm but windy, a common weather type for this time of the year. I made a run up to North Dakota for a couple of days to visit the area I inventoried over 40 years ago when I was an outside plant engineer. Things in Aneta have not changed too much in the interim, and the Top Hat bar is still open in Mayville. I remember walking over there in 1970 after a safety meeting with a fellow employee. I said I should call Jan and he asked "when are you getting married?". It does not seem possible that it was that long ago. Back up in my blogs to see more details on that trip. I have been making it to some Patriot Guard missions this Spring in the area. Jan and I also attended a concert by Joe Bonnamassa in Minneapolis one Saturday night, it was fantastic! Then I started taking the XR650 Honda apart, it had developed a bad knock again. Here we go again. Anyhow, the piston was toast, so this time I took it to a dealer I trust to rebore and fit a new piston. It ended up Honda does not make one that oversize, so I ended up with a 10.5 to 1 Wiseco piston. After re-assembly and break-in, it is pretty snappy. It's getting to the point where I can take apart and re-assemble the engine in my sleep.
May. A trip to Rochester for Sam's first communion, me home for Leah and Aaron's track meets and back to Rochester for doctors appointment to biopsy my tongue, and pick up Jan who stayed to do some work for Gen. A few days later Jan and I went to look at a new Mustang and ended up trading in our 2011 GT 6 speed for a new GT with an automatic. Along with assorted medical appointments and trips to Rochester for Sam and Gus's events, and St. James for Leah and Aaron's school events, Jan, Lindsey, and I drove up to Andover for Paul and Marcy's moving sale. They sold their home in Andover and are moving full time to the condo they have owned in Duluth for years. The condo is right on the lake shore within sight of the lift bridge. I was making several runs for parts for the 650 rebuild job, and did get it together successfully, ie. it runs. We had our annual Memorial Day picnic in Owatonna again with a pretty good turn out, with some cousins, and siblings etc.. Along with warm temperatures and good amounts of rain comes the problem of keeping up with the growth of the lawn, although it is better than the alternative.
June. I had a PGR mission at Madison, South Dakota on the 1st and on the 7th Jan and I drove up to the Cities for Gen's Masters Degree award ceremony at St. Marys. I have some educated people in my family don't I, come to think about it. I have been running our BMW's up to Monticello for maintenance quite a bit lately due to the fact that the shop that I bought them from, which is right down the road, no longer is a BMW dealer. It's not so bad though, it is a large dealer with lots to look at, and Phil is close by, so we go out for lunch once in a while. Eli Leah Phil, and I attended the airshow at Granite Falls that is put on by Fagen's WWll museum. I believe that over 20,000 people were there along with aircraft from all over the United States, from a B-17 to P-51s, P-38s, P-39s, P40s, and assorted trainers and airshow groups. It was a tremendous show, and the weather cooperated. The next day Phil and I headed west on our long tour. Phil had charging trouble in South Dakota and with some help ended up in Rapid City for the night. Check out an earlier blog for the nuts and bolts of that trip. We did get to the Tetons, Utah, and Colorado on a shortened grand tour, but had a good time by not pushing too hard. After getting home Jan and I got the trailer out and loaded up for the run to Lanesboro for the 4th of July weekend. As it turned out that was the only time the trailer got out this year.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Thursday, July 16, 2015
2015 Bucket List Ride
Here we go again with another bike trip story, but like I have said before, it is my blog, so I get to blog about what I am doing in the recent past. Again this year my brother Phil and I took off on another bike trip, mostly headed west and south west. We fell a little short of my day one destination due to the fact that Phils' Harley had some charging trouble, and I don't mean with a credit card. We spent some time in Murdo trying to repair the trouble until we got into Rapid City and the Harley dealer. We met the nicest native American couple, he was a Marine, and a union pipefitter, so Phil and he had a lot to talk about while he was charging the battery with a set of jumper cables. We made it to Rapid and the problem was corrected the next day with a few expensive parts. We headed west and ended up crossing the Big Horns on highway 16, which is a great mountain road. It's wide and curvy and has beautiful scenery, when you get a chance to look around. It was Worland for the night. Parts of Wyoming have had some huge amounts of rain recently which was evident in Wind River canyon the next morning, with landslides taking out the BNSF tracks in more than one place, and road repairs on our side on the canyon. At the head on the canyon is a dam that backs up Boysen reservoir. That lake was the highest that I have ever seen it, and it seems as if I get by there almost every year lately. We ended up eating lunch in Dubois at a supermarket deli. Part of the fun on these trips is the people that you meet, it seems that being on a bike leaves you open to just about everybody. For instance I spent a pleasant 10 minutes in the checkout at said supermarket chatting with just about all of the people in the area. Dubois is the home of Marine Chance Phelps who was the subject of the movie "Taking Chance". Jan and I visited his grave a few years ago but Phil and I did not stop by. Next up is the tremendous view of the Grand Tetons as we come over Togwotee Pass. Coming from the east as we did puts the entire range in front of you framed by the forest that you have been riding through. The only downside to that area is fighting your way through Jackson on regular city streets, with crazy traffic and multitudes of pedestrians crossing streets. Were we glad to get out town. From there we headed south and west some more, clipping a corner of Idaho and Utah before dragging into Evanston, Wyoming for that night. The next morning it was off to the Uintah mountains in Utah. This route takes you up and over the Uintah mountains. I believe that the pass was over 10,000 feet and cool too. Just past the pass we came across a heard of mountain sheep grazing in the ditch, I think that there were 16 or so. Took a break in Kanab and ran over a couple more passes to Price, Utah for lunch. The temperature was rising, so I thought that instead of running into southern Utah where it was hotter still we would head south east for the higher elevations in Colorado. After braving winds, some light rain and 102 degree temps we stopped in Grand Junction for the night.
The next morning it was south through Ouray and Silverton to Durango on some of the scariest mountain roads in this country. As many times as I have ridden the road out of Ouray, I still find it a little unsettling to say the least. We got caught in the only shower of the whole trip in a road construction area, but by the time we climbed Wolf Creek pass and arrived in Alamosa for the night I was dry. The next day was one of the most scenic runs ever, between Alamosa and Leadville you pass by a series of 14,000 foot mountains that this year were unusually snow covered, with a deep blue sky to boot. At the stop in Leadville we spent some time talking with a local, another Marine vet, about the local celebration in progress there etc.. While studying a poster on the wall in the convenience store I realized it was a price list for various amounts of marihuana, you can buy it here, just don't bring it home. From there up to I-70 to Dillon, another traffic jam, to Kremling for lunch. Just short of Walden, a bad accident kept us on the side of the road for about an hour, chit chatting with local ranchers and a truck driver hauling crude. I never have been able to find out what happened, but it looked as if the car hit a trailer going the other way, on this nearly deserted highway, and ripped the whole side out of the trailer. The car was in the deep ditch with the top pealed back, and the trailer and it's contents were scattered for 100 yards down the road. It did not look too good for the car driver, but the ambulance passed us later headed for Laramie I suppose. It was Wheatland, Wyoming that night. The next day is the sort of day that you must put in just to get back home, I guess. I thought just this once, for varieties' sake I would try a route across northern Nebraska, all the way to Sioux City. From Wheatland to Chadron, Nebraska was not too bad. We passed through Ft. Robinson, which Jan and I visited last year. An interesting side trip while we were staying at Hot Springs KOA. Lunch was at Chadron and the grind eastward began on a two lane road that went north, south, and then east some more. By 6 pm we were barely to Yankton, South Dakota. Finding a place to stay in Yankton did not go well either, with weddings, and class reunions going on. Luckily we did nail down a room at a former Super 8 where neither the snack machine nor ice machine were working. The next day it was up through Sioux Falls and east. Phil and I split just over the border in Minnesota so he could head home to Delano and I went east to St. James and home by about noon, after a stop at Eli and Lindsey's farm.
The next morning it was south through Ouray and Silverton to Durango on some of the scariest mountain roads in this country. As many times as I have ridden the road out of Ouray, I still find it a little unsettling to say the least. We got caught in the only shower of the whole trip in a road construction area, but by the time we climbed Wolf Creek pass and arrived in Alamosa for the night I was dry. The next day was one of the most scenic runs ever, between Alamosa and Leadville you pass by a series of 14,000 foot mountains that this year were unusually snow covered, with a deep blue sky to boot. At the stop in Leadville we spent some time talking with a local, another Marine vet, about the local celebration in progress there etc.. While studying a poster on the wall in the convenience store I realized it was a price list for various amounts of marihuana, you can buy it here, just don't bring it home. From there up to I-70 to Dillon, another traffic jam, to Kremling for lunch. Just short of Walden, a bad accident kept us on the side of the road for about an hour, chit chatting with local ranchers and a truck driver hauling crude. I never have been able to find out what happened, but it looked as if the car hit a trailer going the other way, on this nearly deserted highway, and ripped the whole side out of the trailer. The car was in the deep ditch with the top pealed back, and the trailer and it's contents were scattered for 100 yards down the road. It did not look too good for the car driver, but the ambulance passed us later headed for Laramie I suppose. It was Wheatland, Wyoming that night. The next day is the sort of day that you must put in just to get back home, I guess. I thought just this once, for varieties' sake I would try a route across northern Nebraska, all the way to Sioux City. From Wheatland to Chadron, Nebraska was not too bad. We passed through Ft. Robinson, which Jan and I visited last year. An interesting side trip while we were staying at Hot Springs KOA. Lunch was at Chadron and the grind eastward began on a two lane road that went north, south, and then east some more. By 6 pm we were barely to Yankton, South Dakota. Finding a place to stay in Yankton did not go well either, with weddings, and class reunions going on. Luckily we did nail down a room at a former Super 8 where neither the snack machine nor ice machine were working. The next day it was up through Sioux Falls and east. Phil and I split just over the border in Minnesota so he could head home to Delano and I went east to St. James and home by about noon, after a stop at Eli and Lindsey's farm.
All in all a good trip with no major trouble beyond Phils' charging problem that got repaired. I admit that I chickened out on my grandiose plans for Nevada and Arizona, due to the heat in those areas. Maybe some other year or Heaven forbid not on a bike.
Friday, July 10, 2015
Assorted Trips Etc.
I know that it has been quite awhile since I last blogged about anything but sooner or later I need to come out of the background and put something up for the world to see, and marvel at. I had a thought back in February while Jan and I were home bound from Japan. We had gone mostly north out of Narita across Siberia and out over the Bering Sea at 39000 feet. It was -73 degrees outside the window and it occurred to me that this is as close to space flight as most of us will ever get. Extremely cold, low air pressure, and a lack of oxygen that would be deadly in a matter of seconds. We are just floating along in this 777 over the Bering Sea miles from any kind of civilization assuming that this Boeing collection of parts will keep flying to our destination, which it did. Anyhow, there's that. Another thing that I have thought about for years, Mars landing, now I just want to live to see the day. After our Moon landing in 1969, almost 50 years ago now, the plan was that we would plant the flag on Mars by 1985. That plan went by the wayside, and now they talk about the 2030s. If I make it that far I will be in my 90s by that time, although Mom is almost 95. Enough about that.
Back in May I rode up to North Dakota to visit some of the areas that I worked in 45 years ago, back when that was part of the telephone company territory that I worked for at the time as an engineer. The area was between Fargo and Grand Forks extending to the west as far as Aneta. I had been through all of the exchanges out there, and spent some weeks inventorying Aneta and west Northwood when we sold them to Polar Tel. Our old office still sits on a side street in Aneta with Polars' newer building alongside. West Northwood was on an intersection of two gravel roads in the middle of nowhere, with maybe 10 lines heading in three directions. It was a fun time riding around in the other guys' station wagon counting poles etc.. He had a rifle in the back seat and we stopped sometimes to take a shot at stuff. This year it was kind of windy and dry up there, don't think that I will be back. You know I have another long one to post so I think that I will post it up in the future. It is about my brother Phil and my western ride.
Back in May I rode up to North Dakota to visit some of the areas that I worked in 45 years ago, back when that was part of the telephone company territory that I worked for at the time as an engineer. The area was between Fargo and Grand Forks extending to the west as far as Aneta. I had been through all of the exchanges out there, and spent some weeks inventorying Aneta and west Northwood when we sold them to Polar Tel. Our old office still sits on a side street in Aneta with Polars' newer building alongside. West Northwood was on an intersection of two gravel roads in the middle of nowhere, with maybe 10 lines heading in three directions. It was a fun time riding around in the other guys' station wagon counting poles etc.. He had a rifle in the back seat and we stopped sometimes to take a shot at stuff. This year it was kind of windy and dry up there, don't think that I will be back. You know I have another long one to post so I think that I will post it up in the future. It is about my brother Phil and my western ride.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
February is a Big Month but Cold
It is that time again, where I cheap out and write a blog to my wife, St. Jan, and some other family members that celebrate birthdays this month. 8 years ago Jan and I "celebrated" our anniversary on a packed 747 on our way to Japan the first time. We got there in time to visit Annika at the hospital at Yokosuka who was born on the 15th. I don't know if my Mom has come to grips with the idea of her birthday on the other side of the International Date line. She felt that since Annika was born when it was the 14th here, that should be her birth date, what ever. So, we have our 44th anniversary tomorrow on Valentines Day- I know, we are such romantics- Annikas' birthday is the 15th, regardless of where she was born, our son Eli and our son-in-law Steve, have the same birthday on the 23rd. Last but not least is our grandson August, or Gus as we usually refer to him as, on the 27th. So there you have it the birthdays and an anniversary all in one.
I had written a whole nother paragraph just to Jan about how we met and how our lives have gone since but I accidentally deleted the paragraph. I don't know how, but it got highlighted and deleted, in literally the blink of an eye. How we met one evening in 1970, I thought that she just liked my 69 Mustang Mach 1, which she did, but I guess that she kind of liked me too. I brought her home to the farm by Alpha, very, very early the following morning, and we have been hitting it off ever since. Now in 6 years we could be looking at our 50th, holy cow, I remember going to my relatives 50th party's, and they were old. Probably not as old as I will be by that time, come to think of it. I just wanted the world to know how much I love you Janice B. If there were any justice in this world I would ask for another 50 years with you.
Love Pete
These photos are of us just a couple of weeks ago, when we visited Rachel and her family in Japan.
I had written a whole nother paragraph just to Jan about how we met and how our lives have gone since but I accidentally deleted the paragraph. I don't know how, but it got highlighted and deleted, in literally the blink of an eye. How we met one evening in 1970, I thought that she just liked my 69 Mustang Mach 1, which she did, but I guess that she kind of liked me too. I brought her home to the farm by Alpha, very, very early the following morning, and we have been hitting it off ever since. Now in 6 years we could be looking at our 50th, holy cow, I remember going to my relatives 50th party's, and they were old. Probably not as old as I will be by that time, come to think of it. I just wanted the world to know how much I love you Janice B. If there were any justice in this world I would ask for another 50 years with you.
Love Pete
These photos are of us just a couple of weeks ago, when we visited Rachel and her family in Japan.Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Two Minnesotans in Japan
Holy cow, I almost forgot about our drive out to Mount Fuji, until I was scrolling down through the 170 photos that I took out there. With a rented van we all drove out to Mount Fuji on our last Saturday in Japan. As you can see by the photos the weather was beautiful, with snow on the ground everywhere at that altitude. I had so many good photos that I had to include just some of the good ones. Using the logic that we will never be there again in this lifetime I shot a lot of frames. Thank goodness for digital photography! I still find myself thinking about shot setup etc., until I remember that there is virtually no limit to the amount of photos a digital camera can absorb, so shoot everything and cull out the bad ones later. Hans and I went to see "American Sniper" when we got back, and it was as good as advertised, lots of tears from me at the end, seeing the Patriot Guards at his funeral. I have been to a lot of funerals like that, just not that elaborate. Anyhow, we spent the last couple of days getting packed and ready to head home, walking Annika and William to and from the bus, and hitting the bazaar on base for some souvenirs for the "homefolks". Rachel got us on the bus back to Narita a week ago today, and a week ago today we were in the air over the Bering sea or northern Canada. My brother Phil picked us up at the airport and drove us out to their home by Delano. Naturally we came in to Minneapolis in lite snow, so the drive to their place was slow. We had left our car at their house for the duration, and we being anxious to get home headed straight home from there. So that completes our second trip to Japan, and I have to admit that I enjoyed this one a lot more than the first trip 8 years ago. I felt more comfortable off base I think and Rachel had all kinds of stuff for us to do, so being bored was never a problem, thanks again Rachel and Hans. Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Christmas Post Part Zwei
I'm back. Actually it is the 31st of December 2014, so I could not have gone any longer without ending up in 2015. It seems lately that I have been spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about my health condition. I remember with fondness how healthy I thought that I was when I was younger, now it is pretty much one thing after another, some more serious than the other. It could be the weather, never having been the type to enjoy looking out of the windows at the frozen Earth around the house, although hanging around in the garage with the gang does ease the pain somewhat. Anyhow enough of my troubles, I think that I let off with the month of June, so naturally July would follow.
The month started with us getting the trailer out again and getting down to Lanesboro for the 4th of July weekend. We manage to get there almost every year, pretty much for the fireworks display they put on, and we get some riding in also in that area. It's not as good as Wisconsin, where most roads are paved, but close. We celebrated Aaron's birthday on the 8th and on the 9th we were back in Rochester to meet with the doctors from ENT for the word. On the 10th I had surgery for another spot of cancer in my mouth in the same location as before. Luckily this was outpatient so we were out of there in the afternoon. A few days later Jan and I went to Winona for the Dale Warland concert, not as good as last year but still very good. With doctors appointments, and another trip back to Rochester to take a look at my mouth I did get an ok to travel. I loaded up the GS and headed west, again, I just never seem to be able to go east. I spent the first night in, where else but Hot Springs, for the 2nd time this year. Out across Wyoming, I guess that it is hard to go that way and miss that state. A night in Lander then up to Pinedale to try a pass that turned out too rough, which required a detour through the Grand Tetons. Not a bad detour to say the least, but crowded. I did manage to hit a trail I had been eyeing that turned out to be 34 miles dirt in the Big Horns. On the way back to Minnesota I spent the night at an Air Force buddies home in Gettysburg, South Dakota. A nice trip and I managed to stay dry and uninjured.
Next up August. Jan and I were over to Rochester again, this time to watch the grandsons while their Mom and Dad were out of town. The deck finally got sanded down to bare wood and finished in another product that I hope stands up longer to our weather. I participated in a very special PGR mission one evening We gave a motorcycle escort from Fairmont to the South Dakota line for the remains of a Canadian soldier from WWII on his way home. It was quite an event with Highway Patrol leading the assembly of vehicles. I didn't get home until almost midnight. The next day in Odin they held a sort of softball reunion for the team that we attended. My brother Paul played for Odin for years and managed to play, without hurting himself too bad I think. It was like old times, with the concession stand open and the same announcer on the p.a.. This was fast pitch softball which bares little resemblance to slow pitch. It is too bad but that style of ball has almost disappeared from this area anyway. In the middle of the month was the Butterfield Threshing Bee which we attended again, and about that time our Rachel had a big birthday, she was born in 1974 so I'll let you figure it out. The end of the month we loaded the dirt bike in the pickup and headed west again through Wyoming and down to south western Colorado. I did some off roading while Jan checked out the thrift stores in Ridgway. I went over Imogene Pass again and if you scroll back to earlier blogs you can get a more detailed account. From there we went to Antonito, Colorado to catch the Cumbres and Toltec narrow gauge railroad. We did the all day ride through the mountains to Chama, New Mexico, and it was great.
Then September. We bought a new Ford Escape, I think that the rationale was that 4 wheel drive would be nice in the winter, but we haven't had a chance to try that out yet. We had the trailer out again for our yearly trip to Oakdale, Wisconsin. We spent the better part of a week there getting some riding on the best roads in this part of the country, and some relaxing too, mainly because the weather did not cooperate some days. It was cold and rainy quite a bit, which was unusual. One evening my brother Phil and his wife Laura came down, and we all went to Jackson to the vo-tech school. They were having a 50th reunion and Phil, and Jan are both graduates of that institution. We also laid in 3 tons of wood pellets for the pellet stove, so we are pretty well fixed for the winter. My sister Kathy was home again and we celebrated my Moms 94th birthday on the 28th. The football season is on again so we had football in the yard like we did a couple of years ago. I put the tv on the deck and we sit on the lawn and watch, it always seems like a lot of fun.
October is next. I ran the BMWs up to Monticello for some warranty work, added some better lighting in the newer garage stall, and cleaned it up afterwards. I rode along with Eli when he went out hunting for a different pickup, having sold the last one for a profit I think. Anyway we found a high mileage Chevy near Hanley Falls and he has been busy spiffing it up. The time he spent working in that body shop has turned into an educational experience that has paid dividends over the years. Our Honda ST1300 got sold to a guy from the Cities area, with Elis' help on Craigs list, so we are down one. We, Jan primarily, have been trying to line up some assistance for my Mom in her home because she really should not be going up and down stairs to the basement. Jan and I ran out to the Hills for her birthday later in October. We spent one night at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge and breakfasted at the Latchstring. It was so beautiful there in the evening and in the morning with the sun coming over the rim of the canyon. That day we toured the National Cemetery at Sturgis, visiting my shop chiefs' grave, and thinking about a marker for us when the time comes, far into the future with any luck at all. That was about it for October.
November started out with us signing up to get our heating and air conditioning system replaced. We have been running the same air conditioner since 1975, and every spring we wonder if it will take us through another summer, but it always has, so I guess now is the time. Right about then I developed a problem in my eye lid, a sty maybe? So I started visiting assorted medical professionals to get that cleared up. Veterans' Day has been pretty good now that there are a lot of things available for free. We ate breakfast, lunch and had a haircut for no cost, to me anyway. Hy-Vees' breakfast is actually a lot of fun, kind of like eating at the chow hall with a bunch of guys mostly, from all of the branches, finding out where they served, what they did etc.. Right before that Fall came to a screeching halt with temperatures dropping into the 20 to 30 degrees below average for the rest of the month. I was also working on the XR650 Honda as it has picked up a rattle again, maybe clutch or oil pump, I hope, cause they will be easy to replace. No such luck, those parts did not help the problem, probably a piston again. Jan and I drove over to Rochester for Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but we don't get up early anymore with stores being open the night before and sales for extended periods. Motoprimo in Lakeville was having sales on Friday so we ran up there on our way home to pick up some oil and stuff. There was a drawing in the afternoon and I won an electric scooter that was worth a lot more than I would have paid for it. All in all we will have around $600 in it in taxes etc. before it's done. I had hoped to get out of it something like what it is worth, but I have my doubts.
December, Jan and I returned to Lakeville to pick up our winnings. We took my Mom to Mankato for her doctors appointment, and I got ready for my 3 year colonoscopy, which thankfully went well this time, so I won't be doing that for 5 years this time. I had a PGR mission to Baltic, South Dakota on the 10th. We went to Redwood Falls to a basketball tournament that Leah was playing in and on to the Cities for Donna DeFor's Christmas concert at Wooddale. We spent the night at Phil and Laura's and got home the next day. Jan and I were over to Rochester for Sam and Gus' Christmas concert at Holy Spirit and home late, for a next day dentist appointment, who discovered a broken filling which was repaired a couple of days ago. Saturday the 20th was Christmas at our place, and as usual it was kind of crazy, but a good kind of crazy. Everyone was here including my brothers and their wives, the only missing were the DeFors who are in Japan still. After that Jan spent some time cleaning up and rearranging things. Leah and Aaron had their Christmas program at St. Paul's and we spent a day with them when day care was not available. We get to hang out and catch up on their movies. We got 3 or 4 inches of snow the other day and the temps have really tanked. Yesterday we finally made the decision and bought our tickets for a trip to Japan to visit Rachel and her family, so we will be busy in the coming days.
So all in all not a bad year, bad things caught before they get any worse, everyone else reasonably healthy, and Jan and I being able to do an awful lot of things that we wanted to do. Jan has been spending a lot of time
with her Mom's things and now she has volunteered to help with Aaron's class. That poor teacher has 20 youngsters to ride herd on and try to teach as well, so Jan has given her a little breathing room. I am spending time this winter planning another trip to the west and who knows what else will crop up. So stay healthy, happy as is possible, and with any luck at all I will be writing more next year about this time. For a more complete synopsis of things scroll back through some of my older blogs AND LEAVE A COMMENT if you please.
Pete Kuehl 31 December 2014
The month started with us getting the trailer out again and getting down to Lanesboro for the 4th of July weekend. We manage to get there almost every year, pretty much for the fireworks display they put on, and we get some riding in also in that area. It's not as good as Wisconsin, where most roads are paved, but close. We celebrated Aaron's birthday on the 8th and on the 9th we were back in Rochester to meet with the doctors from ENT for the word. On the 10th I had surgery for another spot of cancer in my mouth in the same location as before. Luckily this was outpatient so we were out of there in the afternoon. A few days later Jan and I went to Winona for the Dale Warland concert, not as good as last year but still very good. With doctors appointments, and another trip back to Rochester to take a look at my mouth I did get an ok to travel. I loaded up the GS and headed west, again, I just never seem to be able to go east. I spent the first night in, where else but Hot Springs, for the 2nd time this year. Out across Wyoming, I guess that it is hard to go that way and miss that state. A night in Lander then up to Pinedale to try a pass that turned out too rough, which required a detour through the Grand Tetons. Not a bad detour to say the least, but crowded. I did manage to hit a trail I had been eyeing that turned out to be 34 miles dirt in the Big Horns. On the way back to Minnesota I spent the night at an Air Force buddies home in Gettysburg, South Dakota. A nice trip and I managed to stay dry and uninjured.
Next up August. Jan and I were over to Rochester again, this time to watch the grandsons while their Mom and Dad were out of town. The deck finally got sanded down to bare wood and finished in another product that I hope stands up longer to our weather. I participated in a very special PGR mission one evening We gave a motorcycle escort from Fairmont to the South Dakota line for the remains of a Canadian soldier from WWII on his way home. It was quite an event with Highway Patrol leading the assembly of vehicles. I didn't get home until almost midnight. The next day in Odin they held a sort of softball reunion for the team that we attended. My brother Paul played for Odin for years and managed to play, without hurting himself too bad I think. It was like old times, with the concession stand open and the same announcer on the p.a.. This was fast pitch softball which bares little resemblance to slow pitch. It is too bad but that style of ball has almost disappeared from this area anyway. In the middle of the month was the Butterfield Threshing Bee which we attended again, and about that time our Rachel had a big birthday, she was born in 1974 so I'll let you figure it out. The end of the month we loaded the dirt bike in the pickup and headed west again through Wyoming and down to south western Colorado. I did some off roading while Jan checked out the thrift stores in Ridgway. I went over Imogene Pass again and if you scroll back to earlier blogs you can get a more detailed account. From there we went to Antonito, Colorado to catch the Cumbres and Toltec narrow gauge railroad. We did the all day ride through the mountains to Chama, New Mexico, and it was great.
Then September. We bought a new Ford Escape, I think that the rationale was that 4 wheel drive would be nice in the winter, but we haven't had a chance to try that out yet. We had the trailer out again for our yearly trip to Oakdale, Wisconsin. We spent the better part of a week there getting some riding on the best roads in this part of the country, and some relaxing too, mainly because the weather did not cooperate some days. It was cold and rainy quite a bit, which was unusual. One evening my brother Phil and his wife Laura came down, and we all went to Jackson to the vo-tech school. They were having a 50th reunion and Phil, and Jan are both graduates of that institution. We also laid in 3 tons of wood pellets for the pellet stove, so we are pretty well fixed for the winter. My sister Kathy was home again and we celebrated my Moms 94th birthday on the 28th. The football season is on again so we had football in the yard like we did a couple of years ago. I put the tv on the deck and we sit on the lawn and watch, it always seems like a lot of fun.
October is next. I ran the BMWs up to Monticello for some warranty work, added some better lighting in the newer garage stall, and cleaned it up afterwards. I rode along with Eli when he went out hunting for a different pickup, having sold the last one for a profit I think. Anyway we found a high mileage Chevy near Hanley Falls and he has been busy spiffing it up. The time he spent working in that body shop has turned into an educational experience that has paid dividends over the years. Our Honda ST1300 got sold to a guy from the Cities area, with Elis' help on Craigs list, so we are down one. We, Jan primarily, have been trying to line up some assistance for my Mom in her home because she really should not be going up and down stairs to the basement. Jan and I ran out to the Hills for her birthday later in October. We spent one night at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge and breakfasted at the Latchstring. It was so beautiful there in the evening and in the morning with the sun coming over the rim of the canyon. That day we toured the National Cemetery at Sturgis, visiting my shop chiefs' grave, and thinking about a marker for us when the time comes, far into the future with any luck at all. That was about it for October.
November started out with us signing up to get our heating and air conditioning system replaced. We have been running the same air conditioner since 1975, and every spring we wonder if it will take us through another summer, but it always has, so I guess now is the time. Right about then I developed a problem in my eye lid, a sty maybe? So I started visiting assorted medical professionals to get that cleared up. Veterans' Day has been pretty good now that there are a lot of things available for free. We ate breakfast, lunch and had a haircut for no cost, to me anyway. Hy-Vees' breakfast is actually a lot of fun, kind of like eating at the chow hall with a bunch of guys mostly, from all of the branches, finding out where they served, what they did etc.. Right before that Fall came to a screeching halt with temperatures dropping into the 20 to 30 degrees below average for the rest of the month. I was also working on the XR650 Honda as it has picked up a rattle again, maybe clutch or oil pump, I hope, cause they will be easy to replace. No such luck, those parts did not help the problem, probably a piston again. Jan and I drove over to Rochester for Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but we don't get up early anymore with stores being open the night before and sales for extended periods. Motoprimo in Lakeville was having sales on Friday so we ran up there on our way home to pick up some oil and stuff. There was a drawing in the afternoon and I won an electric scooter that was worth a lot more than I would have paid for it. All in all we will have around $600 in it in taxes etc. before it's done. I had hoped to get out of it something like what it is worth, but I have my doubts.
December, Jan and I returned to Lakeville to pick up our winnings. We took my Mom to Mankato for her doctors appointment, and I got ready for my 3 year colonoscopy, which thankfully went well this time, so I won't be doing that for 5 years this time. I had a PGR mission to Baltic, South Dakota on the 10th. We went to Redwood Falls to a basketball tournament that Leah was playing in and on to the Cities for Donna DeFor's Christmas concert at Wooddale. We spent the night at Phil and Laura's and got home the next day. Jan and I were over to Rochester for Sam and Gus' Christmas concert at Holy Spirit and home late, for a next day dentist appointment, who discovered a broken filling which was repaired a couple of days ago. Saturday the 20th was Christmas at our place, and as usual it was kind of crazy, but a good kind of crazy. Everyone was here including my brothers and their wives, the only missing were the DeFors who are in Japan still. After that Jan spent some time cleaning up and rearranging things. Leah and Aaron had their Christmas program at St. Paul's and we spent a day with them when day care was not available. We get to hang out and catch up on their movies. We got 3 or 4 inches of snow the other day and the temps have really tanked. Yesterday we finally made the decision and bought our tickets for a trip to Japan to visit Rachel and her family, so we will be busy in the coming days.
So all in all not a bad year, bad things caught before they get any worse, everyone else reasonably healthy, and Jan and I being able to do an awful lot of things that we wanted to do. Jan has been spending a lot of time
with her Mom's things and now she has volunteered to help with Aaron's class. That poor teacher has 20 youngsters to ride herd on and try to teach as well, so Jan has given her a little breathing room. I am spending time this winter planning another trip to the west and who knows what else will crop up. So stay healthy, happy as is possible, and with any luck at all I will be writing more next year about this time. For a more complete synopsis of things scroll back through some of my older blogs AND LEAVE A COMMENT if you please.
Pete Kuehl 31 December 2014
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Christmas Post Part Ein
It's funny, when I am not in front of this keyboard, I think of all kinds of profound things to say, but my mind goes blank when the screen lights up. So we shall just have to go with the run of the mill mid level vocabulary I normally go with, ok? Anyhow, as years go, this one has not been extraordinarily different from the past several years, so I will try to fill in the blanks for those of you who do not read my slowly posted blogs. Traditionally I start with January because, you know, it is the first month of the year and does make a natural starting point, so I will stick with tradition, not wanting to confuse anybody.
So it's January 2014, let me see. The temps were in the negative region a lot of the time, and we made several trips to the Fairmont ER or Sherburn to help with Jan's Mom's medical problems, and Fairmont scouting out a new refrigerator for my Mom, so we, and primarily Jan, are entering an era of caring for our parents. In the middle of the month we had some freezing rain progressing into near blizzard conditions, and a trip to Rochester to visit the Theobalds. Later on it was brutal cold and high winds, and more trips for doctor appointments for me and Jan's Mom. We did get our new couch in there, and I worked on re-assembling the engine on my 185 Honda. We got a used carpet remnant to replace the several scraps that I have covered the floor in the shop with over the years.
February is next. It looks as if I spent considerable time on projects that have been hanging fire for years, one, a model of a B-36 that I started on in the 60s I think, and am finally getting together and painted, and second our Honda 185 that has been sitting disassembled in the garage attic for at least 10 years. Eli got the tank and frame all nicely painted with the proper color, and I spent a lot of time with a scrub brush and parts cleaner on the rest of the bike. When it was finally reassembled it looked pretty good, and actually ran, although the carburetor needs work. The weather continued with January's trend of below zero days and nights, and some snow. The 15th was our 43rd anniversary, so we took a couple of days and ran out to the Hills. It was 5 above here and 65 by the time we got out there. Jan and I tried to get over to Rochester one day but had to turn back due to bad roads, watched the Kuehl kiddos, and started to develop a cold.
March follows, in my books anyway. I was nursing a cold and we had heavy snow storms, which always means time blowing, and scooping snow- more fun in the snow. We celebrated Leah's 8th birthday on the 8th, and spent early morning hours at the Fairmont ER again with Jan's Mom. The next day I was at Cpl Caleb Erickson's visitation in Waseca. The Cpl was killed in action in Afghanistan. Patriot Guard missions are really starting to slow down, particularly KIA's, which all in all is not a bad thing. Primarily what we are doing now is veteran funerals. I was over to Waseca the next day for the funeral and burial. Luckily it was a sunny day with melting temperatures, so standing in a snow bank at the cemetery was ok. Jan was spending more time with her Mom, who seems to be failing mentally, and is no longer able to stay in her assisted living apartment. The weather is moderating, thank God, and I managed to get bikes out of the garage again. Jan did manage to get her Mom into the rest home here in St. James, so the trips to Sherburn won't be done any more.
Then comes April. I started getting the trailer out of hibernation, then we had a heavy snow, and then the temperatures started heading in the correct direction. Bikes were running out of the garage and getting serviced in anticipation of trips to come in the coming season. Jan and I ran over to Rochester to see Sam and Gus' program, also here in town for Leah, and Aaron. My brothers, Phil, Paul, and I did some projects at my Mom's house one day. I did get the 185 running, but it turns out that it has a plugged low speed jet that needed to be cleaned. It has got to the point that I can pull the carb off of that engine in a matter of minutes, I've done it so many times over the years. Easter was at Eli and Lindsey's house as is usual, and I see that I must have been trimming trees and cleaning up the yard. Was doing a lot of catch up riding whenever the weather co-operated and made a PGR mission at Yankton, South Dakota. Jan and I went to Leah's first piano recital here in town, it looks like we may have another pianist in the making.
May, what can I say? We were getting some moisture, because I mowed the lawn 3 times in the first 10 days of May. Jan and I made our first trailer run to the Albert Lea KOA over Mother's Day weekend. This is pretty early in the year so it was not unusual that it was cold and rainy, but we did get some riding in, and there is heat in the trailer so it's not too bad. The next major project to start out was the change of the living room and den carpet, which necessitated getting movers to move the baby grand to another room, pulling all the wood work, and painting the walls. Luckily I was not tasked with the paint job, or moving the piano, whew. With the change of the season came trips to Wooddale for Donna's choir concert, Blaine for our nephew's stepdaughter's funeral, Mankato to pick up my sister Kathy, Rochester again for Sam and Gus' program, and Owatonna for our annual Memorial Day picnic. Jan's Mom, Bernice broke her hip in a fall, and Rachel fearing the worst, made a flight home from Japan, and we went to the Cities to get her from the plane. Rachel, Josiah, Annika, and William are living in Japan, where her husband Hans is stationed in the Navy. Hans is in command of the destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur, so Rachel being a COW (commanding officers wife) has a lot of activities on her plate along with three young children to ride herd on. So May was busy in mostly good ways, and just on the last day, Phil, and I departed on our bike trip to places southwest mainly.
June started out with Phil and I on the road across Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas for starters. We wandered across northern New Mexico, western Colorado, and Wyoming, South Dakota, and home. We never even got wet or had bike trouble, and while we were gone they had several inches of rain at home. I think that we ran out to the south ahead of the weather and it swept in behind us and had moved to the east by the time we returned, sometimes you get lucky. Less than a week later Jan and I got the trailer out and loaded, and on the road back to the Hills again, to Hot Springs this time. Before Gen, Sam, Gus, Eli, Leah, and Aaron showed up Jan and I managed to get some riding in. One day we ran down to Fort Robinson in Nebraska, it was an interesting trip. Once the gang arrived we spent time touring the area and hanging out in camp. If you scroll back through my blogs you can see a more detailed tale. At home again, we took down another ash tree east of the house that was starting to look a little shaky, so that was the last ash tree of the four that we had at one time. I'm not sure if it will get replaced or not. We made a trip to Rochester again, although this time was to Mayo for a check on another suspicious spot in the same area as my major surgery six years ago. I heard the dreaded word again "biopsy". Anyhow. after that and a pet scan we went home to wait for the results. It's cancer again and surgery was on the 10th of July. They can't quite figure out how it can show up in the same location again since all of the tissue was removed and replaced with skin from my leg. The thinking is that a margin of the original had some cancer in it and developed from that. Phil and Laura were down and spent the night toward the end of the month. That about wraps up Christmas 2014 part Ein. Stay tuned for the next part.
So it's January 2014, let me see. The temps were in the negative region a lot of the time, and we made several trips to the Fairmont ER or Sherburn to help with Jan's Mom's medical problems, and Fairmont scouting out a new refrigerator for my Mom, so we, and primarily Jan, are entering an era of caring for our parents. In the middle of the month we had some freezing rain progressing into near blizzard conditions, and a trip to Rochester to visit the Theobalds. Later on it was brutal cold and high winds, and more trips for doctor appointments for me and Jan's Mom. We did get our new couch in there, and I worked on re-assembling the engine on my 185 Honda. We got a used carpet remnant to replace the several scraps that I have covered the floor in the shop with over the years.
February is next. It looks as if I spent considerable time on projects that have been hanging fire for years, one, a model of a B-36 that I started on in the 60s I think, and am finally getting together and painted, and second our Honda 185 that has been sitting disassembled in the garage attic for at least 10 years. Eli got the tank and frame all nicely painted with the proper color, and I spent a lot of time with a scrub brush and parts cleaner on the rest of the bike. When it was finally reassembled it looked pretty good, and actually ran, although the carburetor needs work. The weather continued with January's trend of below zero days and nights, and some snow. The 15th was our 43rd anniversary, so we took a couple of days and ran out to the Hills. It was 5 above here and 65 by the time we got out there. Jan and I tried to get over to Rochester one day but had to turn back due to bad roads, watched the Kuehl kiddos, and started to develop a cold.
March follows, in my books anyway. I was nursing a cold and we had heavy snow storms, which always means time blowing, and scooping snow- more fun in the snow. We celebrated Leah's 8th birthday on the 8th, and spent early morning hours at the Fairmont ER again with Jan's Mom. The next day I was at Cpl Caleb Erickson's visitation in Waseca. The Cpl was killed in action in Afghanistan. Patriot Guard missions are really starting to slow down, particularly KIA's, which all in all is not a bad thing. Primarily what we are doing now is veteran funerals. I was over to Waseca the next day for the funeral and burial. Luckily it was a sunny day with melting temperatures, so standing in a snow bank at the cemetery was ok. Jan was spending more time with her Mom, who seems to be failing mentally, and is no longer able to stay in her assisted living apartment. The weather is moderating, thank God, and I managed to get bikes out of the garage again. Jan did manage to get her Mom into the rest home here in St. James, so the trips to Sherburn won't be done any more.
Then comes April. I started getting the trailer out of hibernation, then we had a heavy snow, and then the temperatures started heading in the correct direction. Bikes were running out of the garage and getting serviced in anticipation of trips to come in the coming season. Jan and I ran over to Rochester to see Sam and Gus' program, also here in town for Leah, and Aaron. My brothers, Phil, Paul, and I did some projects at my Mom's house one day. I did get the 185 running, but it turns out that it has a plugged low speed jet that needed to be cleaned. It has got to the point that I can pull the carb off of that engine in a matter of minutes, I've done it so many times over the years. Easter was at Eli and Lindsey's house as is usual, and I see that I must have been trimming trees and cleaning up the yard. Was doing a lot of catch up riding whenever the weather co-operated and made a PGR mission at Yankton, South Dakota. Jan and I went to Leah's first piano recital here in town, it looks like we may have another pianist in the making.
May, what can I say? We were getting some moisture, because I mowed the lawn 3 times in the first 10 days of May. Jan and I made our first trailer run to the Albert Lea KOA over Mother's Day weekend. This is pretty early in the year so it was not unusual that it was cold and rainy, but we did get some riding in, and there is heat in the trailer so it's not too bad. The next major project to start out was the change of the living room and den carpet, which necessitated getting movers to move the baby grand to another room, pulling all the wood work, and painting the walls. Luckily I was not tasked with the paint job, or moving the piano, whew. With the change of the season came trips to Wooddale for Donna's choir concert, Blaine for our nephew's stepdaughter's funeral, Mankato to pick up my sister Kathy, Rochester again for Sam and Gus' program, and Owatonna for our annual Memorial Day picnic. Jan's Mom, Bernice broke her hip in a fall, and Rachel fearing the worst, made a flight home from Japan, and we went to the Cities to get her from the plane. Rachel, Josiah, Annika, and William are living in Japan, where her husband Hans is stationed in the Navy. Hans is in command of the destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur, so Rachel being a COW (commanding officers wife) has a lot of activities on her plate along with three young children to ride herd on. So May was busy in mostly good ways, and just on the last day, Phil, and I departed on our bike trip to places southwest mainly.
June started out with Phil and I on the road across Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas for starters. We wandered across northern New Mexico, western Colorado, and Wyoming, South Dakota, and home. We never even got wet or had bike trouble, and while we were gone they had several inches of rain at home. I think that we ran out to the south ahead of the weather and it swept in behind us and had moved to the east by the time we returned, sometimes you get lucky. Less than a week later Jan and I got the trailer out and loaded, and on the road back to the Hills again, to Hot Springs this time. Before Gen, Sam, Gus, Eli, Leah, and Aaron showed up Jan and I managed to get some riding in. One day we ran down to Fort Robinson in Nebraska, it was an interesting trip. Once the gang arrived we spent time touring the area and hanging out in camp. If you scroll back through my blogs you can see a more detailed tale. At home again, we took down another ash tree east of the house that was starting to look a little shaky, so that was the last ash tree of the four that we had at one time. I'm not sure if it will get replaced or not. We made a trip to Rochester again, although this time was to Mayo for a check on another suspicious spot in the same area as my major surgery six years ago. I heard the dreaded word again "biopsy". Anyhow. after that and a pet scan we went home to wait for the results. It's cancer again and surgery was on the 10th of July. They can't quite figure out how it can show up in the same location again since all of the tissue was removed and replaced with skin from my leg. The thinking is that a margin of the original had some cancer in it and developed from that. Phil and Laura were down and spent the night toward the end of the month. That about wraps up Christmas 2014 part Ein. Stay tuned for the next part.
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