Dusty Boots Posted July 25, 2016 Author Share Posted July 25, 2016 I met Lorne and Judy for breakfast and then we took the ferry across the St Clair river to Marine City, MI. Had a great ride going until shortly after we filled up for $1.99 a US gallon in Farwell, MI, when we hit heavy rain until we were south of Cadilac MI. On Saturday night, we all enjoyed a Pot Luck dinner where one member supplied burgers made from his beef cattle and hot dogs. We had extremely hot n sunny weather until early Sunday morning, where we had rain for roughly an hour. We went over to Dilberts for breakfast and then came back to pack up and hit the road back home, managing to keep ahead of the rain. We stopped in a small tavern in Adair and had their Sunday night Fried Chicken dinner, which I was just barely able to finish as the portions are huge! Here are a few shots of the weekend. ..... Now it's a matter of unpacking some items from my camper and adding others to get ready for the upcoming CMC National Rally this weekend in Milverton! Dusty 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Boots Posted September 8, 2016 Author Share Posted September 8, 2016 I'll be heading out at Dark O'Thirty Friday morning on a 3+ week trip. tying in 3 Camp Outs in the States The 1st one is one I'm hosting at Loleta Rec Area in the SW Alleghenies of PA. Then I'll be slowly making my way over to one at Clinton Lake Sate Rec Area in IL. for some awesome slow smoked ribs!! Then it's another slow meander down to the final Camp Out at Bass' River Resort, SW of St Louis, MO. for some fun and a possible float trip. After that one, I'll be making my way home after stopping off for a day, or two at some friends in Arthur, IL Here is my planned route down. - https://goo.gl/maps/xhjPVFSwdUE2 When I get time/WiFi access, I'll update this trip Dusty 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CenCom Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Safe ride and have fun, Dusty and Thankyou for the 'Hi' the other day. ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Boots Posted September 12, 2016 Author Share Posted September 12, 2016 Left Villa Dusty @ 5:30 on Friday morning and had a great ride over to west of Hamburg, NY where I filled up for $1.67/gal. Beautiful ride down to the campground at Loleta Rec area, meeting up with 12 others. Although the weather forecast was not a positive one, it only rained Saturday night (11:30 pm - 5:00 am) and it was hot n humid the whole time, but once the cold front swept through Sat night, the temps moderated. Always a sad time when it is time to pack up and everyone goes their separate ways. Sunday I rode through rural PA, riding a fair amount along the Beaver Valley through Butler and eventually crossed over the Ohio River near East Liverpool,OH. Cost me $0.75 to take a short cut across the river on an old, steel grated toll bridge (Newell) I am presently camped a little north of Cadiz, OH in the Harrison State Forest at a free, primitive campsite and will move on tomorrow to Lima, OH Weather has been great so far for riding! Dusty 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Boots Posted September 14, 2016 Author Share Posted September 14, 2016 I left the free campsite north of Cadiz, OH W@ 7:30 yesterday morning. Rode through some fog but it soon burnt on and the day became quite warm (low 80s) Things were going fine until I crossed into In, where I soon notice my cruise control wasn't working as it should. About 50 km later my bike died, as the 90 amp alternator gave out. I was stranded along a fairly remote stretch of 124 and while I was contemplating things, a couple of fellas in the first vehicle to come by stopped and offered assistance. He called another fella who told him there was an alternator repair shop close by. He gave me directions and asked if the bike would start up I walked over to the bike, hit the starter and it did start, so off I went a short distance until it died again, on an even more remote road. After about 45 minutes rest and multiple attempts at restarting it, it did start again and soon died on me another short distance away. After about an hour of waiting and no chance of restarting, a young fella happened by and offered me his phone. I contacted a friend in IL (host of the next M&G I was heading for) and informed him of my situation. He offered to drive all the way out and pick up my bike and camper to take back to his place. I told him I'd see what the alternator shop said, once I got it there. I thanked the young fella and waited another 15 minutes before deciding to try and push my big ole heavy bike and camper combo up a slight rise about 1/4 km away and see if I could bump start it down the rise on the other side. It took me 4 tries at getting it to the crest of the rise, then rested a bit before donning my helmet and got the bike rolling. I manged to get it fired up and rode into town where it died again as soon as I rounded the corner. Another fella in a truck stopped and offered to drive me to the shop, because it was getting later in the day and the shop would soon be closing (which I accepted). I talked to the owner and told him what make and amperage my alternator was and he said he'd order one that had free return shipping if not needed. He gave me a battery charger and said when I got there I could set up my camper in the lot across the street. He talked a customer there into giving me a ride back to the bike and when I got there I asked a gal if she had an extension cord and if I could use some hydro to charge the battery up. After about 40 minutes, I got the bike started and rode it to the lot across from the now closed shop and proceeded to set up camp and remove the alternator. (which took me 35 minutes to do) I was at their front door when they opened up @ 8 this morning with my alternator and their battery charger in hand. After about an hour, the prognosis was that a couple of bolts inside the alternator had loosened up and the insides were basically junk. So, I'm waiting for the new alternator to arrive and for them to convert the attachment plate on front of it, to the one off of the fried one. In the meanwhile, I've packed up the camper so it's ready to roll and got a fella from the shop to help me back the bike out of the grassy field and into a large outbuilding so I can install the new alternator and not get wet as it is threatening to rain today. Oh ya, my newish cell phone decided to mysteriously pack it in as well! Stay tuned! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CenCom Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 Wow, lot of misfortune. Hope today and the rest of your trip goes better. Was nice of people to stop and try to help though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scob Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 Quite the day, Dusty - hope things get sorted and you're on your way again soon! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Boots Posted September 15, 2016 Author Share Posted September 15, 2016 Yes, today went better! Alternator was ready when I got back to the shop and had it installed in 40 minutes. I was underway again and arrived at my campground here in South City Park, Gibson City IL around 5. Although scattered showers were forecast, I managed to skirt them Beauty little park located in the south end of town with 10 campsites, showers, with electric and water, picnic table and fire ring at each site. Also has a couple of play areas for kiddies and a basketball court. Just discovered it also has a strong, free WiFi signal.. Restaurants, gas station and convenience store are just a short walk away Cost?? ..... how about $10/night! Heading down to Clinton Lake State Rec Area tomorrow morn to hook up with a bunch of friends, topped off with a bunch off slow smoked racks of ribs, with all the fixins, Sat eve. I took a bunch of photos of this neat little park I'm staying at tonight and if one of the gals has her Hot Spot set up again at Clinton Lake, I will post them. Stay tuned! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Boots Posted September 15, 2016 Author Share Posted September 15, 2016 some more photos of this park .... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Boots Posted September 20, 2016 Author Share Posted September 20, 2016 I had a short, easy ride down to Clinton Lake State Rec Area from Gibson City on Thursday morning. Weather was great for this Annual event, with 44 attendees. I'll update with photos, once I get decent wifi signal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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