Well, I just learned something else... I have to have my iphone on wifi as well as the puter for pics to download! Apparently I've been doing that before, but the last couple of times... well... maybe I had a cranial cramp or something. Now, I'm sure all y'all already knew that, but... I didn't... or at least I must have forgotten. So, I haven't been able to post any pics lately, even though I'd wanted to. So, let me make up for some of that, OK?
It started with a need to have a target. I returned from way up yonder, and... nothing. So, I figured I'd just go ride that road TP and Nancy had suggested last year. I did... Coincidentally, the day I rode that stretch of quite remote roadway, it was the day of the eclipse... I didn't see any of it because...
...it was completely overcast...
How overcast? So much so that it rained on us a little while later and forced me to pull over and suit up! We'd stopped back at that other place in the last pic to top off and take a break. While I didn't see any strange behavior out of the animals up there, there was this one guy I thought was trying to hold my hand... Turns out he is a Latter Day Saint and was just trying to introduce himself. Another guy said he was prepared for the eclipse, though, and I suppose he was sort of correct...
We rode on, got wet, and finally made it back to a main road, MN 61, that runs alongside Lake Superior... I was debating whether or not to ride on through Duluth or settle in before that. Angry looking clouds southwest of us made my mind up for me.
The nice lady at check-in told me about a bar & grill just down the road that had sensational hamburgers, so... I went and found out. She was correct. Back at the motel, I no sooner dismounted than three couples on bikes in rooms nearby offered me a beer. I accepted... cheerfully! We had a great time chatting and doing what bikers do at times like this... about half an hour later it started to rain, and that turned into a heavy rain! Man, if I hadn't stopped...
Next morning, not a cloud to be seen! Cool, though, so chaps and Gerbings jacket liner just for another layer were necessary... We got onto US HWY 2 and rode east across the top of Wisconsin, then into the upper peninsula of Michigan...
We rode through Escanaba, deciding not to stop there after all... We rode past a motel near Gould City that had a restaurant/saloon next door, and it did look tempting... We kept going thinking we'd get closer to the Mackinac Bridge... and then it happened... ALI's alternator died!
Naturally, I didn't know what was going on right that minute, so I called Troutdude... He figured it out, then I got this inspiration about using the power pack from the Rugged Geek kit I've been lugging around for about a year... to hook up to the battery and see how far we could get. We made it back to that motel...
I've already posted about that and subsequent events, so I won't repeat any of that here... I will, however, offer a couple of pics I was unable to include before...
The way I hooked up power unit to get us going again...
The motel I landed at once we arrived in Indian River, MI, the night before repairs were scheduled...
The way I pack the Rugged Geek unit in ALI's saddlebag... Allan went to a smaller container (a cooler actually) to save space, but the way I pack with my laptop, I've so far decided to just keep it in the rather nice travel pack it comes in...
The Yamaha Dealer where ALI's alternator was to be replaced...
The UPS man cometh!!! My heart was racing... and my fingers were double crossed!
The part was on the truck! Terry already had ALI on the rack, the battery on a charger, and the old alternator mostly removed by the time we knew the replacement alternator had actually made it! Terry impressed me with his skill, and by the way he made everything look so easy... the good ones always make things look so easy...
Less than an hour after that last photo, ALI and I were off on our way! I wonder what adventure awaits us next...
DDT
