Ozarks 2025

Monday: July 30, 2018 - Returning Home "Parting is such sweet sorrow." Didn't Shakespeare say that about his Harley trips? I am shipping my bike home, and catching an airplane from Missoula to Chicago. It is 1,564 miles back to Wheaton according to Google Maps, which is about three days of driving: nearly 24 hours on the road.  I just don't have the time. Having a Harley is being part of the Harley community. Every town has a Harley dealer. They are very welcoming and helpful. I'll drop my bike off with the dealer in Missoula, and he'll hold it until Haul Bikes comes to pick it up and deliver it to my Harley dealer at home. I'll pick it up there. Haul Bikes has trucks constantly criss-crossing the United States picking up and delivering bikes. They are especially active this time of year because of Bike Week in Sturgis.  Randal and Larry will ride home. Maps says it is 1,890 miles or about 29 hours on the road to Memphis.   Randa...

Sunday, July 29, 2018 Randal and Larry are very proud of the effect they have had on me. First off, I am much more patient and less driven than I was one week ago, and they are taking all of the credit. I don't think it was intentional on their part to push me to relax - except to the extent that I would be less annoying. It is borne of necessity as as act of Congress could not get them off in the morning any faster. It just happened that I acceded to their morning habits. I am becoming very chill as a result.  Second, they also claim that they are making a human being out of me. They are making me more mannered and less abrasive - at least that is how they view it. Early in the week, they would tell people they are from Tennessee and Mississippi, and this is their friend from Chicago (pointing to me), like I had leprosy. They don't do that anymore. I think I'm having an effect on them!  Third, I understand their jokes, and I've taken to eating biscuits and gravy i...

Saturday, July 28, 2018 The day began very cold. The temperature at our hotel was 52 degrees, and the temperature in the Park was 41 degrees.  One of the peaks in Glacier National Park is named “Going to the Sun.” As such, the road through the Park is called the Going to the Sun road.  The trip from our hotel to the Glacier National Park gateway was approximately 30 miles. It was cold, very windy and there was low cloud cover. It did not look promising. But it seemed that as soon as we entered the Park, the wind subsided, the temperature slowly improved and the clouds gradually lifted. The Park roadway was typical of what we've seen in the National Parks - two lane roads with low speed limits, which are in pretty good shape. Our first stop was to take the Cedar Trail. It was a path/boardwalk through towering pines. But along with the pines, there were hemlock and cottonwood trees. As you enter the trail, they make it pretty clear that there ar...