Sheldon's Ural Deco Diary - week twenty nine

Sheldon's 1998 Ural Deco - Week 29

"The Wings of a Dove"
(1997)

Day 177, Sunday August 1, 1999... Weather is gorgeous again, 62 f. in the morning, warming to 78 later in the day. A mirror image of Saturday's weather. Went out the campground about 9:00 a.m. and by then some of the folks had already left. Chatted with those that were still there and about 11:00 we pulled out with myself riding my Sportsman, Russ Noe riding my Deco, Fredda and Frank Cole on their bikes, Warren Johns on his Royal Star and Christal following with the Lincoln Navigator. Russ is flying out in the evening so he will be spending the day with us. We went to my house first, then took the Lincoln with Fredda, Frank and Warren following, to lead them to the top of Spirit Mountain so that I could point the way towards Canada. They would be riding along the North shore of Lake Superior to the Canadian border where they would separate with Warren heading towards Sturgis, via Winnipeg, and Fredda and Frank heading home to Massachusetts via the Northern, Canadian, route.

Afterwards we went to brunch at Blackwoods, home to unpack the truck, then we took Russ to the Railroad Museum at the Depot. Russ is a railroad nut and some kind of former engineer, but now he is a hobbyist with his own equipment. He seemed to be in his element surrounded by massive machinery. Afterwards we had dinner at Taste of Saigon, a Vietnamese food place, then we took him to the airport to catch his plane. Had a wonderful visit, with a truly nice person. I then dropped Christal off and went home to face my 1500 waiting e-mail messages.

Day 178, Monday August 2, 1999... Returned to work, which was very hard to do as I really needed a vacation from my vacation. In the evening I decided to vegetate a bit and just play a video game and watch TV.

Day 179, Tuesday August 3, 1999... Worked then went home to go at a bunch of web site stuff that had been just sitting waiting for me to get at them.

Day 180, Wednesday August 4, 1999... Rain predicted for most of the day so I drove the car to work. It rained off and on but by the time I got home from work the sky was clear. It was one of those days at work, so I didn't feel like working at home. I went in the house, changed clothes and went out to fire up the Deco. Tonight I was going to pass the magical 2500 km break in period on that bike so I decided to take a nice long ride in the country. I was wishing I had taken a jacket instead of just wearing a t-shirt. As I passed through areas in shadow, or in hollows, it was downright cold, but as soon as I passed into the sun it would warm again. I rode laughing my head off at how much fun I was having and how the days troubles at work were being left far behind.

Stopped at the Stage Stop restaurant in Carlton on my way home and had "all-you-can-eat spaghetti". Two plates were more than enough for me. I hopped on the freeway for my first blast at over 50 mph. The speedo isn't working but I would guess that I was doing about 65 and almost keeping up with traffic on the 70 mph superslab. Arrived home just before dark completely satisfied that I had had the best ride possible.

Day 181, Thursday August 5, 1999... Rode the Deco to work. At lunch I went for a nice long ride in the city. Stopped at Blackstone Motorcycles to show the bike off but they were out to lunch and no one was around. Blackstone is presently a Titan dealer but they are thinking about becoming a Ural dealer. I have been trying to convince them to take the plunge. I then rode through all the tourist areas getting lots of thumbs-up, waves and looks.

In the afternoon, while I was at work, it poured rain. As I was leaving it was once again threatening. I decided to take the freeway home over the hill. Big mistake. I got right to the top of the hill when huge winds hit, and the sky opened up. Wet? More like drenched. I am sure that I looked like a drowned rat by the time I got home. But I have been riding for 35 years and this was only one time in a long string of wet days. When I finally got home more storms were threatening so I put the bike away and went inside to work on web sites.

Day 182, Friday August 6, 1999... Phil Stocker, our Human Resources Manager and I were to go to lunch today. He was going to ride in on his Harley and we were going to take a trip up the North Shore of Lake Superior to Lakeview Castle for lunch. I rode in on the Sportsman but when Phil got to work he said he brought the truck because he had to deliver a bunch of stuff to his folks house for a rummage sale at noon. There goes the lunch plans, but you can bet that I will be riding at lunch time.

Christal is still out of town. On Tuesday she was informed that her father was gravely ill in Okeechobee Florida, so she drove to Minneapolis where her and her two sisters hopped a plane for Florida. I am missing her something terrible. Being as independent as I am I find it interesting that I could miss someone so very much. Her father apparently had a staff infection in his leg and it spread throughout his body. I sure hope that he will be ok and that Christal will return soon.

Day 183, Saturday August 7, 1999... Finally heard from Christal. Her father is doing a bit better. Lost most of the strength in his heart though and will never be quite the same. Only about 15% usage left. She is going to fly back to Minneapolis Sunday so I will get to see her Sunday night. Went for a nice long motorcycle ride on the Deco. It ran very well, and it felt so good to get into the wind. Saturday night I just stayed home and worked on web sites and wading through more of the massive amounts of mail I get from the lists I administer on the Internet.

Next week

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