Home is Where Your Harley Is...

Sadie spent a couple nights away from home.  J & S Custom Cycle tuned her up and put on the new hand grips that I bought from Kuryakyn.  Saturday morning I road two up with Dan to go and pick her up from the shop.  That was weird!!!  I don't think I've ridden on the back of his bike for a few years now.  It was enjoyable enough to be riding behind my man but after riding my own now it sure felt strange.  I think if I ever did decide to ride two up with him again I'd make him get a Geezer Glide.  DAMN, that passenger seat on the Street Glide is uncomfortable.  I was some kind of trooper riding on the back of that for all the years that I did. 

We got up to J & S and they pulled Sadie out.  I was so happy to see her.  After seeing my new grips,  Dan ordered himself a set for ZP and then we were off on our morning ride.  Holy Mother of Christmas, I don't know what they did to Sadie but she moves now.  I'm going to dig the grips but they are going to take some getting used to.  I do think I'm really going to like the Throttle Boss for that ride to Sturgis. 

After making our way out of town we found this road outside of Waukee that goes to Dallas Center that was so awesome!!  I wish all the roads around Iowa were that wonderful.  It was like butta!  The highway from Dallas Center to Grimes is horrid!  I hit a bump and was literally off my seat practically standing up.  I can't believe they didn't even have a "Bump" warning sign pointing it out.  Big hazard!  After our trip over the mile long bridge outside of Polk City I decided maybe we should head for home.  The sky was getting dark which meant we were in for another round of rain.  I swear, someone must have really peeved off Mother Nature because we've had more rain here then we did during the floods of 2008.  Insane! 

When I looked in the garage tonight to make sure the door was down I smiled because there was Sadie, back home in her space waiting for me to ride her again tomorrow!  All is perfect in the world again! 

Home Sweet Home!

Sadie and Zippy Pickle Went on a DATE!

They didn't take a long ride but boy did they have an amazing adventure!

Bittersweet Journey

What a week!!! I'm sitting here listening to a little Captain and Tennille. Yes that's what I wrote, stop laughing. They are ICONS! :)~

Ok...so what a week...Thanks for the comments on last nights entry B.B. & Ann. I'm glad I blogged what I was thinking because I didn't think about it for the rest of the night! That guy was a jackass though...WOW!

Last Sunday Dan and I stained the deck at like 6 am and then hit the road on a 230 mile journey. I've gotten to the point this year where I ask where we are going because there have been a couple recent adventures that have turned into long distance rides and I've been sitting on the back freezing like an ice cube because of poor planning or lack of communication. A few weeks ago I had to finally gesture at the road sign to exit at Story City so that I could put on my leather coat. When I got off the bike Dan was like..."What's up?" Steph..."I'm freezing!" Dan..."And you call yourself a biker chick!" Steph...Arm punch..."Yep I still do!!" LOL It was funny...guess ya had to be there, huh?

Ok...Captain and Tennille...while a great duo...not really inspirational blogging music. Need to find something else. LOL Alright...I'm going with a little Poison...Bret Michaels is a biker...this will be good! :) Hey D-Day...how was the show? Bret rocks...

Back to the trip...so we get on the road and head over to Hwy 330. Great back roads on the way over and 330 is a nice road with not a lot of traffic even though it's 4 lane. We are headed over to Parkersburg to see the tornado damage. I get into my head and think a lot when we are riding...I'm mentally preparing myself for what lies ahead in Parkersburg while still trying to enjoy the ride. I have mixed feelings about this Parkersburg trip. I've never seen the destruction that a tornado has caused first hand.

We've had so much rain in Iowa that the fields are flooded and many rivers are out of their banks. We come up on the 30/330 bypass and there is a sign telling us that we will need to exit and go through Marshalltown because 330 is under water at Albion. We cruise into M-town and stop off at a Kum and Go for gas. Here is a pix of Zippy Pickle at the pump and the current price of gas as of last Sunday.(3.75 was for the cheap stuff)


Back on the road we head through NE Iowa on Hwy 14. We get to Grundy Center and my stomach starts to get butterflies...I'm bracing myself for what I'm about to see. We head past the new Grundy County truck stop, off of 14 and Hwy 20, and are now getting closer to Parkersburg. We blow by the road closed signs and I'm actually hoping at this point that we won't be able to get too close. I see the P-burg water tower and a lump forms in my throat...the closer we get I can hear myself saying Oh My God out loud. Everything that greeted you to this town when you enter it on Hwy 14 is now gone. Debris is everywhere. The tears begin to fall from my eyes. Dan pulls off the road and we both sit there and just look...silent. It's the worst thing I've ever seen. Peoples lives torn apart by nature, strune all over the country side. After about 10 minutes Dan starts up ZP and says that he's going to see if we can ride through. I don't want to...I want to turn around and go back. I'm feeling guilty for being there because I'm not volunteering to help...I'm just another gawker. The ISP lets us through and then we are stopped again by some volunteer firefighters up from Norwalk. One of the guys doesn't want to let us in and I really don't blame him. I'm feeling like shit at this point, thinking that we should have gone back. The looks on peoples faces were so sad. There was no laughter, no smiles. We got past the firefighters and venture into P-burg. As you ride through town it's amazing to see houses that weren't affected at all. It's unbelievable how mother nature picked and chose that day whose lives she was going to change. We ride up by the high school and it's destroyed. National Guard trucks line the parking lot at the school. I finally asked Dan if we could head out. My heart couldn't take anymore...we had to get on down the road, so we did. I didn't take any pictures, it just didn't seem right...if you want to see footage go back to an earlier post and watch the videos. http://iowaharleygirl.blogspot.com/2008/05/deadly-tornado-parkersburg-ia.html

Back on the road I reflect on life, reflect on what I just saw, said a prayer for the people of Parkersburg and then moved it out of my head. We stopped in Iowa Falls and had lunch/dinner at DQ. Then we cruised on over to Ames and stopped off for a cup of coffee at Burgie's Espresso Cafe. Fueled up ZP and were back on the road headed back to Johnston. This was a bittersweet journey. I still feel guilty for gawking but I'm glad I went up there to see it first hand. Seeing that kind of destruction really makes you think about the things that are most important and it's obvious that they aren't material belongings. My thoughts continue to be with the people of Parkersburg.

Have a great weekend and hug the ones you love!!

IHG

More Snow....ARGH!

Wow...it just keeps snowing. We've had snow here in Iowa since November. It's the most snow I've seen in years. It's coming down pretty steady tonight. I measured the snow in the drive and it was about 3 inches. ICK! Tomorrow morning should be a treat getting to work. Our Iowa winters sux worse every year! I think it's because I'm getting older, have to drive in the crap and don't ever get a snow day like we did when I was a kid. I also think it's because there is this pretty Street Glide sitting in the garage freezing to death and wishing she was on the road. Poor Zippy Pickle is probably as sad as I am and hoping for spring!!

One good thing happening this weekend is a motorcycle show and swap meet at the fairgrounds. I can't wait. Chrome, paint, sexy bikes, vendors and hopefully cool swap meet finds. I'm hoping to get some pictures to put on here and show people that motorcycles really do exist in Iowa.

Well...that's all for now. Hope everyone is doing well out there and wishing for spring as much as I am!

Goodnight! IHG :)