A wet weekend trip to KC

Grab a beverage of choice whilst' I ramble on a bit.

Went to the KC open house in 2000, the weather was lousy so I took the
truck. A non-ride report I posted here has led me to many IRL's since then
so it seemed like time well spent. My dad and I went back in '01 and had a
good time even though I didn't get there early enough to get a ride booked
on the new V-rod. Been wantin' to go back, but hadn't been able to work it
out. Last week I looked at the weather (it looked promising), bummed the
boss for a long weekend, called Big Stinkie, and serviced the bagger. Well
I had to work Thursday night, well at least I was there. <sfsf> Spent most
of the night lounging in front of the PC looking at the weather, except for
the hour or so helping the PD look for a drunk they were chasing. During
their pursuit the idiot drove through one of our perimeter gates knocking
them plumb off the posts. Anyway the weather didn't look great. I figured
to sleep till around 11 am then get up and head to Kansas. By the time I
got up the only rain was in the Springfield area. It looked like it'd be
gone time I got there. So I'm up at 11:15 Friday and ready to leave about
1, *** no gas in the bike. So around 1:15 I'm on the road, taking rural two
lanes through the hills, the weather is looking great, I thought. I made it
20 miles and ran into a flood. Stopped at a church to suit up and continued
north. Finished off that tank of fuel in a repeated cycle of rain and sun I
pulled in at West Plains, MO for fuel. While I'm stripping the rain suit
three dudes on shiny new Street Glides pull past the pumps. After I finish
pumpin' gas I park by them at the store. I'm asking about the weather north
which they say is good, but they need 93 octane gas and do I know where to
get some? WTF do I know, I think there's some in Arkansas. Seems their
brand new 110's don't like 91 octane fuel. The next tank of fuel put me
north of Springfield and another puts me at Harrisonville?, MO without a
station in sight. Gamblin' on a country station I head west toward Spring
Hill at a sedate fuel saving pace. I lucked out 9 miles later when I found
a gas/convenience/liquor store/karaoke bar in the middle of nowhere. I
fueled up and got to thinking. What kind of company would show up at 9 pm
empty handed? So over to the liquor section I go. Quite a selection, lots
of stuff that isn't available in Arkansas. What to buy?????? Oh hell, it's
obvious, I'm damn near in Kansas. I gotta go with the local favorite,
Boulevard Brewing's Unfiltered Wheat Beer, yeah that's the ***! I know
Roger'll be wishing he was here. Seems nobody around here knows how far it
is to the Big Stinkie's town, though I found out later I was less than 30
miles away. The last few miles are in deer infested country, feels just
like home to me. And then I saw it, but it's too dark to take a picture,
yep sure enough, bigger'n *** there it is. The Curve. I could almost make
out the tracks of the *real* Kansas bikers, where they had pushed their
bikes around it. Another hundred yards and I see movement, somebody's
dancing in the yard, and it's Andy! I park the bike in the shop, unpack my
duds and the beer, and the lie swapping begins. I was wishful for a early
start to the Open House, I was wanting to ride the new 1125R. But the rain
came back so we delayed our departure, met a friend of Andy's at the gas
station, with plans to meet up with him at the plant. At the plant I get in
line for the demo waiver to find the only Buell to ride is the Ulysses. I
signed up for that and found Andy & Tom for a plant tour. The plant tour
was not nearly as good as last time I was there, but the vendors and stunt
bikers did provide a nice distraction. As we headed back to Casa Stinky I
was led though a nice suburban area with a few twisties and some pretty
country. I'm thinking that the weather is beautiful, the forecast for
Saturday is questionable, and it's just 2:30. So when we get back to Andy's
I decide to pack it in and head towards Arkansas. I'm about a 100 miles out
and start to smell trouble, it's getting dark and I'm smelling rain. Gas
stop, and on with the rain suit. The next 150 miles, including downtown
Springfield in the rain. At Seymore, MO I'm beginning to see lightning so I'm
looking for a room. I see a $29.95 sign and the place looks good. The lobby
is full of old folks gathered round the coffee machine; they're staring as I
squish by leaving water with every step. The chick behind the counter looks
like she et a bug! See something funny I ask? She tries not to laugh and
says it I don't have a reservation I'm SOL. She calls down the road and
gets me a room in the next town. While I'm stopped I gas up, grab a
sandwich and a six pack & stuff it in the saddle bag. 20 more miles and the
rain stops, and the road is dry as I exit the 4 lane, it figures. When I
hit the room, I inhale the sandwich and slam the beers. Saturday morning I
leave in a pouring drizzle that soon turns into a monsoon. This keeps up
till the ARK/Mo state line. Now I'm in the dry and got dry curvy roads. I
overtake a dude on a dual sport bike, then he and I proceed to flog hell out
of hi-way 63 from Mammoth Springs to Hardy. That was fun especially after
all the miles in the rain. Ditched the rain suit (again) and made the dry
ride home on the pig trails. 3 days on the road, good friends, (Thank you
Andy and Lois for your hospitality), too much rain, only one close call by a
blind and deaf cager, and around 1100 miles traveled. Not a bad weekend.



If ya stuck around this long have an unfiltered wheat beer on me.


--
"frito"
Fred Snetzer
'01 FLHT, '97 M2²
TOMKAT
IBA #10549 BS #162
http://users.ipa.net/~frito/
http://eddiekieger.com/


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