Day 6 Sept 13, 2018

Bourbonnais, IL to Anamosa, IA

I believe it was 223 miles After so many days they all run together!!!

Today was a good day! The bike started right up, Mike said the ride was "good". If you know Mike, you know he is a man of little words. I did ask him for a "quote" and he said "the sun is hot." He isn't lying it was hot today. Isn't that what people say, Minnesotan's always bring the conversation to the weather? Anyway, the temperatures are rising folks. In Pierre, SD rumors is, is it's supposed to be in the High 90s. Yeah--no thanks. I'll take the 70s. (I can dream right?)

As the support crew got ready to depart, I decided to drive. Well, I was just pulling up closer to the hotel because I was waiting for Mary and Starry. I saw these cones that were ALREADY laying on the ground, knocked over. Well my mother decided to make it a big deal (jokingly) that I happened to run the very tip of one of these cones over that was already laying down. So, she had to get evidence of this...of course. And it seems only fair that I post it because I have been posting other pictures of other people. Please beware that it may be offense to some people (if you zoom in to my middle finger):

Anyway, we were off to Iowa! My driving freaks Starry out, unwarranted of course, but it does. We definitely hackle each other back and forth. If I need to do something that may freak him out a little bit, I tell him to close his eyes. For the record I am not a reckless driver, I am just proactive. 

We stopped at a Harley Davidson Dealership for a little help on a tire, and because, why not? They were super excited about the Cannonball and wanted to see pictures of Mike's bike. They had wished the bike was with us. I mean, we get it, we aren't anything special compared to the bike. We did get a picture taken with their cool back drop. So if you are ever in Illinois, definitely stop in at the Starved Rock Harley Davidson shop/service. They helped us with our tire real quick and had some great customer service. Plus, I had to contain myself with items I wanted to purchase. You know, not working for three weeks and such.  

We then continued again, and stopped at a Yamaha dealership for some 2 stroke oil. It still flabbergasts me the amount of people that are interested in this Cannonball and ask you questions about it, or have heard about it. The lady behind the counter said "Oh, I just heard about that on the news this morning -- how awesome!"

We arrived in Cedar Rapids, IA which is the town we are staying in. We took a quick break and then headed to Anamosa to meet up with the riders. Of course, there was a huge turn out!  At the National Motorcycle Museum some familiar faces were there. A shout out to Jerry and Debbie W, Dick and Jan Z, Paul Z, and Bill and Beth. It is appreciated, fun, exciting, etc to see friends who are just as excited as we are to drive from miles away to see these bikes and support Mike as he takes on this country. It means a lot. 

One thing that we were told we should do, is mark when there isn't oil in the bike, or when it hasn't been pumped in. Of course, I thought of an idea. Lets wrap a pipe cleaner around the little pusher thing (clearly I know a lot about motorcycles) when there isn't oil in it. Well Mike and Starry have been making fun of me because they always forget to put it on when there isn't oil in it. I then told them to just always inform me and I will make sure to put it on. Then they kept it on as a joke, and well you can see where this can get confusing. Well Starry found the pipe cleaner today and decided to keep it in his pocket. It has been an ongoing joke and has been very entertaining for all parties involved. Here's a good picture for your enjoyment: 

Mike did tell us a story about how he was shutting off the gas valve (thingy), and it happens to be right next to the spark plug cable and his bike wasn't running well, so he reached down there and he shocked him. Well he showed us the dance moves that were the result of this shock. I tried to get it on video for you guys, but I guess it was a one time thing. However, I'll let your imagination go with it.

Once we got back to the hotel, we had some trailer maintenance to work on, we had to pretty much flip flop most things due to the wear and tear on one side of the trailers tires. That was not fun needless to say, but I am glad it is over.

We hope for a smooth and steady drive tomorrow. We have some more supportive people showing up tomorrow and can't wait to see them! Thank you again to every single one of you who keeps ups with us and sends good vibes our way, it's appreciated and needed.