Iowa was fun...

The Arctic Circle & Coldfoot were nice, but, it's time to head out. The rain was off & on. What a difference it made on the Dalton Highway. Pouring rain created a major challenge the day before. Today is what I expected the roads to be like when I first thought about the trip, moist and dirty. This is my new friend Paul Shriner leading the way.






Oooow! It hurts to see the dirts...














We picked up another rider @ the Circle, Fred Fogle. He's an engineering teacher from New Jersey. He rides a 1200 BMW.














Paul & I revisited the Circle. He rides a Kawasaki 600. He has taken that bike all over the country, except New England. He says that's next.














I met Paul Shriener in the muddy parking lot of Coldfoot, AK. He said, "I wish we met a half hour earlier, we could have split the $199.00 room". It was a little bit of Dalton HIGHWAY Robbery...
Paul is an engineer & runs his own company. Very smart man. There wasn't much he didn't know about. If he didn't know anything about the topic, he made it clear, no BS.


















Always room for another picture of ME...














7/1/2010
It's the beverage barn in Algona, Iowa. Everybody was smilin'














My new friends, Bob, Matt, Marty, Zane & Gonzo. They were a fun group of great people.
The 3 in the middle are the people that tried to help when I ran out of gas on the highway.














The band was Uriah Heep. Easy Livin' was one of there hits.














Another guy I met in Algona, Michael.














AAAWW SHUCKS, why not another picture of ME?














Marty & Matt. Good people.



















Looks like an empty parking space.













5 minutes to figure out a strange tent. I didn't have a tent, so, Zane gave me his. Apparently they set up dummy tents on each end to distance the neighbors. Zane was sleeping in one of those. By the way, Zanes no dummy...














This was the community I stayed with.














This is the organization being funded by the bike rally.
It was next door to the Christian Biker Association.
There were all types @ this Freedom Rally.














This is where they held the motorcycle rodeo.
Big bikes, in a grassy field, doing all kinds of difficult, clothing optional, timed, maneuvers .














More bikes showing up for the rodeo.














9 acres of land to tent & enjoy yourself. I was told that there was rarely a problem.














Because I had never heard of the Algona Bike Rally, I told Matt & Zane I wasn't interested in going. So, I had no way of knowing where they would be in the campground. Oh, Zane has a big, red Harley. It was like a beacon in the night.














Some people are well prepared.














More of the neighborhood. What a nice silver bike...














This is where the band will play.














I pulled into the rally & noticed more bike trailers than I'd ever seen.














It was late when I got to Algona & shacked up @ the AmericInn.














I'm there. It was a long ride from the highway. About 60 miles. There were times I thought I had been duped. When you drive by nothing but corn fields for an hour or so, your mind plays through many scenarios. Aaah, the cynical piece of my personality. What was once a sliver, is turning into a chord of wood. Note to self, positive vibrations maahn...














It's getting dark.... Did I make the right spontaneous choice about going to this rally? Lah-dee-dah...











Well, good fortune comes in mysterious forms.
I will learn to love this gas can.
Oh, that's ME...














Where do I put my new friend?
My gas gauge has taken on new tendencies since I installed the new, larger gas tank in my bike. There still is no good reason why I drove by the last gas station other than I wasn't paying attention. I had told myself, when the odometer gets to 135 miles on this tankful, look for gas. I noticed it was @140 miles and said, Oh well. I have gotten 180 miles out of it. No biggy.
Well, I have an extra 150 pounds with my luggage etc. & the 100 miles of headwind on the highway certainly guzzled some gas. It ran out @142 miles.
That's when Marty, Matt & Zane pulled over to help. They planted the seed about The Algona Bike Rally.


















Wow, a Waterloo sunset...














Now I can say I've been to Waterloo. YEE HAA!














I could have just done a drive by.
I was curious about Dubuque. Isn't everybody?














Some newer parts... I like Dubuque.














A really older looking architecture.














Downtown Dubuque, Iowa. I had to go there.
Is this where Rob & Laura Petrie brought up little Ricky. I definitely am dating myself. Oh well. I'm kind of kidding, but, there is a reason buried in my unconscious leading to why I took the exit.