10 September 2009, Arvilla, North Dakota, USA

I didn’t set any records for getting out of bed today but I was back on the road by 10:00 a.m. this morning. It was about par for the course. I was going to be driving East on Hwy 2 across Montana into North Dakota. I was hoping to make it to my brother’s place in Arvilla, North Dakota sometime today. It will probably be very late. Rough figuring the mileage, it was over 700 miles. I got about 10 miles down the road and I felt something hit my foot. I looked down and realized my aerosol can of chain lubricant just fell off my bike. I stopped and turned around. I drove back to where I thought the can fell off the motorcycle. I drove slowly down the shoulder of the road looking in the ditch for any signs of a white spray can. I didn’t see anything in the east bound ditch so I turned around checked the west bound ditch. It wasn’t long before I spotted what looked like a white aerosol can. I stopped my bike and went to investigate. Sure enough it was my chain oil can. It had a few dents in the top and the bottom but the spray nozzle was intact. I bent down to pick it up and saw a small pinhole leak in a seam that was dented. Well, that was a new can of chain oil that just went down the toilet. I just paid $16 dollars for it and used it twice. That sure didn’t make me very happy. I turned my bike around and took off. I had a long way to go before I reached my brother’s place. I reached Williston, North Dakota sometime around 6:00 p.m. Earlier I had to drive thru a rather lengthy stretch of road construction. They actually didn’t recommend motorcycles drive this road construction and to find an alternate route. I drove it and it wasn’t that bad. It was very dusty with wind blowing. I made it through ok. I gassed up in Williston and cleaned all my lights because I will be driving in hours of darkness. By the time I finished cleaning my visor and lights it was dark. I drove out of town and continued driving East on Hwy 2. Sometime around Stanley, North Dakota the lightening was getting closer and closer. I stopped in another truck stop and put on my rain suit and boots. I figured if I put on my rain suit I’d get lucky and it wouldn’t rain. Well that was just wishful thinking. It started raining sometime before Minot, North Dakota and continued to rain the rest of the night. I stopped somewhere after Minot to fill up with gas. It was a Cenex gas station that was closed with pre-pay pumps. I prepaid at the pump and checked the valve in the gas cap to make sure it was venting. I just filled my gas tank with gasohol which seems to make my vent in my gas cap sticky and not vent. I continued east on Hwy 2 and the rain started coming down harder. I had to slow down to 40 mph/64 kph in order to see. I could only see the width of one lane and about 30yds/30 meters ahead of me. When the lines on the highway disappeared I had no idea where I was on the road. I continually watched for reflectors, guard rails and lines on the road to keep me on the highway. Those last 150 miles/240 kilometers were a tough ride. It required 100% concentration on the highway. Somewhere in that 150 miles/240 kilometers Matilda drowned out. She shut off and turned black. My heart sank again knowing she might be gone forever. Probably the last 50 miles/80 kilometers I had to go to the bathroom. I sat there hoping a rest area would show up. You would be surprised how something like that won’t let you fall asleep. I was really tired and my eyes wanted to snap shut. I couldn’t because it would be seconds and I’d be in the ditch. Having to go to the bathroom helped keep me awake. Something else I had to be ever vigilant about was traffic. I was only driving 40 mph/64 kph the traffic that passed me usually was going 60/70 mph/96/115 kph. If I saw them coming in my rear view mirror I would turn on one of my signals to let them know I was there and traveling rather slow. Hopefully I wouldn’t get rear ended. Just when I thought I could wait no longer to go to the bathroom a rest area came into view. With all the glare on my visor I missed my left turn and drove up the wrong side of the road till I found the West bound entrance to the rest area. I pulled in and parked by the nearest sidewalk into the rest rooms. An SUV was parked two spaces away and when they saw me they left. I don’t know why, just more mysteries. I shut my bike off and dropped my hand off the handbars. It instantly filled my left glove full of water again. That put me in a foul mood instantly. I put down both of my kick stands and headed into the restroom. I used the electric hand drier to warm my hands and dry out my wet glove. I probably worked at drying out my glove for 15 minutes before I headed back out to my motorcycle. I started my bike…………..guess what…………Matilda was back. Hurray my day just got brighter. I let my motorcycle warm up until the fan kicked in and then left. I took Hwy 18 south to Larimore, North Dakota. I was in no rush as I was only 10/15 miles/16/25 kilometers from my brother’s house. I drove into Larimore and then turned left on Hwy 4 or 17th Avenue to Arvilla, North Dakota. I pulled into the yard and the whole house was dark. I blew my horn three or four times hoping to wake them up. No luck…………It was still raining………..I got off my bike and went and knock on the door. Alverne comes to door and lets me in. She’s backed her car out of the garage so I can put my motorcycle in. I look up and here’s my brother standing in the doorway. He said I was a little late. I asked him "How late am I?" He said it was 4:30 in the morning. My how time flies when you’re having fun. They said they waited up until 1:00 a.m. for me to show up and then went to bed. They always laugh when I show up because it’s either raining or snowing. Again they were right on the money. I believe it was their kids who first said that when Uncle David comes to visit it is always raining or snowing. I undressed and hung all my wet clothes up to dry in the garage. We talked some and then went to bed. I was tired.