Kissing the Frog, Cont.

Dear Diary,

So there you have it.

There was quite an auspicious start to the day, I must say.

None-the-worse-for-wear, we 'throw a leg over' and off we go.

As we come out of the gas station, we head North on old highway 61 again.
We pass by the Glensheen mansion that we had visited yesterday
and where I had taught Scarlett how to hunt for agates. ...AND I just realized...ANOTHER great butt shot of her...way to go Twitter!!!!

...and we make our way to Two Harbors where we get a great photo with Paul Bunyan:


I never realized this as a child....but he isn't wearing any pants!!!!!
Or maybe I did and that is why I tormented Scarlett with taking butt shots of her for 17 days.(heeheehee) Also, notice Foxy (Bev) with her hand up his dress. She is a pip!

So, Diary, we are on our way up to a small motel between Grand Marais, Mn and Grand Portage, Mn. The trip is a short one today. We only have to travel about 120 miles. There are, however, some places that we must stop and show to Scarlett and Foxy. The first is Betty's Pies which has been a fixture on the shore for as long as I can remember.
When I was a young girl we would go several times a year to get pie at Betty's Pies and I have a vivid memory of my Dad and Betty chatting on one occasion when we were there to partake of the pastries that she made by hand each morning. YUMMY!!!!!

(If you visit there, you must stop and see Gooseberry Falls which is very near to where you will have pie!)

From there we had one more stop to make before checking into our motel. We had to go show the girls Split Rock. A magnificent craggy cliff that is home to an 98 year old light house

whose light first shone over the waters on August 1, 1910.

Really quite beautiful, it was always a place of wonder for me as a child and always available to all of God's people...Until now. NOW you have to pay 12.00 to see it.!!! Silly! And I am just realizing that, since Bev and Scarlett never did see it in person, this is the first time they are getting to see what they missed!!!!

Anyway, we left Betty's Pies all ready to get to Split Rock and be awed. We made our way down the narrow access road, deeper into the woods. As we pulled into the parking area, it just seemed a bit too full and busy to me and so I opted to follow the car ahead around a grove of pine and into the next parking area which was less congested. Scarlett followed me but Twitter and Bev opted for the first parking area.
We took our time taking off our gear, which was left on the bikes, and met Twitter and Bev at the information window only to be disgusted by the fact that we now would have to pay. So, pragmatists that we are (as a group anyway), we decided to just continue on our way to the motel.

Now I have to back up...we started out the day, donning our gear....riding to Betty's Pies 45 minutes up the highway....taking off our gear and eating pie. Getting our gear back on and riding 20 minutes to Split Rock where we took off all our gear, deciding not to stay and getting all our gear back on, yet again!. So Twitter and Bev pull up and we are ready to take off when Scarlett hoists her bike upright. Did I mention that she had parked on an incline and was now hoisting her bike to the right....down the hill? Yes, well....she hoisted and just kept going . The next thing I see is her version of what it must look like to actually be shot from a canon. She tumbles to the ground, swearing and sputtering. I have to tell you Diary, she got up pretty darn quickly for someone older than me! ;)

At that point I decide that we need to just stop and settle down. All of a sudden Twitter exclaims that we need a "falling down pin". An award given to those who fall off their bikes. Not a crash mind you, but a fall, or a drop.
SOOOoooo, we take off all our gear, AGAIN, and we march ourselves into the Split Rock Gift Shop, talking, laughing and gesturing wildly about the incident. We find a pin and without hesitation I call those in the shop to attention and with much pomp and flair we "pin" Scarlett and all present applaud her!

Once the ceremonial shenanigans are dispensed with , we make our way back to our bikes, put all of our gear BACK on and carefully make our way through the woods to the highway.

Now here it is important for me to fill you in on riding formations. In the world of motorcycling there are some techniques that are endorsed by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation ( or MSF ). One involves group riding. During group riding it is important to ride in a staggered formation so that all riders have a safety cushion of space around them in order to maneuver and handle their bikes with little risk of encountering another rider traveling with them. So, if I am leading then I will ride in the far left third of the lane while the next rider will ride in the far right third of the lane and at least one second behind the first. The next rider will be in the left third and one second behind the second rider and two seconds, then, behind the first and so on.

In our group I was, in fact, leading. Then behind me and to my right was Bev on her Trike and then directly behind me but two seconds back was Scarlett and behind and to the right of Scarlett was Twitter. This is how we had been riding for about two days. When we left Split Rock, this is the formation we took to on the highway. That is until Twitter decided that Bev wasn't close enough to me (and she wasn't) and didn't want to keep playing catch up...so when her frustration level reached a point where she could no longer be patient, she decided she would change her place in formation and take the place behind me and to my right. Except that no-one had informed Bev and me of that fact....heehee...so when I saw Twitter running full throttle from the back of formation, up the lane for on-coming traffic, well...ya know...I thought just maybe, something was wrong. Maybe she forgot something at the last stop...maybe she has to pee really badly....maybe she is sick...I don't know. It just seemed as though I should pull over and find out why she was racing up the highway in the other lane.

So, being the good Mom that I am, I pull over. I pull over into the 8 inches of pavement beyond the white line that designates the side of the lane. I pull over, into the 8 inches of pavement that ends and drops two inches to a gravel shoulder. Ok, are you listening Diary?...Cause, I pull over into 8 inches of pavement, bordered by a gravel shoulder and put my right foot down EXCEPT I forget I have short stubby little German stumps for legs and with the two inch drop from the pavement to the gravel there just isn't ANY hope of balance and I now give the ladies and passersby a peek at MY interpretation of what I think being shot from a canon must look like.

As I abandon myself to the slo-mo experience of being unceremoniously "spat" from the top of my bike, my hands release the handle bars and reach up and to my right as though I am diving off the high dive platform in the Olympics. As I (regrettably) continue leaving my machine I scurry to keep my right foot from being pinned under the teetering beast and push my self with said foot further away from the bike only to realize I have just launched myself over the last bit of level ground and am now airborn over a ravine. Surprisingly it did not take much of an effort to twist while flying ( i think it was the perfect arm and hand position ) and I am able to land on my well padded back. As I continue to tumble "ass over teakettle" down the hill and through the tall grass that lines the ravine; unable now to control any of my limbs, my big bobbley head or my laughter, all I can think of, and actually say when I struggle to my feet, winded and YES 'FLASHING',....is: "Give me that freakin' Falling Down Pin"!!!!! ( i might add here I didn't actually say "freakin")

So, after hoisting my bike back upright, picking up a few crystals that had come off the windscreen when it hit the gravel and not 20 minutes after having pinned Scarlett, we hold another ceremony at the side of the road and I get pinned!

It occurs to me at this point that it feels as though we are in some strange version of a triathlon or something.....rain, wind, excessive heat, stopping, going, deer dodging, taking off gear, putting on gear, taking off gear, pumping gas, riding hard, pumping gas....falling down, getting up, flying through the air, tumbling down hills....how much can you do and how quickly can you do it all?????....HAhahahaha....and we aren't even half way through the trip yet. HAHAhahahaha...what is next in the Octathlon?????....Just wait Diary...just wait!

So we finally make it to our hotel, take off our gear and get to rest and look at the lake.


I show off my pin

and before you know it we are hungry. Thats right Diary...GEAR ON! and off to find dinner!

The day is not nearly over yet Diary, but I think we should take another break!

Tink