2023: A Girl, a Motorcycle, and a Gypsy Soul

A few years ago, I went on a long weekend trip to Las Vegas with a few guys who like to gamble.  I like to spend roughly 12 minutes in a casino before ADD boredom takes over.  They, on the other hand, wake up early to get to the Sportsbook, where they park themselves for the majority of the day, betting on anything from sports to horses to dogs. I was not prepared for that, nor was I interested in doing that day in and day out. So after some google research, I managed to find GOLD!  (At the time) Enterprise off the Strip rented motorcycles. Yes, HD and other dealers rent them, but I wasn't willing to spend $150 for 6 hours of riding. Enterprise was my winning luck!! I rented a Harley for just $65 for 8 hours!! YES!!!!  So I tell the guys about my winning find, and while I don't think any of them really HEARD me, I hopped in an Uber and off the strip to Enterprise. I didn't have a destination, just knew it was sunny, warm, and I was gonna be on TWO wheels all day! (T...

Often times, I ride with no specific destination. If a road looks fun, I whip around and ride it. If the weather looks bad in one direction, I go the other direction. But sometimes its fun to have a destination to ride to. The bestie and I started Bestie Destination Rides this summer - and while the destinations were certainly quirky, it was a lot of fun to explore off the beaten path MN!                                      The last Happy Chef  - Located in Mankato, MN this is the only remaining Happy Chef restaurant with a talking Happy Chef statue. It is 36 feet tall, counting the spoon .  Address: 51646 Highway 169, Mankato MN 10' Tall Godzilla, made of scrapmetal pieces Location: Belgrade Avenue, North Mankato  Not quirky, but a cool lookout above the City of Mankato on the Bluff Rd Jolly Green Giant -  55.5' tall with 6' feet that fill siz...

Sometimes when riding a long time, its nice to get off the bike, go for a hike, and see what you can find. Alum Cove Natural Bridge in Deer, Arkansas (Click here for the Alum Natural Bridge Link) was the perfect pit stop - both to catch some shade from the sun, and to have a change of pace. From Fayetteville, Arkansas, I took:  412E, 21S, 16E, to Deer. Just past Deer, take a left onto NFM 28 - it is easily passed the first time - its a "used to be paved" "but turning into gravel" road with minimal signage from the direction we came in from. Naturally, when we left and headed the other way, there was an easy to see park sign!     (If you stay on the gravel road, you would come out in Jasper). You will be riding through flat lands, then there is a 'wayside rest' (a pull out) on the right, the next little road on your left is NFM 28. It's a gravel road, but easy to navigate as there is enough traffic on it to keep it pretty well packed down, just had ...

New 2019 CanAm Spyder $26k+: A Disabled Veteran's Story of being stranded, broke down, and missing an entire season of riding My Dad’s 2019 CanAm Spyder LTD  Summary : Bought new- over $26,000 CanAm Spyder Ltd   6/21/19 Excessive oil leak - back to Dealer- new engine needed     6/27/19 27 days later, gets bike back with 2nd engine at 218 miles     7/24/19 Check engine light on     7/27/19  Bike died. Left stranded 4 hours from home      7/30/19 Went to pass, went into limp mode. Check engine, etc.    8/27/19 Excessive coolant leak, etc. Back to Moon Motorsports for repairs.   4,753 miles on 2nd engine.    9/7/19 *Bike has been in the repair shop 83 days of the 132 days owned.* For every 5 miles the bike has been ridden, it has been trailered 1.1 miles (to Moon Motorsports for repairs)                   ...