Montreal, Quebec

 I now know why so many mass murderers come from the mid-west.  Have you ever driven across  Kansas, the Dakotas, or Nebraska?  The food alone is enough to make any self -respecting foodie  go postal.  Forgive me for saying so but although there is a certain beauty to be found in the  Plains, enough already!  Save for my stop at J&L Harley-Davidson, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota,  my brain went to sleep until I crossed the Mississippi river, and entered Wisconsin, a state with  rolling hills, and a pastoral feeling that made me feel more engaged with the scenery.

 I will say that a couple of people I saw in the Mid-West caused me concern.  After I noticed her watching  me dismount from my bike through the restaurant window, I think this lady was talking about me in  unflattering terms.

 This is Terri Nelson who runs the lovely, Sweet Autumn B&B, in a beautiful small, lakeside town named  Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Terri is a great Inn Keeper and a ball of fire who also holds a  full time job at a l  local micro brewery named, Tyranena.  This first rate brewery  produces one of the better IPA’s I’ve ever  downed called, Bitter Woman, which Terri  certainly is not.

 My one-day stay in Milwaukee centered on a tour of the old Harley-Davidson factory that is now  used for their administrative offices, and a visit to the HD museum.    Both proved to be a  motorheads delight  because of the  significant  history  of the  Motor  Company, and  getting a look at    virtually every  Harley’s made since day one  in 1903, to the present, as well as every  incarnation of  the motors  used in these various bikes. Many thanks to  Sue Grzeca, (Gret-za), a 20 year  Harley  employee,  and Harley’s Manager of Customer Experience and Program  Operations, for her time showing me  around, and insight into one of America’s  great manufacturers.

You never know who you’ll run into on the road!  That’s Evel O’Malley!

 …this guy had on some Cheap Sunglasses.  Yes, that’s Billy Gibbons, having a chat  outside the Harley  Museum.

After a day at Harley-Davidson I took my leave of Milwaukee, (skyline left), and jumped on the  high-speed ferry  across Lake Michigan, to Muskegon.  I love ferryboat  rides and this one cuts out  having to go through Chicago and all of that  nightmare.

 Sue Grzeca suggested I stay at the Shoreline  Inn, in Muskegon,  and what a fabulous hotel it was  indeed!  Luxury, was the byword. Check out the view from my room!

 Having become used to riding across giant states like Montana, and South Dakota, the ride across  Michigan, a scant 219 miles to the Canadian border at Sarnia, was a breeze.  Then it was onward  to London, Ontario, to stay the night, and visit Rocky’s Harley-Davidson, to  have the front wheel  balance checked out.

 All the way back in Rapid City, South Dakota, a guy I was chatting with while washing Harvey in  front of my motel room said, “Hey look, someone’s lost their wheel weight.”  Idiot me never thought  it might be mine since I’d just changed and balanced the tires in Sturgis.  So I rode 1,200 miles, all  the Goddamned way from Rapid City, SD, to London, Ontario, thinking the roads were really  shitty, when in fact it was MY bloody wheel weight that was spotted on the ground.  A quick front wheel balance and a re-torque of the wheels and break calipers, and Harvey was as good as new.  Idiot of the week?  Me!

 Yesterday, when I arrived in Montreal, a real feeling of home came over me.  It’s a place I’ve visited  many times, I get to speak French,the food is magnificent, the city itself is  lovely, it’s but a few  hours from where I once lived in  Sugar Hill, NH, and  most importantly, I get to visit with    my first  cousin, Ariel Labrouche, a  transplanted French  woman, and  hellaciously funny pal.  I have  missed  her,  my many other friends, and the  rest of my family in the  Northeast, and  it’s time  to make a change to remedy  that  little problem.

 I’ll be on the road again in a day or two, headed for Jackson, NH, and a visit with Greg & Chris  Laffey, two more great friends I left behind when I moved to New Orleans.  And after that visit it  will be on to Prince Edward Island, Canada, seeing more friends and family in almost every stop  along the way.  With over 7,000 miles on the clock, I’ve seen the most wonderful vistas, stood  back and watched some completely crazy things, had a delightful visit with my daughter, met  numerous Americans for whom I had the highest regard and admiration, and regenerated a great feeling of pride and love of this great and beautiful country.  But there is nothing like coming home.  In another 2,000 miles or so, I’ll arrive in Portland, Maine.

More from the road in a few days.

XO

Middie