Road Trip

Today I went on a motorcycle road trip with a group of friends.  We had seven bikes in all. Our trip took us through Anoka, Dayton, Otsego, Monticello, Santiago, Foley, Pierz, Onamia, Waukon, Isle, Ogilvie, Dalbo, and St. Francis.  Just a couple drops of rain fell on us in the morning.  Along the way I saw great blue herons, red winged blackbirds, turkey vultures, robins, bluebirds, egrets, goldfinches, red tailed hawks, and one night hawk.  We got a few good looks at Mille Lacs Lake.  All in all it was a great day.  I had a great time even though the day did not turn out as I expected.  As we neared Otsego, a friend of mine beeped his horn at me and said, 'You are blowing smoke."  My first reaction was to be insulted, thinking he meant I exaggerated for personal gain.  But then I glanced back and saw a plume of oily smoke coming from my bike.  I pulled over.  Oil poured out from below the bike. Well, if I had to break down, at least I had 6 people to help me out.  We had parked behind the Target.  We bought 3 cans of oil, poured them in, and I drove to the Suzuki dealer in Elk River, smoking almost all the way.  I lost power as I went further.  The motor died about a block from the dealer and I coasted into the parking lot.  I hope it won't be a long and expensive fix.  So I spent most of the road trip on the back of another guy's Yamaha V Star.  I still had a great time and found it easier to look at the scenery when I wasn't driving.