Minneapolis Part Deux

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These last few days have been such a nice change after being on the open road for so many days. I guess it was only a week of traveling every single day, but after a while I felt like I didn't have any time to rest. I have decided from here on out I need to travel shorter distances per day. Sometimes it is easy to just jump on the bike and keep putting the miles down, when really I should be stopping more to nourish my body, see the sights, and meet the people. Basically I need to stop and enjoy life more!

Being with my brother has been wonderful. I know I say this every time I creat an entry, but I miss having him around so much. I think he misses being around Oregon too. We have hung out with a few of his friends the last few days, and they are all pretty good guys. I have to say the guys he works with at the range are absolutely nuts! This is in a good way of course, and they seem to have a good time while they are at work. They are always cracking jokes, and just being goofy and playing jokes on each other. We even go there to hang out when Randy isn't working.

We went to coffee this morning, then went to the range and shot for a little bit. Then we went to lunch with one of Randy's friends and his wife. After that we went to the range to hang out and put down some more rounds. I shot some cool guns today, including a fully automatic MP5, a couple Glock 17's, and a Sig P220. These all shoot 9mm pistol ammo, which is about the cheapest pistol ammo available. I'd have to say that even though I have shot an MP5 before, that gun is simply amazing! You can empty the 30-round magazine in about 2 seconds. While we were at the range we also had the tornado sirens go off, but nobody around there seemed to be worried. I do know one thing, it got pretty nasty outside and the rain was coming down. We ended going on the roof of the building to reset the air conditioning on the building, and while we were up there we saw some clouds swirling (tornadoes brewing?), so we figured the roof wasn't the best place to be at the moment.

Yesterday I rode the motorcycle with a couple of Randy's buddies. It wasn't the most twisty roads I have ever seen, but it was still a good time riding and seeing the surrounding cities of Minneapolis. We headed over to Wisconsin for some scenic roads, and came back. On the way back we had a guy on a GSX-R600 join us. We had no clue who the guy was, but it seemed like he just wanted people to ride with. It was funny because we were stopped at a signal light, the kid road through the intersection on this sportbike, not wearing a helmet or any sort of protective gear. Ernie and I looked at each other and just shook our heads, and once we started moving again the kid was waiting for us at a nearby gas station and pulled out to join us. He road back to Minneapolis with us, and even stopped to grab some food with us. We all felt like we were kinda responsible for his well-being on the ride back, mainly because of the fact he was not wearing any protective gear. We even road on roads with major gravel, and as you can imagine riding on a motorcycle with no helmet while gravel is being kicked in your face wouldn't be the most fun thing to experience. He was a nice kid, but just didn't make the best decisions when it comes to gear and riding. It is crazy because there are so many riders out there exactly like this kid.

Sitting around has been nice, but I am also feeling like I need to get on the road again. I will be leaving Wednesday morning, and heading toward Buffalo, NY. I am right in the middle of planning it, and hopefully tomorrow I can make enough phone calls or emails to get things nailed down as far as where I am staying each night.

Sorry I don't have any pictures to post, I haven't been carrying my camera with me the last couple days. I promise I will get more up in the next few days.

Thanks for all the prayers, great comments, and just checking in on my well-being.

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