Big Wheel Biker Gang 2006 U.S. Tour

I can’t tell you much about Nevada and Utah, except this… For some reason, the states are flooded. All along Route 80, all you saw on the sides of the road were flooded fields. Maybe they were filming the long awaited sequel to Waterworld. Not having Midnights water wings with me, I decided not to stop. Another fun fact about these states… Anytime you want to hear “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None The Richer or “Meet Virginia” by Train, all you have to do is turn on your radio. They’re also big fans of John Cougar Mellencamp. Now that I think about it, maybe they’re stuck in a time warp and are still filming the original Waterworld.
With the other great lakes behind us, our first stop on the tour home was the Crazy Horse monument. Just down the road from Mount Rushmore, you can stop and see the work in progress. With just the head of Crazy Horse carved out of the mountain, you can see the drawn markings where the horse will be carved. Still having to carve the horse and the rest of Crazy Horse’s body, it seems like it will be quite a long time before it is actually finished. Since they are still actively carving, you are only allowed to climb to the top one day of the year. Unfortunately we did not show up on that day, so Midnight and I took in the view from the base of the mountain.
Winding down the road from Crazy Horse to Mount Rushmore, it looks like a boulder could fall onto your car at anytime. After miles of perilous road, I pulled into the park with Midnight and the rest of the gang. Except for the actual mountain, there’s not much to see other than the gift shop, cafeteria, and the Avenue of Flags which flies the flags of the U.S. states and territories. Still hobbling, I gave Midnight a piggyback ride up to the viewing point. The view is quite impressive as you look up to Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln carved high into the mountains.
Heading back to the entrance of the park, we ran into some old mountain goat friends of Midnight. It must have been a long time since they last met, because the older mountain goat, upon seeing Midnight, stopped eating the grass, arched his back, stared down Midnight, and looked as if he was going to charge. Thinking better of the idea, the mountain goat decided to just move and chew grass from a further distance. Even with a broken leg, Midnight still demanded respect.
Trading the floods of Utah in for the corn fields of Iowa, it was time to visit Dyersville, Iowa. What’s in Dyersville you may wonder? The Field of Dreams. Determined as I was to get to the bottom of this Waterworld sequel mystery, my first attempt to track down Kevin Costner had failed miserably. It seems as though he no longer hangs out at the ballfield. Although Kevin Costner was not there, you could still see the farmhouse in which they filmed the movie and the ballfield complete with corn field lining the outfield. Although there are two competing souvenier stands, only one was open. The other stand, which closed early that day, is run by outside investors and seems to be not officially associated with the field or the movie. After checking out the field, I was sure to stop by and pickup some “official” souveniers. If you’re ever in Dyersville, be sure to stop by the field and ask for Cindy. Tell her the Big Wheel Biker Gang sent you. It probably won’t get you anything, but let’s be honest… You should really just say that everywhere you go. It may not get you anything, but people will be impressed.
Sadly, the Field of Dreams was the official last stop on this leg of the U.S. Tour. “This leg” you ask? Well, it would be a shame to restrict ourselves by claiming this would be the last stop of the “a man and his horse tour.” It’s a big country out there and there’s a lot more to explore! Midnight and I can only stew in cubicle hell for so long before the call of the road wil overwhelm us once again. (Well, Midnight isn’t in cubicle hell, after he was officially banned from the building. In case you missed the eviction letter, check it out here… ESH eviction letter)
Even though the future of the U.S. Tour is undecided, I can tell you that very soon the next Big Wheel Biker Gang tour will be announced on this very site. This time there will be more bikers and there will surely be a long list of entertaining stories.
Thanks to everyone who kept track of the tour, posted comments, sent their well wishes, and checked in to make sure I didn’t get lost along the way. Sorry everything wasn’t always posted in a timely manner, but hopefully you enjoyed it all. See you on the road!!!
-Johnny D.
P.S. Almost forgot to give you the health update on Midnight. Midnight is indeed up and running again. He’s currently running on some temporary tires and will soon be outfitted with higher quality wheels. He’s even dressing up for Halloween, so he’s obviously back in good spirits. It’ll take more than a broken leg to keep Midnight down!
P.P.S. New pictures for you… Keystone, SD and Dyersville, IA

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 29th, 2006 at 9:45 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.