2021 was fun… read all about it
And 2022 begins with sauerkraut and sausage!
And then Covid finally got me. Off work for a week, and then back at it with the cough medicine in hand…
Off and on snow in January and into February.
Mid February, went over to friends house to hang out with the dual sport gang. Brought along the good ole games…
Another week later I decided to bundle up…
And take the DRZ for a spin.
End of February, and had time scheduled off work and planning to go to FWG. But then plans changed, and I needed to use that time off for a surgery and recovery.
2 weeks later and was ready for some adventure, so the beau loaded me in his brother’s RZR, and we went some rounds at Maumee State Forest APV area.
Still some snow in spots, but otherwise decent.
Saw this nifty rig pull in to the parking lot to have some fun!
Nearer the end of March, and we head into Kentucky to pick up a bike!
Also stopped at a Distillery…
Picked up a 2008 KLR 650, for him.
Another week and off on another adventure to the US Air Force museum. Free admission, and lots of planes!
Probably my favorite part is being able to see inside the Air Force One presidential planes.
Into April and I was given the opportunity to read a book to my nephew’s preschool class. Of course, I chose a motorcycle book! Also took our helmets in to show the class.
And took him home from school on the DRZ!
Stopped for ice cream on the way.
Made room for a new dirt bike helmet in the back mud room…
Mid-April, and I take his bike out for a spin.
And the next day he rides his bike and I take the DRZ.
Then I add some new stickers to the DRZ…
So the next weekend I can load the DRZ up
And meet up with the gang for trail riding!
Nice to get out on the trails within the first couple weeks of them being open.
Using the new helmet is nice!
This bike sure is a blast to ride on the trails!
New tires on his KLR…
So that I can take it out the next weekend!
Met up with friends and rode around the Mohican area.
Joined up with another friend for lunch
And then rode the AEP area around Coshocton
And found some big mud puddles!!
Mohawk Dam
Size comparison of bike and human to dam… damn!
Went back and loaded the bike back up and headed to get ice cream before I aimed home
The next weekend, a trip to Cedar Point.
And then one morning mid-May, I represented “Farrier” at a career fair at a local middle school. An opportunity for students to learn about future careers.
And that afternoon I had the FJR loaded up and I was headed to Southeast Ohio!
Joined up with Don and Mark for a ride on Friday.
Rinard covered bridge
Lunch at Beallsville Diner
130 miles for the day of fun
The next day rode to the Big Muskie Bucket
With Don and his dentist
And then met up with some others
And rode to lunch
120 miles for the day
679 miles for the 4 day weekend… (this might have been the most the FJR was ridden this year)
End of May, and I’m back at Cedar Point!
To meet up with Nate and his family while they’re on vacation!
For 2 days!, They wanted to see why I loved CP so much…
I don’t cuss, but I think a word slipped out when this happened while working. Nail sliced through the calf after a horse acted up. ouch
Mid-June, I traveled to north Georgia with Mark to meet up with other FJR riders
It was nice to see everyone, albeit for the unfortunate circumstances
Was a touching sight to see so many bikes there to honor one of ours.
On the way home, we stopped at the Bucc-ee’s that had just opened in KY. Holy crap!
Back home and celebrated my birthday with Italian and a milkshake.
And then setting up the motorcycle license test and letting him practice the patterns on the DRZ.
And to celebrate him obtaining his license- we went out for a ride on his KLR and my FJR.
The bikini tree!
Sunset at the reservoir
End of June, and we are off on another adventure!
With a stop at the Bucc-ee’s…
A whole area and huge selection of jerky!!!
Highlights of the vacation included a helicopter ride over the Smoky’s!
Dinner theater with a pirate show!
A run through the Tail of the Dragon
And through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
Found a scenic drive near Gatlinburg
Going up the chairlift and walked across the SkyBridge
Back home and took the FJR to Iron Pony
And then 4th of July weekend at the lake with the beau’s friends!
Tubing was awesome!
A week later we were on the road again, this time to southern Indiana, to pick up another bike…
This time we got a 2007 KTM 990 Adventure
After riding his KLR, I knew I needed to add an adventure bike to my stable. And this one popped up, and I loved the looks of it.
So now I have 3 different style bikes…
And they all fit in the garage!
The following weekend I loaded up the new bike and headed out!
Over and down to ride with friends in the Killbuck area again.
Mohican State Park fire tower
View from above!
It was nice to be able to ride the bike over, take off the luggage, rip and ride, and then load luggage back on and head home.
120 miles with friends, and 350 miles for the weekend total
2 weeks later we were loading up our adventure bikes and heading north for a new adventure!
Met some other riders at a quaint little hotel along Lake Huron in Michigan…
And those other riders included Don! And some of his friends from Canada.
Thanks for inviting us along and being able to introduce Mitchell to group riding and Don.
Don even got to ride the 990 for a bit!
After the ride, Mitchell and I walked around the small town and found a lighthouse.
Headed home and a beautiful overlook of the lake
Into August, and my sister and I ride around the county and follow the hot air balloons that are in the area for a fest.
And then I ride the 990 around and find a covered bridge
End of August, we take the boys up to the lake to celebrate summer before they go back to school.
They and I had a blast tubing!
Labor Day weekend, and we head to Indiana for a picnic with his family.
Stopped by the mural of The Pickle in Merkel, IN!
Time to change the tires of the 990 to be able to be prepared for a couple weeks.
Quick trip to Cedar Point, and I drug him along to experience why I love this place!
And then comes time for EOM! So off I go on the 990 with him behind me in his car.
Stopped at the Boondocks for lunch.
Mitchell was worried about the group at EOM, and being accepted into it. That was also why I enjoyed Don’s weekend, so that he would at least know someone at EOM. And boy, you all accepted him right into the group. Thank you.
Don and him, well, they have a bromance that I can’t come between.
And the women doted on him too. That first evening, he said to me “This is great, I have nothing to worry about.”
Friday morning, met for breakfast with a group.
And then it’s off for a ride! Leading the charge on the 990.
Followed by 2 Super Teneres, 1 2-up FJR, 1 Spyder, and 1 Tiger.
Group pic (minus blind squirrel) at the waterfall.
Representing 5 different states across the entire country.
Stop for lunch at the Cass Railway
180 miles for the day
I made sure to get the Horse some EOM appropriate shirts…
“the youngsters”
Saturday, we jumped in the car and Mitchell and I went to the Trans-Alleghany Lunatic Asylum.
Took a tour inside, and it was very neat to see!
The tour seemed to get creepier and creepier as we moved through the different wings and buildings.
Street festival in town for lunch
Got our Hawaiian shirts on for Saturday evening! And with the Florida parents.
Group pic!
And we managed to sit at the FUN table for the banquet! Luckily I had warned Horse what it would be like if the Geeks sat with us…
And couldn’t leave without a pic with THE Tyler! *gasp!*
Sunday, and time to head home
And sitting at this gas station, on the bumper of his car with the bike there… I made the decision that this bike is not what I wanted in an adventure bike.
But first, 10 days later we were off on another adventure!! To the New England area!
Stop at the Vermont Country Store
A covered bridge
A fancy resort
A granite quary
Beautiful New Hampshire views
Took a SXS adventure!
Through beautiful, colorful scenery and stopped for some wonderful pics.
On this adventure, his parents came with us!
Rode some cool trails
Visited the world’s longest candy counter
Went across the Kancamagus Highway
Lower falls
And then TYLER! Met up with her in Conway, NH while she was on her bike vacation with friends in the area
A monarch butterfly spent some time with us after lunch
Then we drove up Mt Washington!
To the top, what a view!
We hit it on a perfect weather day!
And waved at the webcam
Into Maine, and stopped at the L.L. Bean flagship store and headquarters
Stopped by the Eartha Globe. World’s largest rotating & revolving globe in the world! Designed and built by DeLorme, later purchased by Garmin. It’s 41 feet in diameter.
Stopped in Portland for fresh lobster on a pier!
And ice cream, with a neat quote. Lol
Overcast and dreary day at the Portland Head Lighthouse
And into Old Orchard Beach…
Which I was excited for! But didn’t realize it would be a ghost town in the non-summer months…
Still walked along the beach and stepped foot in the Atlantic Ocean.
Down the road to The Clambake for dinner with a view
And back to the hotel. Where we were the ONLY visitors.
Down the coast and viewed the Bush Complex near Kennebunkport
Back into Vermont with a stop in Bennington, the Old First Church
And the burial site of Robert Frost.
Poem of his that means a lot to my family, as my grandpa has part of it quoted on his headstone.
Quite a lot of history in the rest of the cemetery
And the Walloomsac Inn across the road, that fascinates my mom!
The Bennington Battle Monument
(is also Vermont’s tallest structure)
Found more covered bridges
And into New York, with a stop at Watkin’s Glen State Park
And Mitchell and I hiked the entire route from down to up! Passing by beautiful rocks and waterfalls
Then onto Niagara Falls!
Maid of the Mist tour
And a hike up to the Crow’s Nest
Where you basically hike right into the falling water of the American Falls!
View from above observation platform. Pink ponchos all the way to the up-left, is the Crow’s Nest.
Then to the hotel and casino for the night!
We may have splurged to be able to stay here... But oh what an experience!
View from our floor to ceiling windows
View of the fireworks from our room
Cross into Canada and viewed the falls from there
And then drove across Canada! Met up with Rick and Dahlia for lunch!
And then across the Ambassador Bridge into Detroit
Glad we had a full size truck with a covered bed- we packed a lot of luggage!
Next weekend, and it’s time for the grandparents’ family dinner. So we saddled up the gang and rode to the restaurant.
Another week, and I’m gathering up the old guys for some trail riding!
And we found the goat!! Billy G!
These guys are so fun to ride with!
Though we do seem to stop often for potty breaks…
Beautiful trails for the fall.
My dad, Me, long time friend, my uncle
Old guys and their vintage bikes
Wore them out with 60 miles for Friday, after riding 40 miles on Thursday.
But we ate well back at the AirBnB house!
And everyone pitched in to cook and clean
While the bikes were tucked away on the back porch
Saturday came and we met up with my trail riding friends. Which included an 8 year old son, this year on his own 110 bike!
And ran into the boyfriend’s parents on their 4-wheelers!
Went into town for lunch at Sonic
It was a fantastic weekend of riding with these guys! 160 miles for the 3 days
Stopped by Iron Pony on the way home for some shopping
Halloween weekend, and it’s back to Cedar Point for closing weekend!
The whole family was there to ride rides and experience the haunt!
And with the end of the night, that was the end of my trips to Cedar Point. I didn’t renew my season pass for next year. It’s onto other adventures for next year
The next day we toured around the area, which included Marblehead Lighthouse
And a trip to the African Wildlife Safari
Came home to sell the KTM.
Guy came and picked it up that evening.
Little did I know, that less than 24 hours later I would be replacing it with a 2022 KLR 650 Adventure.
Monday morning, I was perusing the internet, and found a dealership down the road that had a 22 in stock. Called, did some wheeling and dealing, and that afternoon I was getting a ride down there to bring it home! Ended up getting rained on halfway home. I didn’t care. It was awesome! First time having a brand spanking new vehicle. Happy Halloween!
Pretty awesome to be able to fit 4 bikes in the garage, while still fitting the truck! Woo hoo!
Then it’s time to practice loading his 4-wheeler and my DRZ on his new trailer. I also got some backing lessons with the trailer.
On a nice evening before they were calling for cold, we took the KLRs out for a late evening ride. Made for a cool pic in the covered bridge
And then we gather up the whole family to go to Henry Ford before our season passes expire
And the next day, Mitchell and I went to Greenfield Village.
Rode around in a Model T!
Had a nice driving lesson from the chauffeur.
For Black Friday and the weekend, we were loading up and going trail riding in southeast Ohio!
It was frosty when we got up and to the trailhead
It was so cold, the DRZ didn’t want to start. Had to park it behind the exhaust of the 4-wheeler to warm the engine and battery a bit to get it to finally fire up.
Frozen waterfall along the trail
Dang, I love trail riding, and this bike.
And now for him to be able to join on his new 4-wheeler… it was awesome!
Even though he was not too happy getting it dirty for the very first time…
And we came across Billy G again!
Fired up the grill and ate a delicious lunch at the trailhead
Came across this friendly painted rock along the trail
60 miles for the day, heck yeah!
When we got home, this was sitting in the front lawn! His parents thought it was only fitting for my house to display this…
Monday, December 5th, and I took the KLR for a jaunt around town. Rolled over 100 miles on the odometer! Woot woot!
Saturday the 17th, and we went to the Toledo Zoo and met up with one of my college friends for the Lights Before Christmas
Huge tree with lots of lights!
Saw the bald eagle exhibit, and it got me thinking of the bald eagle I hit on the FJR the summer of 2015…
Christmas comes around and dad and I got out for a short tradition ride!
We went to the school parking lot in the neighborhood and played around in the snow and on the ice.
I received some Admore lights for the KLR from the boyfriend- thanks to the discount code given at EOM! Brakelight bar, and handguard turn signals.
And a toolbox for the kitchen!
January 1st, the weather was a lot better so we went out for a ride!
My cousin rode my DRZ, Mitchell on his KLR, me on mine, my sister and dad on my parents’ NX125s.
Did the traditional Christmas route of visiting the downtown Christmas tree
And then out to the reservoir, where the surface was frozen over
So that was my year of riding and living.
2022 Spotwalla
End of the year stats:
FJR odometer- 117,076
FJR miles for 2022- 1,018
FJR states ridden in 2022- 1
DRZ odometer- 9,430
DRZ miles for 2022- 521
DRZ states ridden in 2022- 1
KTM odometer- 18,560
KTM miles for 2022- 2,160
KTM states ridden in 2022- 4
KLR odometer- 111
KLR miles for 2022- 111
KLR states ridden in 2022- 1
New states this year- 0
Total states gathered- 47
New stickers- of course!
Memories- MANY MANY MANY!!!
Thanks for following along! See you on the next adventure! Here's to 2023!
Glad I got to be a little part of your and Mitchell's adventures, my friend... look forward to more in 2023!! 
