We had breakfast at the motel at 6:30 with an old folk’s convention.  We hit the road at 7:30.  My oil pressure was up to 100 psi for a short time and it went down as the oil warmed up.  It was at a steady 23 psi at 190 degrees.  I pulled the tape off the oil cooler, the temperature went down to 180, and the pressure was 28 psi.  Good enough for me.  There is still a big leak from the oil pump as everywhere I stop it looks like a real rat bike should, marking it’s spot. 

As we got to Grand Island, Drew & Cliff kept going to see where their dad grew up south of Council Bluffs, Iowa.  The four of us went to meet nephew Josh & wife Meagan & their new 5-month-old son, Caleb.  Sis & Randy rode around town while Joni & I visited with Josh & Meagan.  At around 11:45, Randy & Cynthia showed back up.  Randy got me a can of brake clean to try to get my back brake working somewhat.  He also got me some oil stop leak.  I put some in the oil bag, but it didn’t seem to work yet.  We rode to Council Bluffs and got fuel and a blizzard at Dairy Queen.  The last leg of the day was 135 miles. 

We got to Des Moines, Iowa around 5:45 and I tried to find the motel.  Every one should know by now that I don’t do so well when it comes to not getting lost.  I didn’t do so good this time either.  My GPS unit has a short in the wiring and it keeps cutting off before I get all the information.  Randy asked someone and had the directions.  My GPS stayed on long enough to tell me where to go.  We rode into a main street and I turned right as the unit told me to.  A few blocks later Joni rode up to me and asked if I knew that, our dinner stop, Trophies, was just up the street to the left.  So we turned around yet again and Joni got us to the stop.  Everyone there was sure glad to see all of us ride in, and to know that we were all ok.  Two minutes later, Drew & Cliff rode in too.  Wow, what timing!  Steve Mulkayee arranged for them to make some more dinners for us.  We rode to the motel and saw a few familiar faces from the last couple of years.  We had a great visit with old friends and talked of past & present stuff.  Jenny and Trevor told of riding through a lot of snow in New Mexico on the way to Cheyenne Wyoming.  Cynthia tried Steve’s seat out on his bike, to see what would be more comfortable than the one they have now.  Svein tried to show me a faster way to send pictures to put on my web site.  The program will not allow faster. 

So I tried it for at a time.  I guess I’ll find out tomorrow if it worked.  Everyone was glad to see the good ole rat bike back in action to ride with them again.  We missed them the last couple of days.  Bye for now….