Long Motorbike Rides

Our Brother S was an avid bike rider. He used to make long motorcycle rides that lasted many days. He visited all National Parks and rode all over the country, and to Canada, as well. He made notes and took photos during (almost) each and every one of them. 

1996, at Mount Rushmore National Memorial

The "almost" part is related to notes. In his younger days he did not make logs of his riding experiences, the idea came a bit later. Taking photos was always part of our brother's trips, wherever he went. With the purchase of a digital camera, S's the number of pictures in his long rides photo albums grew significantly. The ones included in this post are from 1996. That ride was one of those not documented by S with notes.

Colorado National Monument - view from Rim Rock Drive, western slope of Colorado, just outside of Grand Junction

Coke Ovens Rock - the sandstone pillars carved from Wingate Sandstone

Rim Rock Drive 

I am thinking about digitalizing his records as a keepsake and to prevent it all from being lost. However, scanning hundreds of those photos, improving them digitally, and putting them online will be quite a challenge. The time will show how much of S's riding history I will manage to "computerize"

Pactola Lake, Pennington County, South Dakota, along Highway 385

Grand Canyon, Colorado National Monument

Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills, South Dakota - Sturgis motorcycle rally.

Well, I start today. Below is the overall record of S's trips - his original notes and explanations.

Main Street in Sturgis, South Dakota, 1996

From S's log book:

Sturgis 1996

S at the Crazy Horse Memorial, Black Hills, South Dakota. Thunderhead Mountain in the background.

Silverton, Colorado

Our Brother's (documented) Long Rides summary

Hog's Breath Saloon, Key West, Florida

Step House (in Wetherill Mesa) - Mesa Verde National Park, southwestern Colorado

As you can see above, the log of S's long rides starts in 1998 and contains of daily made notes during his adventures. The last long entry is from 2010. I will try to put on this blog as many of his trips as I manage.

The little house - a hogan - traditional dwelling of Navajo people

Taos, New Mexico, near the historic Taos Pueblo

To My Twin

 R was a kind and loving person. He had a smile and a nice word, and respect for everybody including strangers. His favorite quote was, “Whatever the question, Love is the answer.” One of his favorite songs which he frequently listened to was “Love is My Religion”.

R and I often talked about and were quite amazed at how it was possible that two persons from two distant and totally different parts of the world – R from Texas, the very south of the USA and I from the north of Poland, Europe, could be so similar in so many ways. Our moms taught us exactly the same life principles, the same values regarding what is important in life, the same manners. We shared not only viewpoints but also likes and interests.

Among others, both of us liked dancing and listening to vast variety of music types. Together we danced with the Polish-American Folk Ensemble, Scottish folk dancers, and English Contra Dancers as well.

No matter how tired and busy we were during this spring and summer, the final part of his life, R always wanted me to run the Monday line dance class. Despite all the hardship we were going through, he did not want other people to miss that class. He enjoyed exercising at the senior club and the companionship we shared with other class participants.

R was my soul mate. Thank you Lord, thank you Jesus for R and all the time we had together.

At Bob Dylan concert in June

---

Check out a related post I wrote much earlier: here

Local Haggis

All Haggis originated in Scotland thousands of years ago. During the last Ice Age they crossed over the land bridge into the Americas.  As they came south, they became less hairy over the years. The healthier strain settled in Texas.

The Family of Joe T G. were the first to recognize the true potential of these little Haggis critters. 

Texas Haggis in nature

They started the first ever Texas Haggis Rancho. All the cattle ranchers made fun of them. Little did the cowboys know.

The family had years earlier developed the Nacho Critters. 

Nachos - caught and ready to be eaten

The only problem was that the Haggis would eat the Nachos. So they have to keep them separately. If you wonder why - with the spring breeding season, they are reproducing at an alarming rate. So from time to time, the breeders are in panic with the Runaway Nachos.

Texas Haggis - known locally as chimichangas

Our own family tradition was helping those great people with catching the Nachos every holiday season and and reducing the number of the local Haggis, as well.

Nobody makes better nachos and chimichangas. We did use to visit the place together and enjoy the food feast at least twice a year.

---

The post dedicated to our brother Shrader has been inspired by the traditional history of the Scottish Haggis.

Our tribute to the food place and food makers mentioned above. Best Tex-Mex food in the world.

It Happened in April 1935

At the beginning of April 1935, the dust and sand from Colorado and Kansas was blown down to Texas. Initially, people made jokes about the weather up there in the north of Texas.

 Clipping source: Howerton, J. C. The Cuero Record. (Cuero, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 78, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 3, 1935, newspaper, April 3, 1935; Cuero, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1129982/: accessed April 14, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Cuero Public Library.

Soon, citizens of Texas discovered well enough that the sandstorm was not a laughing matter at all.

04 April

Clipping source: The Troup Banner (Troup, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 40, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 4, 1935, newspaper, April 4, 1935; Troup, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth981348/: accessed April 15, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bonham Public Library.

08 April

Clipping source: The Abilene Morning News (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 157, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 10, 1935, newspaper, April 10, 1935; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1745117/: accessed April 14, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Public Library.

The days were passing by, but the situation was not improving.

11 April

Clipping source: McDonald, L. A. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 206, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 11, 1935, newspaper, April 11, 1935; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1539248/: accessed April 13, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library.

13 April  - a cold weather front brought a change for a while

Clipping source: Buell, Ralph L. The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Tex.), Vol. 43, No. 244, Ed. 1 Sunday, April 14, 1935, newspaper, April 14, 1935; Brownsville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1395921/: accessed April 13, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .

When it got warner again, the dust storm came back. It ruined the crops/farms, households took human and animal lives.

Clippings source: Buell, Ralph L. The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Tex.), Vol. 43, No. 243, Ed. 1 Saturday, April 13, 1935, newspaper, April 13, 1935; Brownsville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1395920/: accessed April 13, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .

Why it all happened?

Clipping source: Bowman, George. Henderson Daily News (Henderson, Tex.), Vol. 5, No. 22, Ed. 1 Sunday, April 14, 1935, newspaper, April 14, 1935; Henderson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1315007/: accessed April 14, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rusk County Library.

14 April

Dust Storm, Wheeler Texas, photograph, April 14, 1935; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth36010/m1/1/?q=dust: accessed April 13, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Wolf Creek Heritage Museum.

Clipping sources: Buell, Ralph L. The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Tex.), Vol. 43, No. 244, Ed. 1 Sunday, April 14, 1935, newspaper, April 14, 1935; Brownsville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1395921/: accessed April 13, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .

15 April

Clipping source: McDonald, L. A. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 209, Ed. 1 Monday, April 15, 1935, newspaper, April 15, 1935; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1539251/: accessed April 14, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library.

16 April

Clipping source: Buell, Ralph L. The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Tex.), Vol. 43, No. 246, Ed. 1 Tuesday, April 16, 1935, newspaper, April 16, 1935; Brownsville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1395925/: accessed April 14, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .

The results of the dust storm were devastating - a dark lesson to learn from regarding land cultivation.

Clipping source: Dietel, William. The Radio Post (Fredericksburg, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Friday, April 26, 1935, newspaper, April 26, 1935; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1510146/: accessed April 15, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Gillespie County Historical Society.

More about Dust Bowl:Texas Handbook Online