Bikes & Beer & Brakes

This was a very long day.  We left Madison in the rain about 9:00am and started our drive to Milwaukee and the Harley-Davidson Museum.  The drive took about 90 minutes.  When I missed a turn we had a chance for an impromptu tour of downtown Milwaukee.  It looks like a cool old city with lots of old downtown buildings that have some style.  We only lost about 10 minutes before we found our way to Canal Street an the H-D Museum.

I'm not sure how long ago H-D built this complex but it looks pretty new.  Although we arrived not too long after the daily opening there were already lots of bikes in the parking area.  We found a space for the MINI right up close and worked our way to the entrance.

  

Admission is not cheap!  20 bucks a head...in 2 more years I could have had a senior discount!!

40 bucks worth of tix!

We wound our way through many of the exhibits.  Neither of us are H-D aficionados but the displays were pretty cool.  We learned that the original garage was a simple 10 x 15 foot shed!!  

Fast and loud

  

wadda NERD!!

This is sort of like Ryan's bike...except it doesn't leak oil

  

This is King Kong

Lew Downs needs a bike with bling!!

Evil Kurtnevil

There are way to many things to look at and admire but we saw as much as we could and then headed to the Race Of Gentlemen special exhibit.  After all, that's what brought us here.  We found Ryan's bike and they also had his helmet and jersey on display.  We also saw a short video that included a shot of him getting ready to race...it was from the back but we know him when we see him!

Look close and see Ryan's name

A proud Mom

zoom in and read this...

There's Ryan...#165

My new advertising campaign

After we looked at all we could take in we stopped in the H-D Motor Restaurant and Bar for lunch.  The food was good and surprisingly the prices were not bad.

Cheri and I were the only folks not wearing H-D regalia

Brisket Mac & Cheese

We stopped in the gift shop next and were knocked out by the price of things.  Tee shirts were 35 bucks...so, no shirts for us!!

Turn on the water with a brake pedal

Since we were in Milwaukee we decided to take a free tour of the Miller Brewery.  The price was right and we had an excellent tour...and free beer!  

Free tickets!!!

The Miller Brew caves

Plank Road Brewery

Some of the beers under the Miller Coors brand...jeez...they own it all!

Free beer

We left Miller Valley at 3:00 and started toward home.  We knew we would not make it all the way home so we figured we would take a little extra time and drive a bit out of our way to bypass Chicago.  It was a good idea, but even our circuitous route did not miss the traffic.  It was awful!!   Stop and go all the way to the Indiana line.  We finally got on I-80 about 6:00 and drove until 9:00 where we stopped in Sturgis, MI for the night.

Illinois

Indiana wants me

We will make it back home sometime Saturday!!