Psycho Silo

This year, we arrive at the Silo to find a full parking lot in the early afternoon.  We were a little surprised at the crowd this early in the day.  On center stage was a Rod Stewart tribute and look-alike band playing.  A closer look at the crowd revealed die-hard Rod Stewart fans.  People sporting their favorite Rod Stewart concert t-shirts.  The energy was high with people dancing and singing with the performer.  This guy sounded and looked closely like the real Rod Stewart.  There were zero vacant seats at the bar.  It was standing room only.   I look closer at the energetic performer on stage and notice that the entire front row of concertgoers are all in wheelchairs!  Fans in wheelchairs parked in a large half-moon shape surrounding the stage.

Brad and I found the old grain elevator converted to an outdoor bar in Langley, Illinois, several years ago.  It is a unique ghost town decorated with antiques.  There are even small air planes in the treelike. Brad and I first visited Psycho Silo several years ago.  It was definitely before COVID.  We continue to stop during our trips through Illinois.  Our best memory was when Brad and I parked in the empty parking lot one afternoon.  It had been raining during our ride, so we had on our rain gear.  The rain cleared up, and the sun was now bright.  No other bikes or cars were in the parking lot.  We figured we were early because the hours are specific weekends only or something of the effect.  Brad’s pants were wet.  So he pulled them off to change them.  Brad is standing behind his motorcycle in his “tighty whities.” He is rummaging through his bag on the back of his motorcycle for a dry pair of jeans.  Before he can pull out his dry jeans, a parade of cars and trucks enter the parking lot.  Vehicle after vehicle in an obvious convoy.  It must have been seriously 30 vehicles parked around us.  The empty parking lot became full within a minute.  The newly arrived guests were well dressed in suits and gowns.   A few paused to watch Brad as he hurriedly puts on a fresh pair of jeans.  It turns out that the group of vehicles were celebrating a wedding.  The reception was at Psycho Silo!

Brad gets a kick out of the scene and points out what appears to be medical professionals in the crowd.  There were a few folks wearing a type of hospital uniform with official key card type lanyards hanging around their necks.  We discover that a nearby assisted living home had provided its residents with a bus to attend the midday concert.  At the end of the concert we watched the residents get loaded into the bus.  We heard a staff member commenting that their next event was nap time!  What a treat!

As a small portion of the crowd departed, Brad and I secured seats at the bar.  The woman beside Brad was guarding a flower bouquet that the Rod Steward look alike gave to her.  She was wearing a Rod Steward t-shirt and had her two daughters with her.  He daughters were being overly protective of their mother.  Although she may have been 40 years older than Brad, the daughters gave Brad the stink eye and didn’t want him chatting with their mother.  Moments later the trio began chatting with me.  That is how I found out the flowers were from Rod Steward.  Other attendees present were jealous of the lady with the flowers.  The protective daughter has a son who is the local sheriff.  She was the type who wore her son’s sheriff badge.  When she found out that I was much younger than her plus retired, she flipped me the bird and stomped away!

Redneck Revival

 The Redneck Revival at Conesville, Iowa has been a fairly consistent stop over maybe the last ten years.  The event occurs twice a year around Memorial Day and Labor Day.  Brad and I have bonded with some folks there while enjoying the races and bands.  Over the years the group of friends have dwindled with understandable competing interests.  One notable friend, Fig, had a stroke a couple years before and can no longer attend the rallies.  The last time I saw Fig at Conesville he had raced a Ford Mustang down the drag strip.  Oh, that reminds me. One year Fig showed up at the rally after he converted his cargo trailer into a travel trailer.  He had built a bed that folds up along the wall inside the cargo trailer. So there was space for his motorcycle and car inside the trailer.  Plus he could sleep in the trailer when the car is removed.  What I remember is after the rally was over, several of us got texts from Dawn.  Dawn had slept late that morning, inside the trailer.  Fig woke early to shuttle things to his house in a nearby town.  He locked Dawn inside the cargo trailer where she was sleeping!  The camp ground was emptying out.  Dawn had texted everyone to find Fig and have him unlock the door.  I read the group texts hours later with a slight chuckle.  It might have been a funny story for everyone except Dawn!  I think Dawn made Fig put windows in the trailer later that year!  

It was Memorial Day 2025.  About seven members of the group of friends showed up at the last minute this year.  Brad and I are thankful for the opportunity to catch up with the friends that were present.  

This year we spent more time around the camp fire.  Dean and Dodie who we haven’t seen in a few years showed up with a truck load of firewood.  Dean has a firewood business near Des Moines.  Dean kept the campfire fed and we enjoyed its warmth.  The temperatures was really cold at night!  Daryl, Connie and Dawn joined us around the camp fires each night with all sorts of conversation topics!

One morning, I was enjoying my morning coffee with Dawn and Connie around the camp fire.  Daryl needed to replenish the water in his RV.  Dean and Brad were helping him.  They had filled a large bladder of water up at another location in the campground.  The water bladder was in the back of a utility ATV.  The guys were trying to figure out how to get the water from the bladder to the RV inlet tube without a pump.  We all began to watch the guys try and use physics to defy gravity.  Dean was using a cipher hose with no progress.  I realize that gravity will help.  The guys had everything they needed to solve the challenge.  The water bladder was in the back of an ATV Ranger with a dump bed.  Daryl has a dump type trailer hooked up to his RV.  The trailer allows Daryl to ride his trike, car or ATV up on the trailer bed without ramps.  So I suggest that the Ranger be back up onto the trailer.  Both the Ranger and the trailer should raise to dump until the height was above the inlet valve of the RV.  The picture can explain it better. It worked!  Now the ladies had water to wash the camp fire smoke out of their hair!  

RV life can be challenging when dry camping.  Water has to be conserved and toilets used at a minimum in order to remain in place for several day stretches.  The campground at Conesville is dry camping.  Porta-johns are readily available throughout the campground.  There is a shower house across the race track with a few showers. It is often crowded.  Water rationing was a topic of discussion one day around the camp fire.  Brad had told Dawn and Connie they could use the shower in Brad’s RV.  Dawn, being the guest in Daryl’s RV, took Brad up on the offer to use the shower in his Rock Star Bus.  I told Dawn that she had to take a Navy shower.  Dawn has no military background and I think I saw a glimpse of horror across her face when Brad insisted she HAD to take a Navy shower.  Surely a Navy shower must involve some sorts of debauchery.  After all, both Brad and I were telling Dawn that she must take one.  Brad finally explained the procedures of a Navy shower and assured Dawn that she’d be inside the RV alone.  She realized we were not pulling her leg or trying to get her into a compromising situation.  End result, Dawn took a Navy shower free of debauchery. 

Gator Bites

We stayed one extra night at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch after the rally was over.  This allowed us to avoid all the RV and motorcycle traffic as people exited the Tennessee Motorcycles & Music Revival (TMMR). We rode north from Tennessee through Kentucky.  I found a Corps of Engineers Campground in southern Illinois.  It is on the Carlyle Reservoir.  

Brad and I developed a plan to make our way to Utah by camping at least two nights in one spot. This provided a recovery night from driving.  Then the next morning was a motorcycle ride to explore the surrounding area.  The second morning was labeled a  “move morning” where we packed up the motorcycles and RV and plotted our next stop as we traveled westward.  This “move morning” and “ride morning” formula worked really well for us.

Just before we arrived at Carlyle Reservoir, Brad spotted the Swamp Town sign advertising Gator Bites and Crawfish.  We were in Illinois.  I didn’t know where the gator bites were going to be sourced from.  The next morning was a “ride morning.”  We went for our motorcycle ride around the large Carlyle Reservoir and stopped at Swamp Town for lunch.

Swamp Town Cajun Kitchen & Cocktails was featured on the show Bar Rescue.  The sign and some interior enhancements like an indoor pond with a footbridge and fog machines were a result of the show.  The pond had replica alligators and coy fish.  It was pretty neat.  The staff indicated they wished that the show remodeled the kitchen or bar service area instead of installing the fog machines and making new signs.  It was neat to hear about the Bar Rescue Show because a couple of years before Brad and I met, former owners of a bar in Austin, Texas, that was rebranded by the show.

Brad enjoyed the gator bites at the bar.  There was a silver-haired woman who had downed her second Michelob Ultra during the time it took us to place our order.  Brad was telling the bartender about our ride around the reservoir.  We had passed a number of small utility sheds.  The type that a homeowner would use to store a lawn mower and other tools inside.  These sheds along the route had signs labeling them as a “Hot Spot”.  We were not familiar with what these “Hot Spots” were.  Brad asked about the Hot Spot sheds.  The silver-haired lady piped up, expressing serious displeasure with the sheds and other establishments with hot spots.  She stated that they are gambling places that are addicting.  They take advantage of people with no money to lose.  They are positions in small neighborhoods making it easy to hook players and take their money.  This lady was animate that the laws allowing the small “hot spots” are wrong and are hurting the communities.  She was visibly upset. We changed the topic.  This woman transitioned into telling us stories about her past.  Once upon a time, she dated a man with a motorcycle.  She said he was a moron but she liked riding his motorcycle.   She told us about some of her rides.  I think she had just as many stories as Brad.  It was a fun lunch break experience!

Truck Dead Got a Bicycle

 

There I am at the Tennessee Motorcycles & Music Revival (TMMR) at about 2 o’clock in the morning.  I am awakened in my slumber by a pull-behind RV backing into the campsite next to me.  I am nice and comfy in my hammock.  The hammock is hung off the back of my jeep at a 45-degree angle and partially in the path of the reversing camper trailer.  I see the red tail lights getting closer to me.  The trailer safely halts several feet from me and moves forward.  I am grateful the driver has some good backing skills and sees my hammock in the darkness.  The driver readjusts his reverse approach and positions his trainer with plenty of space between us.  I feel safe and it turns out there is plenty of room for his dirt bikes to be lined up between his camper and my Jeep.  

I admit I was a little bummed having someone camping next to me.  After all, when I am not motorcycling, I am camping somewhere remote and usually alone.  The crisp night air was pitch black.  I had to pee, so I exited my hammock and made my way to the nearest porta-john. I pass two figures in the darkness and proclaim “welcome” as I walked swiftly to the porta-john.  I was happy that our figures were outlined in the darkness and it was too dark to make eye contact.  I was on the verge of doing the pee-pee dance and was avoiding conversation.  I take care of watering the horse and return to my comfy hammock in hopes to get some sleep before sunrise. 

Less than an hour passes, and I need to pee again! It must be an old man symptom. I tried to ignore the urge to pee and go back to sleep.  That didn’t work.  I had to go!  I know my new neighbors had recently finished setting up their trailer.  I hurried down the familiar route to the porta-john. I pulled on the porta-john door while simultaneously getting the urge to do the pee-pee dance.  The door to the porta-john wouldn’t open.  I was confused.  There were not many tents in this area.  It was around 4 o’clock in the morning.  The late-night parties had stopped hours ago.  I thought to myself, could there really be someone else using this porta-john? I think I have been the only person using this particular facility for the last three days.  Could the door be stuck?  So I lightly tapped my finger three times on the plastic door.  Tap, Tap, Tap.  I heard a response echoing my same soft tap and rhythm. Tap, tap, Tap.  It confirmed to me that someone was inside. I quickly turned and made a beeline directly to the next closest porta-john as I could not wait. 

The next closest porta-john was less than a minute of walking fast.  It wasn’t a big deal - just me running around in the dark.  I returned to the shelter of my hammock to get some sleep.  As I lay relaxing, I heard a soft female voice in the darkness.  The voice confirmed she was my new neighbor and wanted to apologize for arriving in the middle of the night, making noise.  She shared that she and her husband had been traveling from Ohio when their truck broke down.  So they purchased a new truck to make the journey.  I learned my new friends were named Jo and Jason.  Jason went to sleep after the long day and drive.  Jo and I shared stories while watching the moon set and the sun rise. We moved from my hammock area and drank our morning coffee while sitting in the river, watching the sunrise.  Jason joined us shortly after sunrise then continued setting up there camp.

This couple made a major purchase of a brand-new truck to complete their journey to TMMR.  It was that important to them to attend.  Jo and Jason are small business owners and work hard all year long, so this event was a true revival for them.  Jo posted her and Jason’s truck broke down story on the social media app Instagram.  The TMMR officials learned about their story of determination to attend the revival despite their truck breaking down.  The TMMR officials text messaged Jo and wanted to meet her.  Jo and Jason returned from the meeting and were excited to report that the staff was to honor them during opening ceremonies on the main stage for the bands.  Jason was preparing what to say during the ceremony.

On the evening of the ceremony, Brad and I arrived early to get close to the stage.  Each evening, the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem were played before the bands performed.  This was a neat experience to feel the positive patriotic energy of the performers and of the crowd.  Jo and Jason were introduced by Loretta Lynn’s daughter or granddaughter. She spoke a little about Jo and Jason.  She was holding the microphone in front of Jason so he could tell his story.  Jason took hold of the microphone and began walking around the stage as he told his story.  I could tell that the organizers didn’t plan on that.  Maybe they were trying to keep to a schedule, and Jason was going to keep talking!  I had a flash of amusement as I thought the organizer was discretely trying to take the microphone back from Jason.  The story was told.  It was then announced that TMMR sponsor, Budweiser, had a gift for Jo and Jason.  The gift could help out if their truck broke down again.  Brad immediately thought Budweiser was donating a pickup truck to them.  As the spotlight moved to the side of the stage, a red and white Budweiser-themed bicycle rolled out.  Jo and Jason were presented with a Budweiser beach cruiser-type bicycle.  Cool gift!