Mile: -22
Okay, so the trip didn't
technically start today, but I left home so that's what counts. Bags are packed, goodbyes said, house in
order, I'm outta here. It's quite
dreary out, and fittingly so. Of all my
motorcycle trips, they have all started in the rain. I'm headed North to Everett to stay the night with the folks, it
seems safe. No late night out drinking,
no hangover to start day 1. I make it
all the way to 527 before the rain starts.
It's really just a drizzle, but wet is wet, and this seems to be wet.
Mile: 0
Here I am. In Everett.
The day 0 ride is complete.
Enough of that. I head down to
Bothell for one last home cooked meal before my 15 day trek to somewhere and
back. The rum was good, the food was
great, the company was the best.
<<I am Jason's tummy. I am
happy. I am full.>> We watched Fight Club. See the movie if you don't get the
reference.
My first good night's sleep
in some time is about to come. I'm
talking quantity, not company.
Total Miles: 22
Mile: 0
We take off and it's foggy
as hell. No precipitation
though........I am oddly disappointed.
I-5 bores me. Everett bores
me. Monroe bores me. Steven's Pass bores me. After Leavenworth, things seem all
right. No more Winnebago's (and there
oddly very few out today on this fine Saturday morning). It's nice and sunny. No more clouds; the only shadows come from
the mountains beside me. Highway 2
seems like a great way to cross the state.
Very scenic, that is until we get to Spokane. Remind me never to live there.
Shoot me if I ever think about going there other than to pass
through. Smells kind of like Pullman
but without the pretty coeds.
Miles: 217
Seems a little warmer out
on the East side of the Cascades. Lost
the gloves 30 miles back. Time to lose
the jacket now. I feel funny not
wearing any leather when the only thing between me and the asphalt I'm grazing
over at 65 mph is 3 feet of air.
I think the tires are
finally broken in. I have a mild amount
of confidence in their ability to keep me from careening my head into the ground. I know that if they pitch me in that
direction, I don't have a chance of missing.
Seems like no matter how many times I've been thrown at the ground, I've
never missed hitting it.
Miles: 330
We head North out of
Spokane sticking to the Highway 2 plan.
Man is it great to not be riding on the freeways. I somehow miss the sign that we've entered
Idaho. Not sure how that happened, but
I've been staring at the same tailight on the same blue motorcycle in front of
me for almost 6 hours today. I know I'm
in Idaho because there's no longer state run liquor stores. It's a bunch of "Idaho Liquors"
now. Strangely I'm not tempted to stop
in. Something must be wrong....I'll
sleep on it.
Nice windy road now, wer're
following Jewel Lake. Pretty impressive
scenery. It's cooled down a little now
that we're near water. We have a plan
on where to spend the night: The mildly
appealing town of Sandpoint Idaho......which when we arrive turns out to be a
really cool place. It's a resort town,
pretty developed (hey, any town with both a Wal Mart and a Big K-Mart has to be
developed). Hotels are full. Saturday night, resort town, class
reunions. AT&T 00-INFO to the
rescue !! Tom Bodett left the light on
for us.
Total Miles: 373
Mile: 0
Great night's sleep. Needed it.
That makes two in a row for me.
I think I'm going to start counting as this may be a recurring trend (until
Sturgis !!). 88 degrees this morning as
we head out. No thoughts of even starting
with jackets. Pleasant morning, riding
off into the sunrise (okay, so it's 9:10, but the sun is still rising).
I see my first roadkill
!!!! Big moment for me. I'm a fan of roadkill. It tells us a lot about life; okay, maybe
just the end of life. It's a big
deer. By the size it might be a buck,
but I can't see the head. (S)He's belly
up by the side of the road. Kind of
looks like a dog that's waiting for his belly to be scratched. No blood, no missing patches of skin, no
missing limbs, no decay. Serene you
might say.
I see my second roadkill
!!! It's some 50 miles later. Not as pretty a picture. Not serene.
Could be a week old. Nice 75
foot strip of splayed blood on the road, I drive over it with my new
tires. The deer's off the side of the
road but the scene is obvious. I'd hate
to see what the other guy looked like.
Doubt he drove away from that one.
Mile: 77
Don't know how I missed it
again, but I crossed another state line.
I'm in Montana now. How do I
know? "Montana Liquors".....I'll
have to see if this is going to be a recurring theme with me. I should have seen the sign, I saw the one
for "Mountain Time Zone". It
occurs at the border. Don't dwell on
this too much, it's a beautiful day ahead.
We finally arrive at Glacier
National Park. Spectacular
scenery. But we're here for one reason
and one reason only: "Going to the
Sun road". 52 miles of nothing but
fun and scenery as we cross through the mountains. It's slow going, 2 narrow lanes (1 in some places), tight turns,
lots of traffic, sheer rock wall on one side, whole lotta nothin' on the other
side. But I feel safe....I have an
18" high rock wall on the side of the road that's supposed to save me from
tumbling 3000' to my bloody death. We
stop several times to take in the scenery and grab a few pictures (kind of hard
to see it all when you're operating a motor vehicle that people are out to
hit). The lodge at the top is pretty
cool, I am extremely put out that I left without seeing the "Continental
Divide" sign. I was really looking
forward to it. I'll dwell on this the
rest of the day......Dammit.....still dwelling on it.
We leave the National Park
at St. Mary's and now the real fun begins.
Enough of the scenery, bring on the twisty windy roads. There are so many beautiful sights to
see. "Caution 45mph"
signs......."Tight turns ahead" signs......"Curves next 8
miles" signs.....it's so beautiful I think my eyes are misting. Nothing technical about the road, just 2
bikes, 3 people, and extreme lean angles.
Nothing scraping the ground yet; I can only wait. It lasts a good 30 miles. Oh happiness.
Miles: 218
Damn. Now we're into "MONTANA". Flat land, straight roads, dusty, windy,
mind numbing. 100 miles to go of
nothing. Moving at 110 feet per second
over the open road and it seems like we're standing still becuase there's no
reference points. It's 100 degrees and
not a cloud in the sky. I'd love to
feel some sweat but it's so dry that it evaporates immediately. Here I am contributing to the enthalpy of
the world and I receive no benefits of the cooling effect of evaporation.
We've been following
railroads most of the way. We catch up
with a train we passed multiple hours ago.
He apparently doesn't stop to eat or pee. I do for both. Cool
train. 3 engines, cruising at around
50mph, must be over 150 cars in tow. We
pass him again over the course of several miles. I ponder just how many miles it takes him to come to a complete
stop with all that weight (what else am I going to think about when he's the
only thing to look at for 50 miles in any direction). Engine number 4956; Burlington Northern, SF branch. I think the engineer's name might be Joe,
but it could be Bill or Billy or Mac or Buddy.
I'd like to see if he'd let me wear his hat. At least until we reach our destination of Shelby. 375 miles of flat Montana to go.
Today's Miles: 343
Today's miles: 716
Mile: 0
It's a balmy 83 degrees
this morning. Sun is out but the sky is
hazy; looks promising.
Mile: 18
I catch my second bird of
the trip. The first one I clipped
yesterday, but today's was a little better.
Not only did I get him, I kept him.
He tucked himself away nicely into my fairing. His feathers fell off a couple at a time for the next 20 miles or
so until we stopped. I pulled him out
with my leatherman pinchers and he didn't have a head. I was little miffed.
Mile: 42
Hit 105 on the speedo
today. Big grin. Happy camper. Lots of power left, smooth as could be.
Mile: 90
Saw a General Mills plant
by the side of the road. That would
explain where all the grain is going.
It inspired a Haiku:
Stalks of golden wheat,
Swaying gently in the
breeze,
Soon they will be dead.
Okay, so I won't quit my
day job. It worked at the time and it
kept me amused for 30 or 40 miles.
Mile: 187
Ran into some rain. Nothing serious, just precipitation. It's odd though, Montana only gets an
average of 1" per month in both July and August, and somehow we found it. Not only that but we run into rain twice
again later in the day. Oh well, at
least it's cool and breezy. Not the 100
degrees we were expecting. In fact, it
stayed in the 80's most of the day.
Very happy about that.
Mile: 256
Dinosaurs !!!!!! That's right, Dinosaurs !!!!! Some farmer got bored apparently and carved
some big ol' dino's. He put one each on
some hills that face Highway 2. There
was a T-Rex, a brontosaurus, some Triceratops lookin' thing (without any horns)
and some alligator thing. They were
pretty darn cool. Mom and Dad missed
them the first time by so we turned around and went back. And took some pictures. Hey, it's not much, but besides Glacier
National Park, this is all Montana has to offer.
Mile: 284
We hit 1000 miles for the
trip so far. Nothing else exciting
about mile 284....but wait until the next one:
Mile: 369:
Hit 120 on the speedo
!! It was an absolute blast. Held it for 1/2 a mile or so. Spectacular. Bike is rock solid. More
power left, just ran out of room.
Today's Miles: 542
Total Miles: 1258
Mile: 0
Well, Minot, North Dakota
was seemingly better of a stay than in Shelby, Montana the night before. It's a cool 76 degrees this morning, the sky
is clear, the birds are chirping, and all 3 of us got a terrible night's
sleep. The room was a funky
temperature, it was extremely dry from the conditioned air, the pillows sucked,
and there were people walking around all night on the floor above us. Other than that, Minot was very pleasant.
I'm bound and determined
today to:
·
Never become a UPS delivery person in either Montana or North Dakota
·
Never become a FedEx delivery person in either Montana or North Dakota
·
Never become a USPS delivery person in either Montana or North Dakota
·
See a train with a caboose
·
Actually see a state border when I cross it
My luck on the last two
have been terribly bad. I've seen over
25 trains on this trip and not one of them had a caboose. I even saw an Amtrak passenger train, about
15 cars long, and IT didn't have a caboose.
Terribly disappointed.
I also have yet to see a
state border. I missed Idaho (although
I remember the river). I missed Montana
(but I saw the change to Mountain Time).
I missed North Dakota (there was construction and a sign that said
"LOOSE GRAVEL" that took precedence over seeing anything else). So I missed Central Time change as
well. We're getting out a little late
this morning, 9:30, and we still have to find a grocery store to get our lunch.
Mile: 67
Rugby, North Dakota. The geographical center of North
America. Pretty damned cool that I've
now been there. It was a might small
monument (I doubt a US president has ever visited it), but it did have a road
sign that showed the furthest point you could go in any direction North, South,
East, or West. If you went due West, as
the crow flies, after 1,100 miles you'd end up in Neah Bay, Washington. But then you'd be a pretty tired Crow.
Mile 213:
I saw it, I saw it !!! Minnesota state line !!! So I saw a state border........but alas, no
caboose......
We're in fabulous
International Falls, Minnesota this evening.
If you don't recognize the name, shame on you (don't worry, I
didn't). It's often reported as being
the coldest place in the US. On the
news when they show the hottest and coldest place, there is International
Falls. If not there, then Bemidji,
Minnesota (which we passed through to get here).
Tomorrow it's off to see
the Canucks. We're crossing the border,
getting some Cuban cigars, legalized marijuana, legal prostitutes (which I
think Mom will particularly enjoy), and heading out Highway 11 to Thunder Bay,
Ontario. From there it will be back down
Highway 61 to Duluth, Minnesota where we will again stay at a leisure hotel.
But as much as I look
forward to Canada, I like these Minnesotans.
They crack me up. Several places
along the roadway they would leave funny things. They have huge rolls of hay here (instead of bales) that end up
being about 6' in diameter and 4 or 5' thick.
Some farmer took one that was on it's side and put the lower half of a
body sticking out of it. Pants, socks,
shoes, the whole bit. Quite
amusing. Another person had cutouts in
her front yard that included one of a boy with his pants down peeing in the
bushes. I'm really jealous of this
one. I am thwarted that we didn't get
to go through Fargo. I know that
several of you wanted me to find the two guys from the movie. You know the ones: "they were funny lookin'....<<yaaaa>>......you
know, just funny lookin'......<<yaaaa>>......oh ya, and
circumcised.......<<yaaaa>>".
If you don't understand, go see the movie.
Today's Miles: 446
Total Miles: 1704
Mile: 0
It's a little more brisk
this morning than it has been the previous few; somewhere in the low 70's. Cool enough that we're wearing long sleeve
shirts and gloves. Mom's all bundled up
in her leather jacket, wishing she had a scarf as well. We don't make it too far into Canada before
we stop and Dad and I put our jackets on as well. But that's alright, no rain, so the world is good.
Highway 11 was a little
more entertaining than we had expected.
They were doing construction for the first 18 miles of it. But it was cool to see. We got to see, in progressive order, every
step that's undertaken to redo a road in Canada. We saw: a muncher that
ate up the existing asphalt and spit it out in chunks back on the road, a
steamroller that was fitted with a special drum that looked like a pizza roller
they use at Pizza Hut, a bulldozed to level stuff out, a grader to get just the
right tilt for water runoff, a steamroller (running cold) to compress the dirt,
a water truck to make sure it settles all down and to keep the dust down, an
oil truck to prepare the dirt for asphalt, an asphalt truck to lay the new
road, a steamroller to level/grade the road, a water truck to cool the new
asphalt, and a paint truck to restripe it.
They do it all in one shot right in a row up here. I should have taken some resumes so I could
pass them on to the yahoos in charge of the 405 construction, the 522
construction, and the 2 construction.
Hell, we probably could have even paid these guys in worthless Canadian
dollars.
I've been looking at my
bike kinda funny ever since we crossed the border too. I think something must be defective. I know I'm in a metric country, but my bike
didn't convert at the border. My
odometer is still reading in miles instead of kilometers. My speedometer is still reading in mph
instead of kph. And the clock is funny
too; instead of English hours/minutes/seconds, I expected metric
hours/minutes/seconds. I'm gonna have to
call the dealer and see if there was a recall on these parts. If not, maybe it's covered under warranty.
Mile: 26
We stop at a scenic lookout
to take pictures of Rainy Lake. No rain
today, apparently they got that over with for the week already. There was mostly rain on Monday, and severe
thunderstorms yesterday. How we missed
it I'll never know. We did have a
little mishap leaving the parking lot though.
Dad and I bumped bikes and we all went down. Luckily this time when the bikes went down there were two guys to
lift them back up instead of one. Dad's
bike is tipping in at around 950 lbs fully loaded and mine's up around 800
lbs. Of course, that's without riders
(we jumped off the bikes when they went down, much better than being trapped
underneath). Damage to our bodies was
nil; damage to the bikes was minor cosmetic; damage to our nerves lasted for a
few dozen miles. Oh well, life happens.
Mile: 133
Well, it's been 1300 miles
or so since I missed the Continental Divide, and don't think for a minute that
I stopped dwelling on it. Just because
I haven't mentioned it in a couple of days doesn't mean I've forgotten. Anyway, I think I'm finally over it,
because:
It's the "ARCTIC
WATERSHED" !!!!!! Yeahhhhhh !!!!!
For those of you who don't
really care, I'm going to tell you anyway:
The Continental Divide is a North-South line at which every river on the
West flows towards the Pacific Ocean and every river on the East flows toward
the Atlantic Ocean. The Arctic
Watershed is an East-West line where every river North flows towards the Arctic
Ocean and every river South flows towards the Atlantic Ocean. (If this ever comes up on Jeopardy, each and
every one of you will thank me, I know it).
Mile: 220
We're headed back South on
Highway 61 towards the states and I just have to stop off and see Old Fort
Williams. I never would have thought to
stop except that at some rest area a couple of old ladies asked us where we
were headed and we said "Thunder
Bay" and they said "Oh, we're headed to Old Fort Williams, it's
a really old Fort". We thought
"okay, crazy old coots, whatever", thinking nothing would come of
it. How little did we really know. Just South of Thunder Bay, there lies Old
Fort Williams, dubbed the "World's Largest Fur Trading Fort". Uh-huh.
So those crazy old ladies were off their rockers.
You know, I notice
something about Canada, it's full of flies.
Yesterday, crossing through North Dakota and even mildly into Minnesota,
there were nothing but butterflies. But
Canada, just flies. USA -
Butterflies. Canada - Flies. USA - butter. Canada - I can't believe it's not butter. The flies are really annoying anytime we
stop, but the butterflies have their annoyances too. CENSORSHIP: ALL ANIMAL
LOVERS SKIP TO THE NEXT SECTION.
Butterflies are cute, soft, juicy, slow, and dumb. They're very pretty to look at, and they'll
fly right up to you vehicle, but they're too slow to then get out of the way of
your vehicle. And they're soft. And juicy.
Everywhere we stopped for gas we cleaned the windshields, but it didn't
matter, there's still butterflies everywhere.
Flies can at least get the hell out of the way when you come at them at
60 mph.
Mile: 296
We roll 2000 miles for the
trip. Back in the US now. Empty handed through customs a while
back. Kind of disappointed. I had intended to find a cigar shop and buy
a box of Cohibas. I looked, but didn't
find any. Kind of disappointed.
Something to think
about: Canadian customs doesn't want
you to bring any guns, ammo, pepper spray, or mace into Canada. US customs don't want you to bring any
liquor into the states (but they were curious to find out if "you left
anything behind while you were in Canada).
Canada also wants to know my license plate number and state of
registration. The US doesn't give a
damn what vehicle comes back in.
If you ever need to smuggle
someone across the border, do it on a motorcycle. I have on clothes that cover 100% of the skin below my neck. Pants, jacket, shoes, gloves, the works. I'm also wearing a full face helmet. And I have on sunglasses. So really, only about 0.3% of the skin on my
entire body is visible. What do I get
asked: "Where do you live?"
(I give a state, any state, hell there's 50 of 'em)...."Are you a US Citizen?"
(Yup)......"Got any liquor?"
(Nope....but now that I think about it, was she trying to prevent me
from getting it into the states or did she want another drink on the
job?). Canadian Immigration had similar
questions about state of residence, although they didn't care if I was a
citizen. So what I'm getting at is they
don't really know (care?) what nationality or ethnicity I am if they can't see
my skin. Just something to keep in the
back of your mind. Oh yeah, and one
other thing, they didn't ask me about Beanie Babies or 3.6 gallons per flush
toilets. Maybe it's just a Washington
thing not a Minnesota thing.
Gas mileage is going quite
well though. For all you people who
drive a big 'ol SUV and are getting 15 miles per gallon: Yesterday, doing 65, I got 51 mpg (320 miles
on one tank). Today, doing 60, I got 53
mpg. Oh yeah, and full is as cheap as
$1.29 for regular and $1.35 for the next grade up.
But we made it to Duluth,
Minnesota. Tomorrow it's a quick trip
down Highway 35 through Wisconsin and over to the big metropolis of
Minneapolis. I don't know when I'll
next again write as the wedding partying begins tomorrow and doesn't end until
Sunday morning. Which coincides with
when we leave Minnesota on our way to Sturgis.
Which by the way, is where I'm going to see STYX in concert on Wednesday
night. I love my life.
Today's Miles: 407
Total Miles: 2111
Mile: 0
It's a cool 73 degrees this
morning, but the sun is shining and all is right in the world. Stayed at a mildly scary motel last night (The
Chalet), but it's what was available, the price was right, and all we were
doing was sleeping. Or trying to
sleep......boy do I miss my waterbed.
Six nights now on a mattress.
Mile: 4
We had to travel on a
freeway for 3.5 miles this morning.
Quite disappointing. Hopefully
won't have to do that much more this trip.
We're crossing over the bridge from Duluth, Minnesota into wonderful
cheesy Wisconsin. I'm awake, alert, and
searching for the state line. I'm going
over the bridge that separates the two states, and I know I'm crossing the
state line, but there's no sign to be seen.
Just another item on the list of disappointments this trip. And you know, missing the Continental Divide
is the worst thing that's happened so far, so it's not like I have a lot of
room to complain.
Highway 35 through
Wisconsin is absolutely the best road we've been on the whole trip. Recently paved (six months ago?), fully
striped, shoulders either side, 60 mph, no traffic, curvy (not windy) road
through some of the most beautiful countryside. It's absolutely amazing.
The forests, the occasional farm, the small towns of 600-800 people,
lakes, rivers, corn fields, hills, turns.......the best. Somewhere around 150 miles of spectacular
road. It's a shame that it's going to
end. Even the temperature cooperated,
never went above 80 and it stayed sunny all afternoon.
I wish I were more of a
novelist than a technical writer so I could convey just how spectacular this
stretch of road is. I didn't bother
with pictures, I would be ashamed at how little they would capture of the
feeling and surrounding.
Mile: 160
"Welcome to
Wisconsin".........hmmmm........if you've been following closely, you'll
know that I was already in Wisconsin.
Somehow we crossed back into Minnesota.
My percentage of state border sightings is not looking real good. But oddly enough, didn't need to go back
into Wisconsin. Somehow the road we're
looking for wasn't marked. So in
another 12 miles we turn around.
Mile: 184
No sighting of
"Welcome to Minnesota". I
know it should be here. We're on I-94
(freeways suck), I can see the "Welcome to Wisconsin" sign on the
other side of the freeway. That cheap
b**tard Jesse Ventura can't even afford to put up a state line sign. What a hack.
But we make it. White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Hanging out with the family. Trip 1 is successful. We arrived without too much drama and
everyone is safe and sound. Let the
partying begin.
And the partying
begins. Rehearsal dinner was an
absolute blast. Some randoms give me a
ride home at 1:30 in the morning from whatever bar I happened to be at. Nice folks, Whit and Kirsten. Pleasant couple. Friends of the groom in town for the wedding. Nice little rental car too. Had a fabulous conversation with them, have
no idea if I overstayed my welcome with them.....things are a tad fuzzy at the
moment.
Today's Miles: 210
Total Miles: 2321
Mile: 0
Don't anticipate making it
far today. Doubt I'll even rack up 20
miles. Feeling great this morning. No cloudy head, no cotton mouth, no
dizziness, quite a successful evening last night.
Did I mention Highway 35
through Wisconsin? I'm not sure if I
remembered to. I still can't get over
how fabulous it was. I'm tempted to
jump on the bike and head back over for a quick little 80 mile ride. Really tempted......really.
Mile: 12
Car wash time. Remember those lovable butterflies and the
friendly birds? Time to get them the
hell off the bikes. Can't believe the shape
the bikes are in. Seeing through the
windshield is not an easy task. Many
quarters later we dad and I have the first layer or two of 6 states and 1
Canadian province scrubbed off the bikes.
Are they "clean"? No, but "cleaner".
Mile: 15
Time to order the alcohol
for the Saturday night post-wedding BBQ.
Somehow, not quite sure how this happened, I got tasked with ordering
the kegs/wine/etc. for the BBQ. I
repeatedly told the host that I was the wrong person for the job, that I'd
never done anything like this before, and that I wasn't sure I could perform
the task. Somehow everyone had total
confidence in my abilities...
The wedding was pretty damn
nice. Beautiful group of people. Very nice ceremony. Great Catholic wedding. Earlier in the day I informed the bride that
in case anything happened, I am ordained and prepared to step in at a moments
notice. The sigh of relief was not
heard, but I do believe I saw some worried skepticism on her face. I'm not sure "man of the cloth"
was comforting, but, as always, amusing.
As it just so happens, no hitches were forthcoming and my services were
not required.
Now the reception, that was
a piece of work. Holy cow. Held at the White Bear Lake Yacht Club, no
expenses spared. Cocktails and appetizers
by the pool, sit down dinner that started with a wonderful salad to be followed
up by a plate of roast (medium), prawns (8-10 count), potatoes, carrots, and
zucchini. Small portions of everything,
perfect amount of food. Filling, yet
not stuffed. A full dessert bar with
more types of chocolate than I thought possible. I made several trips for my mother. The wedding cake was absolutely phenomenal, and then the full
service bar opened back up. Amanda kept
me feeling happy the whole night. No
waiting in line, no need to place my order every time, generous pours, quite
the lady.
At some point in time the
evening did become a little hazy, but pleasantly so. Didn't count my drinks, didn't want to. DJ, I'll fill you in on the particulars because you will truly
appreciate them.
Band's done, bar's closed,
people leaving, time to start scouting out a ride. Jump in the backseat of a car, and what to my wondering eyes does
appear? Why it's Whit and Kirsten in
the front seat. Some other couple by my
side in back and it's off to the rodeo.
Once again, I'm home safe and sound thanks to the help of my new
designated drivers. For some reason, as
I crawl into bed, things seem to be moving in front of me. I check to see that I'm not on a
turntable......nope, sure enough, my feet are planted firmly on the
ground. The possibility that the entire
room is rotating around me seems pretty remote......hmmm......must be drunk.
Today's Miles: 16
Total Miles: 2337
Mile: 0
Hmmmmm.....something's
wrong here. Oh yeah, that's right, I'm
a little dehydrated. Haven't been
drinking my usual 96 ounces of water each day.
Tends to modify my reaction to large amounts of liquor. If I'm not mistaken, I'm hung over. But being the professional alcoholic that I
am, I know how to hide this fact. I
know how to be cheery, funny, sarcastic, and upbeat without letting on that I
need 6 more hours of sleep and a #1 combo in my belly. Teriyaki is the best hangover food I've ever
had. Ryan, eat one for me, I need
it. Nope, better make that two, it's a
rough one today.
Mall of America, here I
come. I had no idea. This place isn't just huge, it's
immense. More acreage than I know what
to do with. And what's at the center of
the mall? No, not a silly ice skating rink.
It's a carnival. A roller
coaster. A log ride (complete with
downhill slide that gets people wet). A
Ferris wheel. A tilt-a-whirl. A petting zoo. Face painters. Guess your
age. Guess your weight. Remember, this is in the middle of a
shopping mall. On the fourth floor, a
new restaurant complete with a 6 lane bowling alley. I'm very impressed. But
the best part? Lego land. Wow.
I had no idea what people with a huge budget, 50 million legos, and lots
of time on their hands could do. This
place was intense. Not the legos of my
childhood. Theme legos, special size
legos, and get this: Robotic
legos. That's right, robotic
legos. There were photoeyes, proximity
switches, temperature sensors, motor controllers, the works. The kit comes with software that you write
on the PC and download through an IR port to a microcontroller built into the
legos. This is absolutely nuts. $200.
Somehow I think AT&T needs to do some development work in the field
of high volume, low cost thermoplastics of odd shape and color. I have to be able to write this off somehow.
Even got in a little water
skiing on the lake today. To all of you
who have let me know that the weather in Seattle is fabulous and that I somehow
forgot to leave a boat key with you: ha
ha ha ha ha. Great day.
Indeed, my job of ordering
the alcohol for the BBQ seemed to work all right. Even though I didn't know what to order or how much, everyone
seemed to enjoy. Maybe I should look
into making a career out of this.
Nahhhhhh.....who could ever see me serving alcohol. A bartender? Keep dreaming.....
As I say goodbye to family
and friends, Kirsten steps up and wonders why she's not able to take me home
tonight. She and Whit have been
watching me this evening, waiting for the moment when their services are
requested. And truth be told, I've been
watching them, waiting for the moment when they might be leaving just to ask
for a ride. But alas, it just didn't
happen, got a ride home with the fam'.
For some odd reason, which I am yet to figure out, no alcohol entered my
system on this lovely eveing. Was I not
in the mood? Was I still hung? Was I still toxic? All good questions, most of you know the answer.
Today's Miles: 0
Total Miles: 2337
Mile: 0
Been a while since I've
jumped on that bike. I'm not sure my
butts up to the task. It's mighty windy
this morning, the smell or impending precipitation in the air. You can just feel it waiting to rain. But it was not meant to be. Traveled under some might dark and heavy
clouds, but the rain gods could not find our location. An hour later, it's sunshine all the
way. A comfy 80 degrees with moderate
humidity. Much more humid than usual,
but welcome.
Again, the roads we travel
are phenomenal. Beautiful paving,
spectacular scenery, trees, lakes, fields, and oh yes, corn. Lots of corn. More than you could shake a stick at? More than enough to choke a giraffe? You bet. So much damn
corn I wish I could see some wheat again.
Or maybe not.
Mile: 27
Corn.
Mile: 35
Corn.
Mile: 72
Corn.....
Mile.......
Mile: 158
Corn.
Mile: 204
Wait, wait.......is it the
South Dakota state line I see? Nope,
just more damn corn. Seems that the
corn overtook the state line. Perhaps
I'm blind. I miss the "Thanks,
come again", I miss the "Welcome to South Dakota", I even miss
the increase in speed limit.
<<Dreamer......Nothin' but a dreamer.......>>
Mile: 262
Just had to mention this
one. I know what you're expecting, and
you're right, more corn, but amidst the corn is a most unusual sight. Highway 81 is traveling through some
lakes. That right, they built up a
road, lined it with rocks, and we're driving right through the lakes. But what to my wandering eye should appear
(not a miniature sleigh and 8 tiny reindeer), pelicans. You heard it here, pelicans. A whole flock of them. Hangin' out in the lake. Pretty cool. Take a picture? No, I'd
rather have a picture of the corn.
Mile: 308
I've been working on a haiku
about corn for around 140 miles now.
I'm embarrassed to write what I've written so far. As it is, 2.5 hours and I can't finish the
damn thing. I mean, come on, it's corn,
how tough could it be to write a haiku?
After all, I could write one about wheat. Now, I know it wasn't my best work I've ever done......<<I
don't want a pickle, I just want a ride on my motorcickle>> (if you don't
understand, don't ask, you wouldn't find it amusing unless you already
knew. At least Mike gets it.)
Mile: 312
I-90. It's really the only way to get where we're
going. Bummer, but oh well. Tomorrow will be 274 miles of I-90 so the
30+ we'll be on it today won't be so bad.
I wouldn't have included this entry if it weren't for the rest
stop. Here we are, zipping by at 80
mph, and I glance over at the rest stop by the side of the road. 50+ bikes are all sitting there lined up in
a row. Now, 50 was an impressive sight,
I can only imagine what 50,000 will look like.
The adrenaline starts to flow...
Mile: 348
Here I am, just 3 miles
from the famous Corn Palace. That's
right folks, right here in Mitchell, South Dakota. It's trouble. That starts
with "t", that rhymes with "c", that stands for Corn. Palace that is. Tomorrow, I will have the blessed opportunity to photograph the
amazing historical sight. Not only that
but I will anxiously await the moment when I can share the experience with all
of you. In explicit, boring detail, my
trip to the Corn Palace.
We're already seeing lots
of bikes. Nearing the hundreds. They're everywhere (although no Elvis
sightings yet.....Beau, I have an omen).
But the bikes are fabulous. The
adrenaline is rushing full on now.
Knowing that we're 9 days and over 2600 miles down and we're now within
300 miles of our destination. I feel
giddy. I am so ready to experience
everything Sturgis has to offer. But
alas, I must wait........
Today's Miles: 349
Total Miles: 2686
Mile: 0
I am ready. What more can I say.
Mile: 3
Oh yeah baby......you've
been waiting all day to hear the report on this: The Corn Palace. We drove
by. I took pictures. What more can I say.
Mile: 55
Rain. We can see it in the distance. It's quite the sight to be riding in the beautiful
sunshine and to see looming blacks clouds in the distance. You can see that the area between the clouds
and the ground is almost hazy, smoggy.
But then you can tell it's rain.
Absolutely glorious to see a rain shower happening from a distance. And the lightning strikes. I don't if it's possible to lightning
without thunder, but we don't hear any.
Of course, with the sound of hundreds of Harleys passing in every
direction, there's not much you can hear but the thumping of 4" bores
cruisin' down the road. It's not often
that you get to see a lightning storm/rain storm happening so close yet still
be bathed in total sun.
Mile: 59
Man this rain sure
sucks. It's nowhere near as fun when
you're actually IN the rain. And this
stuff hurts. Tiny droplets of water
impinging on your bare flesh at over 100 feet per second again and again and
again. This is mildly painful. As we pass under a bridge there must be at
least 30 bikes in both directions all huddled up underneath to avoid the liquid
humidity. Wussies. Must be from Wisconsin or Iowa.
It still amazes me how many
people trailer their bikes in. I bet
20% of the bikes we see are on trailers or in the back of pickups. Now, they're pretty nice bikes, but come on,
some of these people have Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, Wyoming, and even
South Dakota plates. What, you can't
ride 200 miles? We've ridden almost
3000 to get here. Don't these people
understand the journey or are they stuck on the destination?
Mile: 229
If you know anything about
South Dakota and I-90, you know where we are without even reading on: Wall Drug.
After 376 signs, how could we not stop.
Bikes everywhere.
Thousands. Impressive. What more can I say.
Mile: 314
As we head off from Mark's
place (where we're staying in Rapid City), we roll 3000 miles. Not bad for a little trip to this little
town for a little bike show.
Mile: 355
Sturgis. We have arrived. What more can I say.