Running out of Superlatives!

-You're off to Great places!  

Today is your Day!  

Your mountain is waiting so.....

Get on your way! - 

A great quote by Dr. Seuss and one that pretty much describes our day.

Bighorn National Forest

We left Gillette this morning, the weather was sunny and cool and we had an hour and a half ride to Bighorn National Forest...now one would think that the forest would be the main attraction.....it would be, and was, but so was the 9666 foot elevation!  This was by far the best day of this trip....so far!  It was a great ride to get there.....and the ride through the park was unbelievable...as the title suggests, we ran out of "superlatives" as Larry would say.  I can't begin to tell you how breathtaking it was...the pictures will have to convey some of it...I am sure the smiles will for sure!

Top of the Pass!

I love where Pearl takes me!

the road....

Oh the places......

The roads were twisty and winding all the way through and we crossed from Wyoming to Montana on the other side....I thought Wyoming was beautiful....however it is really just a runner up to the beautiful Montana skyline and scenery...

Home on the Range!

Just outside of Bozeman.

Today was a long ride.  We ended up with almost exactly the same mileage as our longest day so far, with 711 kms completed in today's ride.

Before we left this morning we had decided NOT to do Yellowstone for a variety of reasons.  This really worked out for us.  We were headed west and on one of the stops in Bighorn National Forest a trucker stopped where we were taking pictures to check his load and brakes...he told us that they had closed off some of the roads just past Colby leading into Yellowstone due to a forest fire!  As luck would have it, this is exactly where we would have headed this morning if we were still going to Yellowstone.    On the other side of Bighorn we ran into a fellow from Alberta, who told us he had been caught in traffic for over an hour just outside of Colby...the haze and smell of smoke could be seen/smelled as we travelled west.

Today was long, but it was wonderful.  I could have done this ride over and over again!

Tomorrow night should be a lot of fun...we have a special stop in mind but I will wait until we are ready to post to share with you....it should be interesting, educational and an experience we will not want to miss!  

TTFN

This will take 2....

Sorry that I didn't get a post out last night or this morning......I hit the perverbial wall after we made our destination, and had something to eat....had all of the intentions of getting it done last night...same for this morning, but we had some plans to work out for the next few days, a long ride ahead today and not much time to get this put together.  All that to say, I will be posting two blogs tonight because we have packed a lot of adventure in the last two days.

South Dakota Interstate 90

Rest stop along SD Interstate 90

Aug 4 - The Best Western we stayed in Murdo, SD last night, reminded me of the BW we stayed in at Gila Bend, AZ a few years ago...without the crazy clouds, train tracks and Italian restaurant of course.  We got up in the morning and headed directly to the Interstate as we had a bit of a ride to get to Sturgis/Deadwood and Mount Rushmore....and by a little I mean about 200 km......with high cross winds. Let me tell you that this was the toughest ride I have ever had.....it was killer on the hands, not because of gripping but because counter-steering into the wind and keeping your throttle steady with the same hand was difficult.  We were rewarded by the beautiful scenery, the open land and getting ahead of a weather system coming up from the south and with what laid ahead.

Sturgis was busy with bikes coming in from all directions.  I assume it is busy most times anyway but this week-end is the big bike rally held there every year...I heard they had something like 150,000 bikes last year as it was an anniversary year.

Beyond the entrance - cobblestone, old buildings and bikes!

Deadwood was a nice ride from Sturgis...we saw lots of bikes along the way as the roads are in the mountains with lots of twists and turns.  We stopped at the historic Deadwood street and took a pic at the entrance...the whole street was cobblestone and old buildings....was really cool as there were bikes parked all along both sides of the street.  They really cater to all bikers here.

We finally headed south to Mount Rushmore....strangely we both thought oh this would be really nice to see but were pleasantly surprised to find we were really glad we went there.  It is more amazing that I thought...we snap-chatted a happy birthday to Mary Ann with Mount Rushmore as our backdrop.

Crazy Horse

The Boys!

We headed to our last stop to see Crazy Horse which is being carved out at another rock face not far from Mount Rushmore by the great grandson (not sure how far back the generation but do know it is the same family).  This is not yet finished but as the skies started to darken we thought we would make a quick trip there as it was on the way.  As we paid our "donation" the lady at the entrance indicated that they had closed the mountain tour as there was lightning in the area.....just as she pointed to Crazy Horse a big bolt of lightning came out of the sky and down in behind the mountain. We drove in, pulled over, pulled out the iPhone, took two pictures and took off lol....now who's Crazy?

And the fun didn't end there.....we were headed out the other side of the mountain as we wanted to close the distance to Yellowstone National Park.  We have been discussing the last couple of days whether we would go there or not and were still undecided, mainly due to timing and location.  As we started down the mountain pass, the lightning lit up the sky again and about half way down this huge mountain pass, the cold front hit a dirt patch on the side of the road ahead of us, and then hit us....luckily we saw the dirt fly first so we were expecting it...and as Larry said..."this ain't going to be pretty".  We got past this very quickly and unscathed only to meet up with the rain that followed....now, most people would think the rain would be the worst part, but far from it...we had been riding in 36 degree temps all afternoon.  It was hot and sunny...hot we were, sunny not so much. The rain came down easy and then a little harder, and so did the temperatures....17 degrees was the coldest it got to as it rained.  We were actually getting cooled off and it felt good.  We also knew we would ride out of it which we did...as we crossed the South Dakota/Wyoming state line, it was back up to 30 in no time...when we arrived in Gillette, we were all dried off, warm and sunny again!

Parts of this trip have been challenging and that wasn't unexpected.  The rewards are many, especially if you can be patient and just keep moving forward.  Much like life itself.

Surprises...

Yesterday we were reminded that small things can sometimes bring about the best surprises.

Before I get to that though here are a few other "surprising" things we have learned along the way...

• There is a tremendous amount of farmland across the US.  It is definitely BIG business!
• Most of the crops through the first part of the midwest was corn.  South Dakota so far, we have seen mostly corn and.......Sunflowers!  I expect that it is because these two have the largest market for both direct product as well as how it is also used as a by-product in many mass produced products as well.
• South Dakota has an Interstate speed limit of 80 mph...yup...I stared at the sign thinking for sure it was 60 and it was just the heat getting to me.  Needless to say, even though we kept the speed and then some, we were still getting passed on the road.  We didn't want to run any faster given that we have a full load....
• We were really surprised at the difference in the landscapes as we crossed from Iowa into South Dakota.  Iowa is flat and we thought we could see for miles because of the farmland, however SD is all rolling hills,  Gold, black, green are all colors you will see as you pass through and you really can see for miles.
• One beautiful surprise was when we first saw the Missouri River....it happened as we crested a hill into this huge open valley below where the river crossing was...it was breathtaking!  I wish we could have made a stop to take a picture but it was not possible.  Regardless, it will be a memory photo I will always have.  The valley and road so long to get to the bridge that you actually had some time to enjoy the vista and take it all in.  Beautiful!
• Coors Banquet is served in stubbies (Larry was excited about both of those things).

Stubby Coors!

We are also reminded about how great people are.  The folks at Vern Eide Motoplex were absolutely awesome.  They took our bikes in, did the oil changes, gave them a once over and a thumbs up for the road.  They fit us in even though they were booked solid and we were in and out of there in less than 2 hours.  Thanks to Laken, Kyle and Gloria for all the help and information!  You guys ROCK!

Bike home away from home!

Back to the small things that bring the biggest surprises...when we ended up in Okoboji it was because we missed a turn.  By taking the other road, we got to see the beautiful lake district, found laundry facilities, had one of the best pizzas ever, stayed across the street from where all Victory and Indian motorcycles are assembled and crossed another state (Missouri) which we hadn't expected....just goes to show that you never really take wrong turns in life, just another path that may have been your destiny anyway.

So since we haven't taken that many pictures, I will leave you with this visual thought.  We ride AGATT (All Gear All The Time).  It was so damn hot yesterday (42 degrees), that as soon as we unloaded all of the bags from the bikes, we closed the doors and curtains, stripped naked......and stood in front of the air conditioner for at least 15 minutes....your welcome..again!

BIG

Everything about yesterday was BIG...
Big storms
Big skies
Big fields
Big windmill farms
Big breakfast
Big cans of beer (Larry's contribution)
Big distances

We had a quick and early start to our trip yesterday heading out at 7:30 a.m.  We stopped for breakfast in Knoxville at a fabulous little place called the Knoxville Bar and Grill.  Now I know a couple of you will probably say what the heck are they doing stopping at a Bar first thing in the morning.  We have found some of the best breakfast places at Bar and Grills and most are not even really bars at all. Serving home cooked fresh food, these places serve the best hash browns and omelettes.  We also had a fresh homemade biscuit which I have to say was one of the lightest biscuits I have ever eaten. Along side the bar and grill was an info center that was an old gas station in its' previous life.  Lots and lots of Americana when you travel the old highways through some of these small communities...they really are lovely and the people you meet are equally as lovely.

Breakfast in Knoxville!

We did a mix of secondary highways and Interstate yesterday and the scenery did not change much. Lots of cornfields, but as Larry says.."nothing corny about this trip".  There is another crop that is planted, however we haven't been able to figure out what they are yet.  We passed some of those fields and in the sun their leaves were emerald green and with the wind blowing on the fields, it had almost a plush or velvet look to them.  So soft you almost want to run over and jump in, but something tells me the landing wouldn't be as soft as anticipated!  We saw a crop duster plane buzzing over the fields which was pretty cool to actually see.  Man those things drop in and out of the sky pretty fast.

As we travel over most of the secondary highways we see a tremendous amount of windmill farms...way too many windmills to count (like we do at home) and they stretch for miles in all directions.  We stopped at a gas station late yesterday and a bunch of transport trucks with windmill parts pulled in....the trailers so low they were scraping the ground...the parts themselves are huge so I can only guess that these farms are actually miles away even though they seem so much closer...
that being said, you can see for miles in these parts...or as one fellow said, you can see your dog run away for days.

The benefit of being able to see for miles is also being able to see any coming storms.  We did a great job avoiding all of the big weather that people kept telling us was coming.  This includes the nice lady at McDonald's in Mason City who felt compelled to warn us to be careful as they were calling for heavy thunderstorms which also bring Tornados, and that they had actually seen some funnel clouds "just the other day".....thank you lady...see you later!  Apparently tornados are actually common events in these parts...even though we are north of Kansas (no Dorothy I am not in Kansas). At the stop in Algona where we saw the windmill parts, a nice corn farmer (not a corny joke) told us about a tornado that came through in 1979 and took out an entire motel which once stood in the parking lot we were standing in...OK..nice chatting and on we go!  We did get a little rain after leaving Mason City however it was a welcome relief from the humidity...the temps didn't get much higher than 27 but the humidity was a bit heavy.

So we travelled 711 kms yesterday, hoping to make it to Sioux Falls.  We ended up in Okoboji for the night which is next to Spirit Lake.  Beautiful area and it looks very much like a destination location for anyone in the surrounding areas.

We called ahead and are getting oil changes in our bikes this afternoon at the local Yamaha dealer. They were awesome enough to fit us in.  We won't make Mount Rushmore today but will definitely be there tomorrow and hope to also get Deadwood and Sturgis in as well.  This will be a welcome change to our schedule as most of our trip has been more about riding and not necessarily the tourist stuff thus the lack of photos.  Even though we are enjoying every minute of the scenery and ride I am looking forward to some of the different sight-seeing elements over the next few days.

One thing we did note about our ride so far is that it is not the Tail of the Dragon that we did in 2011. There we did 319 turns in 11 miles....so far we have been lucky to get 11 turns in 319 miles (or more).

Hopefully we will have more photos for you tomorrow...last night was a late day which is why blog posting wasn't done until this morning...that coupled with the two Mike's Hard Lemonade after a long day of riding...your welcome!

Stay tuned!

Old Shell Station

It's a small, small world.....

We are constantly reminded just how small our world really is.....

Finding a Tim Horton's in Findlay, Ohio.....
Finding out a close friend lived in Ohio, not far from where we stayed, and still has friends there....
Getting ready to message a friend in Chicago to tell him we will be close by only to find out he is visiting New Brunswick....

The funniest one though was a conversation we were having as we rode the long route heading West.  We were passing cornfields and crossing state lines, when I happened to ask Larry if he had been through these states on his bike trips in a previous life (BC - Before Cindy).....At the time we had just crossed from Ohio through to Indiana and anticipated crossing into Illinois before days' ends....Larry indicated that he had been through these states but couldn't quite remember which route they had taken.  He then reminded me of a story he often told about camping behind this house with a lot of old vehicles in the back...it was a campground with a small store out front.  It was a story that always freaked him out as he said the old fellow who owned the place came out in the middle of the night with a shovel and bucket and did some "digging"...of course anyone who knows Larry also knows that sometimes speaking truth and "tooth" are two different things...but he did say he didn't sleep well and did keep his buck knife under his pillow...Not two minutes later I hear "Oh my God...that's the place!"...as we passed along route 224, just as we crossed into Indiana, there stood a house with a lot of old vehicles and an old store in the front.....I think I saw an old man in the back, digging.....

Our trip so far.....

• We have travelled 2,725 kms.
• We have ridden through 10 States so far - Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
• We have experienced all kinds of weather - heat, rain, thunder & lightening, and fog.
• The mid west is definitely flat and full of corn.
• Having been stopped on the Interstate in high heat, I now have a new respect for my Ontario brethren who have to use the Don Valley Parking Lot.
• As we rode through Troy, we wondered if Helen really did live there...
• The smaller communities are beautiful and the people are just as beautiful.

We didn't stop much today, but when we did we took a couple of pictures....mostly because it was just nice...One of the stops was a nice little family park...

Clowning around!

Shade for the horses!

Another stop we found the very first drive through for Coffee and Tea....at a grain elevator!

An actual drive thru for Coffee on 24W!

Quite the back drop!

We are looking to get an early start tomorrow.  Looks like there may be more interstate in the plans!

Heading West Young Man!

Finally done with the interstates....

This morning was a little slower getting going....we are just starting to get our groove on the road and now with the worst of the heat behind us (for now), we decided this would be an easy ride day.....it turned out to be easier than we thought.

We started on the I80 in a bit of rain and rode on to the I76 and I71.  We finally found Hwy 224 W and the day just got better from there...the ride through Akron, OH was the last bit of heavy interstate we encountered and happy to have that behind us for now.

The temperatures today really cooperated which also made for a much better ride....a nice 24C was a welcome reprieve from yesterdays heat.  Although we had a bit of rain, it still made for an enjoyable ride.

On the 224 we left all the traffic behind.  The clouds however continued to chase us...we did our best to dodge them as we were actually running through mostly farm country...not many stops or places to take cover...fortunately when we could no longer dodge the clouds, we came upon a BP gas station just as it started to rain,...we took cover under the canopy to put on our rain gear just as the skies opened up and the thunder and lightning show started.  One poor couple from nearby Findlay were not quite get as lucky...the rolled in not long after us coming off route 6, soaked to the bone.  As we got ready to leave the rain was slowing...we had another hours ride to Findlay where we would stop for the night.

Hwy 224 - Farm Country in Ohio

We got a room at the Hampton Inn (I am kinda liking the life of a Princess lol), showered up and headed to the Beer Barrel for supper.

On the table

On the menu

The Beer Barrel....unique place...they have their own app that you can order ahead and then pick up in a drive-thru...they have a huge menu....they have a ton of craft beer...they have great staff!...we each tried a beer flight (tasting of 6 different craft beer).....good thing we always walk to where we are eating!

We shared half a rack and then did half of the track!

.....and at the end of the evening, we plan our route for the next day........

Until tomorrow...when the adventure continues....

















The sunset as we walked back, seems to indicate a promising day tomorrow.  One thing for sure is that we weren't as tired at the end of today as we have been the last two.  As beautiful and as nice as the Interstate is, it still requires a great deal of engagement of all your senses to navigate, especially in heavy traffic.  The back roads are definitely a lot more fun and relaxing, even in the rain.

Where is Waldo...or the Johnsons...

Ready to roll on the next big adventure

We have covered a great deal of ground since we left on Wednesday afternoon....our first leg of the trip got us to Bangor, a little late in the evening but a least a good start to our trip.

We left at a good hour the next morning so we could hit the I95 and cover some ground.  We covered 4 interstates yesterday, two of them smooth sailing and the other two not so much...road construction on the I90 and an accident on the I84 meant we sat in the sun in stop and crawl traffic....and when I say sat, I mean baked....the temps ran between 30 and 35 C as we ran the bikes...stopping in the middle of heavy transport traffic in 40C temps is kind of like sitting in an Easy Bake Oven. By the time we reached Danbury, CT last night, we didn't even care that the Super 8 wasn't all that Super!  It didn't really matter as we were so tired and drained that a shower, a salad at McDonalds (closest place to eat) and a bed were all we needed.

This morning we were up early and on the road by 8:30.  We had a much better day with only one construction stop on the I84.  It wasn't as hot this morning.  Actually when we left it was raining but we drove out of it.  The temperatures were a lot cooler for a while.  We made frequent stops to drink water and have a snack, gas up and just simply take a bum break.  We rode 3 states today, CT, NY and PA.  We almost made it to Ohio today.  If it hadn't been for yesterday and today's stops on the interstates, we most definitely would have made it.  We did make one Love Stop!




So far we have almost 1700 km behind us....and only 4000 more to go!  We hope to be west of Cleveland tomorrow.

Tonight we found a nice spot in Dubois, PA.  Nice little town and the mall next to where we are staying has a wine shop from a winery only 45 minutes north of here...tonight we enjoy a little Autumn Leaves by The Winery at Wilcox....they use concord grapes....almost like drinking grape juice!