Road to Sturgis Day Three

We left Ottawa IL at 8:05 and set out sites West. With advice from a fellow New England Rider we have diverted to 80 from route 90 to avoid the Chicago area, which tends to be very congested. The roadside continues to grace us with farmland, although the corn sometimes changes to another crop, which I am not familiar with. The vegetation is low and a very deep green. As the miles slip beneath us, another “crop” pops into view; miles and miles of wind turbines. While people are divided on both sides of the wind power issue, I do not find the turbines a blight to the landscape at all. In fact, to me they are like a well choreographed dance, each turning in smooth rotation, synchronized in a delicate tribute while offering up to the energy hungry people of the US a food they consume like candy; electrical power.

Andy needs fuel so we pull off the highway and make a three mile trip into the nearest town, Anita. Well, here is my sister again, yesterday with the old Buick and today, her name plastered all over town, with banners waiving from power polls, and one big welcome sign saying “Anita, A Whale of a Town.” Well, it was a little whale; the main street was empty except for a few cars, and the place is very quite. On the way back to the highway, the slower pace along country road lets me watch the wind turbines in their graceful dance and feel awed by their majesty so up close and personal.




So far we have only met a few motorcyclist, which I find odd. At a rest stop we discover the possible reason why. We are along 680 heading toward 29 North to route 90. A few folks at the rest area tell us of all the flooding. Flooding? Then I remember all the news stories of the rapid snow melt to the north that has flooded great sections of the states south. We are fortunate as 29 North is open, but for those heading south it is still closed for many miles. We see the great destruction along this route with giant swaths carved right through the corn fields. The Missouri has spread wide beyond her banks, and local roads are still under water. Our route is often squeezed down to 2 lanes, one north bound and one southbound. Many of the bridges are newly reconstructed. We watch miles and miles of water covered landscape slip by us. It won’t be until October, from what we are made to understand, that this water will recede.

We pull off for the night in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at the Red Roof Inn. The rates are great, the room comfortable, and the place is biker friendly. I forgot to reset the trip meter on the GPS, but you can subtract yesterday’s and see that we rode 555 miles. We enjoy beer and nachos for dinner. Not exactly what you would think would hit the spot, but yesterday we ate a regular sit down and it seemed too much. Also, I think the salty chips may be something our bodies need as despite drinking lots of water, we still tend to feel parched.


(Can't figure out how to rotate this?)




Monday we will leave later, ride leisurely and pull off within striking distance of Sturgis. Our reservations are not until Tuesday at the Black Hills State University. We hope to arrive and spend some of the day in Sturgis on Tuesday before heading to Spearfish and checking in for 3:00 pm and meeting up with Lee and Deb.

Road to SturgisDay One and Day Two

Day 1
Platea; our stop for today in our journey to Sturgis, is a quaint town near Great Lake Erie in Pennsylvania. It was an uneventful day, which is really what you want when traveling 523 miles on a first leg. Our room here at the Green Roof Inn is quite the surprise with a hot tub in the room, which Andy is enjoying at the moment. Our light meal at the local pub rounded out the day and I will test that tub out for myself in a moment to get a kink or two out of my shoulders.

The traffic today was fairly pleasant. Although it does seem that our country is in dire need of milk and cookies, judging by the trucks on the road. Enjoy the few photos below, of our mileage for the day, our lodging, bonus hot tub and the restful view out the pub window.











Day2
Today, we get off the road in Ottowa Illinois, at a time we think is early enough for me to do a decent blog post. The surprise is on us, when we discover we’ve traveled through a time change, and while it’s still a decent hour here, my brain knows how long I’ve been riding. Today’s miles are 492.7, some of it is detours. Route 80 which we were advised to take to Des Moines, is actually under construction. The exit we needed to take was actually closed. The signs pointed us a few more exits down, but we took a wrong turn and had to back track a bit. While the construction didn’t slow us down too much, the east bound lane was at a standstill.

As for the weather, we encountered rain just west of Toledo, but it only lasted a half hour and actually felt good. It yesterday I thought the US needed milk and cookies today all we see is corn; corn for us, corn for our cars and probably corn for the hogs too. In fact, our lodgings tonight are smack dab in the middle of corn.

Just before we stopped for the night, we met some nice folks towing a 1972 Buick, which looked so much like my sister Anita’s first car; I had to strike up a conversation about it. Turns out, one man’s wife has had a Skylark since it was new, and is in need of restoration now. The other guy with him will do the restoration, but the Skylark needed a new frame. In this photo is the car that will donate the frame. These guys went to Michigan to get it and were shocked at all the original parts under the hood. I wish them well. They seemed excited to get their project under way.

It’s been many years since Andy and I traveled 90 west and we are shocked by the tolls we are paying. So far, we have spent more than 50 dollars for the two of us, and we are only ½ way. There goes my mad money for the vendors in Sturgis.

Natural High

There are many examples of a natural high, but nothing can compare to family, friends, colleagues and total strangers voting you into first place in an essay contest. I thought watching the numbers climb on the vote tally was a thrill. I soon learned differently this weekend at the Carlisle Bikefest. With the placement of a VIP sticker on my windshield, to the last goodbye, my entourage and I were treated like celebrities.



Getting to Carlisle wasn’t without its challenges. We endured some of the most brutal heat Mother Nature can deliver. We went through 5 tires, (four trailer and one car) paid over $4.00 a gallon at one gas station, and I cracked the touch screen on my GPS by carelessly slamming it into the glove box. (The great Garmin service I received later is a story for another day.) Yet, I would do it all again for the experience of meeting great people like Sara Liberte, Mary Pinkerton and her husband Joe, Rick (Carlisle Event coordinator), John the manager at the Mustang booth, and Willy who installed my new Kuryakyn parts. I also met Beth a visitor to Carlisle Bikefest, who, as we watched my saddle installed, struck up a conversation that lead to us connecting in the mutual experiences we share.



There are bike events all over this country, and I have now visited four of them from one coast to the next, and soon I will head to a fifth. Each has their own personality trait. Carlisle by comparison is low keyed and indeed we saw many a baby in the pram. Carlisle is a place for the family. The event workers and industry sponsors were welcoming and genuinely friendly. Their concern and caring for us went beyond the promotion, when understanding how far Mary had driven to the event, added to the sum a prepaid gas card to the prize booty.

The amount of “stuff” I came home with is almost shameful, in way one would feel about gluttony. Yet one of the simplest of these prizes is a pair of Harley boots. The leather is soft and supple and certainly fine grain leather, with a low heal that treats my back nicely. So comfortable are they, I wore them with my shorts all the way home. Dave is probably thinking I sleep in them.




With the mention of Dave, an emotional tear of gratitude comes to my eye. Dave endured the worst heat imaginable to take loads of photos for nothing more than that we are friends. So it pleased me beyond words to see him get one-on- one time with Sara and talk about photography. Being a fan of hers this is possibly the best serendipitous gift one friend could give to another. I need a whole box of tissue with that one thought alone.

I’m off to Sturgis soon, and Sara will be there. On my list of things to bring is the Garage Girls tank top which I will wear proudly when I next seek out Sara’s booth. If you’re headed to Sturgis, keep an eye out for Blaze. She is stylin’ sporting her fender chrome and new saddle. You can’t miss us; we’ll be the duo blasting tunes on our new Kuryakyn Sound of Chrome speakers.




Note: The group photos is from the Garage-Girls Facebook page. I will be posting some of Dave’s in the near future.