Day 34 - HOME

We left St. Augustine at 8:15am and headed down I95 for home. We had mixed emotions - we wanted the adventure to continue, but at the same time were anxious to get home and see all our friends. We arrived home at 11:30am (pic) with 34 days and 8,100 miles under our belts and began the unloading process - wow we took a lot of stuff! We know now what we really needed and what was unnecessary - that is to say most of what we took!

The hurricane shutters are now down, the vehicles have been thoroughly washed and cleaned, and we are ready to resume our normal routine. The trip was wonderful, challenging and the greatest adventure of our lives, but home is where the heart is.

We hope you all enjoyed reading about the trip. We enjoyed writing the commentary. Until the next adventure - cheers!

Day 33 - Columbia to St. Augustine

We left Columbia at 8:15am, thanking God that we decided to take the extra three hours yesterday and ride from Morganton, NC to Columbia. Yesterday it was 102 late in the afternoon. Today it was 87 at 8:00am and is set to reach 106 by noon. We are glad to be gone early, and thankful we only have 335 miles to go today and not 493 as per the original schedule.

What can I say about the ride down US26 and I95? We all know what it is like to ride on the interstates with all the trucks - not much fun! But, it is time to go home and the interstate does get you there fast - unless there is an accident or too much traffic congestion - which there wasn't!

However, once into Florida, one of those "scattered," or "isolated" thunderstorm decided to isolate itself right over us on I95 right at the World Golf Village. How appropriate. I got rained on when I visited my old home (Seattle), and now I get rained on when I return to my new home. Suzanne, in the car, laughed. Oh well, it was a short rain, as most are in Florida, unlike Seattle where the rain can go on for days (and did when we were there)!

We have been extremely fortunate with the weather for the most part, and with the vehicles. The Hyundai and the Harley have performed flawlessly ("knock on wood"). Indeed, I think the two of them have "bonded!" The only thing I am scratching my head about is the extreme variability in the gas mileage on the Harley. I am wondering if the fact that the fuel in the Midwest is often a methanol mixture had anything to do with it? I am sure the wind was a factor as well.

We are going to "do the town" tonight in St. Augustine. It is one of our favorite towns and it is time to celebrate a great adventure (pics). Wish you were all here with us! See you soon and "cheers!"

Day 32 - Pikesville to Columbia

We left Pikesville at 8:15am after having had a great visit with our friend Jeff, heading down US 23 East toward Virginia. Highway 23 is quite a marvel. It is cut through the mountain of Kentucky with precision and great engineering skill. Some hills are cut by 400 or so feet. The drill marks in the rock are clearly evident, and the blasting took place in tiers of 30 to 40 feet high each. In some cases there are 10 or more tiers to open the path for the highway. It is truly something to see. According to Jeff, carving highway 23 thought the Kentucky mountains moved more rock and earth than was moved in digging the Panama Canal and took 15 years to do it!

Reaching Virginia, we continued on US 23, but it can't compare to 23 in Kentucky. We reached Norton, VA and had breakfast at the Dairy Queen. The eggs were fine, but in my opinion, biscuit, egg and sausage doesn't make it in comparison with either the McDonalds or Burger King variety. The biscuit sticks to the roof of your mouth!

We left Norton and headed South into Tennessee for a short way on Hwy 91, what a scenic ride. Then we headed to Boone, NC, a truly scenic town with much "tourist" about it. From there we headed South to Morganton, NC, our original destination for the day. However, we arrived at 2:10pm and decided that we would rather spend more time in St. Augustine tomorrow, than in Morganton today, so we cancelled our reservation at the Comfort Inn, made another at the Comfort Inn in Columbia, SC, and hit the road for another three hours.

The ride was largely uneventful, given that it was on I-40 and I-77 at 75 plus mph, but the heat was a bit much. At times the thermometer on the bike registered 105 degrees. Several stops for water were required!

We arrived safely in Columbia at 5:00pm, unpacked and headed for Applebees for dinner. They have the greatest new appetizer menu. You can choose three appetizers for $10.95 - and they are all pretty good!

Tomorrow we head for St. Augustine. So far we have accumulated over 75 points on our ABCs of Touring, with one more to go "Georgia". Until tomorrow - cheers!

Day 31 - Crawfordsville to Pikeville

We left Crawfordsville at 8:15am on our way to visit our friend Jeff Joyce in Pikesville, KY. The first leg of the trip was on the Interstate to Indianapolis, then South into Kentucky. Flat Indiana farmland turned into rolling green hills in Kentucky, and the trip was uneventful. That is, until we got deeper into Eastern Kentucky and off the interstate! There, the Garmin once again had seizures as a result of road re-alignments, and we once again we did some circles.

Finally, I stopped at a Kentucky Highway Patrol office and asked directions (pic). While we had wanted to follow the beautiful parkway into Pikesville - and should have in retrospect - the advice from the officer was to get back on I-64 East to the Virginia border, then take US 23 South to Pikesville. The route was easy to follow, but it also added an hour and a half and 70 or so miles to the trip.

We finally arrived at Jeff Joyce's beautiful house in a tight valley off US 23 in Pikesville around 4:45pm. I was thoroughly exhausted after having endured temperatures that hit 100 degrees. Thank goodness I drank lots of water! We had a great evening with Jeff and he gave us directions for our next leg to Morganton, NC. He advised against the route we were planning to take as it is very arduous. I think at this stage, we are ready for a scenic, but less challenging ride! Until tomorrow, cheers!

Day 30 - Milwaukee to Crawfordsville, Indiana

We left the Holiday Inn for the Harley plant at 8:15am so we could get the first tour of the day (pic). The tour began with a video detailing the history of Harley Davidson, then a tour of the powertrain facility. The Wauwatasa plant (pic) makes the engines for the Sportster and the Bueul, manufactures the Quality Parts for older engines and does the Re manufacturing of older engines.

The tour was interesting for an engine nut like me, but not very interesting for Suzanne. Like all Harley plants, this one has its Eagle, manufactured from old car bumpers and other scrap metal (pic).

We got out of the tour around 9:45am and headed South - but not without incident. There is a lot of new construction in Milwaukee and the Garmin couldn't figure it out. We did three round trips through not so desirable neighborhoods before I noticed a sign for 41 to Chicago - I took it and the Garmin finally settled down and took us where we wanted to go.

The trip down I-94 through Chicago was hair raising to say the least. It is three lanes, two of which were full of trucks! Not only that, but the Interstate is a toll road, and you had to come up with $.80 every few miles - not a pleasant thing on a motorcycle!

The roads in Illinois are also very bad. The interstate is full of potholes, and a lot of high speed avoidance exercise was had! We finally got to Indiana and the roads improved. We arrived at the Comfort Inn - Crawfordsville at 5:00pm (we are back on Eastern Daylight Time), checked in and headed for the Applebees for a light dinner and a few beers - we needed the latter!

Tomorrow we head for Pikesville, KY to stay with our friend Jeff Joyce. We look forward to seeing a familiar face and sharing a casual evening. More later. Cheers

Day 29 - Prairie du Chien to Milwaukee

We left Prairie du Chien at 8:00am and headed East on WI60 to Madison. the first part of the trip was through wonderful Wisconsin farmland with lots of dairy (Wisconsin is "Dairyland" after all) and "corn as high as an Elephant's eye" (I know that was a reference to Iowa I think in a Broadway musical). Anyway, the farmland was very picturesque and it was not raining!

Of course, I was fully dressed in my defective rain gear for the expected rain - which never materialized all the way to Milwaukee. The trip was short - 173 miles - but it was a nice ride. After 90 or so miles on WI60, we switched over to I90/94 at Madison, and then onto I94 to Milwaukee. We arrived in Milwaukee at the Holiday Inn Express at 1:30pm. we couldn't check in so we went to the Harley Davidson engine plant, which was only two miles away and took a photo (pic).

We then returned to the motel and checked in, went to the laundromat and did a much needed load of wash, then went to dinner at a great steak house (Boulder Junction). Tomorrow we go to the Harley plant for a tour, and then head South to Crawfordsville, Indiana. Only a few days to go until we are back home. Until tomorrow - cheers!

Day 28 - Mitchell to Prairie du Chien

Mitchell, SD is famous for the Corn Palace. This is a civic center that is annually decorated with ears of corn cut in half lengthwise (pics). It also has a great little pub and restaurant called The Depot (pic). We ate at The Depot, not the Corn Palace.

This morning, we left Mitchell at 8:00am with 423 miles ahead of us, and the tail end of the same nasty storm we dealt with yesterday only a hundred or so miles ahead of us. The ride down I-90 was uneventful for the first 150 miles. The sky was heavily overcast, but there was no rain. However, after that we caught up with the tail end of the storm and had heavy rain all the way to the Mississippi River - some 220 miles to the East. The rain was bad enough, but the temperature never got above 62 degrees and was sometimes in the fifties.

Once again the rain gear failed the test in all the wrong places. By the time we got to the Mississippi and started down towards Harper's Ferry and Prairie du Chien, I was thoroughly wet and very cold. However, the rain had stopped. Despite that fact, the last 60 miles were not much fun. Too bad, because we were traveling down a scenic highway called The Great River Road. It would have been very scenic if the clouds had been a bit higher and I had been a bit less soaked! We couldn't even see across the river most of the time - and it's not very wide at this point!

We arrived at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin at 5:00pm. It had been a very long, and not very pleasant ride. Hopefully the storm moves faster tonight and we don't meet up with it again tomorrow on the way to Milwaukee!

Day 27 - Sturgis to Mitchell

We awoke in Sturgis to a light rain. We were on the road by 8:15am, headed for Mitchell, SD on I-90 with hopes of traveling through the scenic Brule Indian Reservation. However, a few miles outside Sturgis it became clear that Mother Nature had other ideas. We pulled off the road and I donned the Frogg Togs (rain gear) and off we went. The rain was ahead of us for the next 100 or so miles, but the wind was hard from the Southeast at 30 to 40 mph and made it rough to hold the road. We stopped for gas after only 120 miles. Thanks to the wind, the mileage dropped from 40 mpg to under 30 mpg!

Shortly after the gas stop we reached the famous "Wall Drug" in Wall, SD (pic). Of course, we had to stop for a "walk about." No purchase of the vast array of tourist junk was made. For those who haven't been there, Wall Drug is to South Dakota what "South of the Border" is to South Carolina - enough said.

Leaving Wall, it was clear that we were headed for some even nastier weather, so we gassed up early. About 175 miles from Mitchell, the sky opened up with a continuous drenching rain, very low visibility, occasional lightning and hail, and the same heavy wind. This lasted for a full 100 miles, and speeds were held down to the low 50s.

The Frogg Togs proved to be no match for this drenching - they leaked wherever there was a zipper and I was soon wet in all the wrong places. We stopped for gas about 65 miles out from Mitchell and I changed shirts and tried to dry off a bit. Then it was back to the road and another 35 miles of rain. We finally outran the storm front, but this brought only limited cheer since moving in the same direction as are we. It will easily overtake us tonight and get out in front again. Indeed, the rain has already started in Mitchell, and it is only 5 pm. We fear that tomorrow could be an unwelcome repeat of today. Oh well, it's only water, and the people here definitely need the rain!

Sorry for the lack of photos, but you all know what rain looks like.

Before signing off, I should note that for the entire trip to Mitchell, there was a continuous flow of motorcycles heading West to Sturgis. Indeed, I estimate that fully half the vehicles traveling West on I-90 today were motorcycles! There was also a large number of bikes going East after having been in Sturgis during the week before the Rally. The following explains part of the reason for the exodus.

We paid $98.50 per night at the Best Western in Sturgis for the three nights before the Rally starts. It is a very nice motel, with an attached restaurant and bar, an indoor pool and a rudimentary casino. It is owned and operated by Guy Edwards, a great individual and fellow biker. As an economist, I understand the laws of supply and demand. And in Sturgis, at the time of the Rally, here is how it works.

Three weeks ago, we believe the rate for our motel room was $49.50 a night. The rate for the week ahead of the Rally was what we paid or higher. Starting tonight, the rate for the next ten days is a whopping $325 per night, AND, all the local motels reportedly require a $900 deposit and a guarantee that no more than four people will share a room and that there will be no sleeping bags on the floor. Violation of the guarantee reportedly forfeits the $900! Now that's and extreme example of how massive demand affects price when there is a limited supply!

And talk about massive demand - it is estimated that there will be over 750,000 visitors in Sturgis during Rally week! The total population of South Dakota is normally under 730,000! Cheers.

Day 26 - Sturgis

We got off to a later start this morning, around 10am, and decided to take a short ride through the Spearfish Canyon - about 70 miles return. To get to the canyon, you leave Sturgis on US14a through Deadwood and Lead. Deadwood has an interesting history as a goldmining town and scene of numerous shootouts. For example, today (August 2) is the 131st anniversary of the shooting death of Wild Bill Hickock in Deadwood.

US14a then heads down the Spearfish Canyon toward the town of Spearfish. It is not a particularly hard ride - kind of "twisties for beginners" I guess, but it is quite scenic. The canyon is very narrow and the walls rise almost vertically (pics). In Spearfish, you return to Sturgis on I-90.

We were back in Sturgis by 11:30am and headed downtown for a day of shopping at the numerous vendor tents. The action takes place on Main Street (pic). We are here early, the real action starts tomorrow and goes through next weekend. Nonetheless, there are thousands of bikers here already.

Mandatory t-shirts, pins, hats and other memorabilia were acquired and we had lunch and drinks at several of the local watering holes. Of particular note was One Eyed Jacks, a magnificent and expansive bar (pic) with a particularly attractive bar tender from Phoenix (pic). It seems that most of the bartenders and others arrive in Sturgis from elsewhere for the two weeks of the rally. There is no way the locals could staff all the needs of the hundreds of thousands of bikes that will descend on Sturgis next week.

Day 25 - Sturgis, Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills

We slept in this morning - well, kind of - I got up at 3:30 to do my work and then went back to bed until 7:30am. We did a load of wash and then headed down I-90 to Rapid City to see Mt. Rushmore and ride through Custer State Park. Mt. Rushmore is what one would expect, a spectacular achievement turned into a tourist spectacle. We took the mandatory photo (pic), had an ice cream cone and headed out of the area.

From there we took US16a through the Black hills National Forest and encountered some of the best twisties ever. On two occasions we did a complete 360 degree turn to the right climbing to pass over a bridge over the road we had just traveled. The second time it was more like a 720 degree spiral to the right with two such bridges! Never in my life have I seen anything like that. It almost made you dizzy! Apart from that, there were many 10 and 15 mph switchbacks, true "peg scrapers," and a couple of one lane tunnels (pic)! While it is hard to make out in the photo, you can see the president's faces on Mt. Rushmore through the tunnel.

We continued on 16a through the Custer State Park. By the way, the park has nothing to do with the defeat of Gen. George Custer at the hands of the Sioux, as Little Big Horn in Wyoming. Whatever - the park is spectacular and its roads are as full of twisties as described above.

After Custer State park, we took the Needles Highway (SD 87) to Sylvan Lake. Once again, the road was full of twists and turns, and at the summit were the most spectacular rock formations (pics). I don't know how they were formed, nor how they remain standing! And while there were no 360 turns as in Black Hills National Forest ride, there were very tight twisties and one lane tunnels that were even narrower (pic). One particular 10 mph turn took a significant chunk of chrome off my left foot board. I definitely found the "limit of my lean angle" as Jerry Paladino would say. I was thrilled - Suzanne was, shall I say, "less than amused."

At Sylvan Lake we turned onto US16/385 toward Deadwood. The road was fast and scenic, but not as memorable as what we had just gone through. From Deadwood we took 14a back to Sturgis. We spent 6 hours on the loop and covered 160 miles. I now understand the real reason people come to Sturgis - the riding is phenomenal!

After arriving back at the motel, we took a tour of Sturgis, where we will spend all of tomorrow. There are more vendor tents than you can shake a stick at - plus some interesting looking saloons! It is now close to 5pm Mountain time and you know what that means!! Cheers!

Day 24 - Cody to Sturgis - Part 1

We had planned to leave Cody and take US 14a through the Bighorn National Forest to Ranchester and I-90, then follow the interstate to Sturgis. But during dinner, my friend Mick Barrus mentioned that a great ride could be had by going North up US 296, the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, then picking up US 212, the highway over Beartooth Pass.

I had not known that the Beartooth was so close, and long wanting to experience this great ride, Suzanne and I calculated how much longer our trip to Sturgis would be taking this new and exciting route. As it turned out, the added time was about 4 hours to add the 140 or so miles. Suzanne said she was game and that was all I needed.

The new route took us up WY 120 out of Cody, up the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway through the Shoshone National Forest. We left Cody at 8am. The ride was all that Mick had said it would be (pics). We rose from about 3,500 feet to well over 9,000 feet at the summit.

Day 24 - Cody to Sturgis - Part 2

Dropping down again to around 3,500 feet, we turned onto US 212 and headed up the Beartooth Pass. This road is legendary with bikers for its scenic beauty and challenging twisties. It was all I had heard it would be. We stopped at Top Of The Earth for pins and a break, before heading over the summit at 10,947 feet (pics)

Dropping down into Red Lodge, we stopped at the Harley shop for the mandatory t-shit and more Beartooth pins, then took MT 306 to Belfry; MT 72 to Bridger; and MT 310/WY 789 to Lovell, WY.

Day 24 - Cody to Sturgis - Part 3

(I added a photo here of Red Lodge). We arrived in Lovell at noon and had lunch. We then picked up US 14a through the Bighorn National Forest. I had not known what a spectacular ride this would be from the maps, but it turned out to be just as great as the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, but not as great as the Beartooth. We rose from 3,500 feet very rapidly to the summit at 9,430 feet. The scenery was breathtaking. (pics).

We finally hit I-90 around 3:30pm and pounded our way the final 220 odd miles to Sturgis. While the scenery was sometimes beautiful, there is not really a lot to say for interstate travel, especially after having ridden three of the most scenic and challenging roads a biker could imagine. Barring the long treck on I-90, this, along with the ride from Durango, CO to Ouray, CO, was my most memorable day of riding so far. It will be hard to beat it in the future, but you know I will try!

We arrived in Sturgis after 7:00pm after having been on the road for 11 hours. Suzanne was a trooper all the way and loved the scenery as much as I did. We now spend three nights in Sturgis and will report on the events.