July 8, 2005 - Friday – Day 13

48 States or Bust – The USA on Two Wheels
Miles Today: 217 - Total Miles: 3,333 – Daily Average: 256.8
11:30PM-6PM (MST) – 7.5 hours (time zone change!)
Pierre,SD to Rapid City, SD
(-stayed at a Rodeway Inn -) (SD – 16/48)
- BADLANDS AND A LITTLE BEYOND –


Since the Shadow passed 6,000 miles I knew it was time to get the oil changed. Peterson Motors was just a few blocks away from the motel, and the thoughtful owner, Russ, took me right in at 10:30am. They also checked the air in the tires.

Dode and the Days Inn front desk staff were helpful again as we plotted our way toward the Badlands and beyond, with helpful routing tips, and more suggestions of things to see that we couldn’t possibly do in a month!

Just out of Pierre there was road construction and I had to maneuver the motorcycle over dirt and gravel portions of "highway" for a few hundred yards. Not fun, and I had to be really careful. Got through it okay, though. It was very dusty, too. After that, as we traveled down the highway for a number of miles, small stones came up and whacked us on the fingers and legs.

Lots of cattle now can be seen dotting the pasture land. They were eating their grass oblivious to the fate that will befall them.

Followed a parallel road that was under construction for a long while – probably 15 to 20 miles. And it was interesting watching how the various stages of the road were constructed.

It was mostly all flat grassland again for the first part of the morning journey. But when I turned my head at one point this morning the land was all ripped and gouged and twisted and in disarray. It was the beginning of the Badlands, a geologic area of earth that is well known for looking strange.

Off Route 90 there is a 35-mile loop which takes one through the main part of the Badlands. We took that loop, entered the National Park (using our National Park pass for the first time!), and began a hot trek through that area of unusual formations and back through time itself. There were occasional pull-offs where the views were phenomenal up close or as far as one could see. But even while moving down the two lane roadway, it was hard to keep from looking at what appears as geologic oddities and weird formations.

Learned a lesson about leaving our helmets in the sun during stops. Almost scalding hot to the touch!

On one of the trails, a mom was liberally splashing suntan stuff on her shirtless 10 year old’s belly and arms. I shouted over to her good naturedly, "Is that a service of the park, ma’am?" She laughed and allowed to as she could make a lot of money on a day like today.

At the Badlands dining room just off the gift shop, we had delicious veggie burgers for lunch. I decided that I’d have a piece of cherry pie, and ordered it when Karen was out browsing in the spacious gift shop area. She came back as the pie was brought to the table, and I said to the waitress, "Who ordered this pie, I surely didn’t!" We all laughed then, but then the waitress said to Karen she would bring her a fork so the pie could be shared. I deadpanned, "Well there goes your tip!"

I sat and enjoyed that lunch looking at a ridge of the Badland mountains. Those mountains rise and fall irregularly and sometimes in indescribable twists and turns. It all appears rugged and is. It can appear at first glance all dirt-colored hue. But if the sun is just a little different, then other colors come out. We were there when the sun was high, and so our pictures won’t be variegated in colors or shadows. But the amazing array of rough-hewn earth was staggering. In parts it was moon-like alien.

Seventy-five million years ago the land was under water. The ground was pushed up by continental pressures, the water left, and the land became eroded. Lots of fossils are present in the layers of rock. I just love seeing those bands that represent millions of years.

As I paid the bill, I asked the heavy set fellow who took my money about what the temperature was. He said that it was 98º when he came to work about an hour ago. We went over to the visitor center then. A new building was being built for it, and it was now in just a big trailer. There were books and posters and things, of course.

It was the first time I had visited such a geologic wonder without bicycling through it. I had mixed feeling about whether I was actually ‘earning’ and being part of the place. Not to say we weren’t working at this today – it WAS hot out there on the highway, and I had to wrestle mightily with the bike and tiredness in the winds of the Badland mountain area. Oh, and with the temptation of looking longer over at the fantastical panoramas of twisted rock formation as we rode around the narrow roadways.

We picked up another hour when we moved into mountain standard time this afternoon.

Littering the landscape of the non-national park areas were hundreds of billboards for various tourist trap things. The Wall drugstore was the greatest culprit. One after another they poked up out of the earth. The blight is considerable. Since the driver is a captive audience really, the signs began to bother me.

When we got to that Wall Drug exit I checked out the place, mainly for the free ice water they offered. I didn’t buy anything. I found it the kitschiest place I’d been in for years. It was almost a city block or more of tourist-mania stuff beyond comprehension.

We got to the Mount Rushmore area and the distant sky was dark with rain tendrils falling to earth in the near distance. Although we had first thought of seeing Mount Rushmore this evening, we decided to put it off until morning since the rain was threatening (and huge multi-pronged lightning bolts could be seen), and because we were both very tired and somewhat grumpy.

We had a good long walk for dinner, and in search of a computer-phone data cord (which transfers data, and allows me to connect on-line) I must have left mine at the Days Inn this morning.

July 7, 2005 – Thursday – Day 12

48 States or Bust – The USA on Two Wheels
Miles Today: 341- Total Miles: 3116 – Daily Average: 259.7
2:30PM-9PM (CST) – 6.5 hours
Fargo, ND to Pierre, SD
(-stayed at a Days Inn -) (ND,SD – 16/48)
- ROADS OUT TO INFINITY -


This morning’s walk/jog was to a wonderful sport store – we could have browsed in there all morning. But actually, only took the time to get me the new shorts I wanted for under my riding suit. Found some I thought would be perfect.

It was warm this morning. Already heading to the 90s by the time we left. We went through the ritual unzipping of the pitzips and the back vent (the openings which give our jackets ventilation).

At the gas station, a wonderfully friendly guy gave us directions to Route 29, and then he followed us to the post office. He just wanted to make sure that he had made those directions clear enough. It was a wonderfully friendly thing to do. He was a retired postal worker, he said, and he just retired three years ago.

We sent back another huge collection of things. More stuff that wasn’t needed as it turned out, the shorts I had replaced, a few other things that we were done with.
We’ve continued feeling really good physically. Little aches and pains occasionally, but through it all doing really well. I had a scare the other morning when I felt a couple back twinges. Not at all from all the riding, but must have slept funny or lifted something wrong. I was worried about it, but by mid-morning the problem had gone away totally.

This morning we had a wonderful ride down mostly lonely highways south from Fargo on Route 29. The big sky with huge white clouds stretched form one edge of the universe to the other. There was wind trying to push us back this morning, and it took all I could to hang on. No resting back with my left hand off the handlebar this morning, that was for sure. And my grips were tight, tight on the bars. As we trekked down the highway, we’d go through large pools of shadow cast from those big clouds. As we went through those areas it felt about ten degrees cooler – and felt good to bathe in those shadow breezes.

When I asked about some directions one man said it was long stretches of purely boring, boring road. But we didn’t find it that way at ALL. Maybe that’s part of the difference of those who ride in their cages to those who ride on bicycles or motorcycles. We are not boxed away from the environment, but actually become part of it – feeling the winds, smelling the smells, experiencing each road bump, and getting to see things that car people just miss entirely.

One really knows one’s out in the middle of nowhere when there’s a gas station sign at the exit, and then when you get to the exit, the station is still three miles away. Another good sign that everything is so remote is when the highway sign reads, "NEXT REST AREA 94 MILES" 94 miles!

When I’d be bike riding long distances, and sweating, and drinking, I’d be in a regular habit of uh, just taking some time to look off the side of the road. And then this would be every hour or so like clockwork. No problem out in the wilderness or in the rural areas. When going through city areas, or when back for awhile from the bike trips it would be uh, uncomfortable for awhile until my body system got back into the scheme of things. Well, it’s happening on the motorcycle now, too, except that it’s a LOT harder getting the gear out of the way. One time, after about 15 really uncomfortable minutes on the bike, we got to a rest stop, the mens room was locked and I barged into the womans room just as the cleaning lady was leaving. I said with a smile, "Sorry, I just HAVE to get in there!" When I came out we exchanged friendly and knowing smiles, and I remarked to her that she "came out of there JUST in time!"

Another 25 miles, and I had to jump off the bike even before Karen was off. A very old guy was in there, and had to turn his hearing aid up to hear what I wanted. When I got to chat with him a few minutes later, I told him about our big trip around the country, and he said, "Yeah the problem with a trip like that is that there are too many things to see!"

***
Something for the motorcycle readers out there to wrap their thoughts and dreams around: today was 300 miles or so with nary a traffic light or stop sign, hardly a cage in sight, superb gorgeous weather, just enough wind to make it a challenge, and ever-changing scenery of bright greens and blues. Just fabulous.
***

At a gas stop in Watertown, we met a motorcyclist, Marty Harmil, in a bright red shirt who owned a big mc and he came over to chat and find out about our trip. He and his wife own bikes but he’s going to sell them both he said, and buy a big Goldwing. His wife likes to look around too much when she rides anyway, he said. Marty said that he was to retire in four days, and I suggested that if we had come by a bit later, he could have just come with us. He laughed, and through his laughter he said that he "would have gone all the way" with us!

It was wondrous riding today. Just wondrous. The highways were long toward infinity into the horizon. And the surface of that distant road was often obscured by shimmering water mirages just laying on the surface of the highway. Shimmering. Shimmering.

It was mostly two-laner roads for the second part of the day, and with the sightlines out to as far as one could see on the straight roads, and with hardly any traffic – it was fun (and safe) to hit 95mph, and to pass the slower moving vehicles with impunity.

As approaching big trucks would come toward us, I would hunch down behind the windshield. Karen would put her arms around me, put her head down against my side, and hold tight. That way there would be less wind resistance from the forceful ocean of air-wake of the passing the truck.

By afternoon, there was less wind buffeting than earlier in the day. And at times the wind would come from behind, thought mostly it came from the left.

At a gas stop exactly fifty miles from of Pierre, in Highmore, we met some interesting folks. One was a Mr. Hoffman who was a pipe layer of new water lines for the Hoffman Trencher Company. He came over to us after he was in the little food store, and he asked how it was going. I took enjoyment from his radiating broad smile and said with a smile back, "ZOOOOOOOOOM!" And with a flash in my eye, I moved my hand quickly from one side of me to the other. We both laughed in understanding.

We also met Kelly, David, and their cute freckly faced little daughter Taylor. The Farrells were from Phoenix and I chatted with David about the roads and how fast one could travel on them. David owns an 1800cc mc, but finds it uncomfortable to ride for long distances. They were headed for Aberdeen this evening, and he was anxious to get on the road. We got a cute picture of Taylor on the Shadow.

We got to Pierre. (Btw, it’s pronounced "peer" here! Seems odd to me, but that’s the way it is. A local told Karen that it originally was "p-air", but that it was americanized.) There was roadwork through one of the main sections of town road. We crossed over to the Days Inn for no particular reason. I got to chatting with a nice woman in the lobby, and it turned out to be the owner. Dode is a woman who has bicycled long distances. Slim, friendly, and with a winning smile, it would be no surprise that she is successful as a motel owner. She even helped us in with our bags. She gave us lots of helpful information about the area.

We were very concerned about getting a room for tomorrow night. It being a Friday night in a heavily touristy area. So we tried to figure where would be best for us, considering distances and what we wanted to see, and also considering that I want to get an oil change for the Shadow which passed the 6,000-mile mark today!

We trotted over to the Subway next door to the motel at around 9pm, and noted that the laundromat in the adjourning building had a cute tagalong name – Sudsway! When back to the room, after chatting a bit more with Dode, I made reservations for tomorrow night in Rapid City.

It was a fulfilling day, and... more than 3,000 miles into our little jaunt, we’re now on the cusp of riding through the Badlands, getting to Mount Rushmore, and coming up face to face with Devil’s Tower.




(This picture, taken from the back seat while zipping down the highway doin' 90mph shows a lot... Karen in the rearview as photographer on the move, the landscape as it's broadened out, the road out to infinity, the loneliness of the highway, and the clear sky. The writing on the windshield is where i put the day's beginning mileage and the day. The former so I can keep track through out the day, and the latter so I can keep the days from jumbling together.)

July 6, 2005 – Wednesday – Day 11

48 States or Bust – The USA on Two Wheels
Miles Today: 309 - Total Miles: 2775 – Daily Average: 252.3
2:30PM-9PM (CST) – 6.5 hours
Superior, WI to Fargo, ND
(-stayed at an EconoLodge -) (WI,MN,ND – 15/48)


Okay, okay, so we would have gotten out a little earlier if I hadn’t sat around with that bag of popcorn just looking at the maps this morning.

On our way back from the morning run around 8ish, we chatted with a couple from Greenbay who were about to start a day’s travel with their Goldwing-sidecar set up. It was a sleek red sidecar that had a cover and a lot of amenities. We chatted all about it for about 10 minutes. (A Goldwing is a high-end Honda motorcycle touring bike.)

We got things together and went through the now usual routine of packing up, putting the gear on one of those motel luggage carts and then loading up the Shadow.

We traveled through Superior and over the big bridge into Duluth. The morning was very cool again, and we wondered if they ever had summer in this area. Duluth, from the bridge, appeared to spread generously through a valley and up onto a big hillside. This particular morning the sunshine was splashing up on that hillside and gave the town a glow.

Aerostitch, situated in Duluth, is a premier company that sells gear for motorcyclists. The quality of their stuff is always first rate, and though pricey, it is quality par excellence. Especially their riding outfits. I had made friends with one of the Aerostitch salespeople over the phone, and it was a goal of this trip to meet her and visit the store. I was anxious to see what it would be like. It turns out that the place is in a 100 year old building, has a very unassuming exterior, and has a lot of caring employees. Jim is a sewer there and happened to be going in as we got there. Jim has a lot of touring experience, and had on a catchy colorful t-shirt with a lizard on it advertising his Blind Lizard Motorcycle Club.

Soon, Carla, my friend from the phone calls, came over to us. She had a big smile on her short frame and seemed happy to meet us. She had been reading our journal on line so she was up to speed on our travels. She had been with the company for the last ten years, and seemed proud of that, and how good the company was. She was very helpful with all our questions.

The showroom area wasn’t that huge, but it was sure jam-packed with stuff that motorcyclists would find interesting. From tools to clothing, from books to posters, and from knick-knacks to stickers, the place was one where any motorcyclist would be drooling from the get-go.

Karen had a new pair of motorcycling pants fitted which we’d have sent to us along the way at one of our stops. (Carla mentioned that she never asked for ‘large, short’ sizing, but preferred the more genteel "petite, wide!") I was disappointed not to find some shorts to wear under my motorcycle pants – the shorts I brought have turned out to be not perfect. Karen and I both agreed that wedgies were not fun, but especially wedgies while riding 250 miles per day! It wasn’t really that bad, but I had hoped to get new shorts and was sorry the ones I wanted were on backorder.

Carla told us about a local guy who had just walked from Iowa to Duluth recently tracing his ancestor’s steps just carrying a bedroll. He was trying to make it historically authentic.

We browsed for a long time, and then Carla gave us a tour of the place – and we got to see where the riding suit material was cut and sewn. Jim was at one of the machines when we came by, and I got a picture of his big smile and wave. The place had three stories and we got to meet most of the employees. There were motorcycle posters and things all around. One t-shirt read, "RIDE. EAT. SLEEP. REPEAT." and certainly seemed applicable to our trip! We saw a book named "Against the Clock" about some guy who surely has an iron butt, who rode "49 states in 7 days." The one sign I liked the most though was the positive expression on one bulletin board that read, "People are great. Business is terrific. Life is wonderful."

We were a bit disappointed that we had missed the owner of the company, but luckily he happened to be arriving for a meeting as we were coming down the old factory’s stairway from our tour. He had just arrived on his rollerblades. Andy Goldfein was a personable guy and he said he wished he had more time to hear about our trip, but that he appreciated us stopping by. I admired his good business sense of putting out a top quality product and having such good customer service. But then any business with those two qualities could not but succeed.

We stayed about three hours! Way too long for our schedule, but it was sure enjoyable, and hey, it’s not like it was around the block from home to visit. Carla showed us out, and Jim came to say good-bye and also brought us a little pocket-sized book of maps, and it was most appreciated.

Duluth has a wonderful park called Canal Park. The main features of the park are the views (of sea and lighthouses and shoreline), the zillions of pigeons which came at the beckoning of tourist-tossed popcorn, and the Aerial Lift Bridge. Instead of opening like a drawbridge so shipping traffic can go through, the center span of the structure lifts. It’s quite dramatic. It was built and first used in 1930, and has a center span which weighs 1,000 tons. It goes up to 138 feet, and has over 5,500 lifts a season.

We had lunch in the park – gobbling down the three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches Karen had made from the fixings at the motel this morning. I also got some popcorn at the stand there, and a cherry water ice for us to share.

The scene was pure fun – as kids and adults of all types were throwing popcorn for the greedy and eager-eyed pigeons. The birds swarmed and flocked, and the white dots of them spread along the sky and the ground in varied animation.

Karen had to go back to the bike to get the spare battery, but after doing so captured the festive scene and a bridge lifting to boot. I enjoyed the atmosphere but would have enjoyed it more if the hour had not been so late.

I was sitting waiting for Karen to get the battery, and had yet another case of mistaken occupation identity because of the bright yellow motorcycling outfit. A lady was pedaling by with her young family and pointed over to me and exclaimed to her children, "There’s the man who just got off the submarine!"

It would have been nice to stay, to look through the little museum, and perhaps to scramble up one of the lighthouses, but we only had about six miles on the odometer, and had to put on about 250. We finally pulled out around 2:30pm.

Being more careful than ever about routing, we got three confirmed directions to Route 210, which the map said would take us all the way to Fargo, ND. (We got the idea, although it didn’t pan out, to watch the movie, Fargo, there. That would have been way cool. Especially considering Escanaba, to continue sort of a "Joel and Karen City Cinema Ride!"

A hundred and fifty miles or so, just before Brainerd, a couple was hogging the left hand lane. As we came up to them at a light, they gave us a friendly wave and hi. I murmured to Karen that they were friendly, but then used an expletive about them staying in that lane for so long. After we stopped a bit later, Karen told me about when someone shouted at me back down the road a ways. Seems I was passing some cars on the broad two-lane highway, and it all seemed perfectly safe to me, but I must have cut in front of someone too close, or too close for him, and he shouted (referring to our sign about traveling through all 48 states), "If you keep driving like that you’re not going to make another state!"

We stopped there at a wonderful bicycle store where I went in to see if they had some pants for me to wear under my motorcycle pants. A friendly guy and gal enjoyed seeing my maps. They were kind of agog, as most are, to see the ambitious route around the US for this trip. But when I showed them the AAA map that had all my bicycle trips in red (over 24,000 miles around the US) they were impressed. I think they were very sorry that they didn’t have any shorts I could use.

Around mid-day, as we left the temperature-chilling effect of Lake Superior, it began to get much warmer. So much so we were able to take our gloves and second jackets off. It got well into the 80s.

We crossed over the tiny portion of the Mississippi River in Brainerd. Looks odd to see it so small – only about 50 yards wide maybe. But I guess even a river has got to start somewhere!

Around mid-travels today we noticed that that the gas pricing was dramatically coming down. Most of the prices were listed as $2.13/gallon – and that’s down about a quarter a gallon from where we’ve been the last few days.

At the El Ray Travel Plaza in Motley, WI, we scored a nice dinner – our first veggie burgers of the trip and a big salad bar, and all for only $3.95. We ate heartily. When the friendly waitress, Jenny, saw we had a digital camera with us, she wanted to see the pictures we had taken that day. Karen cheerfully obliged, and went through them with her. It was about 6pm.

There was a friendly group of four next to us in the small sunny room. As they left their table, and I presumed they were leaving, I gave them a hearty good-bye. The one affable fellow laughed and said they were just going back to the food bar for more to eat. "Because," he said, as he grabbed his enormous potbelly, "do I look like someone who ever passes up on seconds?"

Now, it’s not true that we are just trying to raise the daily mileage average! And – it’s not true that although we like what we are doing we actually are putting extra miles in for the fun of it. And on the map that route 210 sure LOOKED like it went right into Fargo. We had to double back about 9 miles on the gorgeous country and farm roads we had been riding. (The landscape flattened out during the day, and almost all horizons could be seen now to where they touched the sky! There were farmlands and pastures, and verdant lush meadows, and the ever-present trees. Oh, and the ponds, LOTS of ponds and small lakes that dotted our views with patches of deep blue.)

As we rode along and I would glance sideward. The green of the foliage was ultra clear in the crystal quality of the evening light. The hue of the passing scene was amazing as the countryside zoomed by at 85 to 95 miles per hour, and we raced headlong through the twilight. Toward the end, the lowering sun glinted off the signs and the roadway and the cars and it took immense concentration and grip to keep going forward and stay vertical amid the rush of traffic.

On our final highway of the day, an interstate superslab, the blur of the exits in the fast moving line of cars and trucks made it difficult to read the words. But eventually we came up to the Fargo exit but it was the Business exit. That just didn’t seem right to me for a motel. I passed by two more Fargo exits without a clue as to where the motel would be. I figured that the North Dakotan town could just not be that big, and peeled off north toward some city or another figuring I would just double back on the big highway. But lo and behold, with a great stroke of wonderful luck, there was a motel row. Among them was the EconoLodge where we had made a reservation five years and more than 300 miles ago that morning.

It was about 9pm. Bushed from a day of wonderful travel and experience we unloaded, unpacked, and began the process of getting our three days of now dirty clothing – all we had really - ready to be washed in the motel guest laundromat facilities.

It was shortly after 11pm when heads finally touched pillows to fall into a good sleep.

July 5, 2005 – Tuesday – Day 10

Miles Today: 362- Total Miles: 2466 – Daily Average: 246.6
11:30AM-8PM (CST) – 9.5 hours
Escanaba,MI to Superior,WI
(-stayed at a Super 8 -) (MI,WI – 13/48)
- Cloudscapes Galore – Into the Icebox? -


Finally, I thought we’d get an early start. But it was not to be so. We slept a bit later than usual, there was a little trouble getting on-line again, and when we went over to the store for the pasties, it took much longer than they originally said it would. Pasties are regional pastries w/beef, chicken, or just vegetables that are baked until the pastry’s crust is golden brown. They are about 7-inches round and may appear like a giant perogie. We got two to take with us. The pasty (pronounced with a short ‘a’) goes back to the 1300’s, and arrived in the US in the 1850’s. Miners in the area could eat it underground because it was a handy, hearty, one dish meal.
The whole time thing is a mess what with crossing into the central time zone. The watches and all the tech things had to be changed to an hour later.
It was to be a simple routing today. Route 2 across Michigan and Wisconsin all day. For the first hour or so we rumbled along the coastline of Lake Michigan all the way, and the scenes were fabulous. Some boating scenes, but mostly just water with some tree-lined harbor areas. The sun was just right, the morning air magnificent, and it was gorgeous coastal riding the whole 40-mile way or so. And we enjoyed the ride a lot. That is, we enjoyed it a lot until...

Until we realized we were on Route 35 going south instead of Route 2 going west! Arghhhh... When we realized our mistake, in Menominee, we just bit the bullet, took the pasties onto a picnic table, collected our thoughts, selected a route back, and put it into gear. We headed back north toward Route 2 on another road. It wasn’t long until we rolled through Norway, which was just north of Vulcan!

When we left Escanaba we had it in mind to reach Superior, Wisconsin, just east of Duluth, Minnesota. Now we were really behind that timetable. But I just love audacious challenges (perhaps like this trip itself!), and I was determined that we would still make it there today! And try we did!

We rolled down through corridors of tall pine trees most of the rest of the day. The roads were again straight and clean. Once we came to a construction zone where half the traffic had to wait. I chatted with the stop-slow flag girl there. I learned they make $12/hr and have to work 12-hour shifts. The pretty blond young woman said that yes, it did get boring though.

Before Wakefield we stopped into a Subway, practically frozen to bits. We warmed up in there somewhat with a meal, and some conversation with the staff. As we were getting gear together to pull out of the lot, a friendly guy came up on a Honda Goldwing of older vintage. When he took off his helmet it revealed a million boils of various sizes and shapes covering practically every centimeter of his face. He was friendly, but I was sort of glad when the conversation ended…

It got chillier yet. When we put up our shields, it sometimes felt like an icy blast. It was spectacular riding, and if it had been a number of degrees warmer would have been the absolute quintessential riding day.

At Watersmelt we chatted with a guy and a woman who had dismounted from a Harley at the gas pump. They were riding 2-up as we do. ("2-up" is an expression for when two ride on a motorcycle.) She got off first, and when she took off her helmet one could see the outline of her goggled suntan on her face – and it gave the distinct impression of raccoon eyes! I smiled and shouted over, "So is that what we’re going to look like after we’re done this ride?" Seems they were finishing up a 9-day ride out west and just heading home to their home in about the center of the mitten of Michigan. (She held up her open-palmed hand to show us where they lived.) I asked how many miles they put in on a day, and they said 500. And I said, "Hmmm, I guess we better get earlier starts!" And we all laughed.

It got even chillier. We bought a second set of gloves to go with the ones we were wearing.

As we rode along the banks of Lake Superior and westward the last third of the day, there was a monstrous broad quilt of dark-textured cloud covering the sky from left to right horizon. We approached this band of ominous looking cloudscape and couldn’t help but have it in our thoughts. Everything turned darker and we rode on – and then on the other side there was, for the first time today, sunshine, friendly tufts of white cloud and blue sky.

In Ashland we stopped and admired the beauty there of part of the western tip of Lake Superior. It was a wonderful 7pm evening moment as the sun was heading down and the glinting of the rays reflected off the water.

The air at the end of the day as we rode the shore of Lake Superior was the freshest of any of the whole ride so far. But the true story of the day was the clouds. Glorious clouds throughout the whole day – patchwork at the end, ominous in parts, a steely gray roof for long stretches. When one rides as we do through several weather systems within 100’s of miles there are generally lots of changes.

After looking at the temp readings on bank signs today, we knew we went from 70ish degrees to 62ish degrees to 55ish throughout today. At the end, we took the first motel in Superior, WI, a Motel8 just to get warm. As soon as she got into the room Karen turned the heat on.

July 4, 2005 – Monday – Day 9

48 States or Bust – The USA on Two Wheels
Miles Today: 213- Total Miles: 2104 – Daily Average: 210.2
12:45pm-6:15pm – 5.5 hours
Gaylord, MI to Escanaba, MI
(-stayed at an Econolodge -) (MI – 12/48)
- Across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula -


This was a day of more extremes. And I didn’t even think we’d make it out the door.

Around 6am the thunder was bellowing across the countryside with loud booms and low guttural roars. When I tentatively moved the motel room curtain around I was glad we hadn’t elected to camp last night. The rain was falling in buckets. And it continued to be doing so through mid-morning. We were set to go into rain-day mode. After a short nap, the sky was lighter though around 11am. The drizzle continued, but we made the decision to go on, and after making some calls to motels 150 and then 200 miles away, we decided to move on down the highway.

We left around 12:30pm all rain-geared up. The way it was pouring this morning it was amazing to me the rain let up at all. But it had slowed to a drizzle, and now all that was left was leaden cloud formations attached to a grey sky. Said good-by to Mark, the EconoLodge owner. Seemed like a family-run business, and it’s a nice place. We rolled across the street over to the gas station, tanked up, and after Karen returned from getting us a sandwich at Subway for later, we motored north.

Got into the zone again today for a little bit – a bit like traveling through space and time! Of course, it really is traveling through space. But the feelings of wonder as one’s consciousness moves along so rapidly absorbing all the sensations of sight, smell, feel, and taste, combined with the emotions of excitement, nervousness, a dash of fear, confidence, and authority, make for a dazzling experience. We reached the Mackinaw Bridge in 64 miles and had our sandwich at the visitor center.

The big span was built in 1957, and was three miles or so in the crossing. Over four million vehicles cross the bridge each year. It’s known as "Mighty Mac". The bridge crosses over the Strait of Macinaw which separates Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

Because of timing and situations, I haven’t shaved for a few days. About the longest I’ve gone without on most any trip. I think it’s important to have as good appearance as possible when traveling. But at this rate, I’m beginning to look like something of a roving dockworker!

Passed a license plate of a proud mom or dad with a big brood I’m guessing. The plate read "LVDBY5".

Between the Mackinaw Bridge and Escanaba it was a patch quilt of weather. The temps surely ranged from the high 40’s to the mid-80’s!! There were blankets of fog covering the highway often, and it looked surely like rain was ahead on more than one occasion. But we didn’t even have drizzle on that 100-mile or so patch of riding. It did get cold though, and I was glad I had recovered my gloves from the last package of stuff sent home.

One time I was in a line of cars that were stuck behind a policeman who was going the speed limit. (Of all things!) One guy tentatively moved around him and then the rest of us did, too. Mostly two lane highway for the second half of the day. My game plan each day on the road was generally to follow a car that was going a safe above-the-limit speed and just stay behind him. I figure that the policeman will pick him off instead of me…

There is a great emphasis on people not being allowed to bring firewood – or any kind of wood into the area. We inquired why, and it turns out that firewood can bring killer bugs and insects into the area that will hurt the trees here.

We passed and saw a great deal of the shore of Lake Michigan today. It was amazing to me that there were people actually swimming in the surely frigid waters.

It was another day of moving along down total tree-lined highways. In fact, we rode through the Lake Superior National Forest and the Hiawatha National Forest. (Green all around, and I knew we needed to be enjoying the trees now for when we get in the southern part of the country and the trees are replaced by sand and dust and more sand of desert.) We caught good luck with the roadway surface again, as major construction had just finished in many places, and the surface was clean, smooth, and wonderful rolling blacktop.

We didn’t have to worry about running out of space on the card in the digital camera today because I put a 1-gig card in. Over 750 images at the highest quality could be taken! One of the pictures taken was when we pulled over to the roadside, and got a shot of the Shadow odometer just touching the 5,000-mile mark! By day’s end we crossed over 2,000-miles for this trip.

Passed a number of cute store names today along the highway. Karen spied a "Stuff Capital of the Upper Peninsula" as a big flea market. Also a "Yard Sale Showroom" that was just an outdoor ramshackle place. My favorite though was a collection covering about a city block of birdbaths of various sizes, qualities, colors, and shapes. That place was, of course, called, "Bird bath, and beyond!"

Our first big loss of the trip came when Karen discovered that her prescription sunglasses where gone. She was pretty sure that she left them on the bike at the last stop when she went to talk with some other motorcyclists there.

Don had mentioned the movie "Escanaba In Da Moonlight" to me when he saw we were going through the town. I had never seen that flick and neither had Karen. Well, since we ended up here, we figured this would be the perfect place to see it. So... Shortly after checking in, we mcycled down to pick up the movie and also dinner – our favorite stuff from Taco Bell which was right across the street from the movie place. I asked the friendly, goateed, young guy across the counter what the movie was about, and he said with a smile, "It just doesn’t know what it wants to be." When getting back to the motel we popped the movie into the G4 Powerbook and we lay back on the bed with dinner and a movie. The sound could have been louder, and the movie was kind of stupid although there were a couple laughs, but it was enjoyable having a drive-in theater right in the room.

Afterward the plan was to get our run in returning the movie, and as the rental place was exactly a half-mile from the motel, that worked out perfectly for our mile. Karen stopped into the local K-mart to get some flip-up sunglasses to replace the sunglasses lost down the road. The evening sky was the most pastel I’ve ever seen! All mixes of those colors blending, too.

On the way back after returning the film, I chatted with a local guy on a Harley about the movie. He said the locals weren’t too happy about the way they were represented.

From 10:30pm for an hour or so I sat writing up these notes while Karen went out to get some fireworks pictures. (Fireworks don’t thrill me, especially since learning how so very polluting of the atmosphere they are!)

Since we were so close to the Central Time Zone it was about light as day here until 10pm! Seemed odd, and reminded me of Alaska where it doesn’t get dark this time of year until 2am.

July 3, 2005 - Sunday - Day 8

48 States or Bust – The USA on Two Wheels
Miles Today:194 - Total Miles: 1891 – Daily Average: 236
11:30am-4:30pm - 5 hours
Flint, MI to Gaylord, MI
(-stayed at an Econolodge -)
(MI – 13/48)


Awoke with a charley horse cramp in my right calf this morning. It’s been happening to both Karen and me occasionally lately. We have been eating our bananas (which are suppose to help with such things), but still having the little problem. The cramp goes right away.

Before we could leave, I had to back out of the little front yard. And Karen had to give me a push from the front of the bike to do so. A bit later, after we had gassed up where Karen had to give a little push, too, Krista commented, "I know why you’re losing weight, Karen, you’re Joel’s reverse!"

We went to Archies Family Restaurant. As we pulled into the parking area, Don noticed that I didn’t leave the bike in gear. He suggested I do so because then it would be less likely to roll out from under the kickstand if on a hill – or if tapped by a car.

With some soy milk that Krista had bought especially for us, Karen and I had some oatmeal. We also split a pile of delicious blueberry pancakes. Don remembered how much I liked pancakes from the motorcycle rallies we had been to together. He also perceptively asked if I had run this morning, and I said that no, we were going to run in the afternoon today. Krista reminded us that we were in the ‘thumbpit’ of Michigan. And when one looks at the state on the map, it sure does look like a mitten, with Flint area being in the ‘thumb’ pit.

Before we left the restaurant lot Don gave us a lesson in the proper tying of doo-rags. (Those are handkerchief-type things that form-fit around a head with a little tail that comes out the back. They make a helmet feel a little more comfy, and help with absorbing the sweat. I’ve gotten into the habit of wearing one.)

Don and Krista rode with us for quite a number of miles before turning off and heading back home. It sure felt good being part of that little caravan.

It was another glorious day for heading down the highway. It was very cool in the morning, and the air was even fresher than before. Most of the way was very flat and we were planning to hit Duluth and the Aerostitch store on Tuesday. I had made friends with Carla, one of the telephone saleswomen. Because of that and various other reasons including being a little tired, and wanting to be sure to have a room on this holiday weekend, we decided to end the day kinda early. We talked about the numerous pros and cons quite awhile, and then just decided to stay here. The choice could have gone either way.

At the end of our run on the broad highway we stopped at a Subway for some dinner. As I was getting laundry together in the hotel room for drying, Karen reminded me about my socks. As we hadn’t showered last night because of the late hour, I hadn’t bothered changing them, and so I said that yes, they needed to be done. With a cute smile and joking tone she noted, "I was wondering what that strong smell was coming downwind on the motorcycle all day long!"

July 2, 2005 - Saturday - Day 7

48 States or Bust – The USA on Two Wheels
Miles Today:459 - Total Miles:1697 – Daily Average:242.4
11am-9:30pm – 10.5 hours
Erie,Pa to Flint,MI
(-stayed at Don & Krista’s-)
(PA,OH,IND,MICH– 13/48)
- A NEAR-PERFECT DAY – NIGHT RIDING -


(9am) Joel reporting in during laundry duty:
Nice chance while the laundry is drying here at the motel to catch up on some other thoughts from along the way.

- Am enjoying the notes that folks have sent in. My friend, Jim, a long time reader of my bicycle trip journal notes wrote in regarding the battery trouble of a few days ago. He wrote, "Man, I recall the days when the only battery you had to jump start on these trips was the one in your chest!" Then he went on to write, "Hey stop worrying about those miles traveled so much and enjoy yourself MORE! You deal with enough deadlines when you are home. Take time to smell the flowers and have fun!" Always good advice. If you want to write, please know that suggestions, questions about things you may be curious about, or just corrections in things I’ve written are appreciated.

- A few folks have wondered if the single picture I send a day is all that we take. Gosh, no. Zillions. But not as many as on the bicycle trips. Just moving too fast to stop on this type of ride. And too fast to see as many things. BTW, a lot of the pictures are taken by Karen as she rides shotgun on the back.

- Had the first journal list casualty. Someone wrote in saying to be taken off the list. Although she enjoyed getting the notes, it was too much to keep up with, and when an entry didn’t come in one day she was very worried. Yeah, I can’t promise to be every single day in getting these out. Just the nature of this kind of trip, but I set it up as one of the challenges of the day to find a way to get these out daily.

- This hotel stuff is a kind of racquet. If one knows how to do it, and one asks the right questions, and if one is in the right place at the right time, and if one catches the desk person in the right mood, it seems that at much as $50 can be taken off the price of the room in a blink of an eye! And the wireless internet service is becoming more and more common. Almost every motel has it now, and some campgrounds even are advertising it. This EconoLodge is the best place we’ve stayed yet, the amenities are handy and the place is spotless. And most importantly, the shower is hot and steady beating.

- McDonalds is taking over the world. They are everywhere. I didn’t realize how ubiquitous that corporation was! Every rest stop, every corner it seems. No wonder the country is getting heavier and heavier. Out this way there are also a lot of Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kremes.

I awoke this morning at my usual 6ish, and went down to the lobby to work on sending out the journal notes and catching up on emails. After getting Karen at about 7am, we gathered up the laundry and headed out for our run to the laundry room in the motel across the big highway. (Many of the motels seem run by the same big conglomeration anymore!) With laundry bubbling we set out on our mile jaunt. (One highway sign along the way, clearly penned by someone with a sense of humor, "Buckle Up for the Next Million Miles."

When back, we went to the restaurant for it’s wonderful ‘free’ in-house breakfast. (A lot of the places now have griddles and cups of batter nearby so guests can make their own waffles!) Karen checked her e-mail, and then, while she packed up I went back to put the soggy laundry in the dryer and type these notes. When the laundry was done, I went back to the room, we gathered up all our stuff, and we headed out to find what the day had in store for us.

First stop was a Staples down the way a bit. Needed to send more unneeded stuff home and then to the gas station to tank up. Then out onto west Route 90 under a sky of immense white clouds. One can see much more of the sky here because of the nature of the terrain – and the clouds today seemed to be puffed in rolls from one end of the horizon to the other.

It was in the 60’s all day, and a clear and wonderful day it was! By the end of the day we had amassed a trip one-day record of 459 miles through some of the most spectacular weather any motorcyclist could dream of having – mostly on superslab roadway that was fast, clean, and straight. We rode mostly at 80 to 85 mph, except in Michigan where the speed limit was 70, and everyone went so fast that at 80mph a lot of times, we felt like we were standing still. (I never go faster than where I’m in control – or what seems safe. Today that limit reached 95mph a couple of times. It was joyful!)

Around 1pm or so we found a Super K-mart that had an open pharmacy, a lunch area, and a gas station. It was the least expensive gas of the trip so far - $2.13. (Felt good about that until we left, whirled around the block and saw it advertised for $2.09 some place else!) We chatted with a couple older ladies in the K-mart, and one said, "I’d be jealous about your trip, except that I’m too old!"

Except for about half-an-hour where my energy was down a bit in the afternoon, I felt like one possessed on the bike today. Everything was in high gear, and for hours after hours I soaked in the day and the passing scene with grand abandon and delight.

With regard to general decorum, hat hair, and fashion statements: whenever we stop and take off our helmets Karen tries to save her last shred of self-respect by quickly putting on her blue ballcap before we mingle with others.

We met a fellow at the pumps of a rest stop who was driving an old, white ’84 Pontiac Sunbird. He said, "What’s nice about it is that it has a 1.8 turbo which adds horsepower." He said he got 30mpg with it. Because of car troubles in the mountains he was just giving up on a trek to visit all the ballparks around the United States. When I asked if he had been to Busch Stadium in St.Louis, he said he was just visiting minor league ballparks! We passed him a bit later on the highway – he gave some friendly honks, and we exchanged waves.

Figured out today that we’re getting between 36 and 41.7 mpg on this trip. Guessing the difference has to do with the wind and various speeds. Pretty happy about the mileage, but it’s nothing like what I used to get on the bicycle. (All the pumps have been credit card ones – every one!)

Since putting the "THE USA ON 2 WHEELS – SUMMER 2005" sign on the back of the bike this morning we’ve had quite a number of energetic thumbs-ups, broad smiles, and hearty "Way-to-go’s!!!"

Karen hit the movie button on the camera one time today, and we had a 17-minute documentary "About the Back of Joel’s Jacket!"

I first met Don and Krista on-line in an on-line discussion group for the Suzuki Savage. That’s a wonderful 650cc machine, and was my first MC of recent times. The group became very friendly and we all met at a motorcycle rally in West Virginia a couple years ago called Freedom Fest. In order to save some bucks, Don, Krista, and I shared a double room. Since then the group has continued although many of us have moved on to other, and usually bigger bikes. Of the many motorcycle folks I’ve come to know, Don is one of the ones I respect the most for his knowledge about bikes. Our plan was to stay with the couple this evening as we rolled near their home in Columbiaville, Michigan, near Flint. Don and I exchanged cell phone calls at frequent intervals during the day as we inched our way along the map toward his place.

At a gas-up just south of Flint, off Route 69 we met a couple from Chicago, Chris and Bridget. The two of them were sharing an 800cc Triumph bike on the way to Flint to put flowers on Chris’ mom’s grave. I walked over to them while Bridget was giving him a shoulder rub, and said with a smile, "So how many minutes of that will five bucks get me?" We four travelers enjoyed about ten to fifteen minutes of good conversation.

The police were out today more than usual. Around 8ish as we zipped along toward Flint, an officer pulled out from the right from under an overpass as we zipped passed doing 90! Luckily he was after the black van ahead of us who was blazing along even faster.

There were thoughts that Don, a ruggedly handsome guy with a thick ponytail that reached down to beyond mid-back, would come out and meet us on the road. Or that Krista might join him. They were not able to do that early because of Krista’s night shift work at a local Wal-Mart.

We called from the Taco Bell where we had a late meal. The air conditioning must have been stuck in there because it felt like walking into a freezer. The friendly 19 year-old guy behind the counter came over to the table while we ate, and asked us about our trip. And he recounted all the places he had been overseas, and allowed that he, too, had done some traveling. Don came out to meet us around 9:15pm on his beautiful black 800cc Kawasaki Vulcan, and guided us in from there.

It was totally dark by then, and I followed Don’s taillights through the city, and then along the countryside keeping up best I could for fifteen miles or so. Those little red lights were in the distance sometime, and between his black bike and black leather attire they were all I could see on the landscape. Well, almost all - occasionally, in the short distance, off the roadside, my eyeballs caught the flickering of high-rising flares – colorful fireworks rising to the sky and then gently floating back to earth.

I did notice as we crossed a section of road that seemed to have water on both sides. It was a reservoir Don told us. I was sure it flooded over the roadway at times, but he said that since it was a dammed up river they could control the water level.

We unpacked our stuff on the front yard with the assistance of Don and his flashlight. We chatted a bit with Don in the Lueck’s cozy living room. Then somewhat before midnight, Karen and I washed up and fell into a sound sleep on the folded out sofa there.