Day three 1808 Miles Black Hills SD (of Hockeyfans trip)

Today was supposed to be an easy 400 mile day and the start of the fun stuff. I got up early and hit the road to knock out some miles so I would have more time for sightseeing. Along I-90 in MN I came across an area where there were windmills as far as you could see and every direction. Like I said I was trying to get some miles done so I pulled of the interstate snapped a few pics and hit it again without even pulling my gloves off. This becomes a reoccurring and costly theme. At one point I managed to burn a tank of gas in 1 hr 37min. The cross winds through SD and the steady 90 mph speeds started to take a toll on me by early afternoon. My neck was sore by the time I got off the interstate. I rolled into Badlands National Park about two and the wind was still howling. I reach for the camera and find an open zipper and an empty pocket. Dammit. I figure I either I didn't zip the pocket up all the way or the constant winds just worked it loose. So all you get from the Badlands is cell phone pics.

It was still early and I really wanted to get out of the wind and warm up so I ditched the plan to camp there and decided to push on to the Black Hills. I must admit I wasn't prepared for the cool weather, I hadn't packed anything other than t-shirts or the liner for my jacket. I called Cheap to let him know how things were going and to tell him how cold it was and he said to "HDFU 'cause it's all in yer head". Dina found me a campground just outside of Rapid City SD in the black hills so I headed that way with one quick stop to buy a new camera. By the time I got into the mountains it was starting to get dark so I said skip it I'm pulling into the next campground I see. Next corner I find Creekside Camping, the very one the wife had told me about. The cabin I stayed in had a thermometer outside that read 52 degrees. Cheap is full of it, I knew it was cold.

Day two 1263 miles total Blue Earth MN (of Hockeyfans trip)

No pictures today, not much to see anyway. Rolled through Chi-town in the interstate and got hit with a light rain for a few hours through Wisconsin neither of which I would like to do again. I had issues with my cell phone charging yesterday and today it wouldn't work right so I wasted two hours so the nice lady at Verizon could take 10 seconds and pop the battery out and then back in to fix it. Never has "Is there anything else I can help you with today?" sounded so much like a smart ass comment. One kinda funny thing happened today, after I checked in to the motel and unloaded the bags I decided to hit the Dairy Queen about a half a block away for some grub. I rolled up in all my gear (MN doesn't even have helmet laws) ordered a meal to go, got my food in a small paper bag and a large drink and walked out. Two Harley guys were watching and I'm sure wondering what I was going to do with the food so I could ride the bike. So holding the bag and the drink in my right hand I started the bike pulled out and shifted up through third without touching the gas. When I got to the parking lot they had come outside and were watching me park. I backed down into the parking spot slipping the clutch for brakes, killed it with the kickstand, grabbed my key, and walked in. Never did touch the right handle bar. Lesson over.

Day one 623 miles Orland Indiana (of Hockeyfans trip)

Here is the trusty steed all loaded down and ready for action.

The plan was to get as far off the east coast as fast as possible and to avoid traveling any roads that the CCC would be hitting on the return trip. This put me on the interstate from Va through MD, PA, OH, and into IN. Nothing worth taking any pictures of except this Ferrari in Big Beaver PA.

I had been getting a little nervous about this trip for the past week or so. I had never done a trip nearly this big and I was doing over half of it alone. Like Cheap said that goes away in about five miles. Well by the time I got to Ohio I was feeling pretty good about things and it began to show. I was rolling out of a toll booth and there was a minivan beside me. The kid in the passenger seat was pointing and telling his dad to look at what was the finest bike he'd seen when I decided to make it memorable for them both. A handful of throttle and a good tug on the bars got the front end up good enough that I stretched out a good hundred yard wheelie. I had the stupid grin syndrome pretty bad even ten miles up the road when a State Cop went flying past me lights a-blazing. The grin faltered when he got in front of me and started pointing to the left shoulder. I was doing about 85 so I figured a speeding ticket was in my future. I didn't even get the helmet off before he was out and yelling at me "Nobody does a wheelie right past me and doesn't get a ticket". Damn it, you saw that. He takes my license and says "Your older than I am so I know you know better". I started eating humble pie and after about three good slices I asked if he could just write it for something I didn't have to come back for. He was still pissed when I saw the first crack in his armor, he mumbled something about how I needed to see a judge and it wasn't like he hated bikers 'cause he had a TL100S. A few minutes later he came out with a ticket and told me to sign it but not to read it. I did and later pulled out a "failure to signal for a lane change" ticket. Yessssssssss!

Day 0 (of Hockeyfans trip)

First and foremost I'd like to thank a few folks for the help, advice, encouragement and permission (that one is just for Dina) it took for me to pull this off. After reading a few blogs about trips like this and around the world trips I knew it was something I wanted to do. I even told Cheap if I hadn't done one of theses in five years time he could have every bike I owned. Dano, Cheap, Trippeee, Dina, Johnny, Scott, Eddie, Mike, and Steve (for telling me every day I was crazy) Thank you. I'll raise a glass to each and every one of you.