Des Moines, IA

Wow, not much to report today at all.  I woke up to rainy weather and didn't make it on the road until 11.  It was a boring straight ride on I-80 all the way through Nebraska to Des Moines.  I think I went over the Missouri River but I wasn't paying attention?  Now I'm going to grab a beer next door at a steak house and then crash.  I got a sore neck and many miles to go before Chicago...hopefully no rain!

2000+ miles

Ahhhh camping!  I packed up and headed out at 8AM to the Wildlife Loop ride out of the park.   I was going really slow hoping to see antelope, buffalo, deer and whatever else lives here?!  The landscape was awesome as before but it seemed more wilderness like being a Wildlife loop...like a drive thru zoo (anyone remember Lion Country Safari??) .  The rolling green hills continue to amaze me and I felt so relaxed and content ...except where were the animals?  The WL loop was about 15 miles long and I only saw a small herd of antelope towards the end, but it was a very peaceful stroll.  After I got out of the park though I saw tons of buffalo and a few deer.  The wildlife at Large signs say to stay in your car and a few buffalos gave me a dirty look like i was trying to move in on their cows with my loud black machine.  The next part of the ride took me into Nebraska "The Good Life!"  This part was more impressive than I had expected.  They're known as the Sand Hills and are miles and miles of low rolling bright green hills with no trees anywhere around.  After the Sand Hills I needed a break so I stopped for some food then later at a small General Store for water and a snack.  Here's a picture of Alicia at the diner and Jake the store owner.  Jake rides a harley night train and wanted to show it to me along with his gun arsenal, machine shop, leather collection, boots and garage that housed his bike, tractor and truck.  It was cool talking with him and after a water and some beef jerky I headed back on the road deeper into Nebraska.  The road did not stay very scenic after the Sand Hills and I found myself asking "Where am I going now?"  The next 4 hours were mostly boring...thankfully I had a great playlist to keep going.  I rolled in to the city of Grand Island NE at about 930 just after dark.  I found a hotel got a meal and went to bed.  There is a high heat warning here with a temp of 96 and about 85% humidity...brutal!

Day 7

Had a few drinks at the Saloon 10 in Deadwood last night.  I met two local girls and later found out one of them was Property  of Bandido (1% motorcycle club)...glad we got along! This morning I had to drive back to harley to get a leak checked out. It rained the whole 1 hour drive there...drag!  It turns out that the creek is still haunting me!  The primary is dented so it needs to be replaced sometime soon...it's sealed for now though. I'll talk later about a new plan for that issue.  After being bummed about the leak I was in need of something positive so I ventured out for a ride through Neddles Highway in Custer State Park. It was another epic ride with tight turns and spiraling rocks coming out of the trees! Soon the clouds disappeared and finally total blue skies.  Then I found another ride the guy at harley told me about...Iron Mountain Highway.  I can't even explain how fun, wild and beautiful this ride was!  Green rolling hills with scattered trees and winding burmy roads...one way single lane split through the trees...and no one else around! This is the new best ride ever!!  I decided to try and get a camp site and ride the Wildlife Loop in the morning on my way to Nebraska.  The site was nice...I set up camp and crashed (right after the nosiy neighbor family stopped chatting it up!).

B lack Hills, South Dakota

Yesterday was awesom

e!it started with a rainy ride at 6am to rapid city harley davidson for 5k service.i talked with some of the girls that worked there for a while and tried y to plan out my black hills stay and ride routes.there are about 200 miles of windy scenic roads to ride.so I decided to head to deadwood to check out the old wild west town.out was a nice ride there and I was really glad out wasn't rainingfor once! After checking in to a room in deadwood I decided to ride down to sturgis.there were a few bikers but it was pretty mellow.i talked with some of the locals and they said that would change in about a week when all the vendors start showing up for the rally.after a beer and some good conversation from the locals perspective I was off to ride spearfish canyon.on the way there i came kinda close to hitting a wild turkey that was crossing the road! The ride was the best I've ever done...so windy and so scenic I kept having to say to myself, watch the road...wow look at that, watch the road...wow look at that! This went on for 45 minutes non stop! After getting back to deadwood I was ready for a good hearty meal...power bars and subway were getting old!i went to a restaurant the motel recommended that was above saloon 10.i had peppered beef tips over rice...yum! Next I went down stai to check out the saloon and band that was rockin.it was a totally fun night hanging out with some locals and drinking black hills ales!

Through wyoming

After stopping at the first harley davidson of the trip to fix a dangling highway peg I headedup I25 north into WY.oh at harley I met a guy named Ben who had been in a wheelchair for 15 years and now he rides a trike...and he had a gun on a holster!30 min into WYi found myself heading toward a big storm and then out started to train & hail.i saw another rider and decided to follow him because most likely he had more experience than me in the rain.he pulled over and stopped under a bridgen the freeway so I did too.we hung out for a few min while the heavy stuff passed then he said it was okay to ride on so we left.now I know why WY only has one phone book & area code...theres nothing there but it's totally the wild west! Another strong storm found me so luckily I was approaching a small town so I pulled over to wait this one out...this storm was way bigger and it dumped hard for over an hour and a half.i kept checking the radar and forecast to try & see what the storm was doing.these nice old people gave me some pizza wwhile I waited.fter 45 min of try ing to play meteorologist I made the decision to go for out at 630pm.i had to get 90 miles with no stops our places for shelter.it workedand I made it away from the storm but now the winds were blowing about 45mph.i was entering the black hills so the scenery kept me distracted from the harsh winds.now im in hot springs SD.gonna get up early to get to a harley dealership in rapid city for a5k service then hopefully ride the black hills all day!

The Creek!

So two nights ago as the sun was setting I decided to try and find a campground to stay at before it got dark.  As I was riding i noticed a really nice and scenic campground at the bottom of the canyon.  I proceeded down the narrow dirt road through the campground looking for a site.  As I went down a steep but short narrow part of the road I noticed a creek crossing so I stopped.  It was too narrow to turn around and too steep to back up so I attempted to try and cross this 25 foot wide creek bridge (with water flowing over it)...bad idea!  The creek bridge bottom was covered in moss and 5 feet into it my bike came out from underneath me...nightmare!  My bike was laying in the creek (about 1 foot deep) with water flowing over the whole bike and my gear.  I yelled to a camper to help me lift it up and out of the creek.  It took three guys because the mossy bottom was so slippery.  We got it to the other side to see what the damage was.  It wouldn't start at first, but after a few minutes it started up again.  Luckily I was only going about 5 mph so I was okay and the bike damange was minor.  So now the only way out of this campground is to go back through this creek again!  The german guy that helped me thought it would be easier if I just went faster...wrong!  I got up to about 20 mph and the same thing happened about 15 feet across.  This time I went down harder.  My bike was laying in the creek again and the pipes were steaming!  The three of us got the bike out of the creek again...i thought I was in the twilight zone!  I had a few scraps and scratches and so did the bike, but it started.  After wrenching on the bent shifter peg we were able to make it shift...barely.   I rode back to the town I had been in a few hours before totally bummed and wanting to go home.  After checking in to a hotel I calmed down a little and realized it is all part of the adventure and we're both still functioning.  I walked across the street to have some dinner on the patio of a small Mexican restaurant.  A guy was playing live acoustic music and the desert air was warm, still and peaceful.  Music always makes me feel better. I would take it to a mechanic in the morning and go from there...oh ya and my camera, ipod charger, and phone charger were all toast from the creek!

Green River to Denver

Left GR this morning at 630 AM to try and beat the storm. I made it about 150 miles until I hit Glenwood Springs CO and then it got me! Right before the rain i stopped for a break and discovered this is where people surf the still wave on the CO river. I chatted with some local river surfers for a few while they caught wave after wave. I took a couple pics but I'm having trouble loading them from my phone.
I rode in the rain for about an hour to Vail where I pulled off to the side where another harley guy from Cleveland was hanging out. He said he was on mile 6000 on his trip. We rode through the Rockies together up and over Vail pass at 10600 feet on the route to Denver. Now I'm hanging out at my buddy Scott's house in Littleton CO. Scott's Honduran wife Enid made some homecooked fajitas and I'm sipping a TommyKnocker Maple Nut Brown Ale. Not too adventurous, but nice!