As I looked at the map with my trip destination, I decided to head for the fastest route that would get me in Alaska and have more time to spend there. It wasn't going to be most scenic and certainly had a lot of interstate riding but I saw no other way to cover the distance. So I headed North West through Pennsylvania then Ohio and Indiana and by night time I was in Illinois. I had previously ridden through Chicago metro area and found myself in traffic jams for hours not to mention the numerous tolls which are as much a nuisance to stop for as they are to pay. I could not understand how can the roads be worse when more tolls are actually being paid while in other parts of the country the reverse it true. This time, I inserted Peoria as via point in my GPS which although adding some ~100 miles to the overall trip, veered me nicely away from the big city through backcountry cornfields and pretty small towns. I prefer more miles than more hours in traffic anyway. When night approached I was passing through some beautiful country side when I spotted a sign for a state park and campground. It was all I needed, and at first gas station I asked the attendant and got directed some 15 miles through cornfields and passing some pretty electric windmills to a lake where the campground was. Being already late, there was no one attending the small office and the honor system was in use instead. So I picked a campsite, filled an envelope with the information and the money required and placed it in the container. I started unpacking when a gentleman who was walking by stopped to admire the motorcycle and we started talking. This was going to be an often occurrence in my trip whenever stopped there was almost invariably someone that was interested to know where was I coming from, where was I going, how do I manage to be doing this trip alone and also talk about the bike. My weakness for morning coffee was satisfied by carrying a pound of fresh ground real Turkish coffee and a MSR pocket rocket stove and GSi Soloist cooking set.
The next day I set off with the goal of covering as many miles as possible towards the North Dakota Canada border. But before that I needed breakfast which turned in to another opportunity to meet and chat with the locals and learn a little about the place by meeting one person who actually helped create it.
The ride was sprinkled literally with rain showers in Wisconsin and Minnesota. My new Motoport two piece rain suit proved to be perfect keeping me dry through some serious downpours. I had also a pair of Aerostitch triple digit glove rain covers to protect my hands. These were also fine except for the Velcro fastener across the back of the hand which was coming out of the loops before I had a chance to fasten them, and refused to stay in place when I was putting them on over the leather gloves. So I left these hanging as some dorky tails in the wind and still got protected from the rain. I was wishing I had brought the pair of BMW Goretex gloves I had left at home, and realized my mistake of being focused on more unimportant stuff while I was packing everything at home. Much later in the trip after purchasing a pair of cold/rain weather gloves I would actually discover the BMW Goretex gloves I thought had forgotten were in fact in my luggage very well hidden :)
I was trying real hard to log more miles but weather had other plans for me that day. After several good hours of riding in the pouring cold rain dodging legions of trucks on the interstate, I finally had enough and stopped for food and to warm up in a restaurant in Madison, WI. I ordered a huge meal, soup, hamburger and ice cream dessert then wolfed everything down quickly. The pretty waitress said smiling “you were really hungry, can I bring you something else!?”
By evening rain had stopped as I had passed it, and I made it into Minnesota where after several U turns eventually found again a state campground with a nice idyllic setting in a forested area by Albert Lea Lake. I ended up setting camp in the dark using my head lantern. A mild wind played all night in the trees that amplified the sound of every breeze.
I pressed on, my mind set to cross Minnesota and get further. By evening I was travelling through farm land in North Dakota heading towards the border. But it was getting dark and I still had a good distance so I started again looking for camp sites. Since I had left Interstate 74 and riding through rural areas, there were no camping sites. As dusk settled I found a motel which had no open office. I entered the building and only found a group of young guys and girls having a good time at the bar who looked at me as if I had just fallen from the moon but they had no idea where the manager was or how I could get a room. After walking through the dark corridors and finding only locked doors I gave up trying to locate someone that can let me reserve a room for the night and headed back on the road. It was already dark by now and I started feeling the fatigue of the long day. I kept riding as there was no place to stop for the night, closest town Minot was still at least an hour away. Having had incidents at night with animals in the road I began being quite nervous and tense which only made the fatigue worse. The bike headlight was blazing a hallucinogenic path through the empty darkness of the road over the vast prairie. I then had few close calls where I almost started falling asleep and made great effort to not succumb to the velvet blanket that was getting harder and harder to fight. By 1 AM I finally made it in Minot and accepted the largely overpriced rate the clerk offered me in the “only suite left available” in first hotel I found. I sent the “I am OK stopping here for the night” text to my brother and crashed into a deep sleep.
I woke up late and left hotel near noon time, but I had recharged my batteries and I was refreshed. On the road again, I stopped for a gas station where I also had a small pizza for lunch then continued my journey.
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