Day 21 and 22 - Sloan - Jackson

I get up early, I'm always the first, start packing my bags and try to get my brother up.  I finish packing and head downstairs for a good breakfast, my brother joining me soon thereafter.  We have oatmeal, some orange juice, toast and coffee, put a few energy bars in our pockets and return to the room to finish packing.   We have a long day ahead of us and will have to make a stop in Iowa City for my brother to have a new rear tire mounted on his bike.  We are soon on the road heading south on Interstate 29 with last night's storm ahead of us.  The interstates in mid-America are surrounded by beautiful green fields.  Iowa is often referred to as the "American Heartland" and is also known as the "Food Capital of the World".  Iowa's main agricultural outputs are corn, soybeans, oats and is the nation's largest producer of ethanol and corn.  With the storm south east of our direction and moving north we continue south until Interstate 80 and then proceed east towards Iowa City.

We cover the 295 miles to Iowa City in about 5 hours and then stop at a BMW dealer to have the rear tire mounted on my brother's GS1200 Adventure.  The storm had been to the north of us but as we pull into the dealer it starts raining.  He unloads his panniers from the bike and leaves them outside by the main entrance while the bike gets taken to the back to have the tire mounted.  A little later, with the tire mounted and ready to go, we say goodbye to the techs and hit the road, my brother in front with me following him close by.  With a drizzle coming down we return to the interstate and just a few miles down the road I see him signaling me to pull off while pointing to the back of his bike and that's when I realize my brothers bike looks different, there's no panniers.  We were in such a rush to leave that he forgot to mount the panniers back on the bike.  We pull off at the next exit and I wait at a McDonald's while he returns to the dealer to get his panniers.  I have a quick meal at McDonald's while I wait for him and we leave as soon as he returns.  We cross into Illinois and make our next stop in Princeton for a late lunch/early dinner at the Big Apple Family Restaurant.

With the storm having moved north we continue east and as the night approaches we decide to continue riding past the Chicago area so we could avoid the Saturday morning traffic the next day.  We cross into Indiana and finally decide to stop around 10PM when we see a Hampton Inn sign near La Porte.  I like Hampton Inns, they are very clean and reasonably priced and include a full breakfast.  I was so tired that my eyes closed even before my head hit the pillow.  We covered 567 long miles.  We were beat.

It's Saturday, we are still 750 miles away from home and it's pouring rain outside our window.  We head downstairs and have a good breakfast and after packing our bikes proceed to put on rain gear while other guest look in astonishment since it was still raining heavily.  We hit the road and ride in the rain for the next hour.  We are soon in Ohio, the sky clears and after removing our rain gear we continue east on Interstate 80.  The temperature soars midday and 285 miles later we pass the Cleveland area and then take Interstate 76 south towards Pittsburgh.  We enter Pennsylvania, pass the Pittsburgh area and then get on Interstate 70 now moving east again. We are now getting closer to the end of the trip and at the next gas stop we discuss our options.  We decide we can continue and make it home in one day.

We hit the road again and continue through the rolling hills of Pennsylvania.  We see lots of state troopers, my radar detector flashing intermittently, we maintain our pace stopping only for gas and water as the temperature was in the low 90's.

My bike can do about 275 miles on a tank of gas and my brother's can do even more, we do our last fill up at 175 miles from my house on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  We have a drink and a snack and decide this will be our last stop, we look at each other a little sad knowing the trip is almost over, thank each other for a great trip and camaraderie and then hit the road.   We pass Harrisburg, it's dark already, the sun having set earlier.  My brother splits from me near King of Prussia and heads south east towards Philadelphia while I continue into New Jersey entering the NJ Turnpike a little later.  I am now less than 35 miles away from home and do the rest of the trip below the speed limit on Interstate 195 as I approach home, almost not wanting the trip to end.  I pull into my garage at 11.30PM, my wife and daughter waiting for me and thus ends my cross country trip.   I did 750 hard miles today but if I could, I would turn around and head west again.

I covered 8900 miles across the US, crossed 3 time zones, 18 states, a number of National Parks and Forests, mountains, rivers and lakes, even a desert, went from the Atlantic Ocean and saw the sun setting over the Pacific.  Saw amazing landscapes, crossed paths with Bison and numerous other animals, visited beautiful cities and crossed paths with numerous friendly people.  Only one word to describe it; WOW!
It was a very successful trip, I am a very lucky man to have had this experience.

Day 20 - Keystone - Sloan

Day twenty of our trip, last touring day, after Badlands National Park we will be making a straight line home and try to get back to New Jersey as soon as possible but today we still have beautiful places to visit.
We spent the night in Keystone at the Rushmore View Inn, next to the Grizzly Creek Gourmet Burgers & Spirit where the previous night I had dinner.  Keystone is a small town in the Black Hills of South Dakota with a population of less than 500.  We leave the motel and head to Peggy's Place, just a few hundred yards away, for breakfast.  We have the usual fare, 2 eggs, bacon, home fries accompanied by toast and coffee.  With our hunger satisfied, we hit the road and head up the hill towards Mount Rushmore.

Less than half a mile up the road we pull off when we see a perfect place to snap a few pictures of Mount Rushmore.  The place is so perfect that we decided right there not to bother going into the park but continue up the hill going around the monument and continue our trip by going straight to Custer.  The view from the highway is the same as from inside the park and we couldn't waste too much time anyway.

We go around Mount Rushmore on route 244 and continue south through the beautiful Black Hills ponderosa pines forest merging into route 385 south towards Custer.   The town is generally considered to be the oldest established town and the "mother city" of the Black Hills of South Dakota.  The site of one of the major encampments of the Black Hills Expedition of Brevet Major General (a largely ceremonial title, his official rank was Lt. Colonel) George Armstrong Custer's 7th Cavalry in 1874. (Wikipedia)

We park our bikes near the Steaks & Ribs Place located in the "First National Bank of Dakota Territory" building.  The Bank was established 8 years before South Dakota became a state.  The exterior and interior of the building has remained much the same as it was originally.  We spend some time walking around town admiring the old establishments.  I love the little western towns, they appear so peaceful and much calmer than the busy and always rushing towns of the east coast.

We leave Custer and head east through Custer State Park on route 16 taking route 79 north towards Rapid City where we get on Interstate 90 and continue east towards Badlands National Park.  We stop a little later in a place I cannot recall the name to rest and have a drink.  I snap a picture of the local fauna and sit down to chat with a young lady, very shy, she didn't say much.

One of the most interesting creatures of South Dakota is a mythical animal of North American folklore, the Jackalope, a so-called "fearsome critter" described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns or deer antlers and sometimes a pheasant's tail.  Jackalope legends are sometimes used by locals to play tricks on tourists.

We continue east reaching the entrance to Badlands National Park midday.  I had been looking forward to visiting this scenic park because it's such a strange land, the rugged terrain offering spectacular views. I was in awe when we made our first stop.  The almost unnatural landscape disappearing into the distance as far as the eye could see.

We continue down the road passing amazingly colorful rock formations as I continue to snap photo after photo of the almost lunar looking landscape.  It's a very surreal scene and at the same time peaceful, the roads almost deserted with an eerily quietness.

The now obligatory shot

We stop again a little later and I see a sign warning us of rattlesnakes, we didn't see any.  It was a very hot day and it felt better whenever we were moving, we continue through the park stopping at the visitor center to buy stickers for our bikes and buy some cold bottled water. 

We cover around 40 miles through the park and then return to Interstate 90 near Cactus Flat, we then proceed east now through the Buffalo Gap National Grassland. Interstate 90 is pretty much flat and straight as an arrow.  We pass Kadoka as we leave the Grassland. 

The next 120 miles are uneventful and we make good time stopping for a late lunch at Al's Oasis Restaurant on the west side of the Missouri River near Oacoma town. There are a few restaurants and stores, an Old Trading Post and the First Dakota National Bank on site. The perfect rest area along Interstate 90 on the edge of the river.

We have a quick lunch and then hit the road crossing the Missouri River.  The touring part of the trip being over, we were now in cruising mode as we were trying to cover as much ground as possible.  We continue on I90 until Sioux Falls then take I29 south passing Sioux City later in the evening and then with the sky threatening rain we quickly find a motel in Sloan, Iowa and stop for the night.

Missouri River

We covered 535 miles of beautiful hills, forest, semi-desert and just plain out of this world land in the Badlands National Park.  A long day but also a short day as there's always so much to see.  A beautiful last day on the touring part of our trip, soon we will be home with the family but before we get home we still have to cover a little over 1300 miles and my brother's BMW needs a new tire.