Disaster: The Black Hose!

June 28, 2013
Seattle, Washington

After meeting up with my best friend from high school Luke I found to my immense satisfaction my trip reaching an all new peak.  He even agreed to help me rig up the face shield on my helmet for emergency situations as the plastic attachment thingy had fallen off somewhere about a thousand miles back (and I have a habit of keeping everything in the hopes of fixing it!).  So I go out to move my bike at around 10:30pm with all these cars flashing their lights at me.  A simple fuze must have blown and I was dangerously left without a headlight.  Not normally driving at night this was the first I had noticed, now moving my bike only a few blocks but breaking a number of laws in the process as it was dark out. 

We ran to the store and fixed the issue, came back and fixed my helmet all while trying to hide the embarrassment of my somewhat shoddy gear.  Saying goodbye but promising to meet up the next day I start the bike, but notice a long black hose coming out of the engine.  Knowing no hose should be there much less hanging off the bike I curiously reach down to touch only to real back in the realization that it's not a hose at all... My hand was soaked as its oil now shooting out of my bike in a steady stream 5 feet covering the ground, the garbage cans, and ironically the recycle bins as well.  In total shock and fear I turn Saphira off to diagnose what appears to be an immense possibly game changing problem.

Pulling gently I manage to remove the oil gauge by hand and without twisting that my dad had carefully reinstalled after its last habit of spitting oil.  To my complete amazement the solid brass extension that used to be there had sheared completely off leaving most of it inaccessible inside the engine block.  Fearing the worst we rigged it up well enough to get it home, ran to the gas station again this time for more oil, and by pure chance I managed to make the 30 minute drive back to my hostel arriving with one boot soaked in oil.  Knowing there was nothing I could do more for her at that hour except worry, I retired with terrifying thoughts of having to buy a new bike, being stranded less then 5 days picking my girlfriend up in Portland, or an exhorbinant repair bill to retool the block and get the broken piece out.

After a good nights sleep I got back to it, this time looking to fix the problem for good with some JB weld and some sort of cap.  The only problem being that if the JB weld didn't work I'd have an even bigger mess on my hands.  So I made my way to the closest Napa Auto parts store and that's where I met my angel of salvation Angie.  She told me that there was a simple tool called the Ease-out that would get the broken piece out and less then 5 skeptical minutes later it proved the case.  In all of probably 30 minutes we had it fixed with the amazing customer service there as my  mechanic skills are certainly sub-par.  For only $11 my baby was fixed, full of oil, and back on the road. 

Now I have no idea how that solid piece of brass broke, but without a doubt if not for the incredible customer service at the Napa close to Seatac my day could have been a whole lot worse!  So thank you to everyone there for your help, I couldn't be more thankful!

Today I'm leaving the peaceful atmosphere of my hostel Second Home Hostels and making my way into Seattle to stay with my buddy Dave from college.  It should be another awesome reunion as I haven't seen him in years and will finally get a chance to explore the city's marvels and hopefully another chance to experience some incredible food with the money I save couch surfing! 

Espresso Hut Anyone?

June 27, 2013
Seattle, Washington
Distance traveled: 3285 miles

After a brief hiatus I do believe I'm back!  I'm not going to lie I was exhausted.  Everyday more so then the last no matter the sleep I got the night before, with every ride in one of the most impressive regions in the US being that much more draining.  Thankfully though a couple days ago I managed to run into a friendly face up in the stunning Anacortes, Washington and that really helped build up some more steam.  But I'm skipping past a little bit here and getting ahead of myself so let's see where's I left off...

... Well after writing for a couple hours I've some how managed to lose all my work so here's the highlights for your enjoyment:

-Met a couple in Montana who showed me some amazing hospitality, was sure the husband was going to chop me up with a chainsaw, but proved to me you can't judge a book by its cover.

-Relaxed an extra day before a gargantuan 400 mile ride through the incredible mountains of Montana and North Idaho finding a ghost town motel to shack up in for the night in Ritzville, Washington.

-Road what should have been an easy 180 miles through pouring rain in the stunning Cascades but couldn't enjoy it at all due to the freezing temps and soaking down pour.

-Had an awesome time with Krissy (finally someone i knew!!) and the couple she rents from having the meal of a life time: lamb burgers with beats and piled high with other fresh veggies.  Spent too much time with her at a bar, paid for it the next day, but relaxed and went for an amazing walk.

-Left yesterday as to not overstay my welcome and went on another epic ride through the islands, a short ferry trip, and then to my cozy hostel 30 minutes south of Seattle.

Now I think that about sums up the last few days in a short but concise easy to read fashion.  Although Seattle seems like a pretty amazing city I haven't had a chance to check it out yet at all.  Yesterday I had the incredible luck to meet up with my long lost best friend in high school who I haven't seen in 11 years, but as fate would prove its all encompassing will once again disaster struck...

Yellowstone Fireside

June 19, 2013
Canyon campground, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Distance traveled: 2386 miles

I'm sitting fireside at Yellowstone national park writing this in almost shock (partly from the cold!) at the past two incredible days that I have had.  I'm not going to lie though I'm pretty exhausted and cold as it is around 40 degrees up here at 7800 ft I'm not sure exuberant is the right word to describe what I'm feeling but its close.  If only there was a word for frozen success! Kind of like eating the most delicious tasting ice cream on a frigid winter night I guess.

My adventure began when I hit the road about 650 miles back leaving the Badlands at a decent time Monday morning.  Exiting the park from a different direction I managed to conquer 11 whole white knuckled miles of off pavement riding.  This time I really tried to keep good form and I think in the end it paid off.  I had no close calls and despite the fact that I only went about 20mph the whole way I got back on the asphalt feeling pretty proud and victorious.  I might have even uttered an imitated "Great success!" to no one but myself, but that's only a rumor that I refuse to confirm or deny.

Only a couple hours later I started my approach to impressive looking mountains called the Black Hills.  The barren nothingness I had been driving through before morphed into lush green forests and before I knew it I was at the base of Mount Rushmore.  With eyes watering I pulled over with the realization that I had arrived at my first major destination on my trip.  Sure the Badlands were absolutely stunning, but before seeing them for myself they weren't anything I had known about making them more of an incredible bonus.

Continuing with my budget theme I parked at the historical marker for free, standing quietly in reverence at a sight I had only seen in textbooks and travel brochures, and even convinced a happy couple also on motorcycle to snap a quick picture of me.  Disclaimer:  I ended up looking like a total tool in the pic but in reality I was brimming from ear to ear.

Moving on continuing through the winding forest of the Black Hills, i stopped to see the impressive yet unfinished Crazy Horse monument, and made my way to the campground arriving at only 12:30.  Knowing I had a lot more miles left in me, and not wanting the incredible ride to end I chose to continue on. 

Everything was going perfectly until around five o'clock the skies again spelled sudden death and destruction.  Pushing my bike as fast as she would go I barely made it into the town of Gillette, Wyoming taking cover in a gas station (and then a Hardee's after my stomach got the better of me) before the skies let loose.  After almost letting it get me down after weathering storm after storm on the trio I eventually realized this was all part of the adventure.  And as someone very dear to me expertly put it the bike is great because it brings you that much closer to nature, but nature can take away as quickly as it gives.

After waiting it out the skies eventually cleared and I continued on  a hundred miles more to Buffalo, Wyoming.  The cool thing about the part of the leg was that I got to take I90 to Buffalo, a trip I had made many times before only in New York state.

After spending a night in the best campsite I had had so far enjoying Wifi from my tent (!) While falling asleep to the gentle flowing of the stream right next to me , I made my usual late start the next day instantly greeted with the snow capped mountains of the Big Horns.  Watching my GPS my elevation quickly rose from 4000 ft above sea level to an incredible 8500.  The views in these mountains were spectacular only leaving me craving more coming down the other side.

Now it was this part of the day that got a little tricky as the temperature quickly soared into the 90's making it almost unbearably hot in my full riding gear, but I pushed on taking a quick pit stop in an air conditioned gas station that I finally arrived at running on nothing but fumes.  On the other hand I did get to find out that Saphira was capable of hitting +100mph, but her gas consumption soared side by side with the heat.

For anyone who has never witnessed the desolate land of Wyoming in between the mountains, let me skip the photo and say picture any wide open run down desert scene you've seen in a movie and you wouldn't be too far off.  Its an incredible expanse of wide open nothingness mixed with towns having populations smaller then most busy grocery stores.  How anybody could survive (happily!) out there is a mystery to me, but one of the few I didn't care to investigate.

Finally after almost total exhaustion from the heat and the three hundred plus miles of riding I hit the Shoshone River, and an incredible transformation into some of the most breath taking lush greenery ever and then finally Yellowstone park.

Making my way into the park I was totally dumbstruck.  The scenery included everything from hauntingly devastated leafless forests, wide open lakes, and picture perfect streams.  Strangely I thought to myself that when putt putt courses or resorts try to make their own little man-made streams and waterfalls this place must surely be their inspiration. 

Climbing up again to over 8000ft above sea level, the temperature quickly dropped as fast as it had climbed and I was forced to pull over and layer up in my bad weather great.  All of it (!), and even then it almost wasn't enough.  It was below sixty, the sun was behind clouds, my hands were frozen, but I was in total bliss.

From the bison crossing the road holding up traffic, to the hot springs throwing up their sulfuric gases this place really seemed to be a world of its own and I'm still stunned to think that I was getting to experience it by bike.

So far on my trip its been less then two weeks but I feel like I've already accomplished so much.  I've beaten a tornado, countless storms, ungodly mosquito bites leaving welts the size of silver dollars, and as I sit here freezing I can still feel the sunburn from where my riding jeans have a hole in them heal.  Now I'm going to suit up as warmly as I can and see what else Yellowstone has to offer.  It's been incredible here so far but if I'm not mistaken, I have a whole lot more to go!

Montana Mountains

June 21, 2013

Near Helena, Montana

Distance traveled: 2609 miles

I've said my sad goodbyes to Yellowstone, as well as the state of Wyoming for that matter.  While the state was beautiful in itself Yellowstone was a whole different being.  No closer have I felt the relationship between life and death then in the deep wilds of Yellowstone National Park (the first park which I think I might be required to add by Wyoming state law).  From the bike every turn gave me an almost totally new view to take in.  However, enchanting as each new site was, almost unseen at times and boldly obvious at others were signs that the line bordering life and death in this part of the states was rather thin.  From the dead forests lacking any foliage, the hair pin turns high up on the mountain, to the predators always looking for their next kill and the bubbling pits giving of their noxious gases without a doubt living in Yellowstone wasn't always a picnic.  Its beautiful, enchanting, as well as nerve twitching watch your back all at the same time.  On top of all those hazards you have the weather.  With Rangers happily showing snow covered pictures to tourist from May(!) The life in Yellowstone obviously isn't an easy one, but the insanely abundant wildlife seem to make it work.  You can easily see bison crossing the road at over 500 pounds, and I even got the unique experience of being held up by a bison crossing leaving the park for over 2 hours. 

Without a doubt though, the number one danger in the park hands down had to be the minivans full of screaming children.  Yes you're out in the middle of what feels like the most wilderness of wilds, but at the same time their is so many other travelers out there, some respectful of the natural beauty of the place, others not so much.  In watching Old Faithful erupt I must have been joined by over 200 other tourists busily ooing and ahhing at the magnificent sight.  But while Old Faithful was epic, others were better.  Mammoth basin was huge and incredible to take in, even offering a winding one lane loop to drive through, proving truly epic on a bike pushing the speed limit ever so slightly. 

Just to get an idea of how big the park is to let me say I visited mammoth basin, Norris basin including a brief tour of the ranger museum, Old Faithful and a variety of other small stops along the way.  This took an entire 8 hours of mostly riding to see all these sights, and even them I only saw half the parks roadways.  Riding home at 7:30 hunger creeping up on me I decided I needed to make one more stop to have hot steam blown in my face, and that's exactly what I got.  Probably the coolest stop was at Midway basin.  With its massive streaming pools and the mile stretch of walkways it was by far the nicest area to check out with plenty of informational signs along the trail explaining exactly what the breech you were looking at.  Unfortunately for you the reader though at this stop I left my camera (my cell phone actually) charging on the bike so I missed out on any pics of this area.  Sorry!

I'm now currently deep in the state of Montana, and if I'm not mistake this is by far the most beautiful state I've visited so far.  Every road I've found so far had been hugged by snow capped mountains, but the towns I do hit are nice little towns as well.  None of the old wild West burned out towns here so far that I got used to in the previous states.  And I hope not to offend anyone here, but I could only imagine being a settler and making the stop out of impatience to set up my farm somewhere in the burned out area of South Dakota.  After seeing this place though I'm sure I'd be rather disappointed and congratulate anyone who managed to make it this far, though their scenery and wildlife here surly made up for the longer trip.  Wonder if I would have made i this far?

Badlands: Part 2

June 17, 2013
Sage Creek Campground, Badlands, South Dakota
Distance Traveled: 6 miles by foot!

My time here in the Badlands has come to a glorious end.  Today had been by far the most peaceful day on my trip as there's very little separating me out here from the serenity of the wilds. 

I got in a breath taking hike today which was challenging considering all the little hills and valleys, but the sites it afforded me were just spectacular.  I even got to do something I had strangely enough always wanted to try before: picking a direction and just walking.  But after a little under an hour my anxiety got the better of me as I imagined myself hopelessly lost walking round in circles.  I really didn't think that possible here due to the never ending 9 mile views, but after a while taking small detours around obstacles I could see it would be ready to get turned around.  And after a while each hill, tree, and bush all started to blend into one, so happy was I when I found my way back to the trail.

There was a slight drizzle of rain after I got back, but I really didn't notice much as I had been napping. Its so strange the feeling of having nothing at all to do but hike, read, nap, and eat, but although it would take some getting used to I think I like it!

To escape the busyness of my campground that quickly filled up tonight I managed to hike up the mountain closest to the camp and I think it's an excellent place to sit and watch the sunset.  This relaxing day has come at perfect time and right now I couldn't be more content.  One thing is for sure though, sunsets are best viewed with someone you love.

Tomorrow I will finally get to see the iconic Mount Rushmore.  I've heard from a few people that it isn't all its cracked up to be but I'm pretty excited!  I have less then a hundred miles to go tomorrow so it should be perfect for a short ride and then sight seeing.   Don't forget about the gravel road out of here though...

Badlands: Party 1

June 17, 2013
Sage Creek Campground, Badlands, South Dakota
Distance traveled: 1721

When they say rustic camping at Sage Creek campground I see now that they really mean it.  Looking around the small circle of adventurous tenters out here nothing else is in sight.  No cars, no billboards, and no other people.  Right now I'm sitting under the mini shaded picnic tables provided by the park at each site, and except for the clicking of my tablet the only other sounds to be heard is the softly blowing wind, and the birds calling back and forth to each other.  It's truly majestic and I'm so happy I didn't skip it in favor of moving forward.

The trip in today was a simple 21 miles, but I paid my dues for the free camping.  What the guide book doesn't tell you is that it's a ten mile ride in on unpaved rutted roads though to be far they have kept the coffin of the roads very well.  Remembering my last experience off the pavement I decided to test my skills and make the trek knowing I could only improve.  To be honest I was completely terrified at what was to come and could just imagine myself driving 8 or so miles in to find the road totally washed out from the previous day's storm only to have to turn around and make the white knuckled trip back in defeat.  But I imagine that settlers making their way slowly west must have felt somewhat similar.  Not knowing if they were going to make it, the fear of what was to come next, and the total uncertainty  of the conditions in what lay ahead.

This time though I started out with no bravado keeping the speed down between 15-20 mph.  After watching a show yesterday on riding dual sport bikes I knew to keep my elbows loose, my head up, and to always be planning my path.  With this in mind I slowly crept forward mile by mile, past buffalo grazing happily at the side of the road, a park ranger out tidying the park, and a few other cars that must of thought I had broken down and started pushing her due to my incredibly slow pace.

At a little under an hour and only stopping once to snap some pics of the buffalo I finally made it to my site unscathed.   Victory was mine and I celebrated by setting up camp and changing into some cleaner clothes as my riding gear has grown a somewhat pungent aroma already (laundry will have to be soon).  The camp is beautiful though, and after this I expect to get some lunch then hiking in.  The weather is a perfect 70 degrees with a light breeze making it more then comfortable.  I can't help but notice the thunderstorms predicted for the next two days but I guess I'll just have to take those as they come.  For now though victory, serenity, and the glorious Badlands of South Dakota are all mine.

Simply Perfect!

June 16, 2013

Wall, South Dakota

I'm pretty sure that I could just get away with posting my pics of the day here and still have one of the coolest posts ever, but today really meant so much more to me then just seeing the incredible sights. 

I woke up this morning at 6am to the sound of my motel under assault by ping-pong ball sized pieces of hail.  Now I don't know what me, my bike and summer trips have to do with hail, but so far we're two for two!  Running out to cover my bike, I came back in to discover my soaked sour mood and the forecast for today was more strong storms throughout the morning.  Remembering my decision to play things a little more safely I choose to stay in the comfort of the motel for one more day because I could still stay on budget by preparing all my food.  I'd check out Wall Drugs as planned, only I'd just take the Badlands loop and come back to my room after to rest my toe that was healing nicely and my soul which was taking a little bit longer in comfort.

Now at this point on the trip, my difficulties were really starting to get the better of me.  I was getting sick of the endless fields, dodging rainstorms every other day, loosing the battle of my budget, and a few other minor annoyances that had all come together to leave me feeling pretty down as I started the day grounded due to the weather.

So after a relaxing morning of trying to stay positive (all the whole thinking its only been a week!) I finally made my way into town to check out the famous drug store that had grown into a tourist monstrosity dating all the way back to 1936.

Finding my way into the camping section I really wanted to find something to help one of my biggest problems with my setup right now.  Packed to the brim I really only had space for two decent sized water bottles and I couldn't help but notice that if I was stuck for any amount of time (say a primitive camp sight in the Badlands?), I'd be out of water after the first cup of coffee.  After searching around for a while I finally found it.  Shown in the pic I mounted a bicycle pack with two water bottles to the front of my trunk.  For only $16 I managed to double my water carrying capacity, create a little space to carry the bulky bike cover (which has proved its weight in gold this trip so far!), gave me an extra pocket to carry my bad weather clothes in, and a handy little front pocket easily accessible for small tools and whatnot.  Needless to say I was pretty happy with the outcome, and could really feel the day starting to pick my spirits up.

Then a couple hours later I made my way sans gear to the Badlands National park highway loop.  After paying $10 to get in I could feel my mood fading, but that's when they jumped up.  The hills of the Badlands stretching on for endless miles mixing desolation with pure beauty and I was immediately speechless.  As you'll see from my pics the views were out of this world showing a world full of nothing and everything all at the same time.  I now see why some people hate them, but I loved every minute. 

Parking the bike at almost every scenic view along the loop I took pic after pic in pure joy.  I saw Bison, Prairie Dogs, hawks, and goats!   The smile plastered on my face was truly glued to my face, and I remembered then why I was doing all of this.

For anyone who read my blog last summer you might remember the same thing happening to me when I hit mexico.  I lost my motivation and started questioning myself, because after all adventure traveling isn't always a picnic.  But as soon as I did I miraculously hit one of the coolest places of my trip.  Well the same thing has happened again and boy am I thankful.  Being on the road everyday isn't easy but its days like today that really remind me it's worth it.  The funny thing I keep thinking is that if the Badlands, a place I had really not even heard too much about before was this incredible, what about all the other sites?

Anyway I'll be back on the road tomorrow going back to the plan of camping out in the Badlands trying to imagine what life would have been like out there for settlers in a much more primitive age.  After a quick stop I'm re-energized and ready to rumble for a couple of easy days of travel and sight seeing.  The next few legs should be filled with some much needed excitement all relativity close together: The Badlands, Mount Rushmore, and then the great Yellowstone National park in only a few days.  Fingers crossed that everything just keeps getting better from here!

Long ride through No Where!

June 15, 2013
Wall, South Dakota
Distance Traveled: 1691

So after four days of being on the road I'm officially exhausted!  I've put around 1000 miles of road in between myself and Chicago and the fast pace is starting to take its toll.  Today by mistake I underestimated the distance between my last stop and the Badlands by over a hundred miles, so pulling into the town right next to the park I gave up the tent in exchange for a motel room.  I'm currently watching TV with a belly full of food I didn't prepare for myself, the TVs on, the AC is on full blast and it feels great! 

Tomorrow will be less of a travel day and more of a touristy day.  I'll be getting a free cup of ice water from the world famous Wall Drug (that I've been reading billboards on for the last hundred miles!), driving through the scenic route of the Badlands, and setting up camp at its free rustic campground.  It should be a really nice, but hopefully easy!  Something that would really help is a change of scenery.  There is literally nothing out here for hundreds of miles.  Just today I saw a sign "no services for 66 miles."  I peg the speedometer at around 70 and head in the same direction for hours.  A change of scenery would be perfect!  If not though an easy day will do just fine.

Tornado on the Mississippi!

June 13, 2013

Okoboji, Iowa

Distanced traveled: 1135 Miles

So about that tornado now.  Some like myself might think I took a huge gamble and had it pay off, but others might not feel the same way.  Either way I will never take that risk again.  Ever! Most of my days on the road meet the unspecified requirements for adventure traveling and I'm happy with that. After all I stated many times last summer that although I enjoy pushing boundaries I certainly don't have a death wish!

So it was Wednesday morning in Chicago and 50% of the weather sites said sudden doom and destruction, and the other half said I'd be fine until later when I'd be long gone.  So thinking about seeing Mount Rushmore by bike I loaded up and head out under the most ominous of skies.  Turns out the riding was perfect with only a couple sprinkles at lunch time while I was eating lunch.  Only miles from my campground, one of the many Yogi bear jelly stone national park campgrounds I used to love as a small boy, I thought I had made it.  But when I got to the five mile mark the skies quickly turned black and started dumping on me a torrential downpour.  So close to my stop I didn't feel like pulling over, so I quickly became soaked and had to look into between the sunglasses down at my nose and the top of my helmets visor.  This was one of the strongest rains I had seen on my bike, but last summers storms that shot tree limbs in my path made this one seem so so at best.  That's when I saw the sheriff trailing behind me, and with my stomach dropping I started to get the picture that something was truly wrong.

Right as I'm about to pull over to see if everything's alright, he beats me to it, turns around and roars off in the other direction.  Now I'm thinking that if it were really that bad surely the man in that car would have flagged me down to tell me.  But just minutes later continuing on in the middle of no where with no other option in site I see a fire truck sitting on the side of the road, lights flashing, but the boys sitting safely inside.  They even waved to me as I crawled by at no more then 20 mph due to my lack of viability from the down pour.  Indicator number three that something really wasn't right, but again with no other option or shelter I pushed on. 

5 minutes later, though really it felt like hours I finally pulled into the campground to find everyone hanging out inside the main office shocked to see me pulling in as soaked as a drowned rat on poor Saphira.  They quickly informed me that a funnel had formed right on the other side of the river my campground was on and that they were now in a state of tornado watch!

So forgoing the tent for a cabin with four solid walls and a ceiling I waited it out in anticipation but thankfully (I think) the rest of the night was peaceful.
Leaving the bustling streets of Chicago I had a strange desire.  I wanted to drive through nothing but never ending field after field in stark contrast to the city and for the past two days that is exactly what I got.  The weather has been a perfect mid 70's and this mornings ride around the swamps of the great Mississippi river barricaded in with tall jagged cliffs was the icing on the cake.  I remember last summer running into the massive Mississippi and just being in awe of its sheer size and historical importance.  I honestly didn't know I would be seeing her again so soon but it was another awe inspiring site.  One things for sure though.  Next time I see storm warnings of possibly severe weather with damaging winds I'm staying put! 

On the bright side I am now only 369 miles from Bad Lands national park and I'm pumped! Planning on two hundred more miles tomorrow then an easy days ride to the park.  I got to swim today for the first time on the trip, I'm now sipping a cold beer next to as blazing fire and I couldn't be more content.

So after writing these last words totally focused on what I was doing I realize their had been a rustling going on at the side of my tent for a while now.  Going over and turning on the flashlight I find a raccoon happily going to town on my food that that I had left open: rookie mistake!  To my amusement more then annoyance I found that he had successfully lightened my bike of my Twizzlers and my tortillas.  Touche my furry friend but kind of a weird snack!  Oh well the foods locked up in my trunk now, and the guys from a few campsites over brought me a beer and invited me to join them so I think I'll do just that before heading to bed. 

The great Mississippi one night and the massive Missouri river the next!

June 14, 2013

Platte, South Dakota

Distance Traveled: 1415

Well its been two days since visiting the Mississippi river, and now tonight I get the pleasure of staying on the massive Missouri river!  For someone like me very few things could be cooler.  Looking our from my campground site the view is truly breathtaking, almost good enough to help me forget about the long day of travels that I had.

After talking to my dad again from my site that morning in Iowa, he told me that I was only a little over a hundred miles from my cousin studying at the university of South Dakota. So I rang him up and told him I'd be there in a little over two hours, and thankfully I managed to be passing through on one of the few days he wasn't working 12 hour shifts.  I wonder what he must have thought when three hours had rolled around and he still had no word from me.

Halfway to Vermilion, South Dakota the skies did its usual thing of turning real angry real fast.  This time seeing lightning on the distance I again started to get a little nervous after my last encounter with a storm.  Pulling over I quickly I prepped for rain and right on que the skies let loose. 

Ignoring a road closed sign hoping that my bike could make it through some tight construction space surprisingly wasn't my worst move at that point.  But getting to the closed road part under a steady downpour I found that there was no way to get around so I used the handy detour function on my Garmin.  Soon the skies cleared and I thought I was in the clear too surely coming close to the end of the detour.  Oh and if you didn't know (and I don't know why you would as I've never told anyone this before)  I have some strange preference for not using the states given detours as I'm pretty sure they aren't the quickest way.

Then came the next turn with the highway I was looking for a mere 3.7 miles down the road.  Down the gravel/dirt road that is (and don't forget its washed out due to the storm).  Remembering back to a couple of days ago I recalled feeling rather adventurous and good at riding my bike so I turned off the avoid dirt roads function.  Well here was my shot to see just how good I really was, and exactly what Saphira could do. 

I started out cautiously at about 20 mph feeling the bike 's rear tire sliding freely left and right underneath me.  For anyone who hasn't experienced this sensation let me assure you: its really not pleasant!  But I pushed on growing a little bolder when I hit a rather deep pile of stone.  First the back tire struck out wide right, then back to the left side as I overcorrected, and continued doing this  back and forth until I could white knuckled bring her back under control.  From then on I kept it at only a creeping 15 mph.  With 1 mile and some change I could feel that I had almost made and the anticipation of being put off this mess was driving me crazy.  I remembered reading on a blog that dirty bike riders needed to sit straight up and hold the handle bars some what loosely with elbows out so I changed my tactic to this trying to emulate the things I had only seen on TV and read about in forums.  That's when I hit a rut in the road that brought my bike on a given path that I seemed to have no way of getting her off of.  I could get the front tire out, but every time I did the back would stay entrenched in the rut and she would start to sliding sideways.  The second attempt at this brought her front end way out and I was sure I was going to lose it right then and there.  In that terrifying split second I remember looking over at the grass on the side of the road thinking  "Yeah that looks like a good spot to land.". But at the last second Saphira jumped out of the rut realigning herself in the process. 

Finally making it to the end of the road and back to blessed pavement I pulled over, cursed loudly and prophanely from a mixture of fear, adrenaline, and success, and quickly turned on the avoid unpaved roads function.  While I'm certainly an experienced rider,  I'm pretty sure the difference between a motorcycle and a dirty bike is rather important.

After that it was nothing but clear roads. I had a great time reconnecting with my cousin TJ, and I put 280 more miles on Saphira.  Tomorrow: Badlands national park.  I'm pumped to say the least and looking forward to the free campsites as I've been going a little over budget practically every day now.  Not totally sure how I'll fix that, but tomorrow's as good a day as any to figure it out.

Hello and good bye!

June 11
Chicago, Illinois

In the short amount of time I've been here it's become clear that Chicago is full of two types of people.  Those who have taken opportunities that have come their way and thrived, and those who have totally missed the boat.  This fact becomes blatantly obvious when walking around downtown bumping shoulders with both people in expensive looking suits, and others begging for spare change.  In fact I don't think you can walk two blocks without running into one of these poor souls asking kindly for anything you can spare seemingly in all areas of the city.

For me I think I missed my shot at the second day of good food.  Early this morning I walked by a small hot dog stand touting some of the best Chicago style hots in town, but because I had recently eaten breakfast I missed that one only to later find out that it was in fact rated one of the best places to get a good cheap Chicago hot.  Oops. 

To add insult to injury I found a small pizza place later with mixed reviews for lunch and walked in to both satisfy my hunger/curiosity, and to use their facilities.  But after ordering from a nice older woman behind the counter, I ended up getting yelled at by another female employee for trying to get ice when the machine was out!  Wow was she nasty, and the not so subtle look of either crack or steroids in her eyes told me to leave it alone.  So due to the unfortunate circumstances pertaining to their awful customer service I will skip their review.  And its really too bad because it was an amazing slice of pizza even forcing me to question my loyalty to the new York style pizza.  But oh well.  (Censored)'s pizzeria should learn to play nice, and read their own reviews!

So tonight for dinner I was determined to find another Chicago style by the slice budget pizza place, but by then my chances were gone.  After getting lost, finding out two places had closed for good, and numerous others closed after lunch I finally wondered in to another place with mixed reviews but it was the best I could do after walking for so long.  Turns out the reviews were right: a pizzeria in Chicago that sold frozen pizza by the slice!  Yuck!  Ditching that horrid place, and its too bad again because it was a nice but quiet joint (quiet meaning empty probably due to their frozen entrays).  So back to the rough and tumble streets I went to find better.  Another hour later I'm sad and mortified to say: I gave up! Zilch nothing Nada except a $16 personal pan pizza that I skipped out on due to my third edict.  On top of all that I don't even dare say where I landed for dinner but I will tell you that sadly it starts with a "W" but still was in fact better then the frozen tombstone like pizza place.  Sheesh!

Like I said in the beginning Chicago seems like a wonderful place for many, and a place of missed opportunities for others.  While the first day I certainly hit my stride, today was largely both hit and miss.  I saw some amazing sites, and had some rather unfortunate dining experiences.  Overall I should probably quit while I'm ahead and unless it's storming as bad as 50% of the weather reports I've read.  If its manageable I'll be pointing my bike towards Bad Lands South Dakota.  But before I retire for the night I do believe some jazz is calling.  Its just down the street, I don't have to walk far, probably won't get lost, so it should be fun.  Fingers crossed though as Chicago thus far had been nothing but surprises.

Lots of pics though so enjoy!