Sturgis trip recap.

The last leg of my trip on Weds the 26th was just a nice morning ride of 140 miles. I got home rite after noon, good timing, egg salad sandwitch for lunch.
I only took a few photos on the last leg home. Pictures.

The Minnesota river valley at Granite Falls, MN.

Large gun at VFW in ? Somewhere around bird Island MN on US212.

A few grain elevators along US212 in Minnesota.

Interesting! 70mph/70 degrees; mileage 034567; time 11:12.

Here I am, just arrived in time for lunch.

Sooooo today when I pulled the side bags off and started washing the bike, when I got to the back wheel I found this in it. How many miles had it been there? I quess it could be up to several thousand. I now have just over 8300 miles on this set of tires. If the back tire doesn't leak I'm going to wear it out. I should be able to get about another 2000 miles out of the set. Trip totals; 6072 miles, 134 gallons of fuel, $395 dollars for fuel. 45.354 average mpg for the trip. $2.95 average cost per gallon. Great time and good memories.

Homeward bound.

Today I got up and had a light breakfast saw the resident deer, and got a couple pictures. Then it was time to pack up and head on down the road. Not much stopping today. I'm in the, "I want to get home mode". I did finally stop in Granite Falls MN. It was the third town that I tried to get a room in. I think summer road work and other construction is eating up alot of the lower priced motel rooms. I did get a room at the casino for a decent price. I totaled 475 miles for today. Tomorrow I will be home.

Mama and one of the two fawns.

Quite the collection.

Things are still very green in eastern south dakota, generally by this time of year things are starting to dry out. The stock ponds seemed to be in very good shape also.

A few more shots of South Dakota. In my next post I will try to do a little recap of the trip. Until then.

A day off.

Today I took a well deserved day off. Had cereal and coffee for breakfast then sat on the deck. Helped Rich move an old hot water heater, then sat on the deck. Went into town for some great chinese lunch and then came back and sat on the deck and visited. I got a few pictures of the resident turkeys but none of the local deer. Though I saw them, just didn't have my camera with. After a supper of chickenfried steak and fresh local corn on the cob I went for a walk up their driveway to look for the deer and to figure the best track out of their much to be desired gravel driveway. There are a few soft areas that are better off avoided on a big roadbike like the FJR. I figured it out and went back and got in the hot tub for a little relaxation. Came in and rinsed off and here I am blogging and having fresh canalope. A most excellent day off. Tommorow I will head for home and be home weds. A couple pics.

The turkeys and Rich and Lynn's house. That is all for now.

Wyoming corner to corner

Today, Sunday the 23, I got one of my earlier starts of this trip. I think I was on the road before 9am. I'm sure part of the reason for the early start was the prospect of doing a 500 mile day. It ended up being 535 miles. I went from Kemmerer WY to Belle Fourche SD. I basically went from the southwest corner of Wyoming to the northeast corner. I will list the roads traveled today if you want to look at a map. From Kemmerer I took US189 to WY372 to WY28 into lander WY. Then WY789 to US26 to casper WY. In casper I got on I25 north to WY259 to WY387 to WY50 which took me into Gillette WY. At that point I got on I90 east to Spearfish SD, then north on US85 to Belle Fourche SD to visit friends. Pictures for today:

Trivia answer; Kemmerer Wyoming. Ques; Where did JC Penny start.

Green river. Interesting bluffs, and open range. I had two antelope cross the road in front of me today and the third one turned back.

Snow fences. You see these in many open areas of the west. They help keep the roads from drifting closed.

A little history.

A nice overlook.

Yes we have plenty of oil in this country.

And another oddity of the west. It seems like there is one around almost every corner.

More History. Don't know what tomorrow will bring. A day off visiting with friends and head home tuesday. Bye now.

north, then east, then north

This morning, Sat. the 22nd I left Ely Nevada and headed north on US93. AT Lagas Station, I followed Alt93 to the northeast, This took me to Wendover NV, where I got on I80 and headed east. Wendover is at the Utah border on the interstate. A nice little gambling community with several casinos. I stopped at the Bonneville Salt Flats and took some pictures and then blasted across Utah on the interstate. Their speed limit is 80mph. My bike seems to cruise the best at 75>80, so that was the speed I drove. There was still the fire related haze in the air, so yes I do believe, that this has become somewhat of a theme for this trip. The temp was ideal for riding today mid 70's to mid 80's. I hope that when I get to the Black Hills in SD, (sun or mon), I will be out of the smoke. I plan to visit friends there for a day or two and then head home.

A nice tourist train in Ely if you ever have the chance. Erik and I have riden it.

Pony Express country.

I didn't see any white horses just these.

Need a change of clothes.

I think I'm close to the middle of nowhere.

Or is that the the middle of nowhere out there.

The salt flats at last. Plenty of rules, some of which appeared to of been ignored.

Yes, it's me the blogger. A nice lady from Maryland took my picture.

There appears to be a ready supply of salt around. I saw two processing plants, one Morton and One Gargill.

Recreational area along I80.

Tough work building roads in this country. Tomorrow I will work my way across Wyoming. No set route yet. Thanks for reading.