A week or so ago Mark and I had dinner at China House in the Southpointe Plaza in Jackson, MI.  This was what was in my fortune cookie.  From Sam's Big Adventure

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We are in Princeton, IL tonight and it’s been a fun day, but not without a few glitches.  The biggest problem today was the fact that Mark forgot to pack his rain pants.  We didn’t realize it until we made it as far as Coldwater – where it was pouring!  We rode to the Sturgis (Michigan) Harley Davidson dealership and he found a pair on the clearance rack for $50! Amazing! And of course, after that it didn’t rain for hours. He needed them before the day was done though, and no doubt will need them many more times before we make it back home.

Illinois was a pretty ride. Except for getting though the Chicago area, but even that wasn’t all that bad. Of course you can’t go anyplace without highway construction. We sat in stop and go traffic for about 45 minutes somewhere between here and Chicago. All that delay for about 100 yards of bridge work.

The terrain here is interesting .. sometimes it’s hilly with lots of trees, much like Michigan. Other times it’s flatter than Ohio if that’s possible. We could see for miles and miles. It’s beautiful .. lots of pretty farms.  

We met Jack and Jody Lieby, friends of Mark’s, for dinner in Princeton tonight. (They are in the picture below.)  They live in the quad cities and drove an hour to see us .. and waited in the lobby of our hotel an hour for us to get there.  We had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant Mark learned about on the travel channel – Prime Quarter Steak House.  It’s one of those places where they let you cook your own steak on a huge grill.  We all decided to pass on that and let the chef do the cooking.  It was great for Mark to catch up with Jack and Jody and I was so glad to finally meet them.  We had a wonderful time spending some time with both of them.  We wish their grandsons, Topher and Cameron, could have been there too. You know how teenager’s sports schedules are though.  We’ll catch them next time we get together.  Best of luck to Topher .. he’s been accepted to the Naval Academy! And Cameron, who is 16, will have the house to himself now. Thank you again Jack and Jody for buying our dinner.  It’s our turn next time!

Mark booked our hotel reservation here in Princeton with AmericInn. A great place to stay!

And I’m happy to report that I rode yesterday with no back pain at all. I warmed up and did some yoga stretches and all was good!

Thursday we leave for Atlantic, Iowa. The weather looks like it’s going to give us a break for a few days. No rain in sight. Time to break out the sunblock.

Oh, and click on the ‘about’ tab at the right of your page.  Kc is tracking our journey on a US map. She’s done such a good job with this blog!

From Wed May 27th

Tonight we’re in Atlantic, Iowa.  What an amazing day it’s been!  But a very long one .. again we didn’t get up and going until almost 11:00 and we didn’t arrive at the hotel until 10:00 p.m.  

Iowa is just beautiful!  For everybody from back in Michigan .. imagine the Irish Hills expanded for hundreds of miles.  But without all the trees along the roads.  You can see for miles and miles here.  It’s beautiful rolling hills with bright red barns and white farm houses tucked in among the fields, and cattle dotting the pastures.  (And some really smelly pig farms!)  And the further west we rode, the bigger the fields got.  They’re just amazing!  When we could see it from the top of a hill, it looked like a giant puffy quilt that was gently laid over the ground.

The weather was great .. in the low 60′s which is perfect for riding.  It was overcast for the first part of the ride, but once the clouds broke up it warmed up to nearly 70.  

Mark and I are in a contest sponsored by Napoleon Harley Davidson called the Throttle Twistin’ Tour.  They have a list of phrases such as “Live to Ride”, etc. all relating to motorcycling.  The object of the contest is to find towns that begin with each letter in the phrase, for instance L – Litchfield, I-Iowa City, V-Vicksburg, etc.  We have to have a picture of the city limits sign (or post office) with our bike in the photo.   The winner gets a $1500 gift certificate from the dealership.  So this trip is perfect for getting lots of signs.  Today we got 11.  

Mark has spent the past few months scanning the atlas looking for the towns we need that are close to the freeway.  It’s been nice to have a reason to get off the beaten path and see the little towns along the way.  And we even found a few we didn’t expect.  It was nice to just travel along parallel to the freeway and see things at a slower speed and feel more like we’re here rather than just flying by and seeing it all from a distance.

We had lunch at the Iowa 80 truckstop.  According to the Travel Channel it’s the largest truckstop in the world.  It was a pretty cool place.  And .. they had a Dairy Queen … time for a Midnight Truffle!

Which is why it took us 11 hours to travel 310 miles.  But even that wasn’t all bad.  We rarely get a chance to ride at night so the 2 hours or so we traveled after dark was kind of a treat.  The sunset was beautiful.  And as we rode west the horizon kept changing colors from different shades of purple and pink.  At one point we passed a wind turbine farm that was right next to the freeway.  They were amazing looking silhouetted against that beautiful horizon.

And once the sun was completely down the sky was clear and the moon bright.  It was still warm and comfortable for riding.

Tomorrow we ride 400 miles to Murdo, South Dakota.  Hope to see you there!

I remembered some things I meant to include in today’s blog:

We spent our first night in Princeton, IL at a new hotel chain, AmericInn.  It was so nice!  We highly recommend it if you’re out traveling.

It was nice talking with Amy and Veronica who both work at the hotel and are fellow motorcycle enthusiasts.  Hopefully we’ll see you somewhere out there on the road someday.

Mark needed a new pair of warm gloves so we stopped at Weib’s Harley Davidson there in Princeton.  It’s a small place now but they have plans to expand.  We can’t wait to go back and see the new place!

We saw the Mississippi River today!  It was beautiful!  And the bridge we crossed was very cool!  I thought of you Teresa!

I also forgot to post a couple of pictures so I’ve added them here with this post.

More tomorrow!

We had another great day of riding from Atlantic, IA to Murdo, SD.  The weather was beautiful .. sunny all day with temperatures in the 70′s and 80′s.  The scenery again today was breathtaking.  We rode over 400 miles in about 11 hours.  I’m happy to report that we actually got up and around and were on the road at 8:45.  That’s just more than impressive for us!

From Day 3 Leaving Atlantic, IA

We had breakfast with some fellow bikers who were from Iowa and traveling north for a weekend trip.  They’ve ridden in this area for years and gave us a lot of good information. I took a picture from the parking lot which is a good example of how beautiful the ride through Iowa is.

From Day 3 The view during breakfast this morning

Our ride through the rest of Iowa was so pretty.  The rolling hills just go on and on and on with more farms as far as you can see.  Not too far west of Atlantic we passed a wind farm right along I-80.  In a stretch of about 5 miles there had to be more than 100 wind turbines gracefully turning in the wind.  It was amazing to see them. Unfortunately there was no good place to pull off to take a picture. I wish I could take pictures with my eyes!

We came upon an scenic overlook along I-80 just north of Omaha and stopped to take a look. It’s so beautiful from up high, it’s hard to take it all in.

 

Again today we were on a search for signs for the contest.  We managed to find 15.  Some of them have been right off the freeway and others have been quite a drive.  We drove 43 miles south to Yankton, SD because we needed a Y.  Those little side trips are so much fun.  Like I said yesterday, it gives us a chance to really see the countryside and some of the little towns along the way.

And some of our side trips are a bust.  We tried for Little Sioux and River Sioux, Iowa and neither had a sign.  River Sioux was pretty much a 4 way stop with a tiny grainery and a couple of houses.  And Little Sioux was a tiny little place about the size of Hanover.  A lot of the houses were empty and quite run down.  It looked like a place that time had forgotten.  The business buildings were very old and most were empty and the ‘downtown’ area was pretty much deserted.  I wanted to take a picture but decided against it.  It seemed like we were invading their privacy as it was disturbing the peace and quiet with our noisy bikes.  We rode through town hoping to find a post office  so we could use that picture for the contest.  We didn’t see one so decided to head back to the highway.  As we turned off the main street we had a choice of 3 directions to go .. all 3 were gravel roads.  As we made our way out of town, we found all the streets were gravel.  I thought of you Teresa.  (Mark has a knack for finding gravel roads.) 

Speaking of gravel roads, as we scouted the city signs in Iowa we noticed that only the main roads are paved.  It was strange to see long clouds of dust trailing behind the cars we couldn’t even see from the freeway.  If it weren’t for the trail of dust we wouldn’t have known there was even a road there. 

It doesn’t take long to get from one place to another in South Dakota.  The speed limit on the freeway is 75 and the side roads are 65.  The roads are good though and traffic is light.  

We were amazed to see how flat western South Dakota is.  You can see for miles and miles and miles.  And it’s pretty much nothing but fields and pastures.  And when I said the fields in Iowa were huge, the fields in South Dakota made them seem tiny.  South Dakota is so big and green and grassy and untamed.  It made me feel like a tiny speck in the middle of it.  I thought about how long it was taking us to get this far on motorcycles .. and how hard it must have been for settlers traveling out here.  I thought about herds of buffalo and Indian tribes and wondered if this was what it looked like even back then.
 

After traveling for miles of flat land we came to Chamberlain, SD.  We went around a curve and suddenly there in front of us was the most amazing sight.
 

After Chamberlain the terrain was more huge rolling green pastures.  It was just mesmerizing.  We passed by ranches that were just huge.  One had a sign that said it was established in 1880.  Again, I need to take this trip again either riding on the back of Mark’s bike or in a car so I can takes pictures .. LOTS of pictures!

The rolling pastures went on for quite a way. And then suddenly we were back to flat land again.

As we rode though this beautiful pasture land, enjoying the peaceful serenity of it all, I glanced back at the road and realized something was flying through the air at me .. I couldn’t even tell what it was.  The biggest part flew past me, but a big puff of something fluffy went all over my face and stuck to the chapstick on my lips.  I thought at first it was straw.  I pulled up alongside Mark and asked him if he’d hit something.  He said he’d hit a pheasant!  Ewwww !   Those were feathers stuck on my lip!   Luckily it didn’t do any damage to Mark’s bike that we can see.  It hit right on the lower wind deflector of his bike and his right front fork.  It’s going to be a mess to clean up.  There’s blood and feathers splattered everywhere.  Time to find a car wash.

Earlier in the day I hit a chipmunk.  The poor little guy.  He just wasn’t fast enough.  I hit him not long after I was thinking how there weren’t many road kill animals on the roads.  

And there is some kind of weird bugs here .. I think they’re little flies or gnats.  Everytime we stop to take pictures or stop at a red light in town they swarm us.  And they’re splatted all over the front of our bikes and the cars we see along the way.  And they bite too.  Hopefully it’s just a South Dakota thing and we’ll leave them behind soon.

We had a great dinner tonight in a little restaurant bar about 2 blocks from our hotel here in Murdo.  As we walked back it was dark and off in the distance we could see a beautiful lightning show from a thunderstorm we’d watched forming off in the distance all afternoon.  It looked like what we see on the Weather Channel all the time.

So it was another amazing day of sights and experiences.  The people we’ve met along the way are all so nice.  We’ve had great meals everyplace we’ve eaten.  We’re having a blast!

Hi everyone!

Yesterday was a long day .. 11 hours of riding.  I didn’t have time to finish the blog, but I’m working on it.  Hopefully I’ll have some more time today.  I’ve got a bunch of pictures to get posted also.  Check back later tonight!

Thanks for riding along with us and for all your comments.  We love hearing from you!!

I just spoke with Sandy and Mark and it is a beautiful Sunday morning in Hot Springs, South Dakota where Sandy has no internet connection! They are having a wonderful adventure and taking tons of pictures which Sandy promises to post as soon as she can get a connection — probably have to wait until they get to their next destination which is Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Only one more week until they arrive in Santa Ana, California!

Day 4 has been as beautiful as anything I’ve ever seen in my life.  The Days Inn in Murdo, SD was so interesting.  It had a old west/cowboy theme with the lobby decorated in knotty pine and full of stuffed animals mounted all over the place.  Breakfast was served from a chuckwagon in the lobby.  The tables were wagon wheels covered with glass.

The walls in the hallways were filled with old pictures of Murdo back in the 1800′s, and of some of the settlers in this area.  I was just amazed to read the stories of how they got here and what they had to endure to survive.  

We got a better look at Mark’s bike this morning after his collision with the poor pheasant.

 
After taking Mark’s bike to the local car wash, we left Murdo, SD with Hot Springs, SD as our destination. We traveled through the beginning of the Badlands and through some beautiful prairie land.  We saw bigger ranches and bigger herds of cattle and horses.  It’s hard to even describe it.  You just have to experience it.  I just remember riding along and saying over and over, “Oh my God.  This is amazing!”   

And to see it all from a motorcycle makes it so much more special.  You can feel the warmth of the sun, feel the wind, smell the freshness of the air and occasionally the smell of freshly cut hay, hear the sounds of birds even over the sound of the bike and the wind in your ears.  It’s truly the best way to experience it.  The only thing that would make it better would be to ride a bicycle, but I’m way too out of shape for that and it would take forever, so I’ll stick to the bike.

I feel so at home in these surroundings .. farms, animals, nature.  I love the sight of the green grasses and the beautiful contours of the land, the way it smells here; and the sounds.  There is virtually no traffic and everything seems so unspoiled by humans.

When we stop the bikes to take pictures, the peacefulness and quietness is astounding.  All you hear is the sound of the wind gently blowing the grasses and the birds singing.  One time when we stopped, about 15 seconds after we shut off the bikes we heard a strange sound.  It only lasted a few seconds and we were so in awe of the view we didn’t give it much thought.  Then about 30 seconds later we heard it again.  That time I thought maybe it was a cow mooing from the other side of a big hill right behind us.  When we heard it the 3rd time we really started looking around.  Up on top of that big hill right next to us was an old rusty windmill.  That was what we were hearing.  I wish I could have recorded it.  There was just something so unique about it.  That old windmill had probably stood there for decades through all kinds of weather, and as rusty as it was, it was still working away even though it was groaning with every turn.

From Day 4 Windmill

And I think we’ve outrun those pesky bugs now too.  There didn’t seem to be any bugs until we got into the Black Hills.  Mosquitos were out looking for something to eat when we stopped to put on our rainsuits.

I’m happy to say that I’ve finally fallen in love with my bike.  I’ve been second guessing myself for months now and wishing I’d never let go of my low rider.  This new bike has been so great to ride (now that I’ve got a seat that fits me).  It’s so comfortable to ride and it’s heavy enough that the trucks don’t blow me around when we pass them. 

Part of our journey today was to Merriman, NE.  My maiden name is Merriman and I had to see the town and have my picture taken in front of the post office.

From Day 4 Sandy @ the post office in Merriman, NE

It was about 100 miles out of our way to get there, but it was worth it.  As we parked in front of the post office, a man in a van pulled up next to us to see if we needed anything.  I so wish I would have gotten a picture of him.  He told us he was the mailman.  We explained why we were there and he began to talk to us like he’d known us forever.  He told us the story of how years ago a bank robber peppered the front of the bank with a Gatling gun before he robbed it.  He didn’t know if it was really true, but there are definitely holes all over the front and Mark said it very well could be metal fragments from the rounds stuck in the stone.

He also told us that his best friend just won the Power Ball Lottery .. $244 million!  He said his friend has been dirt poor his whole life, and just last week the bank repossessed his mobile home.  

That is one thing we’ve noticed in the areas we’ve passed in South Dakota – there seems to be a lot of poverty here.   Many of the towns are basically empty and what’s left and still in business is run down.  The houses in the towns are also in need of repair and many are boarded up and falling apart.  It makes me wonder what happened.  We saw mobile homes out in the middle of pastures that were literally blown apart.  Insulation was loose and blowing in the breeze, windows gone. It’s such a contrast to the beauty surrounding it.

We started getting deeper into the Badlands today. It’s just as beautiful as anything we’ve seen yet.

The further we went the more dramatic the views.

We drove through Badlands National Park. What an amazing place!

It’s been a long day .. about 11 hours of riding and part of it in the rain. We’re exhausted but still having the time of our lives.    

From Day 4 Leaving the Badlands

This was another really great day.  South Dakota is such a beautiful place!  We left Hot Springs, SD this morning heading for Cheyenne, WY.

We started our day driving through Custer State Park. It’s an amazing place with herds of buffalo scattered throughout the park. We spent the majority of the day driving in and out of rainstorms and at one point it hailed. We couldn’t believe it! Even though the rain is a pain in the neck, it’s so pretty to watch it from a distance. Everything here is so wide open and spacious you can see the storms for miles away. They’re definitely prettier from a distance than when they’re overhead drenching you. I wore my rainsuit today but decided not to wear the rain boots – big mistake. I had to squeeze water out of my socks at the General Store in the park. We had a nice visit with one of the clerk’s in the store, Anne. She’s a native New Yorker too. She and Mark had a lot in common and had a great time talking about their New York roots.

Right after you leave Custer State Park you enter The Black Hills National Forest. It was every bit as spectacular as everything else we’ve seen in South Dakota.  Mount Rushmore was just breathtaking.  We had hoped to see Crazy Horse also, but were running out of time so we skipped it.  We did get to see it from a distance.  

After 4 hours of 30 mph through the Black Hills we had a 5 hour ride to Cheyenne. We didn’t leave Custer until about 4:30 and it was almost 10:00 when we finally made it to our hotel. We rode through one rainstorm after another. It was a rough ride for the last 2 hours. By then it was dark and the rain was pelting us so hard there were times we could hardly see the road. We were so glad to pull into our hotel. Even though the rain was a pain, we still had a wonderful day.

We left Cheyenne, WY this morning and had a beautiful ride to Denver with no rain!  We managed to get a few more pictures for the contest.  As we rode south we could see the Rockies off in the distance.  

Denver has a beautiful sky line.  And as soon as we left the city limits we were in the Rocky Mountains.  We hadn’t traveled more than a few miles when we’d already climbed 2,000 feet and it was starting to get cold.  We stopped to put on more clothes .. including our rainsuits.  Yes, more rain again now.  The rain was stinging our faces and as we traveled though the mountains the temperature dropped.

It was raining so hard we really couldn’t enjoy the view other than what was right in front of us.  The mountains were spectacular.  As we passed through the Eisenhower tunnel we were greeted with snow covered mountain tops.  It was just beautiful.  It took us about an hour to make it to Frisco, CO.  We were just about frozen by the time we got there.  We laughed about how terrible we thought it was to drive in the rain last night .. at least it wasn’t this cold!  We ran into another couple checking into our hotel who were traveling by motorcycle who had just come from Loveland Pass.  There was 4″ of snow on the ground and slush on the road.  The temperature when we got to the hotel at 5:00 was 37 degrees with a wind chill of 31.  No wonder we were freezing our buns off!

Our hotel is nestled in the mountains.  The view is so pretty.  Hopefully tomorrow the rain will let up and I can take some pictures.  It’s supposed to be cold again tomorrow .. with rain.  Ewwww!

We had planned to have dinner with Josh Tolles tonight, but it was so cold we just couldn’t handle another 30 minute ride to Vail and then another 30 minutes back to Frisco.  We’ll catch up to him tomorrow.