Jim VonBaden Posted July 7, 2008 Posted July 7, 2008 Over the next few weeks my friend Kermit and I are going to take a little trip. The plan is to head out of the DC area on Friday the 11th and head west to the ocean, then north to the mountains, the east over the Great Lakes, and home. Because I am into photography, I plan on taking a lot of pictures, and posting them here. I also plan on posting some interesting trip tidbits along the way, as well as thoughts and meanderings. I hope to post regularly when I have internet access. The bikes: (Picture removed, more ADV appropriate ) and Kermit saying hello! Trip information: Distance: 5,000-7200 miles Time: July 11-27 (17 days) Route: Roughly from DC to Mt Rushmore, then on to Tillamook, OR. From Tillamook up through Seattle, WA into Canada, through Banff, then across the Great Lakes in Canada, and back to DC. This route is variable depending on our moods, weather, and time. Bikes: 2005 and 2006 R1200GS with 45,000 and 52,000 miles respectively. The 2005 R1200GS has the following equipment: Jesse Odyssey Saddle Bags JC Whitney Top Case Cortech SuperMini tank bag on SWMototech Mount Garmin 2610 GPS on a custom mount iPod Nano with S-plugs Ohlins Shocks Avon Distanzia Tires Hella FF50 Driving Lights Motolight conspicuity lights P3 LED lights, and Brake LED tail light Rick Mayer Seat Removed hand guards, stock windscreen and Cee Baileys Wind Wings Hepco and Becker Crash Bars Kaoko Throttle Lock Rock Stompa foot pegs Hammerhead shifter TT Dash cover and dash plate The 2006 R1200GS has the following equipment: Factory Saddle Bags Givi Top Case Marsee Corona tank bag on Marsee Mount Garmin 2610 GPS on a Migsel mount Ohlins Shocks Avon Distanzia Tires Hella FF50 Driving Lights Brake LED tail light Sargent Seat Removed hand guards, stock windscreen Hepco and Becker Crash Bars Kaoko Throttle Lock Fastway foot pegs SPOT Satellite Tranciever TO TAKE WITH ME LIST: Gear: Mesh jacket Mesh pants Frog Tog Jacket and pants Gerbing liner & CONTROLLER!! Summer gloves Rain cool gloves Rain Glove covers Balaclava Additional Water proof bag Electronics: Camera\w lenses Computer and charger/BMW Eprom Flashlight Batteries AA Nikon camera CPAP, mask and power cords iPod and charger Blackberry and charger Cell phone and charger Clothes: Various t-shirts and shorts Socks Skivvies Long sleeve shirt 1 pair jeans Tennis shoes Cap Mesh bag for drying clothes Toiletries Bike Supplies: Tire gauge Tire repair kit Tire inflator pump Full tool Kit Tank bag Extra ear plugs Spare key Water bladder Bug Spray Paperwork: Bike insurance paperwork Bike registration paperwork Passport/creds KOA/Allstate paperwork I'll be posting the basic route, we plan to keep it flexible, within a couple days, and a map of the route. Also, some of the places we expect to be in case any FF's are interested in that kind of thing. I am not sure of exact times, but I will post as often as possible where we will be just in case anyone might have the time and inclination to meet up. Jim
Albert Posted July 7, 2008 Posted July 7, 2008 Alright Jim. I'll be waiting for regular reports and riding along with you (mentally ).
OoPEZoO Posted July 7, 2008 Posted July 7, 2008 cool I can't go on a bike vacation this summer, so I'll look forward to yours
bakerzdosen Posted July 8, 2008 Posted July 8, 2008 Good luck man. Sounds like a fun trip. Hopefully you have all of the BMW dealers mapped out in advance for oil changes and regular services.... [/sarcasm]
flyingreg Posted July 8, 2008 Posted July 8, 2008 Jim, Have a great trip and enjoy the ride! I'll be watching for pics. Ride safe.
Jim VonBaden Posted July 8, 2008 Author Posted July 8, 2008 Good luck man. Sounds like a fun trip. Hopefully you have all of the BMW dealers mapped out in advance for oil changes and regular services.... [/sarcasm] If all goes well, we wont even need an oil change along the way! Thanks for the well wishes, it should be fun, and I will update here as often as possible. Jim
Jim VonBaden Posted July 13, 2008 Author Posted July 13, 2008 Commentary to come tomorrow if I am not so tired. Jim
Jim VonBaden Posted July 13, 2008 Author Posted July 13, 2008 Not a bad second day considering we got slammed with seriously hard rain for the first few hours out of Indianapolis. Otherwise the weather was not bad, and we made great time. Here is a shot of the clouds just before they opened up for the second time! Along the way a speedo/GPS shot. How I felt after dinner tonight. Cool shot of Kermit behind us. For Tina, Peoria, IL Cool IL rest stop. A gas break in Iowa, cool dirt track cars. Reminded me of when I was a kid. Awesome windmills! Speaking of wind, we had such a headwind that our gas milesage went from 43 to 33 for this leg of the trip. The end of day two in Worthington, MN. 708 miles felt much better than the previous 625! Maybe we are getting numb. More tomorrow from Sturgis, SD. Jim :cool
Exploreinman Posted July 13, 2008 Posted July 13, 2008 Hi Jim, I'm planning a similiar coast to coast and back from Georgia for next summer. I'll be curious as to how much you like your route and how much superslab versus back highways that you take. Good Riding!
Jim VonBaden Posted July 14, 2008 Author Posted July 14, 2008 Day Three: Long, long, lonely roads. From Worthington, MN to Sturgis, SD 518 miles, with lots of stopping, and a total of 1849 miles in three days. The following are some shots of the day. The first is the general view of the road for most of the ride. And what was apparently the main crop! At breakfast we came across this cool rig. How can you go wrong with Jack Daniels? At lunch we stopped to take a look at the Corn Palace. There was advertising for nearly 300 miles for this place: We decided not to go in. Another icon was Wall Drugs, similarly billboard advertised for many miles, it looked like it was worth stopping. Imagine our surprise when we were parking and Paul Mihalka pulls up! Needless to say we had lunch with him. He was coming back towards DC from the BMWST UnRally. In front of Wall Drugs, yes there was a tiny drug store in there, we saw Tina, or what looked like her bike. Off to the badlands near Rushmore. Very cool looking. A little further on we came to Mt. Rushmore. Damn $20 parking, plus entry fee and we decided to just take a few shots by the road. After Rushmore we went to the Crazy Horse monument. $5 each to get in, and very cool! The finished schupture compared to present completion. The man responsible for the concept was Sculpture Korczak Ziolkowski, who was a very accomplished talent. One of his schulptures. Another shot of the ride, though not nearly as dull as I make it out. In all, about 1000 bugs killed, 520 miles done, and bonding with a friend accomplished. The daily tally! Jim
Jim VonBaden Posted July 15, 2008 Author Posted July 15, 2008 Not too much to report today. We rode from Sturgis, SD to Butte, MT, via Wyoming. From the Wyoming border to Butte we did over 500 miles of open road, mostly rolling hills, and saw not one cop! Here is the track so far from the Spot Satellite unit. Great high speed roads, virtually no traffic, and lots of bikes going both ways. We saw a bunch of BMWs heading towards Gillette, and passed through there. This must be a favorite motorcycle road judging by the number of bikes, many HD, and nearly ¾ with no helmets! We had breakfast at Donna’s Diner. Very good breakfast, and a nice small town feel. There is a reason Montana is called “Big Sky Country”. Long roads, expansive vistas, and great riding. The mountain roads were fun too, but few and far between. Along the way we stopped at the Little Big Horn museum and had an ice cream! So, at the end of the day, is this my GPS… or, is this? Just a few bugs along the way. Rain, crops, and cows, made for a mess of bugs. Anyone who has ridden with me knows how much I hate bugs, but this ride made them tolerable! Our bikes at the Super 8 motel. Nice dinner at a casino, and we are off to bed. Jim
Jim VonBaden Posted July 17, 2008 Author Posted July 17, 2008 Saw Tillamook Air Museum today, and made it to my sister's home in Rochester, OR. No time to post, but we are on the coast and over 3300 miles. Tomorrow in Seattle for the day, and I will post pics tomorrow night! Jim
BeniciaRT_GT Posted July 17, 2008 Posted July 17, 2008 Fantastic Report Jim! Great route, and it is amazing how small our world is when you are out touring: You just never know who you might run into...
Jim VonBaden Posted July 18, 2008 Author Posted July 18, 2008 Day Six of our trip found us reaching the Pacific, but first, Tillamook, OR and the Confederate Air Museum there. We started in the Columbia River Gorge, and headed off towards Portland, Where we immediately found a traffic jam. Later we arrived at the museum. The museum is an incredible place residing in a WWII Blimp Hanger made nearly entirely of wood. There was a movie with the design and life of the two hangers, one burned down in the 70’s. Inside were a variety of running aircraft, and a few other interesting items… Some of the Nose Art was very period, and nearly all the planes are in flying condition. As we were leaving we met a cool couple with matching schemed HD bikes, one was a trike pulling a trailer that looked like a 55 Chevy cop car on a trailer. Very well done, and functional! Afterward we made it to the Pacific proper, and Kermit saw the Pacific for the first time. We had a very good lunch here, and a great ride after! We crossed a bridge on Hwy 101, the Pacific Coast Highway, and into some of the best twisty roads in the area. Lots of fun, and great views as well. Mount ST Helens. A bunch of beach shots! In the end, we made it to my sister’s home near Oroville, WA. A short day miles wise, but a big day for us. Jim :brow
Jim VonBaden Posted July 18, 2008 Author Posted July 18, 2008 Day 7! Ten days to go, and we are about half way to the finish. Now the real fun begins. We left in a mist from my sister’s home, and headed up to Seattle 80 miles away to see the Space Needle, and go to Ride West BMW. Arriving in Seattle I bumbled upon a cheap parking lot, but I should have guessed the number was not good! Both of us got a $38 ticket, but at least we had an ocean view! To the Space Needle, we took a stupid number of pictures. Here are just a few of them: Afterwards we went off in search of Ride West BMW. Easily found, and a fine establishment now employing 3 recently former Bob’s BMW employees. They all seem happy to be here, especially Omar. Me, then Kermit posing! A cool sidecar rig was there as well. We then rode up to Bellingham, WA in anticipation of our ride to Canada tomorrow. Here is the route so far… And, my GPS info: Tomorrow we head North into Canada, and on our way to Banff! Jim
Paul Mihalka Posted July 18, 2008 Posted July 18, 2008 Great ride report! It was a fun surprise meeting you guys at Wall Drugs! When I pull into the parking lot I see two GS-s and naturally I plan to park next to them. Then I see who is riding them! From there I had a uneventful interstate ride home.
Bullett Posted July 18, 2008 Posted July 18, 2008 I'm enjoying your ride report, Jim. Keep the narrative and pictures coming.
Jim VonBaden Posted July 19, 2008 Author Posted July 19, 2008 New update, we are on the beginning of the home stretch. We left from Bellingham, WA and headed out towards Sumas, and the border crossing. Here it is from the Canadian side. Kermit was sent in to secondary. I guess he doesn’t have a credible face! LOL We went into Canada on Rt 1 and covered about 50 miles when we came into a great breakfast place. Very good breakfast, and a killer view! This was a harbinger of things to come… But first we needed to suit up for some off and on rain. Not bad, just a little liquid sunshine. I took a few shots from the bike as we rode… The scenery is incredible, and the roads in very good shape! Sadly though, it appears Canada is having some issues with its trees. There were whole forests infected and dead. Very sad indeed. You can sort of make it out in these pics from my cheap camera. I was a little depressed for it all. However, the views that kept coming made up for it somewhat. Even the views from our hotel are incredible. After we checked in we walked over to a pub for dinner, not bad, and had a girl drop this on our table just before she abruptly left. “Eryn” was cute, but not my type, nor the ever gentlemanly Kermit. At the end of the day, we did just over 400 miles, and are nearing 4000 miles in 8 days. Jim
Jim VonBaden Posted July 20, 2008 Author Posted July 20, 2008 Day nine of seventeen, and arguably the most beautiful, in scenery and weather. The day started in 55 degree weather, and ended in 78 degree weather. Sunny with wispy clouds all day; simply gorgeous! The sky! The view we were greeted to at the hotel; As we headed up to Jasper 60 miles from our hotel, we had a taste of things to come. Just one of hundreds of great views for the day’s ride. In Jasper we were treated to a good breakfast, and stunning mountain vistas. After entering the park it only got better. Awesome glacier. A little closer. Zoom to the top. Another glacier with the bikes in view. I love the ice, and the immense amounts hanging precariously. Kermit was looking up, and landed down! LOL For the 50th time Kermit waiting (patiently) for me to take more pictures. The mountains with glaciers nearly all had lakes below them. The lakes were all a cool blue/green from the glacial run-off. They were simply beautiful in their unique color. I loved how the green of the trees, the blue of the sky, and the whites and earth tones of the mountains complimented each other. A shot of Kermit upright. There were numerous waterfalls. A close-up. Most of the waterfalls were from glacial run-off. At the end of the day we had a nice track. Not a lot of miles, but the best of the trip so far! Jim PS No Kermit’s were hurt in the making of these pictures.
Jim VonBaden Posted July 21, 2008 Author Posted July 21, 2008 Day 10, July 20, 2008. Not much happened today. We left Calgary, and rode nearly 600 miles to Pembina, ND where we promptly got a room. Just slabbing for the whole day, and then 100 miles of 2 lane slab. Along the way my GPS wire broke, which I promptly fixed, and then Kermit lost an FF50 bulb, also fixed quickly, and so far the only mechanical issues, knock on wood. Most of the day was about just miles, and though the area was far from exciting, the weather was great, and the views expansive. At one point I found myself at 50K miles on my bike Odometer. Picture worthy. In the end we are in a hotel in Pembina, ND, and awaiting a great ride tomorrow back into Canada. Jim
Jim VonBaden Posted July 22, 2008 Author Posted July 22, 2008 Thanks Guys! The trip is hardly epic, but has been great for my soul, which needed some healing... Day 11, Back into Canada… Up and early at 6, or was it 7? Kermit and I headed out towards breakfast. I told him to stop at the first McDonalds he saw for a quick and easy. He took me literally. Little did I know there are no McDonalds in all of North Dakota… Kermit rode, and rode and rode, for 216 miles, tank to tank, forcing him to stop eventually for lack of gas. Now I like to ride distance like the rest of you, but I rarely like 3 hours on one stretch! (NO, I am not Iron Butt material, though Kermit apparently is!) After fueling at nearly empty, emptying a very full bladder, drinking a large bottle of water, and eating 4 mini-burritos for breakfast, we were on our way again… Pretty much the whole day this is all we saw! We saw these crops in Canada and the US for the last couple days and were wondering if anyone could tell us what they were? Oh, and sometimes they were in Purple, for Tina I imagine, since she is the queen! LOL Lunch at Sandy’s roadside was especially good in Gepetto’s roadside Adirondack wood working shop. Finally we found the Super 8 in Kenora, ON, and a nice place it is on the lake. Some shots from the balcony: In the end, not a lot of miles, but good ones, and now we start the last push past the Great Lakes. Expect some good pictures from this part! Not bad for a wimpy day! Jim PS For you ADV fans, I thought you might find this amusing… PPS Kermit is a great leader and riding companion, but I do love to tease!
Jim VonBaden Posted July 23, 2008 Author Posted July 23, 2008 LOL Not for me! Day Twelve, July 22, 2008. From Kenora to Thunder Bay Ontario Canada. The ride was uneventful, and it was perfect weather. The roads were good, except the ever-present construction, and the views were nice, if not spectacular. A purple flower for a friend. A cool sea plane display reminiscent of the show “Sky King”. Even if it isn’t, it is a very cool display, and fits the culture of the area. Along the route we found the Beaver Post, all about beavers, I like that! Purple beaver stuff for Tina and Kielley. We also crossed the last time zone and are back in Eastern Standard time. I love the historical perspective on Canada. You think the GPS was full of lakes, you should see the real ones. Water everywhere. Along the way I noticed I have a few specific positions that save my back and hands: The usual riding position, good for about half an hour. Then the feet on the rear pegs, hands normal. Then my forearms on the grips, throttle lock locked, and feet normal. This one is the ultimate for me, and typically covers 50%+ of my riding time. Forearms on the grips, throttle locked, and feet on the rear pegs with my chest on the tank. I can do this forever with no pain at all. We stopped at the usual Super 8 motel and found ourselves joined by a bunch of bikes from Arkansas, Michigan and Washington. In the end, a short riding day, but a good one. Tomorrow we start over the Great lakes. I did a similar part last year, but we will get them all this year. Stay tuned… Jim
Jim VonBaden Posted July 24, 2008 Author Posted July 24, 2008 Day Thirteen, from Thunder Bay to Sault St Marie (The Soo) Not a lot of miles, just over 200, but some great views of Lake Superior. Simply stunning, and it never gets dull. We left thunder Bay, great name for a place! After that we headed out along the lake. The views were great and never ending! Who can name this guy? But, as they say, there are two seasons in Canada, Winter and Construction. We saw no winter, but plenty of construction! This one only had us held up for twenty minutes! There were thousands of these stuck to my windscreen and headlight cover! Nasty! When we first started Kermit wasn’t much into pictures, but he sure is now, and very good at it too! There really was no end to the great views! This is just one of the attractions along the lake! If you stopped at them all you would never get anywhere, though you would probably be OK with that! Near the Soo I found a great place to illegally park and get a picture. You have to love modern electronics. Anyone care to decipher how many miles this is? Jim
Jim VonBaden Posted July 25, 2008 Author Posted July 25, 2008 Day Fourteen, July 24, 2008. Let me start with a little commentary on construction in Ontario, Canada. It seems that of the over 400 miles we rode today that not one road did not have construction. One road was construction all 21 Kilometers of it. Who pays for this? It looks like maybe 20% of adults 20-40 work on construction during the summer (lots of cute flag girls though), what do they do in winter (assuming no construction)? That said, the roads not covered with orange cones are nice, and the traffic outside of Toronto is incredibly light. Were it not for somewhat slow speed limits, usually 90 Kph (62mph) this would be the ideal traveling country. Beautiful vistas, great scenery of all kinds, and very friendly people al along the way. The views along even the most mundane roads in Ontario are very cool! Kermit always hanging tight. I love the cut rock on most every road. We saw this at a gas stop in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Cool! From Iron Horse to “Iron” Horses. Kermit caught a bird, about the same as the one I caught in ND! Damn things seem to be suicidal! In the end, we covered another 400 miles plus, and are nearing the US Border. Lastly, the sunset from our room window! Jim
MikeRC Posted July 25, 2008 Posted July 25, 2008 Jim: Thanks for taking the time to bring us along for the trip. I like getting daily updates to take my mind away from other, more mundane things like work. We saw these crops in Canada and the US for the last couple days and were wondering if anyone could tell us what they were? That would be canola, or the traditional term is rapeseed AKA Brassica napus. Technically canola is actually a variant of rapeseed but (at least in Canada) the term rapeseed has been dropped due to negative connotations. Who can name this guy? And Tim is right, that is Terry Fox, a true Canadian hero. He set out to run across Canada in 1980 after having his leg amputated for a cancerous tumor. After 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles), Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario because cancer had appeared in his lungs. Its estimated that the foundation set up in his name has raised over $400 million for cancer research. Keep up the good work!! Mike Cassidy
Crazy_Canuck Posted July 25, 2008 Posted July 25, 2008 Great ride tale report Jim. I just finshed a great ride too and stopped by some of the same places you did. Keep the pictures and ride tale coming.
Jim VonBaden Posted July 26, 2008 Author Posted July 26, 2008 Home at 12:30 with a 300 mile final day for a total of 7275 miles in 16 days for me, and a few more for Kermit. I'll be posting the last two day's pictures later. Great ride, with a great friend! Jim
Jim VonBaden Posted July 26, 2008 Author Posted July 26, 2008 Day Fifteen July 25, 2008. From Toronto to Scranton, PA we rode, from beautiful areas such as the Thousand Islands region to the industrial region of the US. The ride from Toronto was uneventful and quick, just 110 miles or so. We crossed over the bridge onto Hill Island, which is split with Canada on the north side, and the US on the south side. To get the shot above we scaled the Skydeck tower on the Canadian side. It is only 400 feet high, but great views of the Thousand Island area. Well, we actually took the elevator. A view of the bikes from the tower. Here is a shot of us crossing the bridge, and The bridge after we crossed. The American side has an identical bridge crossing the St Lawrence River. But, before we could cross that bridge we has to go through US Customs. There was a little line, but it was pretty fast. The only delay was talking shop with one of the officers that I know from my Customs training days. After crossing the river we entered Alexandria Bay. I have spent several months here from my training days, and knew a great place to have lunch. This is a great place to eat, with excellent food, and a nice view of the bay. Alexandria Bay Sign, from the pier. Lot’s of famous people come to Alexandria Bay in the summer, and this town hops on the weekends! Some very cool ships in the little harbor. There are several more, with even bigger ships around the bay. Another attraction is the Bolt Castle is a great example of early 20th century American opulence. Check out the history here. Though tragic, the castle has some interesting features, and is worthy of visiting. If I remember correctly, this “outbuilding” is the bath house. The region is called the Thousand Island Region for a reason. Many of the islands have small to large houses on them. Very cool, and in winter you can sometimes walk to the houses on the ice. A very cool lighthouse on a tiny island. Alexandria Bay is one of my favorite places in Upstate NY. Heading out we rode on towards home, expecting to stop around Scranton, PA. We did, but found this guy pushing his cool Purple Sportster along I-81. (Cool, right Tina?) Not a safe place to be, we stopped and offered help. Turns out he had run out of gas. So I popped off my side panel and my return fuel line and donated half a gallon to get him down to the next station. We followed him to make sure he got there and headed on. Turns out Pennsylvania has it’s own traffic issues with construction, and after several delays, and GPS guided detours, we made our destination nearly two hours later than we expected. Dinner at Arby’s and a crappy Super 8 Motel, and an anticlimactic last night on the road. We had a much better hotel and bar in Toronto! Jim PS Stay tuned for the wrap-up post, maybe tonight.
Jim VonBaden Posted July 27, 2008 Author Posted July 27, 2008 Day Sixteen, July 26, 2008. Last day of our trip, and fairly uneventful, just a short 300 mile ride home, with a stop for lunch! We stopped at Front Royal, VA at the Mexican restaurant Jalisca and I realized we had not one obligatory food shot, so I added a couple. Kermit’s California Burrito. My excellent beef chimi! I thought Tina might like this sweet purple Duster! Two happy, and surprisingly unsore guys at my house where we started. We actually did the route we started to do, but added a dip down into ND because Kermit had not been there before, and I had not on a bike. (Hopefully Kermit will post the updated route showing some minor deviations.) By the time we had 2000 miles on the trip, with 5000 to go, we thought we might have a tire issue. Kermit’s rear, and mine to a lesser degree, were showing a lot of wear. However, in the end, we both got home with stock tires and a few thousand miles left on them. Once again, the Avon Distanzias held up great, and rode exceptionally well. My tire, and my 500 mile take-off from before the trip. Kermit’s rear tire, still with some life on it. As a matter of fact, we had nearly no mechanical issues at all. My GPS power wire broke after I adjusted my seat, and Kermit lost a low beam, and a Hella FF50 bulb, and that is it. I added half a quart of oil at 3500 miles, and it is still good. My bike has always used a lot of oil, but I guess at 53K miles it is finally broken in! Both our bike are over 50K, Kermit’s over 60K, and neither of us hesitated a bit to take off with NO spare parts, antenna rings, or anything but the kit I usually carry. The bikes were absolutely flawless as far as we are concerned. A few stats from the trip that I found interesting: · 7300 miles (each) · 17 states · 6 border crossings · 6 Indian reservations/reserves · 5 national parks · 4 Canadian provinces · 2 countries · 2 conformed bird suicides (a 3rd unconfirmed) · 2 bazillion bugs killed · 1 ride done, hundreds of ideas for more. A few observations: The best drivers are in the Midwest of the US and Canada, with Canada being better overall. The Canadians are generally more courteous, though we had nothing but great experiences with people everywhere we went in both the US and Canada. Canada is a beautiful country! I have been in every US state, and several countries in Europe, and none are better than Canada in the West. As you go East it becomes harder to tell Canada from the US. The Canadian roads are good, if slow, with construction and low speed limits, but Canada’s short summers make for huge construction projects everywhere in summer. Highway 101 north of Tillamook is one of the best roads I have ever ridden. Clean, fast, twisty with sweepers and light traffic! There were bikes everywhere in the Midwest and Canada. Totally amazing to see the volume of bike traffic in the middle of nowhere, with cruisers covered in the same bugs as our bikes, and representing better than 80% of all the bikes we saw! If you have never done a trip like this, you should try hard! It is amazing the things you see, the fun you have, and the feeling of release from everyday worries. Here is the GPS for the end of the trip: And for our Metric Friends: Jim PS I am missing Canada already, anyone up for a ride?
Albert Posted July 28, 2008 Posted July 28, 2008 What a great ride Jim. Your updates along the way made me feel like I was right there. Thanks again.
Paul Mihalka Posted July 28, 2008 Posted July 28, 2008 Great ride tale and Great pictures! It was a surprise and fun to run into you guys (almost literally) in Wall Drugs
Jim VonBaden Posted July 28, 2008 Author Posted July 28, 2008 Great ride tale and Great pictures! It was a surprise and fun to run into you guys (almost literally) in Wall Drugs Hi Paul, It was great to see you there. I was incredulous to look up and see you, then recognize you! Very cool, and a good lunch! The guy on the Purple Sportster was also happy to see us! Jim
Jim VonBaden Posted July 29, 2008 Author Posted July 29, 2008 Day 11, Back into Canada… Up and early at 6, or was it 7? Kermit and I headed out towards breakfast. I told him to stop at the first McDonalds he saw for a quick and easy. He took me literally. Little did I know there are no McDonalds in all of North Dakota… Kermit rode, and rode and rode, for 216 miles, tank to tank, forcing him to stop eventually for lack of gas. Now I like to ride distance like the rest of you, but I rarely like 3 hours on one stretch! (NO, I am not Iron Butt material, though Kermit apparently is!) After fueling at nearly empty, emptying a very full bladder, drinking a large bottle of water, and eating 4 mini-burritos for breakfast, we were on our way again… .... In the end, not a lot of miles, but good ones, and now we start the last push past the Great Lakes. Expect some good pictures from this part! Not bad for a wimpy day! Jim PS For you ADV fans, I thought you might find this amusing… Here is some irony for you, my friend at work took this picture on the border of SD and ND: Not only does it say no McDonalds for ever, it is 205 miles! Jim
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