Day Eighteen - Home

The fog welcomed us this morning as we stepped outside. Temperatures were very pleasant in the mid 60s. Today would be a short day at only 250 miles from Wheeling, WV to Leesburg, VA.

We left the hotel at 7:30am. As we all know, no day is complete without a good u-turn situation. Rob decided making a u-turn on a 10% grade dead-end hill would be a good way to start the morning.

U-turn complete, we topped off with fuel and proceeded east along I-70 crossing into Pennsylvania (our 19th state visited on this trip).

After about 30 miles, we exited onto the Historic National Highway 40. We followed US-40 for about 90 miles.

Again we found an interesting sign. All you parents should take note of this one. ;-)

We picked up I-68 east where we crossed the Eastern Continental Divide.

We were then back on I-70 for a short spell and took our last leg-stretcher of this trip at around 180 miles on the trip meter for the day.

We then made our way into familiar territory routing through Boonsboro via 67 and past Sandy Hook where we picked up US-340 and then RT. 671 to RT. 9.

Rob and Michele said their good-bye’s to Tom at Leesburg. Tom continued on to his home in Herndon for another 10 or so miles.

Rob and Michele picked up some lunch and pulled in the driveway at 1pm. We had traveled 6,700 miles over 18 days. We got to experience rain, hail, crazy winds, freezing temperatures, 11,000 foot altitudes, muddy pothole ridden roads, and lightening. We survived near collisions with deer, bear, buffalo, and bald eagles. We crossed 19 states and saw some fantastic scenery across this vast country. We had a complete blast and are already looking forward to our next motorcycle trip.

Look for a retrospective on our trip and some of our lessons learned that we’ll share for those looking to undertake a similar motorcycle adventure.

Day Seventeen - Wheeling

Today was our last long travel day. We would be traveling from Champaign, IL to Wheeling, WV. Along the way we would cross Indiana and Ohio.

We woke to temperatures in the mid 60’s. Today’s forecasted highs were to be in the mid 80’s. We got a few travel tips through Indy from a truck driver during breakfast. We finished our breakfast and were on the road armed with our new route information by 7:30am today.

After checking the GPS, our route was already going the suggested way the trucker had suggested. That was good news! We rode about 126 miles due east on I-74 on our first leg and took a short break and topped off with fuel just east of Indianapolis. The route through Indy via 38th street and I-65 was a good one with minimal delays.

As we were leaving Indianapolis we saw truck towing one of the blades to those large wind mills. BIG!!

The time was about 10am. Michele went over to the McDonalds to get a breakfast sandwich and was told they weren’t serving breakfast anymore. Hmmm. That’s strange, McDonalds serves breakfast until 10am. How could they be all out? Turns out we had just crossed over into Eastern Standard Time. So the time was actually 11am.

On our second leg today, we rode about 120 miles straight out I-74 East and stopped just east of Columbus, Ohio to get lunch. Columbus traffic was nuts!

The further east we travel, the faster the traffic goes and the less courteous drivers become. We’ve also left behind the wide open spaces and now have trees a plenty as well as a gas station at just about every exit (news that Tom was all to glad to see!)

The temperatures were now reaching into the low 80’s and Tom, Michele, and Rob all pulled out their cool wraps after lunch to start the 3rd leg. We still had 280 miles to go. Again, we topped off with fuel and continued eastward on I-74. We began to see signs for Wheeling. Michele noticed that the road sign mileage to Wheeling was quite a bit shorter than the mileage the Wing’s GPS was showing.

Rob had planned an extra 80 mile drive through the twisty Ohio country-side about 20 miles west of Wheeling. Rob doesn’t ride all day on Interstate without some time to play on the edge of the tires!

We turned off of I-70 and headed south on I-77. As we approached West Virginia, we exited at the last Ohio exit turning north east on Highway 26, staying just west of the Ohio River. At the time we exited we had traveled non-stop for 190 miles. Our intention was to take a leg stretcher and top off with fuel. Rob “missed” the fuel station and Tom and he were sure there would be another fuel station not far along Highway 26.

Fifty miles of twists, turns, and hills, we entered Woodsfield, OH and found the first fuel station. Tom was starting to get a bit nervous as he was nearly out of gas. We had put in 238 miles on the third leg and it was now around 6pm. Michele was hungry so we went just a few blocks down the road to a pizza place. The food was good, the drinks cold and the time off the bike was welcomed.

With our bellies full and our energy levels back up, we headed out of Woodsfield via Hwy 78 to the banks of the Ohio River.

We then followed the Ohio north past Powhatan Point. We counted three power plants along this stretch of the Ohio River (1 nuclear and 2 coal fired).

When we reached I-470, we crossed the river into West Virginia and after a short 5 miles we pulled into the hotel at Wheeling, WV.

Today was our second longest mileage day at 527 miles. We had also managed to include our longest single run of the entire trip of 238 miles without any stops. Rob swears it wasn’t planned but Tom and Michele weren’t entirely sure about that. I mean who in their right mind would stick 80 miles of extremely twisty roads after already riding 447 miles??!!! ;-)

Tomorrow will be the last day of our riding adventure. It’ll be a short day at only 238 miles and take use through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and finally back home into Virginia.

Day Sixteen - Champaign IL

Today we traveled through three states: Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. We left La Crosse, WI around 7:45am again with partially cloudy skies. Our route had us once again following the Mighty Mississippi on the Great River Road. We would cross over the river to ride through Iowa and then cross over again to ride in Illinois.

This road is quite the treat. If you get the chance to ride this road, do it! It offers varied views of rolling countryside, sheer cliffs along the river and fantastic views of the river and all the quaint little towns along the banks.

 

 

We were pleasantly surprised by Iowa, which is gorgeous along the Great River Road.

It was not the flat cornfields we thought we’d see, but instead had sweeping views of the Mississippi valley once up on the ridgelines.

We were also met with stiff westerly winds. And even more brutal were some of the “fresh country” air. The pretty scenery seemed to hide the source until the pig houses were revealed. Between the pig houses and the chuck wagons spreading the foul stench for all those unfortunate to be in their wake, there were plenty of sources for the powerful scents.

Shortly after entering Iowa, Rob, Michele, and Tom had a close encounter with a large bald eagle. Sitting on the left side of road, the eagle took off in the same direction that the trio was traveling. By the time Rob and Michele reached the eagle, he was at just about eye level and within 10 feet of them as the magestic bird fought to gain speed and altitude. Michele said that she was able to see the bald eagles beautiful eyes we were so close!

Some of the Iowa towns had a lot of charm, character, and interesting architecture. Marquette and Sherrill come to mind. We stopped for a leg stretcher in Marquette. The town had constructed a memorial for all those in the Marquette area that had made the ultimate sacrifice in all the wars from the Civil War to Panama.

Also of note in Marquette, the fuel station/convenience store had the cleanest bathroom any of us had seen in a gas station. It was as clean as the bathroom at home! It even had a flower arrangement! LOL

Michele noticed these three boys on their way to do some fishing. Naturally the smallest of the boys was pulling the cart. ;-)

 We continued south along the Great River Road passing through Dubuque were we crossed back over the Mississippi River into Illinois.

We stopped in Savannah, IL for lunch, about 100 miles since our last break.

Afterwards, we headed out for the remaining 170 miles to our final destination.

Along the way we were treated with interesting signs.

At Port Bryon, we left the Great River Road and headed due East on I-80 towards Champagne, Illinois, today’s destination. About 45 miles out, we encountered rough construction traffic (our luck!) where three lanes of highway were merged into just one for what looked like three construction workers painting new pavement. We were lucky the temperatures today never exceeded 82 degrees because it was hot in stop and go traffic that took at least 30 minutes to get through.

We arrived at the hotel just before 6pm, probably our earliest arrival in the entire two weeks! Today’s mileage was 414 miles. Tomorrow we continue east across Indiana and Ohio, ending in West Virginia.

Day Fifteen - Great River Road

Today we rode through three states: North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. We rode in and out of Minnesota and Wisconsin several times. We got an earlier start than usual at 7:40am, heading east on 94 with our first destination St. Paul, MN, a mere 350 miles later.

We rode about 120 miles east through the remaining portion of North Dakota, already riding through about ¾ of the way through the state the previous day. The morning temperatures were cool, but the humidity level was definitely on the rise as the air felt considerably more damp.

We had seen pieces of a large windmill being transported westward. We finally saw one of these very large windmills. Wow are they large!!!

Crossing over into Minnesota we had a small rest break at the Minnesota Visitor Center at exit 2.

After a quick bio-break, we continued eastward along I-94 the remaining 230 miles into St. Paul, MN. The wind today was probably a good 20 mph straight out of the south. The southerly air was likely the cause for our warm temperatures today compared to the previous days.

Crossing into Minnesota, we encountered a bit of change in scenery with lakes (Minnesota is known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes) trees, and corn fields replacing the wheat vast fields of North Dakota. The traffic also began to pick up, which was a bit of a culture shock after being in such remote areas for more than a nearly two weeks now.

Once in St. Paul, Michele led us down the scenic Summit Avenue (Michele’s favorite street in America) with the gorgeous Victorian and Queen Anne mansions. The governor of MN lives on this street.

We arrived at Michele’s Mom’s house at around 1:30pm. Michele’s Mom had offered to feed us and provide us a cool place to take a break. We recharged our batteries with delicious Italian food, chatted in air conditioning for two hours and even had some pie and ice cream! Yum!

After lunch, we waved good-bye to Michele’s Mom at around 3:30pm and thanked her for her gracious hospitality. We made our way to I-94 east for a quick run to the US10 South passing into Wisconsin near Prescott. We then crossed over the Mississippi River to pickup US 61, crossing back into Minnesota.

We followed the Great River Road for the final 120 miles of our day.

The Great River Road follows the entire length of the Mississippi on both sides for most of its entire length from MN to the Gulf.

We passed through Red Wing, MN and traveled south getting fantastic glimpses of the mighty river eventually crossing back into Wisconsin at La Crosse.

It would be in La Crosse, Wisconsin that we would end our day at 6:15pm. We had dinner a few blocks from the hotel at a good pizza restaurant that was fancier than expected. Not to let down our blog followers, we each got a piece of chocolate cake to go—decadent!

Today’s temperature reached a high of 90 degrees, and we reached the lowest elevation we’ve seen in nearly 10 days at 700 feet above sea level. We covered approximately 450 miles. Needless to say, we had a full day.

Day Fourteen - T. Roosevelt N.P.

We had breakfast at a little restaurant called Fitzgeralds across the street. Fitzgeralds was a far better option than the complementary breakfast at the hotel, which was available in truly a 5 square foot area!

We were on the road by 8:15am once again heading due east on I-94. The temperatures were 60F when we left but would steadily climb to 93F. We continued following the Yellowstone River.

We rode 180 miles straight through Montana and into North Dakota. We said goodbye to the Yellowstone River near Glendive, Montana and shortly entered North Dakota.

About 26 miles into North Dakota we made our first stop of the day at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora, ND.

We checked out the visitor’s center at the park, read up on Teddy Roosevelt and his conservation efforts (which Michele pointed out was a bit contradictory since he originally settled in this area to hunt!) and then rode around the 36 mile scenic loop through the Southern portion of the park.

We saw a lone Bison taking a stroll along the roadway, several wild horses, and plenty of prairie dogs. Around one corner we came upon a cluster of three adult horses and two gray foals standing together in the middle of the road with no intention of moving. As we came around, the little foal snapped its head up to look at Tom.

Here's a video caught with the GoPro camera as we approached and passed the horses. 

Here's a video Michele took of the horses.

The scenery throughout the park was similar to that of the Badlands of South Dakota but with vegetation (shrubs, brush, and a few trees). The rock formations were a kaleidoscope of colors ranging from dark brown, to tan, to vibrant reds.

After we had completed the loop through the park, we headed back into Medora for lunch at a little place called the Boot’s Café. We then topped off the bikes with fuel and continued east for a few miles on I-94 for a quick stop at the Painted Canyon overlook. Similar to the Painted Desert near the Grand Canyon, the view was very cool.

With our sightseeing done for the day, we were back on the road for the final 240 miles of the ride. We crossed over the Missouri River near Bismarck where we made a final fuel and leg stretcher stop.

A hundred miles later, we arrived in Jamestown, ND were we would spend the night. With the change to Central Time from Mountain Time, it was now 7:30pm. We ate at the nearby Applebee’s (and enjoyed their “Perfect Margaritas”). After dinner, we chatted for about 30 minutes with a nice couple from Wisconsin who had a red 2008 Goldwing, trailing a popup camper. We traded war stories about bad roads, crazy drivers and the brutal wind.

Today’s mileage was around 460 miles. Tomorrow we head into Minnesota for lunch with Michele’s Mom in St. Paul and then begin our ride down the Great River Road into La Crosse, WI.