2017 West Coast - Made it to Montana
Today was a day with bad sites, cold, rain, and very, very strong winds!
We left Fargo and hit the I 94 asphalt heading West. West of Jamestown we pulled over and suited up for the rain. With the rain came the wind. It wasn't incredibly hard rain, but more of a nuisance with the wind growing stronger.
At Bismark we stopped for lunch, afterwards the wind got very unfriendly. The rain also hit us hard between Bismark and Dickinson. Supposedly the wind was 20mph with 30mph gust. I know there were gusts that were stronger. There were a couple of times I had to battle to stay in the lane.
West of Dickinson we made a stop at the Theodore Roosevelt Painted Rock visitor center; which overlooks the North Dakota Bad Lands. There LoriAnn asked me, why do they call then bad lands. My reply:
When the early settlers, who were traveling by wagon train making only 10-13 miles per day, came upon the the land their leaders looked at each other and said: This is really bad land.
We left the scenic overlook and took a windy drive thru the park. There is a 35 mile loop that took us atound the perimeter.
The sights were awesome. We saw a limited variety of wildlife: prairie dogs, 2 herds of wild horses, and one bison. It was a quick trip, but a good diversion from the freeway.
Before we left the park we stopped at the park house for a bathroom break. LoriAnn had me tell the ranger how the bad lands were named. After i did he told me i was pretty much right... that made my day!
The final 60 miles to Glendive Montana was where the worse wind hit us. Already tired from the day, the wind almost wiped us out. We were greatful to park the bike tonight at the motel and walk to dinner. I am greatful for those new Dunlop Elite 4 tires.
441 miles today. My apologies to those following on LOCATOWEB. We had very little signal all day. Here was our route:
We left Fargo and hit the I 94 asphalt heading West. West of Jamestown we pulled over and suited up for the rain. With the rain came the wind. It wasn't incredibly hard rain, but more of a nuisance with the wind growing stronger.
At Bismark we stopped for lunch, afterwards the wind got very unfriendly. The rain also hit us hard between Bismark and Dickinson. Supposedly the wind was 20mph with 30mph gust. I know there were gusts that were stronger. There were a couple of times I had to battle to stay in the lane.
West of Dickinson we made a stop at the Theodore Roosevelt Painted Rock visitor center; which overlooks the North Dakota Bad Lands. There LoriAnn asked me, why do they call then bad lands. My reply:
When the early settlers, who were traveling by wagon train making only 10-13 miles per day, came upon the the land their leaders looked at each other and said: This is really bad land.
We left the scenic overlook and took a windy drive thru the park. There is a 35 mile loop that took us atound the perimeter.
The sights were awesome. We saw a limited variety of wildlife: prairie dogs, 2 herds of wild horses, and one bison. It was a quick trip, but a good diversion from the freeway.
Before we left the park we stopped at the park house for a bathroom break. LoriAnn had me tell the ranger how the bad lands were named. After i did he told me i was pretty much right... that made my day!
The final 60 miles to Glendive Montana was where the worse wind hit us. Already tired from the day, the wind almost wiped us out. We were greatful to park the bike tonight at the motel and walk to dinner. I am greatful for those new Dunlop Elite 4 tires.
441 miles today. My apologies to those following on LOCATOWEB. We had very little signal all day. Here was our route:
A shout out to my friend Terry Bishop who abandoned his motorcycle trip to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon due to the heat wave is the South West.
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