Sunday, July 15, 2012

Cleveland Rocks!

Yesterday we left the hotel at 11am and set out to find a remedy for my hurricane drenched phone. We had to use Kevin's phone's navigation which had really spotty service. I bought a new battery for my phone so now I have two working batteries and my phone has now completely dried out. This would have been a really annoying trip if my phone was destroyed. We rode for what seemed like forever because we had to make up an extra 200 miles we lost yesterday. We had to miss Cedar Point :( But we made up for it by meeting some new friends Kristel and Charlotta Enfio! We had fries and ice cream at a place called Sweetie Fry. Then we went to a screening of a ridiculous cult film where the audience just screamed out the entire time and threw thousands of plastic spoons whenever a picture of spoons showed on the screen. Then we segued into Troll 2, which is an even worse movie! The next morning we had crepes at a place called Luna which puts Utah crepes to shame! We are making plans to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and it is currently a downpour. We are planning to leave here at around 7 to head up to Buffalo to crash at a punk rock venue. No idea how that is going to work. Stay tuned!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Midnight Ride

Just got in to Madison. Last minute errands set us back 5 hours. But we still got to ride along the Mississippi on the Great River Road and we caught the Iowa sign while there was just a hint of light left. Our cousin Sheresa was gonna take us in but schedules conflicted so we're staying with awesome people named Solomon and Cissy. Real mattresses to sleep on. A shower. Feels almost like we aren't totally homeless right now. Tomorrow: Chicago!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Minneapolis, MN


Today we got to hang out with the cousins. Kate and Jess are adorable and out of their minds. The youngest, Jess, has a family of imaginary brains that live in her head. They all have names and lives and she was sad because they all recently moved to Italy. The older of the two, Kate, is in love with an evil character from My Little Pony. Adorable as they are our intercom communication device was in shambles after being unattended for a few hours. Luckily their father, Spencer, is a genius fixing things (practice makes perfect in this household) and he got it back together even stronger than before. Showers, laundry, and a charging station for all our gear is just what the doctor ordered.

The only thing I forgot to pack was shoes. So wearing motorcycle boots, shorts, and a t-shirt I walked into Target and bought some sweet top of the line flip flops. Then we visited Dawnell and her lovely kids as they gave us a magic show and a tour of the house. They graciously lent us their minivan for the day so we could explore this cool city. We went to the 5-8 club and got their famous Juicy Lucy burger. Then we went off to see the Walker Art Center in downtown with the giant cherry spoon, the stone arch bridge which looks out over the Mississippi river and the old mill factories, and the lakes in the area. Dinner was had at Hell's Kitchen where the chandeliers had knives dangling from them and a live jazz band was playing. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone travelling the area. Tomorrow we head back out on the road to Madison!

Amber Waves of Grain

Four hundred and fifty miles of riding in one day should be the furthest we ever have to travel in a day on the whole trip. It was long and mostly monotonous. A lot of I-90. We started off in Pierre, SD where a nice man named Koz helped us tighten the chain on Kevin's bike and adjust the brake light. A measly $25 for piece of mind and we were off. We rode all the way to Chamberlain on some back roads that took us past a lake, an old broken down strip club for the local farmers called the "Prarie Chicken", and through some dusty construction zones. Then we took the interstate to Sioux Falls then up through western Minnesota to Minneapolis. Western Minnesota is beautiful rolling farmland covered in corn as far as the eye can see. Ever 30 miles or so we would need to slow down for a small town. From this point to Minneapolis the sun had gone down and we were riding in the dark. It's kind of calming at night, quiet and isolated, a nice break from the bustling daytime traffic. We arrived in Minneapolis a few minutes before midnight local time. 

Surprise



Tuesday, July 10, 2012

South Dakota

Pancakes were made on the back of out motorcycles for breakfast. Lunch in Custer, SD. Gas out here is weird because you can fill up before you pay! Needless to day we forgot to pay in Custer so we gave money to dad to pay them on his way back to Utah. Next stop Crazy Horse. Mount Rushmore is where Dad and we parted ways. We grabbed some power bars in Rapid City and headed out to Wall Drug then the badlands. We hit the badlands right at sunset. It was incredible. I can't believe this stuff is in America! We were way behind on schedule so we just rode. For hours. In the pitch black night. Don't always trust google maps is the moral of this story. My navigation system put us right in the middle of some guys farm at 1am. I hand entered some GPS coordinates I found on some guys blog and followed that. We setup or tents and passed out. This morning we were surprised to see where we stayed the night...

Devil's Tower



July 8

We snuck across the street to grab continental breakfast from a neighboring hotel as ours didn't offer it. We strapped our gear to the bikes and set sail over Bear Tooth Pass. It was some if the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen in my entire life. I felt like I was in the Swiss alps. Yellow and purple wild flowers sprang up everywhere in the huge grassy fields around the glacial lakes that dotted the landscape. It was cold but worth it for two reasons: prettiest ride so far and it would most likely be the coldest our ride would ever be. After a few hundred miles of barren fields we arrived at Devils Tower. We camped the night in what seemed like someone's front yard.

Yellowstone

July 7

Today we started out on highway 89. Lunch was in Jackson Hole at a place called Mile High Pizza Pie. We got to Old Faithful right before eruption so we only had to wait a couple minutes. Normally the geyser erupts every 60-90 minutes. Bison were everywhere and I almost hit one! From there we headed up to Mammoth Hot Springs and had dinner. Then it started raining. Then pouring. Kevin didn't have a waterproof jacket and dad didn't have waterproof pants so we decided to call it a night in Cooke City. We pitched in for a hotel because it was too dark, cold, and wet to try to find a suitable camping spot. There was no data coverage after Jackson so I had to rely on my memory of the route.

Now Entering Wyoming

Sorry it's been so long since we've posted. We haven't had much time or service out here in the western wilderness.

July 6

Today we had a really late start trying to get everything in order making sure we didn't leave anything behind. We stopped in Bear Lake at Quick and Tasty for the famous raspberry shakes and double bacon cheeseburgers. A few miles up the road after lunch or GoPro decided to make a break for it. Lucky dad was behind us to catch it bounding down the road.  The housing on those cameras is pretty much bullet proof so the camera wasn't harmed at all. Lightning, rain clouds, and increasing darkness forced us to make camp about an hour from our intended destination. We started out rocky but as time goes on I'm certain things will become smoother and more routine.