7/31 - Morning on the Porch

276 miles, from Fargo, ND to Mitchell, SD, for the Klock Werks pre-Sturgis party (great time, great folks!).

Thank you goes to Nate for lunch, removing the sheared bolt from my mirror, kindness and stories of South American motorcycle adventure. It was a beautiful morning to sit on the porch and catch up on drawing, protected from the wind by the trees in his neighborhood.

7/30 - Angle Advice

315 miles, to the northernmost point in the contiguous United States!

I loved chatting with this lady at J&M store (the only store there!), what a riot. She rode everywhere with her husband before retiring in the Angle, including Alaska and Sturgis. She was on the back, and I liked how she referred to 'we' and 'us' with her husband. She would hand him drinks and snacks on the rides, and take photos. I don't think I'd like riding on the back for so long, but the way she told stories of their travels I can see why many spouses travel together.

52 miles of dirt and gravel. The Angle is wonderfully peaceful, and they get their fair share of 'adventure types' as the bartender told me. Thank you to Rick for lunch after hearing about my ride!

7/29 - Afternoon Stop

338 miles to Warroad, MN.

I got to walk through some Mississippi and meet another guy living off his bike. There's nothing like the empty of northern Minnesota... I rode for miles without seeing another human, another car, or even another home for humans. Just hundreds of perfectly straight miles of homes for food and crop, and hundreds of miles to go.

Warroad City Campground tonight. Unfurled the tent after over a month in hibernation, next to a phalanx of trailers. For an urbanite, I sure do seem to like to take the scoot to remote places.

7/28 - Scar Stories

337 miles to Duluth, MN.

Tonight I stayed with Soko Loco, my first derby connection! Lake Superior is like an ocean. I spent some time gazing at the huge ships in the distance, my head still buzzing from the wind from a long ride.

Plan: Angle or Bust

Just in case you were wondering if the trip has prematurely ended and I've settled here in Madison, have no fear. Tomorrow, I set off for the northernmost point in the 48 contiguous states.

The proposed route for the coming week:

Northwest Angle is the little piece of Minnesota that sticks up into Canada. It can be reached by boat, air, driving over the ice in the winter, or by a 20-40 mile stretch of dirt road that crosses into Canada (I've heard different reports on the distance that is unpaved). Guess which way I'm planning to tackle?

The miles will go on fast, 331 miles to Duluth, MN, tomorrow (28th state for scoot). 310 miles via Itasca Lake (Mississippi headwaters!) to Warroads, MN, just south of the border. Then... a 20mph crawl through Canada to a remote town that survives entirely on fishing tourism. It has the last one-room public school in the state. Remote is the least you could say.

Turn south again for a short stay in Fargo, ND, Mitchell, SD, and it's on to the Sturgis party.

7/27 - Happy 27th, Seester

It's good to be with my sister for a birthday, it's been a long time. Hope she has a happy new apartment, I'm going to miss her a lot but tomorrow I press on!

7/26 - Young at Heart

Birthday party for my sister today, happy 27th! I'm so proud of my little sister, she can throw a good party. The evening ended with Robot Alchemic Drive, and so much leftover cheese.

Parkersburg WV, Some Ohio, and All The Bourbon Time. June 22-26.

As the song lyric goes, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. The time had come again: everyone else goes home, but I keep on going. If there was one thing that would keep me in place, it would be so I could stop saying quite so many goodbyes.

I said a heartfelt thanks to Davide for riding with me, and felt a pang as he punched Virginia into his GPS. Forget hangovers, rally withdrawal was setting in. Thankfully, Matt and Ali had graciously invited me to stay with them a night in Parkersburg, VW (Ali, CORSette winner of past, and yes, the very same Matt who owned the Stella... incredible depths of graciousness reside within).

7/25 - Spinach Egg Pizzas

The first meal I cooked since I left. Getting domestic here in Madison...

7/24 - Upkeep

I keep a bit of room in the saddlebag for hair dye.

7/23 - Coffee Shop Thoughts

298 miles back to Madison. There's a lot of time to think when riding throughout the Midwest.

Also, a lot of bugs. Today's ride was particularly juicy.

7/22 - Self-guided City Tour

My hosts in Des Moines were truly excellent. I stopped by Mars Cafe, the sculpture park, Raygun, the post office to send off postcards from Raygun, Gray Lake, and Smokey Row. Host had a craving for s'mores, so a campfire was made in their backyard. It was transcendent.

7/21 - Iowa

285 miles, to Des Moines. I feel like something like this could be looped like a background in animation. Figured I'd try to get back into the rhythm of riding, and besides, when will I be in Iowa again?

My CS hosts, Monkey and Heather, are awesome! They took me to El Bait Shop, and our very enthusiastic server held an impromptu beer tasting. It was a nice cap to the day.

7/20 - Different Challenges

Looks so small, and yet still so heavy. Minimalism is appealing to me (goes hand in hand with motorcycle touring), but moving the sum of my stuff alongside my sister's household... really highlighted how far I went. I don't want to think of the day I have to move my things in storage to a new place.

7/19 - Can't Stop Moving

I always thought I was a slow healer, but maybe this has something to do with it. Must... stay off... injuries...

The Road to Bandcamp, June 16-22

Oh boy, this is going to be a long one.

Monday had arrived, my week of New Orleans was up and I couldn't put off the decision any more. Do I keep going west to cross Texas and tool around the southwest in summer heat, or turn north, backtracking to mountains and tolerable temperatures? I'd discussed traveling with Davide before, who was heading to Bandcamp the next weekend in Toronto, OH - about 1,400 miles. I liked the idea; it would be something new to have a riding partner for so many miles, and I was ready to leave the swamp. But I had lurking concerns about how each of us would face the challenges of traveling closely with someone new.

My apprehension was quickly allayed. I knew everything would be okay when Davide showed up Monday morning outside my AirBnb like this...

7/18 - Lake Michigan is like an ocean

107 miles. I took a scenic route back to Madison. There are a number of clock towers in the city that remind me of something that would be built in China in the 70s. Then, a block later, an enormous ornate basilica would rise from the industrial buildings, very incongruent.

But the thing that struck me most was looking out over Lake Michigan. It was like a calm ocean. I could never do it justice in a drawing.

 

7/17 - The Shed

89 miles, to Milwaukee to hang out with Mikey from the Wall of Death. He lives down the street from an industrial space shared with several motorcyclists, The Shed, and invited me to their Thirsty Thursday. What a blast, it was great to meet everyone! I'm jealous, it's like the kind of clubhouse I'd love as a kid, I can't imagine being so lucky as to have mini-rallies every week here with buddies.

7/16 - Concerts on the Square

A pleasant evening picnicking and having a delicious conversation around the Bruce effect in humans, while Top 40s of Classical blasted live in the background. "The king is dead, long live the king."

7/15 - Good luck in Beijing

I just met Dan and Katie at the Couchcrash, and they're already off to Beijing for 2 years. It's a great town, explorers, enjoy!

Also, the name of the student memorial union just makes me think, "Derp Rathskeller."

7/14 - "Doing it my way"

Almost done with work-work. Health insurance systems in this country aren't designed to help someone like me, nor do I expect them to be for a long time.