Into Cow Country

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John's Journal

Day Twentynine

Mileage- 396

Route- Hwy 13 North, Hwy 21 West, I-94 West, Hwy 54 West, Hwy 14 West, I-90 West, Hwy 75 North

Guess what? More rain! But not that much and it stopped (at least for now, I am stopped for lunch). It looks like clear skies ahead, but only time will tell. I pretty much high-tailed it for clearer weather this morning, since it looked a bit better to the west. I didn't take the road that the two dudes last night suggested, but I think that I might make some time to get out west a bit where it is warmer and hopefully drier.

I like Minnesota. As I got closer and closer to Minnesota, it got warmer and sunnier. It was a beautiful ride in from my last stop. Small hills and valleys lush from the rains, dairy farms all over the place. And dairy farms mean cows, too. You know, those black and white things that look at you as you pass them by. It's funny, but not all the cows look at you, just one or two. I saw some nice looking horses, too.

At a gas station I stopped in while it was still raining, a guy with a Correctional Institution jacket on said that I have real commitment to ride all the way from California. I wonder if he meant to say that I should BE committed. I replied that I didn't have a choice now, since I was still a long way from home. I definitely now feel more that I have been on the road for a while. Although, I wonder if it might be more from the rain and cold than from homesickness. I have started thinking more about work (or the lack of it), too.

Did you say, how's the wind? Funny you should ask, I have never experienced stronger wind than coming across I-90. Man, I can't believe how bad it was. It got to be funny, actually. You see, wind on a motorcycle is more like a ride than normally riding one. You have to hold on more (so you don't blow off), the bike leans at, I am not kidding on this, up to a 25 degree angle, and you are required to yell "Yee, hawww, hoooollllddd onnn tharrrr" at the top of your lungs (otherwise you couldn't hear it).

It was pretty flat coming across from Winona, MN (just over the border) to where I stopped in Albert Lea, MN. That would explain the wind. Plus I forgot how the Interstate has so many cars and trucks.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you about a sign in Door County I saw. This one make get The Award: "Not Yet Been Licked Frozen Custard." No, really, it is an actual store, I think, my family my have heard of this one before, if it has been around a while, and can verify.

Well, I usually have a good sense of direction and can see all the signs, but not always. I missed the state park I was looking for. No, really, I followed about 6 different right turn, left turns for the state park, but must've missed one. Oh well, I came out in a town, stopped in the grocery store and asked a couple in the parking lot. The guy said that he'd been to every state park in Minnesota and if I had the time, I should go to where they were going, Blue Mounds State Park. It was an extra 60 miles or so, I figured, and I wanted to get there before sunset, but why not. So I hauled on down the road.

And what a fine time it was cruising right into the sunset. Man, this was a sight to behold. The huge ball of orange (that would be the sun) was slowly sinking into the horizon. The land is so flat that I could see for miles. I almost stopped for a perfect "sunset-behind-the-farm" shot a dozen times. Finally, as the glowing sun was just about to dip down for the night, I pulled over to grab a handful of hopefully beautiful shots. There is no comparison for experiencing these events with your own eye, though. For me it will only serve as a reminder of the wondrous sights I have seen this trip.

This is perfect camping weather. Hot days (I passed a bank in town that read 72 degrees at about 6pm!), virtually no clouds (good for stars) and cool nights (for that BTSW [big-time-sleeping-weather]). I actually bought some firewood so that I could have dry wood and a good campfire. Ahhh, nice heat!

I must go back and tell you one more story before bedtime, mine, that is. This one comes under the heading of: Best Use of Found Materials #2, or How To Get Out of a Jam #2. Both of them are the second installment because #1 actually happened about 4 years ago on a short trip to San Luis Obispo. On that one, I had run over a small animal (no choice, sorry) and busted the bellypan (lower fiberglass piece that goes under the bottom of the engine) on this bike. The bolt was still in place, just that the bellypan had busted out around it. I looked around and found a bottlecap on the side of the road, took out my trusty BMW toolkit, flattened it out, punched a hole the size of the bolt and used it as a washer to hold the bellypan in place until I could get home.

Well, in today's episode, I noticed that the windscreen on the front of the bike looked a little cockeyed. Actually, Jan had noticed one of the screws had fractured it last week, but it was still intact then. It now had cracked all the way through and was leaning back toward me in the wind. And then the other side did the same thing. Help! I have the original one in my apartment and I suppose could have someone fed ex it to me somewhere, but what until then??!!

Well, I was going to stop in at Rochester, MN and find a hardware store to figure out some way to fasten it back (Superglue didn't work). But then I realized that I had some wire from the replacement tent pole that fractured and I could use that to wrap around the screw and hook around the edge of the windscreen to hold it in place. Voila! Success! And at the winds on the highway, it was definitely needed.

OK, if you have stayed with me so far this time, you must be related to me or something. Well, I am much happier with today's journey and really looking forward to the remaining few weeks of the trip, but first, sleep.