Watch for Falling Rock - Trip Report (Pic Heavy)

[Trip]

Day 12 continued:

Jewel Cave Area:





Cool rock formations next to a Pizza Hut:



Flintstones Theme Park:



Crazy Horse:



Mt Rushmore:















What Rushmore should of look like:



Epic Ice Cream:

[Trip]

Day 13:

Entering the homestretch of the trip, this was a 570 mile interstate march from Rapid City, SD to Bellevue, NE. Besides a lot of boring interstate, I took a scenery detour in the badlands.

The morning started off pretty cold as the low pressure that had been chasing me all trip passed me and made it pretty cloudy in SD. I avoided all the stupid Wall Drugstore signs and didn't go.

The scenery detour for the Badlands was well worth it. The Badlands were pretty cool.

After the Badlands, it was just an interstate death march. I kept going on I-90 and crossed the border to get Minnesota as a state I rode in. It was only an extra 20 miles or so. I got Nebraska by going to Bellevue. In Bellevue, I met up with Ebbs. We got some Red Robin. Yummm!

Watched the weather channel when I got back to the hotel. Thunderstorms with tornadoes were suppose to roll in and a window from about 4-6am would be the best time to roll out. Looked like a possibility for storms everywhere I went the next day rolling for a few days after that. I made the decision to go home from Bellevue in one day. I wished I had planned it better because I could of had an easy documented Iron Butt, but I do not have the documentation to support the ride.

Badlands:

















Hole in the Clouds:



Riding towards Bellevue:

[Trip]

Day 14:

The final 1000 mile craziness from Bellevue, NE to Lenoir City, TN via little detours to make the 900 mile interstate trip into a 1000 mile journey. Due to poor planning, I do not have enough documentation to support getting the IBA certificate... Oh well, I know I did it. I don't need a piece of paper. I can do it again if I get the itch.

This was a haul. I didn't realize how much it took out of me til I sat down an hour or two after I got home and was down unloading the bike.

I finally made it home after two weeks on the road. It was an awesome trip and a dream I have had since I started riding. I saw things I wanted to see since I was little. I am glad I did all the planning and saved the money to realize this dream. It was well worth it and would do it again in a heartbeat, I would change a lot of the northern route though, LOL. Thanks for all the well wishes and tips. It truly was a great trip.

Didn't want to stop for Missouri, LOL:



Made a quick detour off the interstate to get Kansas:



St Louis:





Couldn't believe there was more to this state than just Chicago, LOL:



Kentucky...been here before:



YEY, BACK IN TENNESSEE:



The exit home:



My stickered up helmet map:

[G-Rex]

Great photos!

I should have warned you about Crazy Horse. I went there and paid the $10 to see it probably 10 years ago, and it was nowhere as far along as it is now. I'm even more pissed after seeing no more progress than there is. LOL

Glad you had a great trip. I will admit I enjoyed the scenery including snow, but there's a reason I take my trips in July. I don't like the cold that much.

I'm pretty much in agreement with your comments for all of the places you went, especially 4 Corners. I tried to warn you, but I know you gotta see it for yourself.

[Trip]

Originally Posted by G-Rex

Glad you had a great trip. I will admit I enjoyed the scenery including snow, but there's a reason I take my trips in July. I don't like the cold that much.

I'm pretty much in agreement with your comments for all of the places you went, especially 4 Corners. I tried to warn you, but I know you gotta see it for yourself.

Yeah, the southern route would of sucked in 100 degrees though. The cold wasn't that bad for me. But I chose to outrun the storms instead of sticking to my schedule and seeing more of the area.

Yeah, that's the problem with crap places, you need to see it for yourself and then regret your decision. LOL. I knew Wall was going to be crap though, so I just didn't go. LOL

[Gas Man]

AMAZING trip, Trip!! I hate you cause I'm green with envy.

Awesome pics. Awesome that the preson turned in your camera. I would want to mail them a dinner gift card. For realz!

What was the total miles?

OH and let me know when you want to do michigan. I would love to take you through it. Up the western side of the coast along lake michigan, and into the U.P. Do some water falls, and maybe rent the kyacks to go under the rock castle in lake superior. There is great camping throughout michigan, or we can do motels. Heck up north just south of Mackinaw we could stay at my father in laws.

[Trip]

Originally Posted by Gas Man

AMAZING trip, Trip!! I hate you cause I'm green with envy.

Awesome pics. Awesome that the preson turned in your camera. I would want to mail them a dinner gift card. For realz!

What was the total miles?

OH and let me know when you want to do michigan. I would love to take you through it. Up the western side of the coast along lake michigan, and into the U.P. Do some water falls, and maybe rent the kyacks to go under the rock castle in lake superior. There is great camping throughout michigan, or we can do motels. Heck up north just south of Mackinaw we could stay at my father in laws.

I asked for information on the person that turned it in, they didn't have any, person was just being an honest abe. I would of sent them something.

I want to do an UP trip eventually, I will let you know when that comes together.

7000 almost exactly.

[derf]

What was wrong with your gear? You mentioned something about it 2 weeks ago.

I've done a few saddle sore 1ks and have yet to document one, mostly for the same reason that you just did it without docmenting it, it happened without you realizing it. Most of them for me have been because I got lost and had to back track a few miles. One of the last ones finished up at your house (actually I was 50 miles short, but I had 8 hours left to do that 50 miles).

And yes, I find that things I have seen my whole life seem less grand in real life than in my mind.

anyways, epic post, looks like a rad trip

[Trip]

Originally Posted by derf

What was wrong with your gear? You mentioned something about it 2 weeks ago.

I've done a few saddle sore 1ks and have yet to document one, mostly for the same reason that you just did it without docmenting it, it happened without you realizing it. Most of them for me have been because I got lost and had to back track a few miles. One of the last ones finished up at your house (actually I was 50 miles short, but I had 8 hours left to do that 50 miles).

And yes, I find that things I have seen my whole life seem less grand in real life than in my mind.

anyways, epic post, looks like a rad trip

Rev'It suit had some issues. I have the Tornado summer 2 piece suit. It doesn't zip fully around the waist, which is really irritating in the cold. The neck closure system is not very good. The material is too abrasive around the neck and it completely rubbed my neck raw and I had to leave it undo after Day 2. The liner is way too warm for summer, but it works great in cold. I had to get an outer liner (2 piece coleman rain suit at walmart) for the rain when it was warm. This also served well with the liner when it was really f'iin cold as a windbreak.

My soft earbuds were not soft enough. I need to go back to speakers with my Sena. My ears were bleeding by Day 3 and I didn't use my Sena at all after Day 3.

This also hurt my ears enough I couldn't wear ear plugs for most of the trip. Wind noise killed me.

My first gear summer gloves and winter gloves performed awesome. Between the two, I was more than happy.

That's all I can think of right now. I also had some video shooting issues. I stopped shooting video after Vegas because it was too much of a pain to keep it working. The trip became much more enjoyable when I put the camera away, but I am sure I will regret that later.

[derf]

Originally Posted by Trip

Rev'It suit had some issues. I have the Tornado summer 2 piece suit. It doesn't zip fully around the waist, which is really irritating in the cold.

I know the feeling, my fieldsheer set is the same way, I get a breeze across my stomache and around my mid section in the cold, not cool. I just got a 2nd hand roadcrafter that should fix it.

Originally Posted by Trip

My soft earbuds were not soft enough. I need to go back to speakers with my Sena. My ears were bleeding by Day 3 and I didn't use my Sena at all after Day 3.

This also hurt my ears enough I couldn't wear ear plugs for most of the trip. Wind noise killed me.

Yup I can do a few hundred miles before my ears start to hurt