I left Minneapolis this morning on the relaxed schedule: bright and early at 11am. I only had 130 miles to go, and I needed to arrive at 3pm, so this was the easiest day of travel so far. It was hard to leave my brother, but I know it won't be too long until I get to see him again. I was very thankful for Randy's roommate that he let me crash at their place for a week. I must say that Wisconsin is nothing like I imagined it! It is actually pretty nice; there are lots of trees, lots of [View Full Entry]

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These last few days have been such a nice change after being on the open road for so many days. I guess it was only a week of traveling every single day, but after a while I felt like I didn't have any time to rest. I have decided from here on out I need to travel shorter distances per day. Sometimes it is easy to just jump on the bike and keep putting the miles down, when really I should be stopping more to nourish my body, see the sights, and meet the people. Basically I need to stop and [View Full Entry]

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I stayed with an older couple in Dolton, South Dakota, and had a great time with them. I didn’t arrive until later in the evening, so we only had a couple hours to hang out. It was a rural farm house, and it was just so peaceful out there. I got up fairly early the next morning to get a head start on the day. One thing that drives me nuts is driving around in big cities. And it makes it especially worse when I am on a motorcycle, because sometimes I feel like everyone on the road is trying to [View Full Entry]

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Today I went to Mt Rushmore in the morning, which was a very cool experience. I have never been there, so I figure I need to go at some point in my life. I walked around there for a little while, and decided to start getting on the road. Mt Rushmore was cool, but I think what happened next just tops off the whole experience. I was just going to leave, when I saw a sign for Custer State Park. I thought what the heck, since I had some extra time before I had to be in Dalton this evening. Right [View Full Entry]

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Last night I ended up staying with some missionaries from the Wolf Point formerly Mennonite church. The pastor, Bruce, offered me a place at the church or a place with these missionaries. There would be a bed with my name on it at their house, so of course I chose that one. I had a good time there as we sat and chatted for most of the evening. I thought it was a pretty cool experience because I don’t run into too many people that have been missionaries for 20+ years. This morning I went to the church service, which was [View Full Entry]

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It has been very difficult the last few days to have internet access available. That is why when I post these, I will be posting several days at a time. Hopefully nobody is worried about my safety and well-being. I suppose if anyone was really worried they would just call me. But cell phone service seems to be in and out, and sometimes when I am in it is still in roaming. I think when I am in roaming it costs me extra for every single call, but I could be wrong. Anyway, enough with the useless jibber-jabber that nobody cares [View Full Entry]

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Last night was pretty fun. I hung out at the Kauffman’s, and they have 2 boys at home that are close to my age. We share a lot in common in that we like to wrench on things and ride fast machines. They are all pretty laid back, and it was nice to relax for the evening. I left this morning to go drive around Glacier National Park, and I spent about 9 hours on the road. The scenery in the park is simply amazing! I think it might be some of the best scenery I have ever seen. The Oregon [View Full Entry]

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Last night I hung out with the Dorsing family. They have 3 kids under 6 years old, and I must say I enjoyed all of them. From the time two of them opened the front door to the house and welcomed me in, I had such a good time. These were some of the nicest kids I have met. Instantly they meet a new person, and they were not shy one bit. It was one of those situations that you can just let your guard down and feel right at home. I was given a tour of the farmland that Kevin [View Full Entry]

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Today was a hot day of riding. Right now I am not sure what the temperature was, but I would guess at times it was 90+ Fahrenheit. Some of you may know I have more to look forward to, probably 100+ degrees plus throw in some humidity. Those relatives better be worth the torture from the weather! Nebraska here I come! Right now I am killing a little bit of time before I head over to the Dorsings’ house. I am sitting at Potholes State Park outside Othello, and it is quite pleasant. I think it is actually much hotter while [View Full Entry]

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I have been working hard these last few weeks to get ready for the trip, and today it finally began! To summarize my past few weeks, I gradated with my mechanical engineering degree from Oregon State, I participated in the Formula SAE West competition in LA with the OSU car, and I moved out of the house in Corvallis and into my parent’s house. And in case nobody was aware, my parents are awesome! I got to spend some time with them (along with my coolest sister) the last week. I finished organizing all my stuff, and packed for my long [View Full Entry]

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