Here are links to the pictures: Day 1: (1 Photo) url=https://plus.google.com/photos/101506993269424417039/albums/5787866685363222289?authkey=CM6uhuiN6Kc0https://plus.google.com/photos/101506993269424417039/albums/5787866685363222289?authkey=CM6uhuiN6Kc0 Day 2: (5 Photos) url=https://plus.google.com/photos/101506993269424417039/albums/5787866685363222289?authkey=CM6uhuiN6Kc0https://plus.google.com/photos/101506993269424417039/albums/5787867039066917953?authkey=CKOtj6m78aqOVw Day 3: (23 Photos) url=https://plus.google.com/photos/101506993269424417039/albums/5787867733038019505?authkey=CJLa2rWprZ6bDghttps://plus.google.com/photos/101506993269424417039/albums/5787867733038019505?authkey=CJLa2rWprZ6bDg Day 4: (32 Photos) url=https://plus.google.com/photos/101506993269424417039/albums/5787870668667917425?authkey=CIa75bPE0K7AfA... read more

We left the motel a little before 10. The weather was beautiful; the temperature was perfect and there were no clouds or wind. We rode through Sturgis, although there was not really much to look at; its claim to fame is the motorcycle rally held each year the first week of August. Over one million bikers descend on the town for a week long party. It must be an amazing sight, all those people packed into such a small town. Of course we just had to visit the Sturgis Harley dealer, I mean really, how can you go to Sturgis and not visit the Harley dealer? We left Sturgis and rode the 20 or so miles to Deadwood, a beautiful ride over a wide, gently curving road through the Black Hills. We visited the historic center ... read more

We got a pretty early start; we were on the road by 8:30. We got gas in town and started up the road and got about 1/2 mile when we realized that it was entirely too windy to ride a motorcycle. So we turned around and went to Josies cafe for coffee where we spent about an hour commiserating with the locals. Turns out the big news here is the new ShopKo (like a mini Wal-Mart) just opened and is having their grand opening this coming Thursday. Before this store opened, people in Winner had to travel about 150 miles to get to a Kmart or Wal-Mart. We came back to the motel and will spend the day doing laundry and reading, relaxing, etc.... read more

We got an early start from Joliet and were optimistic that we were going to have a good day riding, it was a little cool, but not cold, and not a cloud in the sky. The weather report said that the temperature along out route would be in the mid to high 70’s – perfect riding weather. After we got on the highway we discovered what the weather report didn’t tell us – it was really, really windy – horrible conditions for riding. There weren’t as many trucks as there were near Chicago, but there were enough to be a real nuisance. We tucked in our elbows, ducked our heads and continued on, stopping more frequently than we had on the previous days. As we moved across Iowa, the scenery became more beautiful, which made the ... read more

Our trip finally began!!! We left Rick’s house at 7 and drove 15 minutes to Morrisville where we stopped for breakfast. We figured that by leaving Morrisville at 8 we would miss all of the commuter traffic near Fort Washington. We figured wrong. Traffic was stop and go for about three quarters of an hour. It did get a lot better after we got to the Northeast Extension, though. Trucks were a nuisance; they cause a lot of problems because of the turbulence they create. Other than the trucks, the ride was pretty smooth. We traveled 422 miles to Austintown Ohio where we decided to call it a day. We all think that the day went very well, we went much further than we thought we would be able to on the first day. We did ... read more