Rollin' Down the Highway

One of my favorite Doobie Brothers songs, it was more than apt today as we piled on 500 miles after leaving Deadwood about 8:00 a.m. MT (10 a.m. EST). Breakfast and our first fillup was about 40 minutes later in Rapid City, and then we were on our way.

I noted before that we get about 150 miles or so on a tank of gas before it is time to fill up again, but that would prove NOT to be the case today. We fought a head- and/or side-wind for most of the day, and it took a toll on gas mileage.

There were many times I looked in my rearview mirror and saw Cheryl's bike inclined about 30 degrees against the wind. It was particularly tricky going around semi trucks and big trucks towing trailers full of bikes! Mind you we were passed a lot, too, as 75 mph (the speed limit) just wasn't fast enough for some of the young fleeing Sturgis and headed east.

Lunch was at a nice truck stop named Marlin's in Mitchell, SD. The waitress was particularly chatty once she saw Cheryl's shirt which featured Steven Tyler's signature. And, our meal was great, so we took the leftovers with us and are finishing them tonight for dinner.

In Sioux Falls, SD, we turned off I-90 and headed south on I-29 toward our destination in Sioux City, IA. The road went from excellent to terrible, and I wondered if my back would survive the bouncing it was taking for the full 98 miles to our hotel.

Not sure what the origin is, but the Floyd River here in Sioux City is completely flooded. I know they had terrible flooding this past spring throughout Iowa, but didn't expect it to still be here. It is almost across the highway and looks like it has taken several river-side businesses along with it.

We're trying a new, bargain rate hotel (AmericInn) and it is really quite nice. Other than the 100+ senior citizens staying overnight, we have the hotel to ourselves. In fact, their bus pulled up at the same time we did. Even though I was saddle sore, you can be damn sure I drug my butt off that bike as fast as I could to beat them into the check-in.

So, we're here enconsced in our oh so cool room, and getting ready for a nice soak in the hot tub, that is if we can beat the seniors down there first.

Tomorrow. we're headed about 600 miles to Danville, IL so that our last day ride is only about 270 miles. More from the road tomorrow.