The pandemic is (sort of) over. Time to see the country.
I woke up in Billings with 3 states to go to complete the continguous US loop that I’d set out to do. Since my final state was Oregon, and I still had to head home, it made sense to head to Klamath Falls to stay over at mom’s house. Unfortunately, with K Falls at the opposite end of Oregon, this meant that I was looking at about 1,000 miles for the day’s ride. ...
My alarm went off at 5:30 and I promptly silenced it and rolled over for a bit longer. I blame the excellent mai tai from the best tiki bar in South Dakota. I eventually got motivated and on the road at a little after 7am. I had a long day ahead of me, but I started out on the local state routes to get the lay of the land. The road out didn’t really change my opinion of Sioux Falls. I remained disappointed in the city and wasn’t able to find any real character outside of a few blocks of downtown and the Falls Park just down the road. Leaving the city behind me, I continued on through the warm morning air. It was more of what I’d seen in Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota, which wasn’t surprising in light of their proximity. Just farms, a few farming communities (though fewer and less dense than in Iowa, from what I saw), and more cows. The beef industry seems to start in western Iowa and cohabitates with the corn/bean farms in this neck of the woods. ...
I slept in just a tad, reveling in the last moments of my day off in Madison. I packed up and rolled out at about 7am, headed South by Southwest towards Iowa. My nav was set to avoid interstates, now that I wasn’t fleeing in terror from tropical storms or slogging through major Metropoli along the Great Lakes shores. Perfect. I drifted through the rural towns of southwestern Wisconsin, honestly really enjoying the state more and more. It kinda looked like that America that’s supposed to be out there but is so elusive when you set out to find it. ...
Placeholder for the day in Madison
placeholder for the Erie to Madison blog Starting Mileage: 59271 Ending Mileage: 59929 Daily Mileage: 658
In spite of ticking just one state (Vermont) off the list, it was a fairly productive day. Up early and out of my sketchy AirBnB by around 6:30, I chose the backroad route through New Hampshire and Vermont, headed to New York. It was a good choice, I think. Very pretty country and lovely towns as I floated down the various state routes. It got a little chilly but never below the 60s as I headed into the final remnants of Fred, which were just arriving at New Hampshire as I left. (I believe that the storm has finally stalled out and is dying pretty much over that state right now, as a matter of fact). ...
This was a pretty big day states-wise, if only average, mileage-wise. I slept through my 5:30am alarm but the 6am backup got me out of bed. I made some coffee, showered, packed and was on the road by about 7. DC itself took nearly an hour to get out of. Was it worth it to stay in the Capitol? No. Do I regret it? No. It was a good stop on this sort of trip, I think. ...
So as not to bury the lede, I’ll just get this out of the way. I made it to DC! Pacific to Atlantic. Not bad for an old guy. So I checked in to my hotel, got the bike sorted, and ran about a mile to take care of some long overdue business. Rest assured that the finger is the only thing I gave to this traitorous prick. And then I went to eat and have a few beers. It had been a long day. I had a hard time sleeping the night before due to the worrisome forecasts of Fred’s last gasps. My weather window went from non-existent, to possible, to looking pretty good. I got up at 4am and things looked even better, but I was too tired and it was too dark to get going. Back up at 5:30 and things looked great for a 6am start. I grabbed a coffee and loaded the bike, setting off at about 6:10. My plan was to be out of Virginia by noon to miss most of the storefront. ...
I woke up bright and early in Mobile, Alabama, then promptly rolled my ass over and went back to sleep. Luckily I had a backup alarm set for a half-hour later, and I was up this time. I took a look at my blog from the night before and realized that I was either 1) drunker than I thought I was or 2) extremely tired. I honestly think it was option 2 this time. I literally fell asleep on the keyboard. So I made a few edits, roughed out my thoughts for that day and packed up. ...
So the day started nice and early, as planned. Maybe a taaaaad too much beer was enjoyed over pinball. But it was an Addams Family machine! I mean, c’mon. Regardless, up at 5ish and off to Waffle House to sample their wares. I think this was my third or fourth “first time there”, since I’m usually hungover when I’m actually in striking distance of one. Regardless, this “first time” I had hash browns (scattered and smattered, as god himself intended) and a waffle. The hash browns were tasty. The waffle was tasty. Even the Butter-Like Spread was tasty. Who knew. It didn’t hurt that Edward Hopper was outside painting his modern masterpiece. Classed up the joint a bit. ...