also known as the trip that almost wasn't...
Day one.
When I last posted about this trip, I had already loaded my DR650 onto the trailer and was all packed.
On Thursday the 14th of May, a little after 9:00 a.m., I left home and was headed to Bloomington, MN to pick up my B-I-L, Neil. I wasn't a quarter of a mile down the road when disaster struck. Apparently, in my hurry to load and pack, I screwed up my trailer hitching. The road from my driveway out to the county road is quite bumpy and mostly down hill. Before I even reached the bottom of the hill the trailer popped off the ball and started to drag behind. The safety chains kept the trailer behind me but the rough dismount caused my bike to tip over in the trailer. Not the way you want to start a vacation!!
After fixing up that fiasco, I managed to make my way to Neil's (176 miles) without any more issues. The bike stayed securely strapped down, and the trailer pulled nicely. Once I had Neil and his gear loaded up we continued to Motor Sports of Willmar (98 miles) to pick up his new Suzuki DR-z4s. We got his bike loaded in an off and on rain. While in their parking lot I noticed an odd shaped piece of plastic laying in the trailer. I almost tossed it out but stopped to look at it. I'm glad I did. When the trailer fell off the ball and my DR650 flopped over on it's side, the handle bars must have hit the edge of the trailer's side rails and broke the start button off the right hand control cluster. Between the salesman, Neil, and myself, we figured out how to manipulate the remaining tiny bit of plastic to start my bike.
From Willmar we continued west to South Dakota. By about 8:20 p.m. we stopped for dinner at the Taco John's in Watertown (116 miles)
We stopped for the night in Faulkton, SD at the Faulkton Inn (110 miles) . We pulled in around 11:00 p.m., ending a very long and eventful day. (500 miles total)
Day Two... Friday May 15th.
I was up early after all the excitement of yesterday. We took our time before continuing west. We pulled into Newell, SD at about 12:30 for a short break, and ended up in Spearfish. We had a good lunch at Barbacoa's Burritos and Wraps in downtown Spearfish before heading to Chris' Camp (270 miles from Faulkton).
Early morning in Faulkton
B-I-L Neil unloading and setting up camp
After getting squared away at camp, Neil and I went for a ride. We went south down Spearfish Canyon Road, then stopped at Roughlock Falls. We only went as far down ay Cheyenne Crossing before heading back to camp.
Roughlock Falls the camera doesn't do it justice
Trout at the Old Spearfish Creek Dam
Neil, very happy to be on vacation!
Day Three... Saturday May 16th.
A full day to ride. We made a couple of loops through the hills almost completely on gravel. One loop we took sent us down Spearfish Canyon Road to Roughlock Falls Road. Then we followed that to Tinton Road, then on to Wagon Canyon Road where we saw a couple of old buildings, One roofed in old plow discs, and one sided with discs. Cool!
We followed Wagon Canyon Road west across the Wyoming State line.
Eventually we came to Grand Canyon Road in WY. We took it north, as Lana, the woman that checked us in a Chris' Camp suggested that the route a quite scenic... it did not disappoint!
We found our way back to Spearfish in time for a late lunch, then headed back out again for another loop. This time it was down Higgins Gulch Road and up Tinton Road. After returning to camp, we had a discussion about what to do next. There was a forecast for cold temps with snow expected in the Black Hills on Sunday.. Do we risk getting caught in a snowstorm while riding or just pack it up in the morning. We elected to play it safe and pack up.
I slept good in the tent that night. Temps had been perfect during the day, but it really cooled off at night.
Day Four... Sunday May 17th.
After packing up our tents and loading up the bikes we decided to take the long way home. Neil wanted to see Devil's Tower so a truck-trailer road trip was the order of the day. It was cool and overcast all day.
The first stop was Devil's Tower,,
Then a stop in Faith, SD to see Sue, the dinosaur made of scrap car and tractor parts to commemorate the finding of the largest, most complete, best preserved T-rex found so far.
From Faith we made it as far as the Super 8 in Redfield SD. I got home late Monday night after dropping off Neil, his bike, and gear in MN and finally making my way to the woods of northern Wisconsin. It was a great trip even if it started out rough. It was a lot of driving just to put 156 mikes on my bike, but totally worth it, and I know Neil really enjoyed the trip and the chance to forget about work and ride a motorcycle.
I did order a new right side switch assembly so I don't have to stick a fingernail in the broken switch to start it!
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