2018 - Day 27

Today wasn't a big travel day but it was a successful day for the most part. We left Lethbridge much later than usual, only getting on the road just before 10am. The skies were gray most of the way into Calgary, and we did get a few drops of rain on the way but not a whole lot thankfully.

We got to Rocky Mountain Honda just before lunch and got checked in with service and parts. The boys at this shop are really awesome to deal with, they've actually treated me better than the Harley shops ever did. I would have had to do tires yet this summer but figured I'd wait, that is until they gave me 40% off on the tires. It was an easy decision to get them swapped and now I'll be good until next year. Service and Parts were both great today, I'd highly recommend this store if anyone is in the market for Honda products.

Once that was taken care of Leona and I walked over to the Tim Hortons for lunch. We had both been looking forward to an awesome coffee and we weren't disappointed, lunch was good. We ended up sitting in the dealership for almost two hours as they completed the work. Unfortunately they had one little glitch, so that part will have to get shipped up north where I can install it myself.

About 3:30 we were out of there, headed for Airdrie. We spent a little time with Bobby, Alana, Scarlett, and Bobby's brother Thomas. It was nice to see them again, have dinner, and get reacquainted with our little niece (who is cute as a button I might add). Our time with them went much too quickly, would have been nice to spend more of it with them.

The skies were quickly becoming dark so we got back on the road at 8pm. We had a hotel room booked in Red Deer, in hindsight I'm not sure why we didn't just stay in Airdrie. It worked out well though, only having about 15 minutes of rain to deal with on the one hour ride. Hopefully we get decent weather for the ride tomorrow, and for the final leg on Saturday.


Picture is blurry, but that's what we rode into leaving Airdrie. Thankfully it only lasted about 15 minutes

2018 - Day 26

We had a good night of sleep after our busy day yesterday, ready for another day of pounding pavement. It was nice that our two biggest days getting back to Canada were earlier, but it still took 3,950km to get from Huntsville, AL to Lethbridge, AB over the course of five days. Our butts must be getting tougher as it hasn't been as tiring as it was when we made the ride down to Nashville to start our trip.

The route we took today was highway 3 north out of Billings, left on highway 12 at Lavina, right on highway 191 at Harlowton, and then another left onto 87/200 at Eddie's Corner to get us into Great Falls. There are a lot of Hutterite colonies along this route, though they must be off the highway a bit because we didn't see them. There is a lot of wide open land from Billings to Great Falls and we probably saw more cows than people. The air also had a chill in it that we haven't had since day 2 of our trip, and especially since we got down to Nashville. It's been warm and humid for basically the whole US part of the trip, so we were a little chilly in the 19-25 degree weather.

Leona and I had a late lunch at Subway in Great Falls before starting the final leg of the US portion. It was quite windy at times from there until we stopped in Lethbridge, and again a lot more open country. Crossing the border was a breeze though they had a dog out sniffing vehicles, the first time it's happened to me.

Coming back into Canada is always a bit of a downer for me as it really hammers home the point that the trip is coming to an end. The people down south were so friendly and treated us so well everywhere we went, Leona and I will miss them. There are so many things that we could have done that we didn't have time for, and that part is a little disappointing for me. In order for us to do this trip right we could have easily used another month. It's been good but it feels like there's unfinished business there.


Saw a lot of this today, although we could have taken more pictures as the terrain changes at times in Montana

Alberta bound

Back in Canada after 23 days in the USA

2018 - Day 25

We were up at a decent time again this morning as we had a fairly full day ahead of us. Leona has never seen Rushmore so we decided to go up and see it. The line of vehicles to get in was a mile long (literally), so we rode by a few times to get a look at it. As far as pictures go we didn't get great ones, but I have many good ones from here, and Leona was content with seeing it in real life. We took a little spin along the Iron Mountain road, the best part of it anyway. From there we headed up to Deadwood and then to Sturgis. We barely got our feet wet in the Black Hills, but just don't have the luxury of time. It was after 12 by the time we hit the interstate bound for Montana.

Closing in on Buffalo, WY from the east is such a beautiful ride, again something that a picture just can't convey to the reader. Everything looks closer and bigger in real life, and the mountains today were just stunning. Leona and I exclaimed a few times at how many amazing sights we've seen on the trip, and how wide a variety of scenery it's been. After Sheridan it gets pretty quiet as there literally isn't anything but wide open country. It was a relaxing ride through some beautiful rolling hills and light traffic.

I've often though of visiting the site of Custer's Last Stand but never been close enough to warrant a visit. Today we were riding right by it so it was time to make the stop. We didn't really have much time but still ended up spending about an hour there. It's such beautiful country there so it's a little hard to imagine the hills being covered in blood and dead bodies, and it's a little hard to reconcile what happened there. The Battle of the Bighorn happened June 25-26, 1876 which just so happened to be exactly 142 years ago to the day.

The last hour of the ride into Billings was really scenic, the perfect way to end the day's ride. Both of us were very hungry and tired when we got in at 8:00 so we didn't waste a whole lot of time getting a late dinner. Almost 12 hours door to door today, but only 776km, so we did some touristy stuff. Tonight is our last night in the USA, a bittersweet thought to fall asleep to.


This picture makes it look further away, but I have better pictures from a previous visit so seeing it was good enough this time

Riding on Iron Mountain road in the Black Hills

One of the tunnels



Riding west on I-90 in Wyoming and looking at the Bighorn mountains

Finally I'm in this part of Montana, and though it was getting late, we decided to go in and see the site of Custer's Last Stand



White marker with the black is where Custer fell



To think so much blood was shed on this beautiful land

2018 - Day 24

Everything was soggy this morning after the heavy thunderstorm that passed through last night, but the rain had stopped so we felt good about that. Shortly after getting on the road we passed into South Dakota and the speed limit increased on the interstate to 80mph. The first stretch to Sioux Falls flew by at that speed. We stopped there to put on our rain gear and so that I could call ahead to Calgary to ensure that we can get a few things done when we pass through on Thursday.

The ride west on I-90 from Sioux Falls is long and straight, especially until Chamberlain and the Missouri River. There are more rolling hills after that, and today there was also a little more sunshine. The hours passed quickly once again, we've gotten pretty good at pounding pavement on our ride home. With the nice weather and the fact that we gained another hour as we crossed over into the Mountain time zone, it was an easy decision to pay the $10 and ride through the Badlands National Park.

It was quite warm by the time we entered the park, and we took our time going through. One day less than five years ago I came to see this place for the first time, totally different this time. The Badlands are pretty cool, it feels like you're on a different planet at times until you come around another corner and you see vast country beyond the badlands. We really enjoyed going through, stopping fairly often to take pictures and to take in the scenery.

Once we were done with the Badlands we hit the interstate for the final 50 miles or so to Rapid City. Since leaving Huntsville, AL three days ago we have traveled 2,497km, avoiding a lot of big thunderstorms and staying mostly dry. The views have changed dramatically over that time as we have made our way northwest.

We have all but one of the rooms booked for the remainder of the ride home, which is kind of bittersweet. All winter we looked forward to the trip and it is already almost over. Time really does fly when you're having a good time!


My view for awhile this morning, sure beats the weather from last night

Rest stop break on I-90

My view again, nice and dry, though 22 felt pretty chilly after getting used to the heat

Made the loop through the Badlands as Leona had never seen them











I enjoy these types of art or whatever you call that

2018 - Day 23

Once again I was watching some weather radar this morning, and we didn't waste a whole lot of time getting out of Rolla. We we blessed with great weather all day, quite a lot of clouds above us at times but no rain, and once again it was really warm. The feels like temperature was not far from 40 again, with 32 the highest I saw on the bike. From Rolla we took highway 63 all the way to Macon, where we turned west on highway 36, and then north on I-29 for the rest of the ride.

It was an uneventful day, which is exactly what we are looking for as we try to just make some miles to get closer to home. We did 844km today, 897km yesterday, so we've made some really good progress. It looks like those will be the two longest days we need to do, though the next few won't be that much shorter. We hope to be in Calgary around lunch on Thursday, so we can get a few things for the bike.

The scenery has changed quite a lot the last few days, and will continue to change as we head in a more westerly direction the next two days. Though we won't really get into the mountains, we should get a look at a distance for some non-tree covered mountains.

Right now it's pretty nice to be in a dry room, there's a thunderstorm going on outside, a lot of lightning flashing across the sky. Hopefully the systems pass by the morning, or at least lessen to a safer level.


These guys were on their way to a convention with their Model A's, all 1931 or 1932 model years

Some rock cuts north of Rolla, neat to see the layers in the rock

We have seen a ridiculous amount of corn in the midwest, going down and now coming back

Dodging this system, it was pretty dark by the time we turned north at St. Joseph

11th new state for me on the trip, and the last new one for this year

Omaha, NE in our rear view, though we actually never did cross the state line into Nebraska but we sure got close

Coming into Sioux City there were a lot of systems around us

Rain is getting closer

Strange cloud just above the white pickup truck

2018 - Day 22

We got up a little earlier today as we had a fairly long ride planned for the day. I scanned the weather radar thoroughly to find some big storms tracking from west to east, along the route that we had planned to take. After the massive storm system yesterday, we decided it might be smart to try and go around the weather instead of right through it. Instead of riding west through Alabama and Mississippi, we decided to head north.

The riding this morning was pretty easy, getting to the interstate within the first hour of the day. We caught a few drops leaving Huntsville, but that was the last of it for the day. It was overcast for most of the day before the skies cleared for the last few hours of the ride. We had not expected to see Nashville again but ended up riding through it. Lunch was done in Kentucky, at a KFC, something we hadn't done the first time we were in the state.

We weren't in Illinois for too long before we crossed the Mississippi River in St. Louis, the 5th state we were in today after starting in Alabama. Traffic was fairly light in St. Louis, though the roads were almost a little confusing to keep straight as we made our way through the city. Having almost made our way through, we stopped at a light where another bike pulled up beside us. The other rider started chatting, and we had a quick little conversation while we waited for the light to turn green. Turns out he had an uncle in Saskatchewan, though I'm not sure if he'd ever been in Canada.

We got into Rolla, Missouri at 7:30 ready to be done for the day. Now that the day is done I realize I should have taken a closer look at the map. We should have continued on I-70 after St. Louis instead of I-44. It's only going to cost us about an hour or so, but that time could have been spent better. I guess there are bound to be some mistakes, but we did make the right call on the overall route today, it kept us dry and safe from the big storms.

I suppose we also would have never been able to se JC the New King of Funk live if we hadn't come to Rolla! We walked to the Tater Patch, a pub close to the hotel we are staying in, to find that we were getting some live entertainment with our food. I wasn't to keen on it, as I was tired from the ride, but it ended up being a pretty cool way to spend dinner on a Saturday night in a small town in Missouri. Certainly not my style of music, but the boys played it well!

Tomorrow will be another longish day, so it's time to get ready for some sleep. We are hoping to get up Sioux City, IA or somewhere close to that anyway.


Didn't think we would be back in Nashville again on this trip, I guess I was wrong

Found a local chicken place for lunch in Kentucky

Closing in on St. Louis, MO

Stacking up a few roads



Really glad Leona got a nice shot of the arch as we crossed the Mississippi River, my gift for getting us through the city

Walked over to the Tater Patch for a late dinner...

...and we dined to the soothing sounds of JC the New King of Funk

Twilight in Rolla, MO

2018 - Day 21

Contrary to the forecast from last night, we awoke to sunny skies and warm weather. That was perfect, as I really wanted a chance to run the 6 Gap ride. After eating breakfast, packing up the bike, and getting fuel we were off. It was a beautiful morning, very little traffic and so many curves once again. I want to take a moment to thank my wife for allowing me to ride all of these roads as I know that it's made her nervous at times. Thanks for being brave Leona even though it was hard at times.

The entire figure eight loop was 139km the way we rode it, taking right around two and a half hours to ride. We stopped a few times to enjoy the last good mountain views we will have from this area, and it was sad to leave. The loop put us back in Helen, where we had a snack before carrying on.

Riding east to west in Georgia proved to be a bit of a navigational nightmare, the roads getting smaller and smaller as we followed the GPS on the bike. There was one time it routed me down a narrow gravel path that we didn't take, thankfully finding a better alternative. I finally figured out a path to get us west towards Alabama, but it was slow going all day long. The clouds kept building in the west and finally exploded down on us. There were heavy winds with it as well and we eventually pulled over for a little while to let it pass.

Crossing the state line into Alabama meant that we were back into the Central time zone, gaining one of the hours we lost on our way east, and it came at a good time. As we crossed the Tennessee River and made the turn onto highway 72 west we could see more clouds gathering. Once again we pulled over to don the rain gear, though it would prove to be no match for the downpour we rode through for the final 20 minutes or so.

The skies were dark and the rain was absolutely pouring down, making it really hard to see. Those last 10 miles felt like a long ride, and it felt great to get under the canopy at the hotel. We walked in to see if they had rooms available, but to no avail. It didn't take more than 10 minutes before the young lady came outside to say someone had just cancelled and the room was ours. That was a major answer to prayer because it just wasn't safe to be on the road.

Everything it wet and/or damp so hopefully it can dry out somewhat overnight. I'm really hoping that we don't have to deal with too much of these downpours on the road home. We've been fortunate so far with weather, but there are some crazy systems that come through a lot of the area we have to ride through. At least we have a nice dry place to stay in Huntsville, AL tonight!


Looking down at some pretty flat country from Woody Gap





The view from Hogpen Gap



Too bad there are tacky ad signs underneath the welcome sign. This is the 9th new state for me on the trip, and I think the 13th for Leona

About to cross the Tennessee River in Alabama

For a while it looked like we were going to stay dry until Huntsville, that didn't happen

There's a mountain obscured by falling rain, and we had to ride right through it