CampINN.

Alright so I have made some better moves but when you hear this don’t freak out MOM just laugh it off. I had no place to sleep over night so after talking for a while with my friend Desi I went to a campground nearby. I parked the bike put all my clothes on for warmth and lay down. After about three hours of rocks in my back and my chest hurting from the fall the day before I decided that I would leave and find some place to go. My idea was to find the police station and hope they’d let me stay for the night (so far I’ve tried this twice and it hasn’t worked) I couldn’t find the police station so I stopped into a hotel to ask where it was. Went to the front desk, no one, nature was calling at the moment so I went over to the bathroom TCB and realized that there was no night staff for the hotel. ONLY IN SOUTH DAKOTA. So I parked Isabella in the lot and brought my things into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. Yes, I know it’s similar to the pursuit of happiness except this bathroom was really clean and I was alone. It was around three in the morning and I slept until six. When I left I went out the back door and back through the front for directions. It was an interesting experience.

Survival Guide to Riding Cross Country

Rule #8: You live on a continent go continental. A free breakfast is the best breakfast. Almost everywhere there is a hotel with a free continental breakfast. Leave your gear at the bike and stop in for a treat. Don’t get greedy though it may upset Saint Christopher.

Another seven hours on the bike today so I had to get Issy some breakfast as well. Fueled up on and her thirst quenched she is ready for a long day of riding. I needed to get better directions to Yellowstone and the attendant at the station was really helpful. While I was there she asked what I was doing out here, noticing the New York plates, and told her just traveling. A gentleman and his wife who was nearby listening and suggested I check out Sylvan Lake, a beautiful lake which the National Treasure: Book of Secrets was filmed at. And they suggested I check it out.

I got on the road with no real intention of going to the lake but realized it wasn’t far off the path I needed to take. The detour was a pleasure, nice curvy roads and some interesting sites along the way. The lake itself was beautiful coming through the surface are some rock formations one of which is where the movie was shot. While I was there the couple who I had met in the gas station drove up and talked with me for a while. Laura and Wayne were their names. They were interested in why I was traveling, where I was headed and some of my stories thus far. They were a comforting surprise along the way, when I get discouraged, which does happen from time to time, It’s good to see others excited about the trip, my experiences and since they were travelers themselves I could also share my experiences with them. They understood the things I was seeing and going through. Laura and Wayne are pig farmers and even said that I could stay with them in Minnesota for a couple weeks and work on their farm. That would be a great experience. A different part of the American lifestyle that I haven’t experienced. Wayne and Laura if you check this out please leave a comment or email me; it would be great to get in touch with you and check out the farm.

So with a detour I still had about six and a half hours until I would get into Yellowstone. I was dead tired so a little ways into the trip I took a nap for two hours on the grass of a rest area. It was a beautiful day, I should have laid out a bit and worked on my tan. Even after the nap I was tired so I got my first 5 hour Energy shot. Now I am an energetic guy but with a few nights of bad sleep I was exhausted. I figured this might at least give me a little boost. WOW within 20 mins I was bouncing off the walls. I put the headphones on, blasted Lil Wayne, and was wired. Believe me you do not want to see me on one of those when I’m not tired, I may build an arc. For the last three hours I was wide awake cruising down the highway figured it would be a smooth ride all the way in. I took a quicker route through Thermopolis, Wyoming and rode through the most beautiful scenery ever.

Wind River Canyon was gorgeous I took a few pictures, and I’m sorry there isn’t more but I just didn’t want to stop. I’m pretty sure that it was the first time I had ever been in a canyon before and I know for a fact it was the first time that Issy and I had been through one. The fact that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky just added to it all. Very calming and peaceful ride through here. I thought that I had, all the excitement for one night. With about 80 miles to go until I reached Cody, Wyoming cruising along these two sport bikes flew past me while I was going about 80. I would have left them along but I saw that they were both from New York too. The first time I saw New York plates since leaving Buffalo. I’ve seen New Jersey plates but this was the first time I’d seen NY. So I caught up to them going about….never mind and we went that 80 miles which felt like we were flying. The lead bike had a detector and would let us know if the enforcers of the law were around. Otherwise we took flight. After I arrived in Cody where these two bikers also got gas I found out they were from Wheaton, New York close to where one of my good friends Kristin lives. They trailered the bikes to Cheyenne and then were just cruising through the mountains for fun.

After an extremely long day of riding I found a hotel for the night and crashed, Hard. Right next to a cool biker from Kentucky Blasting country outside all night, I thought it was comforting but apparently the other people at the hotel complained and made him turn it down. We rocked out for a while. Yellowstone in the morning, not sure what to suspect.

One Mile at a time