On Day 2 of USA Midwest 2023, I depart Tower Rock campground and ride north near Saint Loust (east side of Mississippi river) and end the day in Qunicy, Illinois.

In the way of scenery, there was not much. There are a lot of corn fields and some small towns. However, the scenery leaving Tower Rock along the Mississippi River was very nice. The ride today was relaxed.

During my rest stop at Dahlberg, IL I dropped Dexter after I stopped and powered off, somebody forgot to put the side stand down when they went to park the motorcycle. Neil Peart stated in one of his books (may have mentioned it in a few of his books) that when you are tired, you get stupid and do stupid things (or something like that). I was tired (did not sleep great the night before), had some cramping in my legs and hands and was a bit warm. I rode for a few hours before stopping and should have stopped sooner than I did. As I was preparing to unpack Dexter to make it easier to lift, another biker rolled up and gave me a hand picking up Dexter. I felt a bit silly, but stuff happens, especially when you are tired and push it a bit too far.

Driftwood Campground (KOA) was not great. They somehow did not have the reservation I made, and the gravel pathway was DEEP loose rock, and Dexter just sunk into the rock. I was stuck trying to get to a campsite. Yet again, another biker assisted me by pushing Dexter while I also pushed and gave it a bit of throttle. I ended up parking on the pavement parking area and camped nearby.

Day 1 and 2 were not great but not a disaster. I was glad today was only 300 miles as I was having a bit of a rough time, lack of sleep, a bit warm and just cranky. Despite all of that though, thus far, the trip was successful and still positive.

Spoiler Alert, the quality of the trip improved dramatically as the trip progressed. 😊