The Badlands
September 6th, 2023
Total Miles for day 6 was 253 miles starting at the Badlands Hotel & Campground in Interior, South Dakota. The highlight of today’s ride was rolling through the Badlands National Park offering up some stunning and rugged scenery. The day concludes near Keystone, South Dakota where I camp for two nights in the Black Hills at the Grizzly Creek Primitive Campground.
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North Platte, Nebraska to Interior, South Dakota
September 05, 2023
Today’s Miles = 286
USA Midwest 2023 Day 4 starts in Onawa, Iowa as I roll through town and north to Whiting, Iowa. From Whiting, I cross the Missouri river and south on US Highway 75 to Omaha, Nebraska and then end the day in North Platte, Nebraska, 368 miles for the day.
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Today I rolled from Quincy, Illinois to Galesburg, Illinois to visit the Galesburg Railroad Museum. In addition to motorcycling, I have a strong interest in model railroading and railroads more broadly. Model railroading is my main hobby, though it sometimes gets less attention than motorcycles and other aspects of life. The limiting factor, as with most of us, is limited resources in time and money 😊
After visiting the Galesburg Railroad Museum I rolled west on US Highway 34 across the Mississippi River into Iowa skirting south of Des Moines then angled northwest on numerous back roads (a couple of which were loose gravel unpaved roads) to Onawa, Iowa where I stopped for the day, arriving well after sunset.
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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.
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USA Midwest 2023, Day 1 of 16 September 1, 2023
I start from home in Douglasville, Georgia and roll northward via backroads through Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and then take a ferry across the Ohio River into Illinois where I camped for the night at Tower Rock Campground near Cave-In-Rock, IL.
Continue readingMy long planned and repeatedly delayed motorcycle trip, USA Midwest 2023, kicks off tomorrow morning.
Click on the photo below to follow along during the trip:
Today is one week until my USA Midwest 2023 trip begins. It has been three years since I have done a long distance trip. I did a regional trip from Atlanta (Douglasville, GA) to Charlotte of 685 miles and a regional from Atlanta (Douglasville, GA) to Myrtle Beach of 793 miles in 2021. I did not do any riding in 2022 at all due to working a second job that I quit in December 2022 (one year part time warehouse work) – have to pay for my toys (and never-ending home projects) somehow.
Continue readingToday is 1 August 2023, one month until kickstand up on my next long distance motorcycle trip (long distance for my standard, some of you folks rack 6,000 miles in seemingly a weekend lol). USA Midwest 2023 Trip Overview Blog Post
I have been in the process of getting the final bits of preparation in order, having Dexter serviced (still a couple of odds and ends to tend to), going through and inspecting my gear, and acquiring new gear. I really should blog some of my preparation, especially concerning gear, yeah, I should really probably do that…..maybe I will, I am a bit lazy at this whole blogging thing :). My wife wants me to do a video or two discussing my gear….I guess I will have to try now if my wife commands it ….but not today. Today is just another blog post (sorry honey) :).
Continue readingOriginally scheduled to take place during the summer of 2022, my USA Midwest motorcycle trip begins on 1 September 2023. This will be the first long distance trip since I completed my USA South 2020 trip in October 2020. I did do two regional trips in 2021, one to Charlotte, NC in September and one to Myrtle Beach, SC in October. Dexter (my 2005 HD Ultra Classic) had a clutch cable issue on the Myrtle Beach trip that was not fixed until much later. The Charlotte trip was 685 miles roundtrip and the Myrtle Beach trip was 793 miles round trip for a combined total milage of 1,478 miles. For myself, even in non long distance trip years, that is very low mileage. 2021 was a planned off year for motorcycle trips to recover from the move from California to Georgia in the fall of 2020.
In 2022, I had ZERO miles on the motorcycle due to picking up a second part time job (Amazon warehouse) to help fund some projects that I was to impatient to wait to get done. After a year of working the 2nd part time gig, I had enough and quit (no time to do anything). So with my projects done (well mostly), The Midwest trip was greenlit for this year and I began securing the lodging, additional repairs for Dexter and other items for the trip in January 2023 (yes, I plan these trips out in advance (ask me where I am going in 2028 LOL)
Trip is planned to last 16 days starting on 1 September 2023 totaling about 4,800 miles round trip. Trip lodging will consist of both camping and motel stays (all pre-booked). States to be traveled through on this trip include Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Planned stops / destinations include Galesburg IL, Onawa IA, Sioux City IA, North Platte NE, Badlands SD, Black Hills SD, Powder River Basin WY, Devils Tower WY, Granite Falls MN, Renville MN, Wilmar MN, Twin Cities MN, and then back home near Atlanta GA. Many of the planned stops and destinations are railroad related which is another significant interest and hobby of mine (history and model railroading). Also, I will get to check off some states on my 50 states traveled by motorcycle bucket list. I have already rode in Georgia, Alabama, Minnesota, Iowa (however only along the Mississippi river), and Wisconsin. States receiving a check mark this trip will include Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming (after a failed attempt in 2019, but that is a story for another time).
More to come later…..probably, I am a very lazy and unreliable blogger 🙂
Wanderlust Lyfe 