Day 12 already? Honestly some of the days are blending together so it hardly feels like 12 but on the other hand it seems like ages since I've seen my dog or slept in my own bed.
Lots of forward thinking this evening but let's recap the day first. The gravel road out of the campground was a piece of cake. I'm not over the phobia of gravel I developed sliding across it beside my toppled motorcycle in Alberta but I'm getting back to normal. It used to be I was cautious but unconcerned on gravel. The day or two after I eyed every gravel road I spied with contempt. Today I had the chance to do the same type of thing, take a gravel road rather than backtrack, and the gravel seemed in much better condition than the stuff I spilled on- but alas I did the backtrack. Someday I'll go back to my carefree ways but for the rest of this trip I'm avoiding prior mistakes. Not that its completely avoidable. There were a few long detours today that added to my milage. One such detour took me through another construction zone with signs, "slow - loose gravel road, Kevin". The last part is an exageration but seriously, loose gravel again! Of course this stuff wasn't really loose. I've become quite a gravel connoisseur and this was hardly loose at all!
After the gravel I put on some highway miles and realized I was getting close to Mitchel, SD, home of the Corn Palace. My previous trip to the area was a work trip to Sioux Falls. Mitchel is about 50 miles away. My coworker Lori and I briefly entetained the idea of a road trip but it would have been at night, after work so we decided to skip it. Well today there would be no skipping and I'm glad I made the stop. I saw the Corn Palace, kinda impressive but, there was also a car show going on! All kinds of classic and muscle cars lining the road and rolling down the strip. And best of all, right out front was a Ford F100 truck, my favorite classic car and the one I've been doing an electic conversion on for a while. This one was lowered and a flat grey. Not my favorite finish for that model but not bad, probably my second or third choice and I'm not a fan of lowered trucks but just to see such a beautiful car made me drool. So of course I went across the street and got a muffin and smoothie. The sign out front said bear claw but I discovered that's an ice cream flavor they have... slight disappointment but I got over it and probably better off. And thanks to Lori, if I had gone to the Corn Palace the first day I probably would have skipped it today and missed the cars.
St. Cloud seemed nice and I crossed the Mississippi there today. Lots of places to eat but I wanted to see what Milaca had to offer.
Slight mechanical issue to report. Remember that mirror I fixed so quickly? Well to fix it right I need two wrenches, I have one so I kinda just finger tightened it. Not enough, went over a bridge seam on the highway and my mirror swings in on me. Oops. I rode with it that way for a while then got tired of it and pulled my bike apart to get at the tool kit under the seat. Now it should be good until I get home and do it right. It really is a cool mechanism but the requirement for two wrenches is a little cumbersome for a solo rider. Ignoring that I could stop at any mechanic who works on anything, cars, bikes, bicycles and borrow a wrench for 2 minutes...
And now I'm in Milaca at a Super 8 motel. I did camp last night after I told everybody camping was done... but I realized I hadn't camped in the US on this trip, my friend Anna has recomended KOAs and it was *right* there. Why Milaca? It was kinda on the way to where I wanted to get to and I have a friend in Boston who grew up here so I decided to check it out.
Back to the forward thinking of the evening. With the trip winding down I'm trying to plan what days are left to spread the miles out and put me where I want to be to finish the trip. I figure I want to be in Ithaca the last night so that leaves two nights in Michigan to think about. I think I have it worked out to 3 ~400 mile days (which is what I've been averaging) then the final day home.
Hope the weather holds out, it's been beautiful. Happy Saturday night everybody!
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