One of the. I'm the "K" in DK.

 

thanks. Why not using the feet?

 

Just wanted to remind you to watch out for flooded roads.
lots of flooding in Missouri and Iowa

 

Actually my question was for Kevin, but happy to have your input too. Thanks.

My toy hauler has tie down rings in the floor, but no chock. I hauled it once without a chock . . . big mistake. One the way home the bike tipped over. Bent my handlebars and buggered up my saddle bag. Didn't do the floor or the wall of the toy hauler any favors either.

 

I could, but figured it would be better for the floor of the trailer to have the weight spread across the entire bar than in just two spots where the feet are.



Thank you!

Yeah, crazy flooding. Lots of roads closed, including chunks of the 29. We took an alternate route and picked up the 29 north of Omaha.

 

We have been in the Black Hills for a couple of days....after meeting up with Bill in Souix Falls on Friday.

However, where we're camped (until Thursday morning) has no cell service/internet. So the updates on the Ride Report will be sparse until we get somewhere with service.

I will try and get started with the actual daily Ride Report tomorrow...we'll see.

Been having a great time, went to Deadwood & Spearfish today. Rode Spearfish Canyon twice!

We could move to where there is internet...but we are camped right next to a stream that leads into a small lake...all only about 30 yards from us.



Here's a photo-

 

Wow! If people give you flack about trailering your bike you can cry all the way to the campsite by the lake!

 

I see this in my future, for at least some of my trips.
Once I retire even more.
My wife is not much for riding since her accidents.
She knows I can't give the bike up, but we want to see the country & I want the chance to ride it.

 

this one works for me. Bolt holes to hold it.

https://www.cyclegear.com/accessorie...on-wheel-chock

 

Day 1-

We left late in the afternoon, headed up the 55.

First stop was at Boomland. We've been stopping here whenever we're in the area for close to 2 decades.

Mary likes the big selection of hot sauces and various canned items.



Leaving there we continued north, toward St. Louis. Thousands of acres of flooded farmland!

Late afternoon we ran into a "first" in Missouri. A dust storm! Cross-wind was 30-40 mph and everyone slowed down to 45-50, not just from the wind, but also the reduced visibility as dust was thick across the interstate.

No Photos, I was busy and Mary was nervous. lol

After getting clear of that, we found a rest area to spend the night...but not before Mary got the first cloud (and sunset) pic of the trip.





Day 2-

No photos for today. Not sure what we were thinking.

Ran thru Missouri and got into Iowa. Big chunks of 29 was closed due to flooding, so we took a different route. Ended of traveling thru many different country lanes to get north, around the flooding.

Finally ended up on 34. Even it was closed heading into Council Bluffs and Omaha!

Picked up the 29 north of Omaha and stopped in a rest area just outside of Sioux City for the night.


Day 3-

Headed to Sioux Falls and met Bill on his 2016 Tri Glide. Sharp ride.

We had a good visit, covering a variety of subjects. Super glad he made the trip down to meet us. Good people.

After our visit we headed west on the 90. Bill had recommended we stop at the Chamberlain Rest Area, just east of the Missouri River.

We did. 50 foot tall Native American Indian "Dignity" Statue there-





Inside the visitor center/rest area is a Lewis & Clark Museum. Very interesting. We spent about an hour going thru looking at all the exhibits and reading info on their expedition.







Leaving the rest area we crossed the Missouri River...






...and settled in for the long road across southern SD toward the Black Hills.






When we got to the Badlands we drove thru the park, but took very few photos...






...our plan was to stay on a bluff above the Badlands...






...we could have camped right here, and then taken the bike and ridden thru the Badlands the next day...






...but there was rain in the distance, headed our way. We did not want to get stuck here, 1 mile down a "road" that turns to mud when it rains.

Here's just a little taste of the mile dirt road to the bluffs...




...some of the ruts were much deeper, where folks before us had gotten stuck.

So, we headed to yet another Rest area for the night. Mile Marker 100. Got a great sleep.

Continued in next post.