2016 Lower 48 No Interstate Tour - Day 50

[chetandmarj]

Hello from Rapid City, SD!

Since we last posted we have been to Peoria, IL where we lived until 2004. Got to visit with lots of old friends. Then we stopped in Ladd, IL for some of the best fried chicken ever at Rip's Tavern. Cruised along the Mississippi river up to LaCrosse, WI. Headed over to Wausau, WI after a stop in Chippewa Falls, WI to get the oil changed at Sport Motors. Had a great visit with the guys there about some cool roads to ride in the UP. They are added to the list or future tours.

On to Watersmeet, MI where we met up with some friends who winter near us in Alamogordo, NM. Across the UP to Duluth, MN. We had a layover day in Duluth where our son and daughter-in-law met us for the afternoon. They were headed back to TX after a week in the BWCA. After they left, we headed on up to Grand Marais, MN for a 3-day layover. One of our favorite places to visit, we were in a condo on Grand Marais harbor...it rained most of the time we were there, so we just chilled most of the time. We did get a chance to ride up the Gunflint Trail to visit with our BWCA outfitter, Tuscarora Outfitters to plan a camping trip in September.

From MN, we headed on over to Fargo, ND. Saw "the wood chipper" from the Fargo movie...pretty darn cool! On to Bismarck, ND and then to Rapid City, SD. Bad routing to avoid the interstate...we ended up on 40 miles of gravel road coming into Rapid City. Gave us a good excuse to give the Spyder a bath!

Went to Mount Rushmore yesterday..hoped to ride the Needles Highway, but Mother Nature had other ideas. It rained all afternoon, so we hung out at Mount Rushmore and visited with fellow motorcyclists who were waiting out the rain as well. And now we are waiting for another storm to pass through before we head to Nebraska and on to Wyoming today.

We have had great weather so far and really only a few rainy days that have impacted our riding plans. Having a blast!

As always...ride safe and enjoy the ride!

Chet and Marj

We don't get a chance to update here as often as we would like. If you want to read more about the trip check out our blog: www.L48NI.wordpress.com/L48NI and on facebook: www.facebook.com/L48NI. If you add your email to our blog, you'll get an email when we post our daily updates. The facebook page does not require you to be "on facebook", so you can ignore any messages that indicate you have to "sign up" or "join". If you are a Facebook-er, "like" our page and you'll get our updates in your news feed.
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[jimclarkf1]

you guys are the envy of most of us. keep up smiles coming