Journey to the Sun 2017 Motorcycle Trip

Day 5 - Wednesday August 2, Chadron, NE to Wall, SD Distance:  331km,  Time: 8:00hrs, Cloudy, Partly sunny and Showers and Sunny, Warm 27c to 16c Overnight: Best Western Plains, 712 Glenn st., Wall, SD This was a short day of about 300km, but there several cloud burst which made for some interesting riding.  It also made for putting rain gear twice, finely just got wet as it was not worth stopping plus there was no cover.  But fresh rain on grass has a very unique scent. - there were 3 wardrobe changes today. The owner of the Westerner had some road/route advice, which i did not follow or I would have been on a gravel road, I stuck to my original GPS route and came North on Long Valley and then West to Interior, SD, putting me in the middle of Badlands NP. Visited about 15% of the Badlands National Park, very busy, but will be back on Thursday to complete the loop, but starting out at 8am. Today's highlight was visiting a control/launch complex for a...

Day 4 - Tuesday August 1, Lexington, NE to Chadron, NE Distance:  585km,  Time: 11:00hrs, Sunny Hot 31c - 20c Overnight: Westerner Inn, 300 Oak St., Chadron, NE (***), Clean Yes i am still in Nebraska, but in the extrame Northwestern pan handle, also know as coal country on the Union Pacific and BNSF Railroads, so no trip west would be complete without a stop at the largest railroad classification year in the world, and that would be UP's Bailey Yard, in North Platt, NE,which is 8 miles long and two miles across, with over 10,000 cars per day and well over 100 trains per day, it is a busy place.  There is an 8 story observation tower called the Golden Spike Tower, which provide a dramatic overview of the yard. Lunch was in the town of Julesburg, CO., and yes I was in Colorado, if one for a few miles, but this was another state of my list.  I was sitting have lunch in the D&J Cafe and I was approached by a man who commented on my motorcycle out front, he o...

Day 3 - Monday July 31, 2017 Coralville, IA to Lexington, NE Distance:  762km,  Time: 9:45hrs, Sunny Hot 29c - 20c Overnight: Comfort Inn,  2810 Plum CreekPkwy, Lexington, NE (****), clean Another long day, I knew the first three days would be a slug, each was designed to get out West in the shortest period of time, so lots of KM's. But I got an early start at 7:00am to beat the heat and the traffic of Omaha, which is horrific, with 8 lanes of road and cars and trucks everywhere plus all under construction, anyway made it through with nerves of steel. The only remarkable place for a photo is at the Archway of the West on I-80, west of Lincoln, NE, the real name is Great Platte River Road Archway, looks like a big wooden fort, but it spans all 4 lanes of the I-80.  There is purpose to this, if you research the history of the Oregon Trail this was called the Archway to the West.