It is obvious now, looking back at some of the pictures posted by the riders that started their trek in California, that the best part of the trip was the west coast. But I didn't have 2 weeks to dedicate to the trip. I had only 1 week. So I made the best of what was available to me and spent my week traveling to Gillette, Wyoming to meet the 12 bikes and 20 riders near the end of their trip.

To get there, it was a mad dash on interstate highways, mostly, over the course of three days. There's a whole lot of country side between Columbus, Ohio and Cactus Flats, South Dakota and most of it looks the same. The wind farms west of Des Moines, Iowa were interesting, having never seen one in person before. But the scenery was painfully similar for nearly 1,000 miles, no offense to Indiana, Illinois, or Iowa.

The most exhilarating part of the trip was riding through the worst thunderstorm ever in Sioux City, Iowa. You know the weather is bad when cars start pulling over to the shoulder!

Afterwards, the skies turned blue, the sun came out, and we motored on to I-90 west. We traveled I-90 until we arrived at Cactus Flats where John and I toured the Badlands National Park.

The route through the park took us about an hour and a half including several stops for photos of vistas and desolation. When we exited we were just minutes away from Wall, South Dakota, our destination for the night. We had the entire next day to travel 100 miles to Gillette, WY and meet up with the rest of the group. Some sight seeing was in order.

On the way to Sundance, WY

The Sundance, WY city jail. The locals said it was the jail where the Sundance Kid was held but since he and Butch Cassidy died in Bolivia in 1903, this wasn't the same one.

We hooked up with the California riders later the third day in Gillette, WY, about 40 miles away. It was good to see my friends, hear their stories, and tell a few of our own.

After dinner and a good night's sleep we headed for Devil's Tower.

To be continued...