Doniphan NE, Winter Quarters, Baxter springs KS

The day started Very Foggy, Damp and Cold. The tent was soaked with dew. I would take 5 degrees colder and dry and day.

Stopped in a Winter Quarters for a little tour and a few pictures.

These wagon wheel are darn near 6' tall, this one is showing a counter that would measure the distance traveled.

The sun stated to come out and warm up a bit as I traveled Baxter springs KS, passing in and out of Missouri a few times as I travel along the border. The sun disappeared and I could see that it had rained in a lot of the area I passed through later that day, luckily it missed me and didn't really get much colder. I looked for campsites along the way but they were either in the opposite direction down the end of 2 miles of slippery gravel road or just not a good place to stay. They must have had a lot of rain in this area. The country side is getting a little nicer to look at, some of the trees are starting to show signs of life and even a few trees in blossom.


Now in a motel again in Baxter Springs.Hung the soggy tent up in the shower to dry and catching up on my blog.



The next state will be Arkansas and from what I can tell the scenery should be much nicer.

Hotspring SD to a Campsite near Doniphan, NE

A pretty good day weather wise with my bike saying a high of 27, although I thinks that's at least a couple of degrees high. I still had a bit of nice scenery in SD. Not much in Nebraska though other than one place they called the Nebraska state forest.

Nebraska's idea of a scenic road is somewhat different than mine. Most of the area they called the sand hill but to me it just looked like rolling prairies.

Most of it was like the picture above, minus the trees.

Finally found an open campsite, near  Doniphan, NE.

Trying out the new stove and mattress.

This blogging takes a long time, going to bed, goodnight....................Hopefully will do some more in the morning.

Miles City to Mount Rushmore then on to Hot Springs SD.

Well I can't say there was anything spectacular in the Dakota's, well other than the longest straight stretches of road I have ever seen. At one place I went over twenty miles with out a bend in the road. I somehow missed the sign for South Dakota, probably something to do with the wind trying to rip my head off and me trying to hand on to it. Not all is lost for south Dakota though as just before Spearhead heading to Mount Rushmore the scenery started to improve, although along with that came snow, but not on the road. I finally found lots of campsite but unfortunately they were all closed, and mostly covered in snow. It was good to see Mount Rushmore and happy that I saw it in the off season. It looks like it would be a very busy place in the summer, judging from the numerous entry gates and parking areas.

Ended up the day in a Motel in Hotsprings South Dakota.

Miles City Montana

As I'm ended up in a Motel, I thought I should write a bit as I may not have internet again for awhile.

Mileage at the start of the Trip.

Well I finally got on my way. A bit of a delay as I realize my new front brake pad were dragging a little more than they should but problem solved but managed to damage my finger in the process but it should be fine in a few days. Rode to the border with Beth to pick up a few supplies at the shipping outlet that I needed for the trip and sent a few home with Beth. Weather not to cold but a little windy. It took a little longer than we thought picking up supplies so I wasn't planning on going to far but couldn't find a campsite so ended up in Mile City Montana and about 11PM. Far to long a ride and a little tense with the hundreds of dear I passed on the side of the rode. I pulled over and waited for a car to follow at a slower speed to lessen my chances of a close encounter with Bamby. It got down to about 5 degrees but not to bad with all my heated gear on.

Today I'm off to Mount Rushmore. The weather is looking pretty good but not terribly warm, it will probably hit the mid teens.

Waiting one more day.

Now leaving Wed. so that it won't be so cold. Looking forward to warmer climates.

For those interested in technology, here is a link to my Spot GPS locator, if you want you can see where I am as I travel. Password is sidecar.

https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=1oaLbq21BDmEV2JgSgr6IxrBidQ5Poa2I

Waiting for the weather to improve a little.

Well I have postponed the date that I leave due to poor weather. We had a little snow again last night which wouldn't be a big problem except the direction I am heading would be even colder. I am now planning to leave on Tue. the 23rd. It will still be cold but hopefully no snow. In Rapid city South Dakota where I will be passing through, it will only have a high of 6 on Wed. where this time of the year there normal high would be 17. So at night it may be a little cold in the tent as it will be below freezing. It looks like I will need to get into Georgia before I see weather in the low 20s, so I think it's going to be a cold journey south, but I'm sure my heated gear will keep me warm.