100 Motorcycles in McDonald's Parking Lot - MUST BE STURGIS !!!

One Very Long Drive - One Very Interesting Breakfast

Friday, August 9th, 2019 - Gillette, WY to Albert Lea, MN

I knew this was going to be a long day when I got on the Interstate and my GPS unit stated that my next turn was 655 miles away.

I got on the road around 6:30 AM. I had originally planned to leave earlier, but the blown fuse on my running lights prevents me driving before sunrise. I immediately filled up with gas before venturing onto the highway. I chose to do this that I could ride for 2-3 hours before my first stop. After yesterday's close calls, I kept a keen eye on the gas gauge. It is difficult to see instruments when driving into the sun because I am looking through three layers of protection (safety glasses, sun visor and face shield).

The electronic highway signs said things like: "Live to Ride, Ride to Live" and "Watch out for Motorcycles". This is the main route into the Black Hills, and this is the week that bikers converge on the little town of Sturgis South Dakota which transforms from a sleepy little town to a major metropolis for 10-days every year. I have attached a photo from the internet that shows what Main Street looks like this year. I wasn't going to stop if there was any traffic but since it was around 8:00 AM there was none, so I decided to stop at the McDonald's for breakfast. The line was not very long, and I enjoyed my Egg McMuffin. I was able to restock my mug with ice water for the trip. I decided to not fight the crowds to get a T-Shirt or to ride down Main Street although I was tempted to. But since I needed to cover many miles before sunset, I decided to get back on the highway.

It seemed like I stopped at many of the same remote gas stations today as I did last year on my trip. The morning started off in the 60's and I shed the leather jacket around 10:00 AM when the temperature was 79. The ride after that was quite pleasant in my long-sleeved T-Shirt. The wind forced my sleeves up on my wrists, so I was glad that I had put on some SPF-30 sunscreen. By the end of the trip, I will have some very strange tan lines on my wrists and back of my hands.

I stopped at a truck stop in Vivian for gas and a quick break. Lots of motorcycles as people are heading home. There were a large number of bikes still heading to Sturgis for the rally. I grabbed a small order of fried chicken wings. When I pulled in, I was thinking of putting the leather jacket back on since it was starting to get cool again and it looked like there was a storm ahead. However, when I finished eating, the storms had moved north, the sun was out, and the temperatures were in the low 80's. I remained in long-sleeves for most of the afternoon.

I hit some construction traffic as I was leaving Sioux Falls but got around it quickly. By staying in the lane that was closed ahead until the last minute, I was able to pass what seemed like a mile (hundreds) of vehicles. I typically refer to this as my "Chicago School of Offensive Driving Skills" which I perfected in the 1970 thru 1990-timeframe.

I put on the leather jacket for the last 200-miles, since it was getting cooler and it looked like I was heading into some weather. I was lucky that I didn't run into any rain, however, in some areas the road was wet from an earlier storm that I was fortunate to miss.

I arrived in the city of Albert Lea Minnesota around 7:00 PM and grabbed a bite at a Taco John's. I love their Steak Street Tacos. I had some potato nuggets and cheese dip which had a little kick to it. I took my time and enjoyed not eating pizza again. The hotel was a couple of blocks down the street and I got settled in just before sunset. Lots of motorcycles everywhere.

It was a total of 13 hours of travel time today and I covered 673.3 miles. I decided to change up my plans and spend Saturday afternoon and evening with my granddaughter and her family. I think I will take advantage of her good nature to do two loads of laundry that I have accumulated over the past week.