July 30         861 miles
 Miles of asphalt today, Ottawa at rush hour and got lost in Montreal back in Maine late! Rain 50 miles before the Boarder and 50 miles after then clear moon lit skies. Glad to be home, the best thing is to have a full size pillow again. I wanted a photo of the welcome to Maine but it was raining to hard!! Now off to the coast to play it the ocean, from coast to coast.

July 29 th                545 miles
 Very cool morning to start, up early and on the road. From Buhlua Wisconsin to Espanloa Ontario. Modeled it tonight on the road till almost dark.A sweet lady was the owner. Tomorrow another long day! Back into the eastern time zone again. A rain shower spoiled my record of no rain too. The excitement of the day was a deer 10 ft away at 6:30 am on the side of the road.

July 28                  303 miles
 Met some great folks from St.Paul last night. They came into the camping ground on motorcycles  and set up tents. They were just out for a overnight. Mike ,his wife Deb,there daughter and boyfriend. We went to the local VFW for a few beers. Had a great time a typical American town. Another clear day to start cool  in the 60's. Went from Dawson Minn. to Buhlua WI. Back on to Rt 2 again. The coolest thing of the day was to see a large bird, I thought it was a Turkey vulture over road kill. When it turned to pick up the road kill it was a Bald Eagle, it was about 50 ft away when I went by. Wish I could get the camera out quicker.

July 27           419 miles.
  Cool and partly cloudy to start. Camped outside the Badlands, the area outside the park is as cool as the park itself. The road east is strait and rolling farm land. Still fields of sunflower,corn and wheat as far as you can see. I can see how we can feed the world! The American farmers are the best! This part of the country doesn't need to be watered like the west. The grasslands are green from mother nature. Lots of miles today, into Minn. hope to make Rt 2 again tomorrow. 4-5 days from home. Cool tonight 40's in the 60's today. The great lakes influence.

July 26th               252 miles
 A cool and partly cloudy day to start. Thunder showers at 3 am but by morning clear to partly cloudy. Stayed in Spearfish SD. last night.Stopped in Sturgis to say that I was there. It's definitely a Harley town. A week before the big week there are bikes every where. From there to Crazy horse. A great story behind it. All the money is private money no Government money. The work is being carried on by the family of the original sculpture. Five Indian chiefs  contracted him to do the work. The work started with just one person! A man with a vision. Now they use much more advanced equipment. Then off to Mt. Rushmore didn't go to the visitors center to many tourist! Lots of buffalo in the park and they stop traffic just like the ones in Yellowstone did. Took the Needles road very curvy but lots of sand and gravel so looked for another way out of the park and took the Iron mountain road! Another miles of smiles, 317 curves on the road only a few buffalo. Lots of fun still wearing the sides of the tires yahoo! Would recommend to any one on two wheels. From there to Wall SD. to have a buffalo burger and a 5ct coffee. Then into the Badlands National park. Very cool, looks like every time it rains the sand runs to the bottom. It changes all the time. The native people called it the bad land to cross because of the harsh conditions. Stayed outside the park and will start to head east tomorrow. So still lots of highway to go. 6496 miles so far.

July 25      371 miles

Another day of sun and fun from Cody Montana to Spearfish SD. From Cody to Buffalo was just great another high pass 9600 ft. From hot to cold to hot again! Took a side trip to Devil's tower  another natural site that are amazing to see. The native lore is the children were saved from the bear,the marks on the side of the plateau are from the bears claws trying to get the children. As I get closer to Sturgis there are a lot of bikes on trailers at all the camp grounds. They are missing the adventure of the trip. I met a couple in Beartooth pass from Minnesota. the put the bike in the back of the pickup then rode when the got to a central place of interest they rode two up. They could carry a lot more equipment, I carry 120+lbs. It would be nice to have someone to take photos, so I could keep both hands on the handle bars!

July 24        334 miles
 Into Yellowstone the first large animal was a elk off in the distance. Next thing was a buffalo in the middle of the road. Like a moose they go where they want to, or just stand in the middle of the road to stop traffic! He thought the road was his just like moose do. Cars didn't bother them. Of course every one had to take photos. So at every buffalo there was a traffic jamb.Traffic was backed for more than a mile or better for the first heard of buffalo! Glad I was on a motorcycle to go around most of the traffic. The park is truly beautiful every where you look.Went to see Old Faithful but didn't want to wait for the eruption with all the people, I could see a huge traffic jamb after with all the people leaving at once. Lots of traffic every where,not much room to enjoy the twisty roads. The best riding was from the Northeast entrance to Red Lodge. Known as the Beartooth pass. The pass is the highest pass in the area at 10,958 ft. Not much time to take photos because of all the turns! A great place to ware the sides of the tires,would recommend the ride to everyone on two wheels. The best yet, miles and miles of twists.Had dinner in Red Lodge then off to Cody Mt. to camp. I know that the tent can stand lots of wind! At 3am I woke to a 50 mph wind, had to look to see if my bike was still standing! Heading to Spearfish SD. tomorrow.

July 23     372 miles
   From Boise to West Yellowstone, the town of west Yellowstone is at 7700 ft. A very touristy town. No rain yet still blue skies. Could use some rain to wash the smoke out of the air. Couldn't see the mountains because of the smoke. Once in the mountains from the plains the sky was blue again. Will go through Yellowstone tomorrow out the northeast entrance to Red Lodge over Beartooth pass. The town is a typical tourist town. I did get to do laundry,hope its the last time before home. Saw the first antelope today a long way across the fields.

July 22               269 miles
 Still blue sky and no clouds!    Woke during the night to the smell of smoke, had to get up to see if the campground was on fire. I was safe but the smoke form the parries fires. I couldn't get back to sleep so it was up early and on the road. From Ochoco national forest in Oregon  to Boise Id. From the cool of the mountains to the high dessert heat! The ride down from the mountains to the plains was great. Great views and curvy roads. You could see the smoke in the valleys. Having trouble with photo uploads. Be back soon.