Saturday, August 1, 2015

Road Trip Day 1–MN to MO

Road Trip Day #1

This morning I left at sunrise to ride the 540 miles from Minneapolis, MN to Saint Louis, MO. I took my trusty SV650. It has been a great travelling companion; I’ve put nearly 60,000 miles on it since I bought it five years ago. This will be the trip to get that elusive 49th state and watch some MotoGP on the way back.

Road Trip Day #1

The first stop was Iowa of course. It was cool most of the morning in the low 60s. Perfect riding weather and a much welcomed change from the heat of summer. The early hour meant the roads were empty as well another bonus.

Road Trip Day #1

Why do you confuse me with signs like this Iowa?? Huh? Denver? waaay to flat. haha.

Road Trip Day #1

I stopped for lunch at Trumpet Blossom cake was involved. If you want to read more about it, check out my full review: Trumpet Blossom - Iowa City, IA

Trump Blossom Iowa CIy, IA

I saw this cool plane at the Iowa City airport. I had to make a u-turn to get the photo. It was fun to see.

Road Trip Day #1

Finally! Missouri! It was starting to get quite warm at this point, and I was tired of corn. Missouri actually has a few trees. I stopped near some and made a short YouTube video. Riding in US-61 in MO was familiar. I did part of it in 2010 on my Great River Ride when I rode the entire length of the Mississippi River.

Road Trip Day #1

I couldn’t resist stopping for this picture in Hannibal, MO. I recently saw “Damn Yankees” and one of the characters claimed to be from Hannibal.

Road Trip Day #1

Giant purple ape wearing a yellow ducky brandishing fireworks in front of an American flag. I don’t need to say anything else. It speaks for itself.

Road Trip Day #1

Finally, after nearly 11 hours of riding, I made it to Saint Louis and checked into my hotel to enjoy a cold shower and some air conditioning. I love they landscaped the front with these cool banana looking plants. We don’t have these in Minnesota.

Road Trip Day #1

Tomorrow, I will meet up with Keith and then head to Memphis!

 

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10 comments:

  1. Awesome ... I'm sure the SV650 is thrilled to be going with you! Can't wait to hear about the rest of the journey. I'm jealous.

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    1. So far so good. Sv and I are having fun while trying to figure out how to stay cool

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  2. Good to see you on the road. Enjoy your trip. The gorilla (or better it wearing that rubber ducky swim support) cracked me up.

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    1. Thanks! It had me laughing as well. So silly looking.

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  3. Hooray, a road trip - and you get to meet up with Keith. Bonus.

    Cool ape too.

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    1. Yay roadtrips! And finally a motorcycle one. Keith was great to see again this morning.

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  4. Love the ape! Sounds like a lovely morning on an arduous day. I can relate on the getting tired of corn sentiment.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! It was a long day. Today felt harder because of the heat even though it was 250 miles shorter

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  5. That's a long day but it's always nice to get a lot of miles in on the first day. Now you leave it as a guessing game on what the 49th state is.

    I'm guessing FL…

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    1. I agree. Get as far away from home as possible on the first day.

      Need to borrow the ape's water accessory to get the last state...

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