May 29: The road has been calling my name ....

The road has been calling my name and it has been saying "Go west young man, go west" - so that is what I did this morning.  I headed west across Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana and I'm spending the night in Billings (853 miles).  Unfortunately, the weather has not been cooperating very well.  It rained for about 2/3 of the trip today and it never got above 55 degrees and it was 48 degrees during the last several hours.  The forecast for Montana for the next few days isn't very good either.  Some places in the mountains are expecting more than 1 foot of snow!  I am still trying to determine what to do tomorrow - I guess I will look at the forecast in the morning and decide if I continue with my planned route, try an alternative route, or just hold up for a day and let some of it pass.

I am spending the night at a Motel 6 as I wasn't going to set up a tent in the rain and spend a cold wet night sleeping in the rain after driving in it all day!


One item I purchased prior to this trip is an electric heated coat liner.  It plugs into the battery on the motorcycle and has a thermostat to adjust the level of heat.  It came in very helpful today!

The highlight of the day had to be all the wildlife I saw (because the roads weren't very exciting!).  I saw deer, antelope, fox, turkey, swans, pelicans, geese, ducks, pheasants and more.  Fortunately, they all staid their distance from the road.

Now for the farm report:  This has obviously been a went spring across this entire region.  Many of the farm fields still haven't been touched due to the wet conditions.  In some spots farmers have been able to get a few crops planted, but even then, some of them are now under water.  This is a major contrast from last year when farmers were able to get crops planted very early.  At this point, the fall harvest will likely be reduced due to the late planting or inability to plant at all.


That is all for today. Hoping the weather improves quickly!