2023 (3) US 15 Best

 We overnight in Charleston, WV.

Monday morning we make the 110 Mi ride north-ish to Little Hocking, Ohio in order to ride the Triple Nickel of Ohio. 

On the way..

Bob, Indian rider and the chairman over the 15 best meets us at the Marathon gas station and rode the Triple Nickel with us. It was a great pleasure both riding and having lunch with Bob.

First the paperwork

Bob and yours truly

We had the dieters special at this Diner (they are closed on Monday haha) but we thought their sign was a good photo op.

More mid-ride photos

We take a nice rest and then leave the next day riding north -  our plan is to ride the Great River Road from Prairie du Chien Wisconsin to La Crosse Wisconsin.

On our way there we passed through Peoria Illinois and see this beautiful cathedral.

Then we enjoy a superb lunch in this church converted to a restaurant.

We end up in Rock Island Illinois to spend the night. We leave early the next morning and enjoy a nice ride up to Prairie du Chien Wisconsin.

The paper work..

The Great River Road was a very nice, very relaxed ride with beautiful views of the Mississippi River. 

We finished the road- stopped to eat then got a room in Winona Wisconsin to get some shut eye.

So we have completed 7 roads  now it's time to go home. 

Riding South and West into South Dakota we stop at the Porter Sculpture Park.

 Wayne the proprietor/artist and I talked for a good long while and solved most of the world's problems.... 

But the day was fading fast so we took our leave and went to Mitchel SD 45 minutes away and found a hotel.

We see numerous weather alerts and storm and flood warnings for the local area that we're in - South Dakota - but when we leave the next morning there's no precipitation where we're at but the winds were horrendous!

360 miles of brutal sidewinds  finally gets us to Alliance Nebraska where we go and see the carhenge.

On the way to carhenge I see a car pulled off the road. A mom and teen aged daughter. 'Do you need help?' I ask.

They have run out of gas the nearest tiny town is 5 miles away.

No prob.. I have a spare gallon on the bike. As I'm pouring the last drops in the tank mom hops into the car and starts it up.... I got the gas cap on mere seconds before she moved a few feet forward then stopped.

The teen girl got out approached me and asked, "can I offer you anything?"

I wanted to ask her what "anything" meant but instead I just said, "no thanks" she said a quick "thanks" got back in the car and they were gone!

We spend the restful night in Alliance then in the morning we head for home. I met a couple fun guys near Brush Colorado we had a fun conversation and then its back to the road. 

This is Mikey and Isaiah is behind the camera

Mikey and Isaiah work hard in the agricultural industry  keeping Farms productive.

And then 100 miles away from home I see this guy (Kurt) on the side of the road I pull over to see if he needs help and he does not but we chat and trade motorcycle stories for a while.

Kurt has one of the best stories I've ever heard and he tells me it's on video as well. Kurt and friends were riding down one of California's beautiful Motorcycle Roads in the dark of night when they had a deer encounter. Just when he thought he was clear a fawn ran in the road and somehow jumped up and landed in Kurt's lap, I believe he told me it was about 20 ft or so before the fawn was able to jump and get out of his lap and run off into the woods.

Amazing!!

Then back on the road and I finally make it home.

This was a great trip 5,730 MI. We saw so many awesome things and had a great time everyday! 

I asked Bev what are we going to do next year to top this trip? Well we'll just have to wait and see.

Life is GOOD, but its even GOODER when your Honey goes on the trip with you!