Across Iowa

I successfully made it to the University of Iowa on the first day of the trip. I visited my friend Drew, who you can read about under the 'Great People' list. He even gave me the bed in his spare room, no sleeping on the floor! The next morning I woke up to heavy clouds and warnings of all day showers and possible severe storms, so I jumped on my bike wearing my goofy looking rain suit and tried to outrun it. At 65 mph bugs feel like paint balls when they hit you and raindrops feel like needles. I eventually came out of the storm and saw nothing but sunny, blue sky in front of me and slate gray nasty skies in my mirrors.

At first I was downright giddy to be on the road again but that eventually gave way to me slumping over in my seat and hoping for something worth stopping for... besides gas and finding out that my saddle bags are burning. My bike is only getting 32 mpg for some reason and it is forcing me to stop every 80 miles to fill up. Hopefully, there will be gas stations every 80 miles in South Dakota and something more to look at than the Iowa landscape.

Last night I stayed with some friend's of Drew's friend. She offered to set me up with some old college buddies of hers. They were very nice and had a comfortable couch, which I passed out on while they drank beer and watched T.V. until late into the night. Riding a motorcycle all day takes a lot out of you and leaves you wanting to skip any small talk and go right to sleep.

Today is all South Dakota and I hope I have enough time to make it to the Badlands by this evening. Wish me luck.