Ride Report- Mississippi to Alaska & Back - Pic Heavy

[DK Custom Products]

We stopped at Lewie's and enjoyed some food, and watched hundreds of bikes passing by on their way into Deadwood.



Relaxed, full and in no hurry.




We did eventually leave Lewie's. Back on Old Spearfish Canyon Road...



Enjoying the bike, the wind, the road and the amazing views.





About half-way back we pulled over to check out the stream (river?) that the road follows.



Decided to go down and play in the water a little...



...ok, Mary stayed on the rocks...I played in the water. lol



If you get up this way, there is a new road that goes into Deadwood, it is a nice 4 lane, with some good views and nice curves. However, the old canyon road is far nicer..whether just lazing along, or getting aggressive on it...



It is one of our favorite roads.



That's the last of Spearfish. We have 3 more days of riding to get back home.




Next up is the long, hot, windy, straight trek across the Badlands and the rest of SD before turning south.

[Bill Reber]

Man oh man what a one in a liftime ride !

[DK Custom Products]

Headed out to a Rally in the morning. Will finish the Ride Report next week!

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Man oh man what a one in a liftime ride !

Yes, you are right! When we set out we had no idea how amazing this trip would be...it has indeed been an adventure, and we made some fantastic memories!

I have a confession to make, and I feel like a bag of rotten dog poop. I never followed this thread from beginning to end, just jumped around a bit from time to time. When I realized that you were going through British Columbia, I decided to be a little more thorough. Being on night shift this week, I had lots of spare time, so I started from the beginning and went through all 23 pages. I found out that you passed through my home town, Prince George, not once, but twice! Once on the way to Alaska, and again on the way back home. Now, If I would have been on the ball, I would have loved to meet up with you, maybe even ride a few miles with you. I bet after all that time on the road you would have loved a home cooked meal for a change. So sorry I missed you.

Anyway, I really enjoyed riding along with you on your journey through these pages, what a wonderful time you must of had. And a great job of keeping us informed all the way from start to finish. I'm hoping to do something similar when I retire in the next year or two.

Hey! No problem. Would have been great to meet up, but we have every intention of being back in BC again in the next year or so. It is an AMAZING Province you live in, and we want to more fully explore it!

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Ok, today we are going to Sioux City, IA. 490 miles of fairly flat & straight interstate.

Leaving out of Spearfish....there is a sculpture of a speared fish on the main drag.



Getting on the 90 to start our trek.




The 90 between Spearfish and Sturgis...the very little bit of road we traveled where there were any trees.



Leaving Sturgis and the Black Hills behind...headed for the Badlands.




We contemplated hitting Wall Drug for a look around...but we spent a few hours there last year and really wanted to beat feet to SC.




So we passed up Wall Drug and the scenic route thru the Badlands....



For some long fairly flat and straight miles....




Lots and lots of those miles.



At this point we have about 220 miles done for the day...about 270 to go. We are happy that it is not as hot as it can be...it's about 85*, but we have traveled this road when it was 100*+



More in next post.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Between the last picture and this we traveled 73 miles of nothing that would look any different than the pics already posted for the first 220 miles.




Whenever I get up to 90 or more MPH, Mary likes to take a pic of the speedo.... yeah, I think she might have gotten tired of looking at the hay & corn fields too.



Oh, she must have really gotten bored...here's one with the cruise set at 82 mph.

btw, the lower left gauge is an oil temp showing 210*. I have been very happy with the adjustments I made to get the engine temp down.



I have no idea how far she had to lean out to get this shot. lol



Mary in the mirror.

If you gotta eat up some interstate miles, there is no doubt the Tri-Glide is a comfortable way to do it. 90 mph, CD playing and a couple of fingers on the right side handlebar to keep it going straight.



At Sioux Falls, SD we turn south on 29 to head toward Sioux City, IA



Almost there....



Yep, I'm waving at our shadow for Mary to get a pic of it. lol



Mary got some nice cloud pics right about the time we were getting to Sioux City.



Classic...there was a cornfield right next to the motel.



Next report will be to Boonville, MO

Kevin

[Uturn]

New to the forum, new to your trip, which was undoubtly fantastic.
How did you guys pack for such a long trip? I haven't seen a trailer, so did you camp, hotel, or . . ?
My longest covered a little over 3K miles, had a z-bag, tent, many changes of underclothes. but I was alone. How'd you do it?
Uturn

[DK Custom Products]

New to the forum, new to your trip, which was undoubtly fantastic.
How did you guys pack for such a long trip? I haven't seen a trailer, so did you camp, hotel, or . . ?
My longest covered a little over 3K miles, had a z-bag, tent, many changes of underclothes. but I was alone. How'd you do it?
Uturn

We do have a cargo trailer, and a pop-up tent trailer. We opted not to take either of those and stay in motels along the way.

Post #148 on page 13 has a pretty detailed list of what we took, how it was organized and how we fit it all in.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Headed out of Sioux City toward Boonville, MO. We only have a few more States and we'll be back home.

Could definitely make it home today...would be a long day, but we are a bit melancholy about the trip coming to an end and are not rushing.

Packed up and ready to roll...lol, I'm not a morning person.



Today is a combination of farmland and cities...



...and construction. That is one long overpass!



Some sort of modern art.



The weather is nice today...not hot, not cold....and LOTS of farmland. There is no doubt that I am thankful for the farmers that grow food so we don't need to grow all our own, but it is not great riding scenery.



This crop-duster made for some interesting viewing. His first pass we saw was right over our heads, QUITE A BIT lower than in this pic!



Decided to empty the gas can...from here on out there is no way we will need it, so it is nice to get that weight off the TP lid.



lol, Mary has some strong opinions that she does not mind sharing with anyone.



More in next post.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Entering into Missouri, we will be in this State the rest of the day, plus a good part of tomorrow. Then all that is left is some in Arkansas, clip the corner of Tennessee, and then 45 minutes into Mississippi and we are home.



Mary's stash pocket...amazing how much she fits in there.



Traffic, and lots of road choices...we're not in the Yukon anymore.



Made it thru the city and back in the farmland.



Someones getting a pool! Wonder what the turbulence would be like behind that thing. Yep, I'm bored. lol



We're getting into a bit of hill country in MO now.



This is the cafe right next to the motel we stayed in.



Next report is the final one of us getting back home!

Kevin

[dano309]

WOW...just amazing.....what an adventure you guys have done........I am getting my trike in febuary of 2014....hope to take a few trips as well....but nothing like you guys just did.....I've followed ya'll the whole way.......all I can say is "WHAT A RIDE".....LOL
glad you all have had a safe trip.....

[DK Custom Products]

WOW...just amazing.....what an adventure you guys have done........I am getting my trike in febuary of 2014....hope to take a few trips as well....but nothing like you guys just did.....I've followed ya'll the whole way.......all I can say is "WHAT A RIDE".....LOL
glad you all have had a safe trip.....

Thanks! It was an amazing trip, later today or tomorrow I will post the last leg.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Today is the last day of our trip.

Today we will be back home after 55 days on the road.

This is the longest we have been away on a trip, and the sights we have seen, the adventures, the people we have met...all mind boggling.

Mary and I look at each other regularly, and say "We went to Alaska!" It is still amazing, and it has been a lot of fun sharing it in this Ride Report.


Here are a couple of pics of the motel we stayed in, in Boonville, MO. Why we stayed here I don't know. lol It was the only bad place we stayed on the entire trip. Room smelled like mothballs, probably because there were 3 different mothballs on the floor that we found...and relocated them outside.

Also, the floor was was so rotten is some areas that when we stepped on them it felt like it was going to break and give way. We quickly learned not to step in those areas.

Does not look so bad from the outside, but inside is was so bad it was funny.







Headed down the road, another great day for riding!




Enjoying the road as Mary snaps pics.




Saw a sign for this place...normally we probably would not have stopped...but it is on both our minds that this is our last day...so we definitely wanted to stretch it out, and this was a good way to do it.




It was a fun place to look around.




A Panoramic of the place.




Making our way down the road. Missouri, in the summer, is usually very hot and humid. Today was an exception. Probably in the high 70's and not bad humid at all.




We live right outside of Memphis...we are getting close...and have mixed feelings.



More in next post.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Saw this V-8 Trike while making a gas stop.



Looks like it has a big trunk!




Many places in MO the rock has been blasted away to make room for the interstate.




After 55 days on the road, sitting right here is still a blast!




Mary took some pics today that I have no idea how she got them. This pic is not cropped...somehow she reached way out and around the rear fender to get this shot at 80+ mph.




Long arms I guess...




Mary in the mirror.




In Missouri there are 3 Boomland stores. Huge selection of fireworks, tourist nick-nacks and...



Hot Sauce...lots of it. We usually make it to at least one of the Boomland stores each year and Mary stocks up on a variety of hot stuff. I am a boring eater...don't even like table pepper, but she puts hot sauce in and on most everything she eats.



More in next post.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Look ma, no hands!



I think Mary is bored...lots of straight interstate, completely different than the majority of the trip in the mountains of Idaho, Montana, Canada etc.




We are now in Arkansas, farmland in every direction as far as the eye can see.




Just outside of West Memphis, Arkansas we are at our last gas stop for the trip.

If work didn't need to be done, and if Mary did not need to get back home to tend to her animals, garden and such, I could have kept going indefinitely, traveling more roads in North America.




Crossing the Great Mississippi river from Arkansas....



...into Tennessee




In Mississippi now, on Highway 78 as the sun is setting...we are 15 miles from home.




More in next post.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

The view from our driveway, a few minutes after the sun has set.




Before even going into the house, we go check out the rabbits...one of the mama's had 8 babies while we were gone. Mary's pretty excited to see them.




We get a picture of ourselves before heading into the house.




Pulling into the bike room...first time the TG has been out of the weather in almost 2 months.




There's a note from Dawn, welcoming us back. The Team at DK Custom has done a great job while we were gone. And Devin, my partner (the "D" in DK) has been very patient.

When we first started planning this trip, we thought we would be gone about 30 days. Then when we actually mapped it out, that was amended to 43 days. We ended up being 55 days!




That's a lot of mailed piled up...and that was only about half of it.




Everything back to normal in the bike room....well, the Sporty, which can barely be seen in the corner, is in pieces. Had to get it back together in less than 3 weeks for the Hot Bike Power Tour.




We're not sure where next summers trip will take us, but it will for sure include seeing Lydia and Craig!





Thanks for riding along with us!

Kevin

[arnie]

Thanks for taking the time to share with us.Very good job of putting us there with you!

[bikerbillone]

Outstanding trip. Gonna miss those road pics and the posts. How cool.....That last one about the motel, now that was funny.

[Doug D.]

I can't thank you enough for sharing this with all of us. It's the kind of adventure most of us will only get to dream about. But hey, maybe someday, right?

Thanks again!

[427dave]

Thanks for the great naration and pictures. We just went over the same bridge at Memphis headed to Ocean Springs to visit friends and then on home to Florida. We were in the car with the injured trike on the trailer. 2 days before we left northern Wisconsin we hit a deer and injured the trike $3600 worth. We were glad to have been on our trike as we were not injured. The deer is deceased however.