THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Last winter I joked with Pretzel about taking a Dakota trip. We roughly mapped out a loop and then tucked it away. Early this spring we thought about the road trip again and decided we would try to arrange our work schedules to make it happen.

On Monday June 30th at 6pm we left Duluth with a goal to travel out to the Badlands on secondary highways. I ended up calling the trip The Road Less Traveled and Pretzel called it Two Old Men, Riding Two Old Bikes On Old Roads.

We did not plan out the details of the trip. We wanted to just let it happen. What we did know is; we were going to camp and cookout, drive on secondary highways and have a lot of fun. We accomplished all our goals and had some wonderful surprises along the way.

• Pretzel and Kickstand ready to leave Duluth
  

We had a few specific roads we wanted to ride. Pretzel wanted to ride Highway 1 all the way across Minnesota. Highway 1 goes across Northern Minnesota through some remote country hitting just a few small towns. I wanted to travel all of Highway 23 from the southwestern corner of Minnesota to Duluth. We agreed to be nice to each other and do both. Pretzel's ride was the first leg of the trip and my ride was the last. We drove up Highway 61 along the Northshore of Lake Superior then picked up Highway 1 five or so miles outside of Silver Bay. We just drove 110 miles the first evening staying at Jawa the Putz's cabin 24 miles south of Ely.

Pretzel got a little crazy and let his hair hang down at Jawa's Cabin

I was my usual serious self busy planning our next day's ride


Highway 1 ended up being a great ride. The road was in good condition with some very interesting 10, 15 and 25 mph turns. Very low traffic and some interesting scenery. We had some long stretches between gas stations. I had to turn on my reserve once.

We snacked at Effie a town which consists of a gas station/general store

I was not sure how I could hold up riding my bike all day long. Before this trip, my longest ride was a two day trip to a family reunion in which I rode 200 miles each way. On that trip, I didn't have as much energy the second day. I was pleasantly surprised how well I held up. It must have been because of my biker buddy Pretzel and his boundless energy.

While Pretzel was napping I stripped down and danced at the Thief River Falls park where we had lunch on Day 2

Our second night we camped at Cooperstown North Dakota in their city park camp ground. There was a shower and a nice pavilion for cooking.









They have 12 horse shoe pits where they have a league. Nice friendly folks.




Day three we were pleasantly surprised to find many "free" gas stations. This North Dakota hospitality was wonderful and very easy on the pocketbook.

We took Highway 200 all the way across North Dakota. It is a great highway with low traffic and great scenery. The (above and below) pictures are of Lake Sacajawea.






We took breaks at least every couple of hours. We also enjoyed stopping in many of the small towns.

Our third night out we camped in Bowman North Dakota. This was a Lions Club park. We found out about it from a guy who was working at the grocery store. There was no camping fee, but donations were appreciated.

Pretzel ended up doing the majority of the cooking. He insisted that I keep out of the "kitchen". I narrowed his reason down to either my poor hygiene habits or my coughing and spitting around the cooking pot.

Day four we made it to the Motorcycle Mecca, the Cycle Citadel, Sturgis. I wanted to be a t-shirt tourist and also check this city off of my must bike to list.

No one dared to give me trouble when I had my biker wig on and my new t-shirt.

After Sturgis, we drove through the Badlands. That was our main goal of the trip. I was a great ride. We ended up spending about three hours in the park.

We picnicked at this spot.

After the badlands we push on to Pierre South Dakota. We set up camp in their city park on the bank of the Missouri River. It was July 3 so not only were there many other motorcycle campers and folks in their RVs, but people had set up tents for the next nights fireworks.

This a just one of our stops along highway 34 in South Dakota on July 4. I wished I had taken more pictures of the highways we rode, as many of them were very scenic.

We were back in Minnesota mid afternoon on the fourth entering the state in it's Southwest corner. Now my wish of riding the entire length of Minnesota Highway 23 was going to be accomplished. The highway starts near a very small town called Manley and ends in Duluth.

Mile post one near Manley. Mile post 318 is at the entrance of Gary New Duluth where I live.

My studly biking buddy Pretzel. Who was named eight ball by some tough bikers in Sturgis.

I have come to the conclusion that motorcycling is a total workout. I really believe I bulked up on the trip.

We camped at Granite Falls on the fourth in their city park. Then we headed home. Fatigue was a little more evident as the trip progressed and the last day required a little nap at lunch time. Brock still had a little in his tank. I on the other hand was totally spent.

Fifty miles from home we had to stop at Lena's and have one of her unique rutabaga malts. Lena has gotten to know us over the past few years as we enjoy riding down to Askov often for coffee at her gift and coffee shop.

Back at the Nobody Club House. It was a great trip and a very interesting experience. I know I want to do more of these trips.