Awoke with a start at 0615, briefly considered getting up to Blog as I am a couple of days behind, rolled over and went back to sleep instead. Re-awoke at 0730 just in time to get ready, pack the bike and depart, right at the stroke of 0805!

Our route was very straight forward today, straight south on 81, a lovely tertiary agriclutural road, at times 2 lane divided, most often single lane, lightly traffic'ed, flanked by corn, corn and mo'corn!

Within 45 minutes we crossed into South Dakota, apparently. There were no signs, not an official; Welcome to South Dakota, but there were many signs about watercraft, seatbelts, motorcycle helmets, farming vehicle, speed limits etc. South Dakota is not to be trifled with!

Well, we didn't trifle with it, we kept the hammer down, driving straight South, passing a few cars here and there but generally driving a mostly deserted road and crossed into Nebraska early afternoon having spent about 4 hours in SD. A suitable visit duration if you ask me, unless you have a Corn Fetish, then you may wish to stay longer!

It never ceases to amaze me how much of America you can drive, if you are careful, on mostly deserted roads. Shunning the Interstates wherever possible you can criss cross 'Merica on backroads, secondarys and tertiarys. We did have to drive one mile of I90 to transition from 81 to 281 but that has been it for Interstates thus far.

We were in Nebraska now, flanked by the ubiquitous corn rows and headed southbound on 281. It was sunny, we had a tailwind, it is a good day to be alive.

Although I had suffered through the getting used to riding aches and pains the previous few days, and the drain schedule was alittle messed up, today was the first day I felt like I was fully in the bike trip zone. I could have gone on for a considerably further distance, but I do take into consideration my riding partner, who while spry in most performance metrics for a man of his age, is still 74.

It was mid afternoon, just starting to get really hot and we were approaching Norfolk, Nebraska. Our new tactic is to drive the full length of the town we are going to stay in so as to see all available mo'tels. Frequently we'll choose a property as we come into town, then in the morning, on the way out, see a much nicer place farther along.

So we drive the entire length of Norfolk and really don't see a whole lot of choices, there is a Super 8 about halfway back, it was close to a Perkins so a partial Trifecta. We check in and the front desk guy tells us about a bar called Big Rigs a ways up the road. We plan to meet for dinner at 1800 and unload the bikes into our rooms.

Bill has a great system with a few bags that detach and he is loaded in in a few minutes, maybe 2 trips. My saddle bags don't detach so I have: a toiletries bag, a prescriptions meds bag, a tech bag, an iPad, 2 shoes and 2 bags of clothes, plus my laptop Pelican case. Usually takes 4 trips to get everything in or out. That is why I prefer the old style walkout mo'tel to the common entrance one, and when staying in a non walkout, I always request a room close to an outside door.

I was going to carry a collapsible sports bag this year, but couldn't find it when I was packing on last Thursday.

At 1800 I meet Bill in the lobby and we call a cab to go to Big Rigs, but the lady says it will be 20 - 30 minutes. I agree, then immediately have second thoughts after I hang up the phone. The Perkins is a 2 minute walk away, we go there instead. We ask the nice waitress lady to call the cab company to cancel our taxi, gotta keep the Karma intact!

We have a nice dinner and enjoy the only in 'Merica beverage phenomena; unsweetened ice tea, made from real tea, not from powder or out of a machine. I don't understand why Canada doesn't get it in that department. Bill has breakfast, and I have cheeseburger fries, no, not a cheeseburger and fries, but both dishes combined into one, it is a feast!

I also have a cobb salad, but like most things in 'merica, when you try to be healthy they ruin it by serving it with literally, a cup of dressing.

Dinner over we are in our rooms by 1930. Norfolk, NB had no idea what kind of party animals were rolling into town!

Day Five

Jamestown, ND to Norfolk, NB

610 kms