Meandering in Minnesota... After leaving New Ulm, I continued across Minnesota through Owatonna, Rochester and to the Mississippi River at Winona. Along the way I had a chance to visit with several old friends. Forrest Pape and Kevin Kuehn drove down from Minneapolis to visit me and go out to dinner in Owatonna. Kevin even brought me cookies from his wife to fuel me on the next day's ride. In Rochester, I spent two days with college friends Carl and Laurie Meier...

Bavaria Meets Minnesota... I've finally left South Dakota and entered my eighth state, Minnesota. South Dakota must have been ready to be rid of me. After a couple days of battling headwinds, I was greeted by a tailwind the day I left the state. And not just any tailwind, but a strong 20mph doozy that had me flying down the road. Rather than struggling to average 9mph, it was refreshing to make 16mph without really trying. I'm now in New Ulm - the German capita...

Nostalgia and a New Family Member... On July 5th, I finally arrived back in my hometown of Doland, SD. This also marks the halfway point of my trip (I've crossed the 2000 mile mark) and my first extended break from riding. When I set out from Phoenix, my first goal was to reach Doland before my niece's wedding on July 11th. If I could beat that by a few days, then I could take a little longer break from the road. Arriving a week before the wedding was perfect a...

Rapid City and West River Riding... In the parlance of South Dakota, people either live 'east river' or 'west river'. The river in question is the Missouri which roughly splits the state in half. East river is mostly flat, farm land while west river is rolling ranch land plus the Black Hills and the Badlands. Rapid City is the regional hub of the western part of the state and the gateway to the Black Hills and to Badlands National Park. It also happens to be the...

In the Black Hills of South Dakota... The Black Hills are a wonderful place filled with interesting sights and history, so this will be a longer than normal post. Sorry! :-) The day I arrived into South Dakota, was one of the tougher days of the trip. There was either a headwind or a crosswind most of the day that made each mile seem twice as long. But, a strange thing happened as I crossed the border into my home state. I got the feeling that everything is bet...