Day 11 – Sturgis bound

After a decent nights sleep and a somewhat late start we got back on track to go to Sturgis SD. We have a long way to go, about 1200 miles. We decided to make an honest effort to go as far as we could and make up for some lost time. While loading out bikes up to go there was a woman that staggered from the Denny’s next door  back to our motel. Daniel asked her if she was ok and she mumbled something we couldn’t understand and  disappeared down the hallway. A few minutes later the manager of the Denny’s came over to us and asked where she went because she had stopped into the restaurant and was looking for aspirin. Unfortunately we weren’t much help because we didn’t see where she went. A few

minutes later we finished packing the bikes and went next door to get breakfast and saw a police car in the parking lot. The manager had called the police to see if the could find her because it was obvious she wasn’t in good shape. We don’t know the end result. We hope it was good. I didn’t get her picture but now I wish I had. Oh, that reminds me, another bad thing that happened Monday….. I dropped my expensive camera while trying to take a picture of the Bates Motel….. and ruined it. Go figure. I had to stop at Wal-Mart and get a new one so I  could get more pictures.
While eating breakfast we met some folks from Canada on vacation.  Michael Sullivan and Valerie Daunchy  were eating at the booth next to us. He is Canadian and she was from France. They were on vacation and retuning home.
After  eating and posting updates to the blogs we got on the road and went 50 – 60 miles and stopped at a rest stop. We met a nice guy named Joe (what a great name). He suggested a few places to visit and some to stay away from. Due to our time crunch we will have to try and see if we can hit them on the way back east.
We finally made it out of Michigan and through a small part of Indiana. We thought we might get rained

 on but it cleared as we entered Illinois. I saw a sign for a Quaker Steak and Lube and decided that would be a good place to stop and eat. Daniel had never had the experience. We have one in Clearwater and they have killer wings and do a bike night every Wed. This one was much like it. They do a bike night as well on Wed nights. Unfortunately we can’t hang around for it. We met a local Sherriff named Derrick Hurst. He was also a motorcycle rider and gave us a contact, Bobby Klasner, in his Motorcycle Club “The Untouchables”. He suggested we call Bobby and let him know where we are and where we will be and they may have some folks ride along as we go from state to state.
We kept on riding and made it to IA  We stopped for fuel at the first exit with a gas station and just as we were about to leave a young lady walked up and asked if we knew anything about cars. Her name was Autumn and she was on her way back from vacation in Mexico and stopped for gas and her car wouldn’t start.  We looked at it and realized her

battery terminals were corroded so we cleaned them up and got her back on her way. It’s amazing all the things that seem to happen along the way on a trip like this. We  planned on stopping about 10 PM but ended up riding until 3 am before we could find a hotel with available rooms. Apparently everything is booked  for hundreds of mile s around due to the recent floods out here. Time to sleep and get up and see if we can make it the rest of the way.
Don’t forget about our cause. We have been getting some donations but we could use more. Just click the “Support My Travels” link and shoot us a couple of bucks for the wounded warriors fund. Those folks will appreciate it as much as we will.
Rock On!,

Joe and Daniel