Slow Start...Strong Finish

I was really enjoying my hotel room this morning and didn't get out of bed until after 0900, and I didn't check out until 1030 🤣. After loading the bike, I walked across the parking lot for a quick lunch so I wouldn't have to stop soon. I missed the hotel breakfast 🤣.

Speaking of loading the bike, I reconfigured my entire pack. I emptied the bike first, and emptied my backseat bag with my camping gear:
- In my right saddlebag I placed my tent, poles, mallet, stakes, air mattress, and picnic blanket.
- In my left I placed my map book, laptop, sleeping bag, pillow, military overshirt, umbrella, helmet cleaner, spare clipboard light, insect repellent, spare gloves, and snacks.
- In my backseat bag I placed all of my bike stuff (oil, air pump, tools, battery pack, etc.), my towel, my vest, and my heated gear.
- In the tour pack I placed all of my clothing, including the heated hoodie and socks I had with my camping gear, my flipflops, my bathroom kit, my laundry kit, and my laptop paraphernalia. (Really the only change was taking out the towel and laptop and adding the hoodie/socks and flipflops.)

This new setup should save me time setting up and breaking down camp, which doesn't really matter right now, but will during the Hoka Hey in just a couple of weeks from now. 😳

Despite leaving so late, I still made it all the way into North Dakota. I have to argue with Nevada, though. US-50 is absolutely NOT the loneliest highway. It's Montana Highway 200. 120 miles of absolutely nothing east of Lewistown. Barbed wire fences, a few telephone poles, a couple of cows, and a whole lot of grass. That's it. Oh, and 14 miles of construction that took an hour to get through. With 98°F heat. With no shade and too windy for the umbrella. With no road, just gravel and dirt. Ugh.

Once I got up to the top of the state, I realized that my camping plans weren't going to work out. Mosquitoes. So, I grabbed a hotel room. I can't get to my next photo location until after 0800 and I'm 2.5 hours away from it, so I don't have to be up at 0400. 👍

Hope to see you on the road! Remember, NO WHINING! ✌️

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2026 starting odometer: 46667
Starting odometer: 120484
Ending odometer: 121025
Daily mileage: 541
2026 miles total: 74358Read more