Day 2: Roseville, MN to Fergus Falls, MN
You know how as a kid, you sometimes get it in your head that you really want something? Like need it to be a part of your life, and then you finally get it, and it’s kind of a let down? Well, today was the opposite of that: just like pure joy doing a thing I’ve wanted to do for years and years.
Started off the day waking up after a full 12 hours of badly needed sleep. The DoubleTree Hilton in Roseville has great beds. I went to have breakfast, which was fine, nothing special, and promptly left my card there. Which of course I didn’t realize until I was half an hour down the road. Anyway, before that happened, I went back to the room and put on my boots and got everything out to the bike. I re-organized everything to make room for myself; after shedding the extra stuff I was able to split the remainder into two dry bags, and so I had to figure out how to tie everything down again. After a few minutes of frustration with the straps I brought, I gave up and got out the paracord. Took me half an hour, again, to get everything secured.
The reward for that, though, was a much more comfortable riding position. I put in Oakes as my destination in Google maps, and headed west. All I had to do to get it to show me the route I wanted was to select ‘Avoid Highways’ in the options.
The first 45 minutes was just getting out of Minneapolis on a bunch of 30mph streets. It seemed to be one fancy neighborhood after another though, just like, great big sections of town with nice manicured lawns and various expensive but classic styles of architecture (ranch, craftsman, midcentury? idk architecture, I can barely spell it). I didn’t stop to take pictures at that point because I wanted to get moving, get out of town etc. You’ll have to trust me on this one. Minneapolis is a nice town.
I stopped for gas when I got to what seemed to be the outskirts; this was where I realized I was missing my card. It’s ok, I have more than one credit card. Just a bummer to lose it. I put .68 gallons in the tank on the backup card and headed west. My tank is small and I was nervous about fuel range, so I wanted to be completely topped up. As it turned out, at least so far, there’s been plenty of gas stations. We’ll see if that holds true in the dakotas tomorrow.
So, I headed west along state road 55 for most of the day. It was a string of small towns, separated by fields, hills, and many lakes. At first I was hesitant to stop, but then the clouds built up a bit and the light was pretty good, so I made a rule: if I stop for any reason, I take a picture. Let someone pass, take a drink of water, etc etc. So I started stopping for pictures, and a bunch of other stuff, too.
I got lunch in Buffalo, where I was tempted to stop at a couple chains but then saw Buffalo Pizza and knew what I had to do. For Science. I went in and had a calzone. I say I went in, but actually it’s mostly a delivery operation, so I ordered at a counter and sat outside on a picnic table in front to eat. Had a nice conversation with an elderly couple who was also having their lunch.
There’s this thing that motorcyclists do, the wave: it’s very simple, if you see anyone else on two wheels, you wave to them, usually low, sometimes a peace sign but not always. Today, I waved to at least a dozen other motorcyclists, and they all waved back. I got a little surge of joy out of every one. Just like, the sense of belonging and camaraderie. It’s like a little secret handshake, just for those of us on two wheels. Maybe that’ll wear off and I’ll get used to it, but for now: it’s nice.
After lunch is a blur of 60mph zones, broken up every 15 or 30 miles or so by a town. Sometimes it was vast flat fields of corn; other times it was rolling hills of corn, next to a lake; still other times there were unidentifiable plants, acre by acre. I was passed twice by wide loads carrying some type of farm equipment over the posted speed limit, but I am not one to judge.
I got to Paynesville and stopped for gas, and found some glass cleaner wipes to help with the bugs. Reason #43821 to wear a full face helmet, there were a lot of bugs today. Cleaned my mirrors, too. It was then, looking at my remaining time to get to Oakes, that I decided I’d had just about enough, that maybe another hour or so was all I had in the ol’ mental tank. I looked around on google maps and found the place I’m staying, Fergus Falls, and the hotel, like an hour and 15 minutes away. It took me closer to an hour and 45 because of the stopping, for photos and for a drink and snacks. Checked in to the motel for the night, went and had dinner and walked around the old main street a little bit with the Leica. Then came back here and wrote this.
One more thing: the bike is doing really well (knock wood). I may have more to say about it later; I was thinking about my bike versus the Super Hawk Pirsig rode on his trip, how they compare, but I think that’s a little half baked at the moment. Need to edit photos and get some sleep. Tomorrow: the spreadsheet with the plan says I’m supposed to make it to Shadehill, SD which is a little under double the distance I covered today. I might try to make Mobridge? If I can make that, then Mobridge to Miles City is the same distance again almost.