Welcome back to my blog! This is my third cross country trip on a motorcycle. Unlike the previous two trips, I went with my buddy Eddie and did an out and back. Anyway, we left from Monroe, NY around 7am to get the trip started. We knew it would be a very long day. We only had two weeks to try making our way to Glacier National Park and back before Labor Day, so we had to cover some ground on the first couple days.
We cruised down I-84W then I-80W through Pennsylvania and into Ohio. At about noon, we stopped for lunch in Youngstown, PA at a local brewery, Ǹoble Creature Cask House. It was delicious. Right before we got there, a coyote crossed the street which was cool, but I didn’t have enough time to get the GoPro ready. After we finished lunch, we continued onward and westward. Our goal was to make it near Chicago by the end of the night.
A couple hours after leaving Youngstown, we stopped for fuel. We were watching the skies and we could see the clouds were getting dark. The local radar showed storms coming in quick. We started getting suited up and the rain started. I was in a rush because I packed too much stuff and didn’t quite remember where I put everything, so when I got back on the bike, I ripped my pants. As we left the service station it started POURING! Less than a minute later, it started to hail jellybean-size hail. That hurt the knuckles! I told Eddie I was already soaking wet, but I didn’t want to stop so we kept riding. The storm was so bad, there had to be about 50+ vehicles pulled off on the shoulder with their hazards on to avoid the hail and pouring rain. We just kept pushing and making progress.
At some point we crossed into the Central Standard Time Zone and got an additional hour to keep riding. It’s hard to tell in the photos, but I saw a Bald Eagle sitting in a tree near the border of Indiana. We rode until we reached Rockford, IL around 10pm (CST) and stayed at a Hampton Inn. It was a good day, just long. We did almost 13 hours of moving time and about $20 worth of tolls.
More photos: Day 1 Photos
Adventures of Matty Q 