We started off in Rockford, IL and ended in Sioux Falls, SD. Before we left and started the day, I ran across the street to throw my sleeping bag in the dryer since it was soaked from the rain in Ohio. Once it was dry, I put it in a garbage bag with my tent and we headed out. It was a very foggy and misty morning. We did about 530 miles for the day. Because we were still trying to make up for a lack of time, we just shot across I-90W the entire day.
Shortly after leaving Illinois, we crossed into Wisconsin, stopped for fuel, and met a guy on his way home to Washington. He was 70 years young and took his motorcycle from Washington to Maine and we met him on his way back home. We were telling him where we were headed and he told us that Glacier’s requiring a permit to access the park, which is good to know. I had no idea about purchasing a permit to enter the park, but it’s until September 11 and it’s to help prevent congestion in the park during the summer tourist season.
After talking with him, we continued down I-90W, crossed over the Mississippi River, and entered Minnesota. Now, I’ve never been to either Minnesota or Wisconsin, so I got to add two more states to my list. I have now been to 40/50 states. We stopped at a gas station shortly after crossing into Minnesota and lubed the chains. It was a little overdue after an 880 mile day.
It was also about that time to start looking for a place to eat too, so we looked around for food and found a place with a ton of great reviews in Rochester, MN. It was Forager Brewery and Cafe. While there, the owner’s father came up to us because he noticed our motorcycles, so we talked to him for a little while about riding.
Once we finished there, we headed down I-90W yet again and and onto Sioux Falls. Along the way, we were watching our fuel gauges and Eddie’s bike showed about 30 miles until empty, but he ended up running out of gas. His fuel gauge hasn’t been too accurate, but we went about 30+ miles without passing a gas station. We had to pull off and he was able to coast under an overpass where we both used our spare gas to get to the next gas station. The best part was we were literally 3 miles away from the next exit where there was a gas station. We filled up there and continued to Sioux Falls, SD.
A little while later we crossed into South Dakota and I was able to get a picture of the sign as we passed. Before getting to Sioux Falls, I thought it would be neat to dip down into Iowa because Eddie hasn’t ever been through Iowa before and it’s about 10 minutes outside of Sioux Falls. So, we made a little detour and arrived in Sioux Falls.
More photos: Day 2 Photos
Adventures of Matty Q 