Grainbelt
Junior Member
Wandered down to St. Louis last weekend to crash a party a friend was throwing, and bake some pies. It is fall, after all.
Quick 11hr, 550mi day down there. It was 39F when I awoke on Friday, so I went back to bed and didn't actually leave until after 9.
I abhor the interstate, so I took US and state highways the entire way, with the exception of slabbing it on 80/280 around the quad cities.
Route link
Blasted down US 52, a route I know very well, since I have family scattered around SE MN. Dropped into Iowa, gassed up in Decorah, and made my way to the river at Guttenberg, IA. Kept seeing signs for 'honey and jam at scenic overlook' and thought, I could bring some jam to the party. :dunno
Bought some raspberry jam, had a nice chat with the people running their little famers-market-style booths, and headed south.
Harvest was in full swing, so I had plenty of opportunities to downshift and pass grain trucks, tractors, combines, and the like. This one was close to the road so I nailed the brakes, pulled a u-turn and snapped a pic. Soybeans being harvested, for those of you not from this part of the world.
A short time later I realize I had to pee. Now, this being central Iowa, there aren't trees anywhere other than farm yards. Here's the view from the only cover I could find.
Gassed up in Monmouth, IL, and noticed a Taco Bell next door. Now, I don't eat a lot of fast food, but that Dorito shell taco thing has been on my mind for a while, so I slurped one down. Soo bad, yet soo good. Perfect road snack. Onward!
Somewhere around dusk in the middle of IL, my bike rolled over 40k miles. That's 25k since I bought it in Aug 2010. Worthy milestone.
Sun was going down, I still had a few hours to run so I put on my heated vest and neck gaiter and got back on the road. No more pics from that day, but suffice to say I was happy to see my goofy friends and sit down with a few beers.
Quick 11hr, 550mi day down there. It was 39F when I awoke on Friday, so I went back to bed and didn't actually leave until after 9.
I abhor the interstate, so I took US and state highways the entire way, with the exception of slabbing it on 80/280 around the quad cities.
Route link
Blasted down US 52, a route I know very well, since I have family scattered around SE MN. Dropped into Iowa, gassed up in Decorah, and made my way to the river at Guttenberg, IA. Kept seeing signs for 'honey and jam at scenic overlook' and thought, I could bring some jam to the party. :dunno
Bought some raspberry jam, had a nice chat with the people running their little famers-market-style booths, and headed south.
Harvest was in full swing, so I had plenty of opportunities to downshift and pass grain trucks, tractors, combines, and the like. This one was close to the road so I nailed the brakes, pulled a u-turn and snapped a pic. Soybeans being harvested, for those of you not from this part of the world.
A short time later I realize I had to pee. Now, this being central Iowa, there aren't trees anywhere other than farm yards. Here's the view from the only cover I could find.
Gassed up in Monmouth, IL, and noticed a Taco Bell next door. Now, I don't eat a lot of fast food, but that Dorito shell taco thing has been on my mind for a while, so I slurped one down. Soo bad, yet soo good. Perfect road snack. Onward!
Somewhere around dusk in the middle of IL, my bike rolled over 40k miles. That's 25k since I bought it in Aug 2010. Worthy milestone.
Sun was going down, I still had a few hours to run so I put on my heated vest and neck gaiter and got back on the road. No more pics from that day, but suffice to say I was happy to see my goofy friends and sit down with a few beers.