It's Wed August 12th and we've been 14 days on the road. I'm taking the opportunity to jot down some notes before I forget all the places we've been to and the sights we've seen. Later on today, we'll do some laundry and have lunch in downtown Cody, WY. No doubt like dinner last night, our lunch will be beef, grown right here in Cattle Country. We're set to ride through Bighorn Canyon and Sturgis, South Dakota tomorrow and we'll do some of the roads in the Black Hills that the Sturgis Rally is so famous for. From there, our third and final act of the play will consist of superslab all the way through to Wisconsin where we'll stay on Saturday night in Sault Ste-Marie. Then ride through Manitoulin on Sunday morning to take the ferry back home in the afternoon.  Watching the sun rise over Wyoming We spent some time in Cody, walking around the very touristy town, refreshing our batteries and our butts for the last leg of our journey. Had a great lunch and the next day got back on the saddle (like my cowboy reference?) heading west, loosely following the I90 towards South Dakota. If it seems that my entries always seem to skip the evening hours and jump straight into morning, it's because we're fast asleep by 9PM, up at 4:30AM!  Just outside of Cody. After 14 hours in the riding position, Neda says, "I can't lower my arms!"  Badlands National Park, South Dakota  F650CS in South Dakota Next stop: Sturgis - home of the famous motorcycle rally. We rode around some of the great roads in Black Hills area and found out why it is such a popular destination for riders. Also dropped into Sturgis BMW and bought a T-shirt as a souvenir, which is kinda novel since we're in the heart of cruiser-county where Harley Davidsons abound! Trying to find a BMW motorcycle around Sturgis is like trying to find a Honda Civic in a Ford manufacturing plant's parking lot... After that bit of fun, we jumped on the I90 and started the boring 1000 mile superslab trek back to Ontario. Our route took us through Murdo, SD where we stayed for a night, and then Oshkosh, WI for another sleepover.  Nothing to do while on the slab but to fool around with the camera  Waiting in line for the ferry at Manitoulin Island. R1200GS makes a great reading couch As if on cue, by the time we crossed the border and started south through Manitoulin Island, it started pouring rain sideways! Ah Ontario, we missed you - not very much at all... What should have been a nice cap to a long continent-wide tour ended up with us fighting gale force winds and horizontally-blown water all the way into the Chi-Cheemaun Ferry. The weather let up as we were loosed upon Tobermory where we were greeted by a welcoming party consisting of a couple of friends who kept up with our travels online. Our mini motorcycle gang all rode home together on well-worn roads that were as familiar as a pair of decade-old bedroom slippers. Toronto to California and back! This is so far the best motorcycle trip we've ever taken (note: this is circa 2006!). Ever since we started traveling by motorcycle, I stare intently at every atlas and road map I run across, looking for the squiggliest lines tracing through mountains, rivers, lakes and oceans. Packing everything you own on the back of the motorcycle every morning and heading to a new town, sometimes a new state or even time zone really appeals to the nomads in us. And you know what? The more rain there is, the better! So there! Thanks to you all for accompanying us on our trip to California and back! We'll catch you later on our next ride!
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