The evening's destination was going to be less than 400 miles, so I didn't feel the need to get up at the crack of dawn to hit the road. I set my alarm for 6:30, and figured I would shoot to be on the road by 8 AM. Lately I've been getting up around 6 AM, so 6:30 was actually sleeping in a bit.
After showering and a leisurely breakfast, I took a moment to apply sunscreen. Currently it was 61 degrees so I would be starting the day with a jacket, but the sun was out. The temps in northern Minnesota were supposed to be in the low 70s, but I wasn't sure what the temps would be between here and Thief River Falls. I figured if I already had sunscreen on I could take off my jacket without having to take the time to apply it on the side of the road. Plus I always put sunscreen on my face as that is exposed in nearly all temps.
I loaded up the bike and was getting ready to leave when my wife came out to say goodbye. That's pretty rare. She's a night owl and not a morning person in the least, so generally I tell her goodbye the previous evening before I head to bed. After she saw me off, she went back to bed. I rolled out of the driveway a little later than expected at 8:15, but not too bad.
As I've mentioned in my other trip blogs, whenever possible I prefer to ride on highways rather than the interstate. This allows me to see different things and ride at a more leisurely pace. In planning my route, I didn't find any good back roads that wouldn't take me too far out of my way until about 70 miles north of Sioux Falls. As a result, I decided to ride the first hour of the day up interstate 29.
The interstate interchange that was about a mile from my house was closed for reconstruction, so I had to ride through town a few miles to the next interchange.
It was an absolute gorgeous morning. The temp was a hair on the chilly side at interstate speeds, but certainly bearable. The sun was out, the traffic was light and there was absolutely no wind. I set my throttle lock at 70 mph and relished the day. The speed limit on South Dakota interstates is 80 mph, but I frequently run slower than that. My motorcycle drinks a LOT more fuel at 80 mph versus 70 mph, and I've found if I go slower I can relax and let other vehicles deal with the stress of passing me, rather than constantly trying to pass others.
At the Estelline exit, I got off the interstate on highway 15. I had been riding for a bit more than an hour at this point, and figured I would stop and take a quick stretch break. I'm generally a lot better about taking frequent stretch breaks earlier in my trips than I am towards the end of the trips. This seems backwards to me, like I should be taking more rest breaks after I've been riding for a few days and am starting to get physically worn out, but that's not the way it ssems to work out.
I walked around for a few minutes and sipped my water. I probably wasn't stopped for more than 5 minutes, but it was a good break.
Highway 15 headed east just for a few miles, then turned north towards Milbank, SD. I had ridden this same stretch of highway with Jon back in 2015. I usually don't like to repeat roads unless they're unusually scenic, which this one wasn't. However, there just wasn't a better route to Milbank so I conceded to be redundant.
The wind was starting to pick up slightly out of the north. Traffic was getting a little busier as the morning progressed, but still was far from "busy".
I had planned to get gas in Milbank, and take another rest break. I started thinking about a snack, and began to wonder if Milbank had a Casey's convenience store. Casey's always has decent pizza ready to eat, and their breakfast pizza rocks. It seriously is the best breakfast pizza I've ever had. I wasn't familiar with Milbank, but I figured I would ride through and see if they had a Casey's. If they didn't, the town was small enough that I could back-track to a different gas station. As luck would have it, about halfway through town there was a Casey's. Yes!
First things first, I topped off the tank with gas. The gas station was surprisingly busy for what I expected in Milbank, SD on a Sunday morning. As I fueled the bike an older gentleman came up to me and asked if I was heading to the Sturgis rally. This would be the first of roughly ten million times I would be asked this question on my trip. My standard answer is, "I'm from South Dakota, so when it's Sturgis week I head in the opposite direction." I've learned that this response is a good mixture of humor and truth.
After getting gas I went inside. As the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, I donned my mask. I think I was the only person in the store who was wearing one, but oh well. When it comes to the mask situation, I'm sitting in the middle of things. I realize that a cloth mask isn't a sure-fire guarantee that I won't inhale the Coronavirus germs, as the filtration isn't that fine. But I also realize that it is fairly effective in reducing (not eliminating) the airborne particles I expel as I breathe and talk, so if I happen to unknowingly be carrying the COVID-19 virus, it lessens the chances I'll infect others. I see it as a courtesy to my fellow humans.
At this point in time, South Dakota did not have a statewide mask mandate. In eleven miles I would be hitting the Minnesota border, and that state (along with Wisconsin) did have a statewide mask mandate. My views on mask mandates are pretty libertarian. I do not feel it should be mandated from a government level. At the same time, I would like to see people individually choosing to wear the mask so that a government mandate is a moot point. I support individual companies and organizations to mandate masks within their property. I also support people who choose not to do business with these organizations if these people don't want to wear a mask. I choose to wear a mask, but I don't shame anyone who doesn't.
Anyway, mask donned I went into the store and used the restroom. Then I wandered over and glanced at the drinks. I thought a sparkling water sounded good, but there weren't any that weren't sweetened. It had been almost a year since the last time I had a soda, or anything with an artificial sweetener in it. Somewhere I had read a study that indicated that people who drank diet sodas tended to weigh more than people who didn't, and there was speculation that the artificial sweetners actually messes with the body's ability to regulate insulin. Not to mention that every time I would drink a Diet Coke I was pretty much ingesting a chemistry set. I never consciously made the decision to stop drinking sodas (diet or otherwise.) One day I realized it had been a couple of weeks since I'd had one, and I figured it was probably a good thing to keep avoiding so I have been. After nearly a year, however, I can attest that it wasn't the Diet Cokes that were making me fat.
With no good drink options available, I wandered over to the pizza area. Unfortunately it was too late in the morning and they had stopped making breakfast pizza. However, they had just put out some fresh regular pizza, so I grabbed a slice of sausage and paid for it. Outside the store I casually munched on my snack. With the pizza finished, I hopped back on the bike and headed east towards Minnesota.
As mentioned, Ortonville, MN is just eleven miles from Milbank.
In Ortonville, I picked up highway 75 and headed north. My plan to be in Breckenridge, MN around noontime, so it would be a good place to stop for lunch. Highway 75 was rather unremarkable, as are most highways in this area of the country. The biggest item of note on this stretch was a detour in Wheaton, MN where a bridge on highway 75 was being rebuilt. The detour seemed to take me farther and farther out of the way. I was starting to worry that I'd made a wrong turn when finally I saw a detour sign point me back to 75. I have a feeling that if I was more familiar with the roads in this area that I could have found a shorter way around the bridge.
As I got into Breckenridge, I started looking for a restaurant. In the same way I like to avoid interstates on my motorcycle trips, I also like to avoid chain restaurants if there are better options available. I was putting along looking for somewhere that sold food when I heard a siren and looked in the rear view mirror and saw a police car with its lights on. Not knowing what I may have done, I pulled over. Thankfully the officer went on by with a different destination in mind.
After a couple minutes riding around Breckenridge, I decided there wasn't much available for food in this town. I did find a Veterans Memorial Park. It seems like every little town in Minnesota has a Veterans Memorial Park.
Deciding there wasn't much food available in Breckenridge, I crossed the river to the sister city of Wahpeton, ND. There were many more restaurant options in this state. I saw a Dairy Queen, which actually sounded appealing except they were drive-through only during the pandemic. Then I saw a Taco Johns, which is a chain but a personal favorite of mine, so I pulled in. There was a sign on the door that said "closed on Sundays." Weird. Ok, no Taco Johns then.
Further up the street I came across a Fryin' Pan. Fryin' Pan is kind of local. They're based in my home town of Sioux Falls, where they have three locations. They also have four additional locations in other towns, one of which I discovered was in Wahpeton. I decided that's close enough to be a local restaurant, and their salad bar and hot beef sandwich sounded good. I parked the bike and went inside.
Being a Sunday at lunch time, it was a little busy. I was the only person in the whole place wearing a mask, so I guess North Dakota didn't have a mask mandate either. It got me alot of stares, but I'm at the age where I really don't care. The hostess sat me in a booth and because I already knew what I wanted, I ordered immediately as soon as the waitress arrived.
To use the salad bar, you had to sanitize your hands and then put on plastic gloves. It's a little tricky getting gloves on when your hands are still slightly tacky from the sanitizer. The salad had seen better days, but I was able to pick through it and find enough edible lettuce to fill my plate. I sat and ate my lunch and started the book I had brought with me.
When I was finished I got my check and went to pay, and discovered a long line of people also waiting to pay. I decided I would go use the restroom and let the line die down a bit. After I came back out I was surprised to see the line was even longer. So I stood in line and finally was able to pay for my meal and leave the restaurant.
Out in the parking lot as I was getting ready to get back on the bike a pandhandler came up to me and asked if I had any change. I told him "no" and he assumed I was lying and continued to explain why he needed change. To prove I wasn't lying, I pulled the entire contents of my pockets out for him to inspect: a nail clipper, a flash drive and a tube of chapstick. He seemed satisfied I wasn't just feeding him a line, and continued on his way.
I headed back across the river to Breckenridge, then went north on highway 9. My next gas stop was only 30 miles down the road in Barnesville, MN. Not very far so it was tempting just to gas up in Breckenridge and be done with it. However, the next stretch after Barnesville was going to be a long one so I figured it would be good to shorten it a bit. A stop is a stop, whether I stop now or 30 miles down the road.
A half hour later I pulled into Barnesville and found a gas station. After topping up my tank I went inside and used the restroom, then texted my wife to let her know I was still alive.
The next stretch on the map appeared to be a long one. It was 119 miles, and once I started heading north on highway 32 it didn't have any turns.
By this time the wind was steady from the north, and I was riding straight into it. Unlike when I ride my bicycles, a headwind on a motorcycle isn't as bad as a crosswind. I was starting to get a bit bored. The scenery picked up for about 15 miles as I passed just to the west of the Detroit Lakes area. There were hills and a few gentle curves. North of highway 10, however, the road flattened and straightened and once again there wasn't a whole lot to look at.
As I entered Red Lake Falls, MN, I was in need of another stretch break. I thought maybe a town with "falls" in its name would have a waterfall or similar landmark. I rode through the town and didn't see anything, but I did see a sign for "Riverside Park" so I took the turn and found the park.
It was a pretty area, but there were no falls that I could see anywhere.
I walked around and stretched for about five minutes just to get the blood flowing again.
I was on the home stretch now with only about 20 miles to go until my hotel. I wasn't completely exhausted, but I was ready to call it a day.
Twenty miles later I found Thief River Falls. I had never been here before, but I did have a friend back in High School that went to the technical college here. I rode through town, then turned right on highway 59 where my hotel was located. A few blocks from the hotel I decided to go ahead and stop to top off my tank so I wouldn't have to do it later. Then I continued on to the hotel.
I checked in to the AmericInn in Thief River Falls. I've had pretty good luck when I've stayed at AmericInns. This one wasn't bad, but was probably on the lower end of the ones that I've stayed at.
It was about 4:45 when I got into my room. I rested for a while, checked the baseball scores and read my book. Lunch had filled me up pretty good, so it wasn't until about 7 PM before I started thinking about getting some supper. I decided to leave the bike parked and walk across the highway about 1/4 mile to the Las Ranitas restaurant which according to Google got pretty good reviews.
I ordered the Texas Fajitas. My booth happened to be right underneath the speaker that was playing music for the dining area, so it was a little distracting to read my book as I ate. The food was good. After I payed my bill I walked back to the hotel.
I called home and talked to my wife for a few minutes. As we were talking, the Tundra Boy came home from his part time job so she cut the conversation short to help him find some food as he had left that morning without eating anything or taking food with him.
I had brought my swimsuit, and I thought the hot tub might feel good. I wandered down and sat in the hot tub for about 15 minutes, then came back to the room and read for an hour or so before I turned out the light and called it a night.
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This page last updated on 09/01/2020