Life on the frozen tundra of South Dakota Life on the frozen tundra of South Dakota

Day Four - 8/5/2020 - La Crosse, WI to Sioux Falls, SD

Day Four - 8/5/2020 - La Crosse, WI to Sioux Falls, SD

My alarm went off at 7:30 AM. I slept in. I laid there worried about how my leg was going to feel once I moved, and finally reluctantly crawled out of bed. To my relief, it hadn't gotten worse. It actually might have even felt just a touch better. In fact my ankle hardly hurt at all; it was the back of my knee that was causing the most pain.

Today's route was going to be the dullest of the trip. That's not uncommon. The last day of a trip is alway heading back home, and given the geographical location of Sioux Falls there's no way to get there without traveling through some large stretches of dull.

The first few hours weren't going to be as bad, as I decided to explore a section of southwest Minnesota that I'd never ridden through before, and that the map indicated may have some interesting riding. The last two thirds of the day were just going to be interstate. Perhaps I could have found a route home that didn't involve the interstate, but being familiar with southern Minnesota I can attest that the back roads are just as dull as the interstate. I might as well ride the super slab and get home at a reasonable time.

During my usual morning ritual I managed to clog the toilet. I had noticed it wasn't a strong flusher to begin with, and apparently the aftermath of the North Country Steak Buffet was more than it could handle. I didn't have a plunger, so I would just keep flushing every few minutes hoping that eventually the contents of the bowl would get sucked down. Thankfully the water level never rose to overflowing levels, but unfortunately it remained clogged. I felt pretty bad about leaving the hotel staff a "present" but there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it. I suspect that as poor a flusher as this toilet was, I probably wasn't the first person to experience this issue. At least that's the story I told myself to make me feel better.

The hotel web site had said they have a continental breakfast, and I assumed it would be similar to the ones I'd have the previous mornings where it would be individually wrapped items. I wandered down to the breakfast area in the lobby, and found it completely barren. I guess they just gave up on breakfast during the pandemic. So I would have to figure out a different option.

With nothing left to keep me around the hotel, I loaded my luggage on the bike and hit the road. It hurt to swing my leg over the seat, but at least today I was able to do it and didn't have to crawl on the bike from the opposite side.

Leaving the Super 8 in La Crosse, WI

I rode through town looking for somewhere to eat. I didn't want anything fancy, just a fast food place. All of the fast food places I passed were closed for dine-in service. Sitting in a drive through on a motorcycle is do-able (I've done it before) but I just wasn't in the mood to deal with it this morning.

Across the river I encountered a Kwik Trip. Perfect! I went inside and bought some food, then I came back out and stood by the bike as I ate. There was a group of bikers gathering at the far end of the parking lot. I speculated that they were meeting to ride to Sturgis together.

A Kwik Trip breakfast.

The fastest way from La Crosse to Sioux Falls is just to take interstate 90 the whole way. I've ridden that route a bunch of times. Rather than doing that yet again, I planned to take highway 16 all the way to Austin, MN where I could take a break by visiting the Spam museum. Yes, Spam the processed meat. They actually have a museum.

Map of highway 16 from La Crosse, WI to Austin, MN

Highway 16 turned out to be a delightful ride, at least for the first 50 miles until the town of Preston.

Highway 16 in southeastern MN.

The morning was a bit on the cool side, with the temp around 60°F, somewhat overcast and a bit windy. I had applied sunscreen before I left the hotel, but it didn't look like I was going to need it today.

Highway 16 in southeastern MN.

Highway 16 wound through the bluffs and foothills of the Mississippi, so the road was always turning. However, few of the curves were tight enough that I had to slow down.

Highway 16 in southeastern MN.

I wasn't too concerned with "making time" this morning. I only had about 325 miles to cover to get home, and a large portion of that was on the interstate. So this first part of the day I slowed down and enjoyed the ride.

Highway 16 in southeastern MN.

Traffic was pretty light overall. I'd occasionally see another vehicle, but I never had to worry about passing anyone and never got passed myself.

Highway 16 in southeastern MN.

I didn't get a good photo of the road, but just west of the town of Rushford highway 16 got very twisty for a couple of miles.

Highway 16 in southeastern MN.

This road followed the Root River, which explains why it had so many curves.

Highway 16 in southeastern MN.

Prescott had a scenic overlook where you could look down on the town.

Highway 16 in southeastern MN.

West of Prescott, highway 16 straightened out and became more like most every other road in southern Minnesota: straight and uninspiring.

Highway 16 in southeastern MN.

I continued on highway 16 for about another 45 miles until it junctioned with interstate 90 just east of Austin, MN. I got on the interstate and rode another six miles or so into Austin.

Unfortunately, I had neglected to look at which exit to take to get to the Spam Museum. I knew the general area of town it was in, but had to guess when to get off the interstate. I guessed wrong, and went one exit too far. Thankfully there were lots of signs and I was able to follow them back to the museum. It was kind of the long way through town, but I made it.

The Spam Museum in Austin, MN

I parked the bike and walked down to the corner where the museum entrance was located.

The Spam Museum in Austin, MN

Then I walked up to the museum door and discovered it was locked. Odd. I peered through the windows and didn't see any activity. I looked around for a sign stating whether they were closed or not, but saw nothing.

After a couple of minutes I wandered next door to the Spam Gift Shop and asked if the museum was open. The girl running the store informed me that it was closed on Wednesdays. Bummer. She said I was welcome to look around the gift shop, which I did for about three minutes. Then I left the building and got back on the motorcycle. It turned out to be a much shorter rest break than I had anticipated.

On the way out of town, I passed the Hormel plant itself where they make Spam.

Where they make Spam in Austin, MN

It was now about 11:15 AM, and not being able to visit the museum put me way ahead of schedule. The only things left on my agenda, other than barreling down the interstate, were to stop somewhere for lunch and gas up when it was needed.

Map of interstate 90 from Austin, MN to Fairmont, MN

Heading west I passed through Albert Lea. My original thoughts were I probably would need gas around the Blue Earth area. As I approached Blue Earth, my low fuel light hadn't yet come on and I wasn't yet on reserve. I calculated that I probably could milk this tank all the way to Fairmont. If I gassed up in Fairmont, I wouldn't have to get gas again until I got home to Sioux Falls, eliminating a stop I originally thought I would need. So I pressed on.

The temp felt like it was getting colder rather than warming up as the day progressed. The clouds got thicker and the wind started to blow harder.

I hit my reserve tank just a couple miles outside of Fairmont and made it to a gas station with no problem. After filling up and using the bathroom, I decided that Fairmont was probably the best place to get some food, so I rode into town.

On last year's motorcycle trip I had eaten at the Taco Johns in Fairmont, and had kind of been craving it since Sunday in Wahpeton, ND when they were closed. So I headed that way.

Upon arriving I was dismayed to see that they were open for drive-through only. It was chilly out, and I really wanted to go inside to warm up while I ate. So I had to make a different plan.

About a block away I found a Burger King that had the lobby open. Not gourmet food by any stretch of the imagination, but it would do.

Stopping for lunch in Fairmont, MN

I went in and stood at the counter for quite a while before anyone acknowledged me and took my order. Then I stood for quite a while longer waiting for my food. Once I got it, I learned that my bacon cheeseburger had no bacon, and I didn't get any onion rings. What my sandwich lacked in bacon, they made up for with extra mayonnaise. I thought about going back to the counter to complain, but by this point I just wanted to wrap up the day, so I ate the food I had been given and headed back out on the road.

Map of interstate 90 from Fairmont, MN to Sioux Falls, SD

Very little of note happened for the remainder of the ride to Sioux Falls, other than the temp continued to get cooler and the wind got stronger. By the time I hit Sioux Falls it was about 55°F. I kept thinking about pulling over to put on some additional clothes, but I just wanted to get home so I pressed through the chill.

I've traveled I-90 through southern Minnesota probably a hundred times in my life. It takes about 5 hours from border to border, but easily feels like 8 hours. Today was no different. Fairmont to Sioux Falls takes about 2 hours, but easily feels like three or more.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally reached Sioux Falls. I pulled off the interstate at my exit, and stopped to fill up the tank one last time and get my final mileage numbers. I was so focused on getting home that I completely forgot to take a photo.

A mile down the road I was in my garage. I arrived about three in the afternoon, which was an hour or two sooner than I had predicted, mostly because of the Spam Museum being closed. Again, I was so focused on my arrival that I forgot to take my usual final photo.

So overall this wound up being a very enjoyable trip. It was long enough to feel like I got some good saddle time, but no days were so long that I was in agony. The next day I found myself wishing I was still out on the road, which is usually a positive sign for the trip. Obviously, there were some parts that weren't as enjoyable, such as dumping my bike and the long, cold ride across southern Minnesota. But all-in-all I would rank this trip as one of the better ones.

A week after I returned I went to the doctor for my yearly physical, and while I was there had him look at my leg which was still hurting. He diagnosed me with a sprained/pulled hamstring muscle. He didn't think there was any major damage, but said that it would take some time to heal.

It hurt pretty good for a few weeks. A month later as I'm writing this, it's much better. However, I can still feel it when I move my leg in certain directions. I guess that's the price one has to pay for adventure.

See the summary of the trip...

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This page last updated on 05/17/2023