In the beginning: Day 1 - June 14th, 2010 Home to Wall, SD

It's June 14th, 2010 around 8AM and time to get on the bikes and head to Alaska.  Seemed like this day would never get here.  Pets have been boarded with relatives in Harlan, neighbors been asked to watch the house, and the mail held.   We've got the bike packing thing down to a science from previous trips but, as always, the last few items must be squeezed in.  Bikes have new tires, chain & sprockets, brake pads, spark plugs, clean air filters plus several other additions to make life on the road better.  Ready to go!

Or are we?  Seems to be a little apprehension in reading this face.

It's raining in Milford, Iowa this morning.  A check of the weather on the computer reveals rain across South Dakota today so we put on the rain gear and start riding.

Pretty uneventful day cruising I-90 west across the Dakota plains.  We'd done most of the tourist things  in SD so very little stopping today.  It rained most of the day but we get to Wall, SD and it quit raining!  We rode 404 miles today.  We get a camping spot at the Arrow Campground under a shelter - doesn't get much better than this - or does it?

It's time to head uptown to meet the locals and grab a bite to eat.

The City of Wall was filled with tourists doing the Wall Drug thing.  We simply find a local bar across the street, interact with both locals and tourists, shot some pool, and enjoy a good pizza.  Good start to our trip.