California Trip Days 1&2

					California - days 1 & 2 North Dakota & Montana

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	Friday 8-20-04: Minneapolis, MN to Valley City, ND Day 1 wasn't much to speak of. We actually added an 11th day to our 10day trip by leaving immediately after work on Friday and driving 290miles to Valley City, ND. We've seen the portions of Minnesota and North Dakota way to often anyway. It did mean that Saturday would be shorter and we could avoid driving through deer infested territories at night. We got lucky in Valley City and found a Super8. I say lucky because it didn't have a Continental breakfast, but something they called a Toast Bar. This setup of little more than a toaster and some bread provided much entertainment over the course of the trip for some strange reason.. Saturday 8-21-04: Valley City, ND to Shelby, MT Saturday, Day 2 would be a 760mile day across western North Dakota and through the heart of Montana. We took a little stop in the North Dakota Badlands overlook we've passed so many times before. We had never been West of Miles City on motorcycles so this is where we considered our vacation had started. Driving across Eastern Montana was a bunch of nothing with temps in the low 90's. Not until Lewistown did it get interesting. Rain clouds skirted around our path but we never got wet. Burning across the state put us on the Eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains and Glacier National Park. We ended up spending the night in Shelby, MT and had a wonderful dinner of King Crab legs and Prime Rib at a local Casino. Of course I tacked a Betty's Bikes and Buns card to the ceiling.

	Day 2: 760 Miles

	Pictures: Click the thumbnails to enlarge

	Somewhere south of Fergus Falls, MN we escaped the mad rush of the Twin Cities on a Friday after work	Saturday Morning in Valley City, ND. This Super8 had a Toast Bar. I never thought there was anything lower than a Continental Breakfast until this place	There is just nothing to see in the middle of North Dakota.	Gas stop in Belfield, ND. The day started out in the low 60s but soon started pushing 80. The water is draining from the coolers mounted the bikes.


	Paul enjoys the first full day out. But he's a little overdressed in his gerbings when the temp gets closer to 90.	Every trip this way has to have a picture of the Geese sculpture at the start of the enchanted highway	Finally we actually stopped at the scenic badlands overlook in western North Dakota near Medora	Rode by it many times but it was the first time we had stopped


	The red in the hills actually came from burning coal started by lightning strikes	Paul and Carrie start feeling better after ditching the heated clothing in 90degree heat	I always smirk. What a dork.	3 GL1800's and a BMW in the painted canyon.


	As fast as it had become interesting in the badland it became boring into Montana	The Montana border. Usually there is some defining feature that marks borders, but not here.	Ahhh, not any appreciable amount of superslab for days to come. Too bad it is desolate here. I'd rather break down in Nevada than eastern Montana.	It finally got interesting around Lewistown. Some small mountains started sprouting up.


	Lewistown was named after Lewis of course. It took them more than a year to get this far. Poor saps.	A little gas station in Moccasin, MT. We didn't use our fuel cells on this trip to allow more storage for clothing. Gas stops came every 200-250miles.	Combines in the Montana plains before Great Falls.	River crossing around Brady, MT on I-15.
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