Packed up! 
Ready to Rock!
Okay, leaving Minneapolis today was not in my original plan. I was set to leave Wednesday morning, but a couple days ago thought “what the hell, I’ll leave after work on Tuesday.” My aim was to shorten one of my riding days. I was looking at the map this weekend and realized I should have planned better. I should have broken the trip up a bit more. I could have stayed in Fargo the 1st night, Dickinson, ND the 2nd night, and then run into Red Lodge. Sure would have made day three easier. But, this trip came up and I made the decision quickly before really thinking things through. This is why the last day of the run out to Red Lodge is going to be 475 miles. I’m not incapable, but just know my body is going to hurt that day and that it’s going to be a long and tiring day. Ugh. Excited to see Jim though.
Today was sweet. I left work about 1:45. My boss is the most excellent boss ever and let me skip lunch. I also came in 15 minutes early, so I got out of work 45 minutes early today. I had packed everything the night before and just had to do a few last minute things like water the plants, throw toiletries in my bag, and empty the coffee pot. Of course, I didn’t remember everything in the first go-round. I was set and ready to go and remembered that I hadn’t taken the garbage out, so I had to go back into the house. One false start wasn’t bad though.
I think I’m pretty well packed. One saddlebag is filled with my leather jacket and rain suit. The other side has my computer, Kindle, and other electronics, as well as gloves and other small essentials like sunglasses, goggles, etc. Mostly everything I’ve brought with is in my Saddlemen™ T-Bag. This bag is awesome! I just bought it a couple months ago in anticipation of this trip and am not disappointed. It opens from the sides, which is a huge plus. No digging down to the bottom trying to find something. It also has an adjustable shelf on the inside and numerous inside and outside pockets. It fits really snugly over the sissy bar and is adjustable to the size of the bar. There is a second cylindrical bag that fits on top of and snaps to the main bag. Nice to have a little extra storage. I’ve got two pairs of shoes in there are all of my cold weather stuff like long underwear shirts and bottoms. The only clothing article I don’t have with me is a sweatshirt, but I am planning on buying one on the trip as a souvenir, so I intentionally didn’t pack one.
Pretty dang hot in MN today with the heat index in the 90s. I got out of town before the afternoon thunderstorm and rode I94 up to Alexandria. Was wishing I had made reservations in a hotel further down the road, but now that I’m writing this am glad that I didn’t, as I had plenty of time after arrival at the hotel to grab a bite to eat and spend a good amount of time in the hotel pool and hot tub.
Wishing now I would’ve made reservations tomorrow at a place with a pool, but instead I’ll be in an AirBnB in Bismark.
Heading off to see the sandman for tonight. Looking forward to seeing new sights tomorrow. I haven’t been to North Dakota since I was a kid, so it should be fun to see it again.
Shiny side up!