Postblog - The End

Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Harwood, North Dakota, United States
All be told, I don't think I could have asked for this trip to turn out better. Never had one breakdown, all my gear worked flawlessly, the weather was excellent (despite the high temps), and the many places I visited and the many roads I went down were as good if not better than what I even expected! My biggest worry about this trip was having a major setback - by either a breakdown, or by a string of bad weather - but by day 2, I was over that. I can now say with experience under my belt, that this country is truly remarkable in so many ways.

Even though I only traveled through a small fraction of all the states in this country (5 out of 50), I traveled though landscapes that are on the extreme ends of the scale: I traveled through flat, rich farmland of North Dakota; through dry, rolling hills of eastern Montana; through very tall, rocky, lush green forested mountains of western Montana; through the many wide mountain rivers of northern Idaho; through dry, treeless mountains of south-central Idaho; through the sharp, twisted mountain roads of central Idaho, through gigantic lava-covered lands and through the dry desert-like plains of southeastern Idaho; through the tall, snow-covered mountains in the Grand Tetons; through the cold, snow-piled-by-the-road mountain peaks in northern Wyoming; through the lush forested hills of the Black Hills; through the dry, flat plains of central South Dakota; and back through the rich farmland of eastern North Dakota.

My trip meter, from the driveway to my driveway, said 3,999.0 miles. If I was to sell this trip, I could say that you will experience almost every type of landscape - from the farmland to the mountains and back - and all for less than 4,000 miles! What a deal! :)

Even though I brought enough tools to fix almost anything on the side of the road, I didn't need any of it. Goes to show that if you prepare for a breakdown, it won't happen. But I'm sure if I neglected to prepare for it, then it would have most certainly occurred. I like the former method better, just a personal thing.

The Goldwing is truly a remarkable machine. Overbuilt and weighing close to a small car, these bikes will last virtually forever if properly maintained and given some TLC. Even though I demanded a lot from it on this trip, it performed flawlessly. My 'Wing, a 1986 model, is 24 years old this year, but looks virtually brand new, and can still keep up with any new Harley or other cruiser on the road today. While it does handle mountain roads and tight corners fairly well, its bread and butter is the long straight roads of the open valleys and plains. Here is where the Cadillac-like ride really shines. And when all cleaned up and polished, this is one classy looking bike. With it's hand painted murals on the saddle bag lids, it's one-of-a-kind. I've received a few compliments from other bikers on this trip about the uniqueness of this bike. It serves me very well. And to think that I bought it at a garage sale several years ago...

After completing this trip, I've learned a few things about this country and confirmed a few things I've already knew:

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