Day 24- July 15

Day 24: July 15th 34,398 miles according to my defective instrumentation

Big Surprise! We get off to another late start. My bags are patched with duct tape and I do a much better job hanging them on today. Doing so takes time though. This would definitely be better if I had detachable hard bags.
The scenery is lacking, nothing but farmland prairie in this part of South Dakota. It is getting quite warm when we pull off to visit the Corn Palace. Just another tourist trap that I find a bit disappointing. Judging from pictures, the long gone original from 100 years ago was a more worthwhile place to see and visit. Too bad, I don’t think this was worth the trip through town.
The scenery in Minnesota isn’t any better. We are on 23 north for 100 miles before occasional trees and water interrupt the farm fields. I’m not sure where the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes is hiding them all. On our route we see one. The pavement is poor for most of this trip, with almost no curves at all. Cage drivers are not particularly courteous (or even competent) out here either. My middle finger is extended in much deserved mock salute more than once. It is a far cry from the courteous waves you usually get in a lot of the rural areas in the U.S.
With nothing much to see, we just keep plugging away. My hands were bothering me from the start today; as the day goes on my aching posterior is killing me. I welcome frequent gas stops just to rest my cheeks. It is painful getting back in the saddle though. The pain in my butt almost makes me forget about the numb aching throttle hand.
On a somber note, I am involved in a fatal collision. No damage to me or the bike, but a small bird (sparrow maybe) perished. I slowed down to miss him, but he turned back into me. He just grazed my right leg before getting clobbered by the saddlebag. Sorry little guy.
On an interesting note, there are no problems at all with Ceci’s bike today. In fact since buying the gremlin bell, Ceci’s bike has had no problems. The Bandit has not been so lucky. Maybe I should get one…. So much for not being superstitious.
We stop for the night at a Super 8. We covered at least 374 miles today, a much better day than we’d been averaging. Easier to rack up the miles when there’s nothing much to see or worth stopping for.