Did a trial packing of the bike yesterday and all went well.  Most of the camping gear (tent, air mattress and camp stool) fit in my tour pack.  Sleeping bag and travel bag will ride behind me with plenty of bungie cords holding it all on.  We're down to 42 days before departure and I'm getting antsy to begin the ride.   Brian's post, that he will most likely make it, fired up the juices to get this journey underway.  I may have to make a run down to Don's favorite Michigan restaurant for a "Daly Burger" prior to leaving.

The temps here in Michigan have been in the 90's (98F at 1600 yesterday) but at 60 MPH on some back roads it was still quite pleasant to be out there.  I'm hoping to discover some really good roads on the trip out there and avoid the freeways as much as possible.  First part of the trip will have to use them to get around Chicago but after that I'm planning on using U.S. Routes and maybe a few state routes for the rest of the trip. 

I tried to figure out how to get the blog to my mobile phone but so far no luck. I'm better at band-aids than I am at electronics.  Time to call my daughter and get some advice; that will probably cost me a dinner when I go visit after Sturgis.