Woke up to a cool foggy morning. Headed west after a quick cup of coffee and toaster waffle. A little disappointed they didn't have real waffles since Super 8's usually do. But, traveling is easier when not overfilled in the morning.
We were on the road a little after 6AM. The first few hours were on I-74 until we got to Galesburg, Illinois. Then we exited the interstate onto US34 which we stayed on for the majority of the day.
We crossed the Mississippi River at Burlington, which was the same crossing we took on my Harley Davidson Superglide T-Sport well over 10 years ago. We stopped at the same riverside welcome area. The first time through this area, the parking area was deserted and a cop stopped to talk to us as we rested and took pictures. That was our first crossing of the Mississippi on two wheels so it was quite a moment. I used to keep track of how many times I've crossed that big river by motorcycle, but I've lost count now. I can use future road time this trip to see if I can come up with an accurate count. The river water was way up, almost up to the level of the parking area. I can only assume this is water from areas around Minnesota, recently flooded working its way down stream.
After crossing the Mississippi we stayed on US34 through most of Iowa. We were planning on stopping in Ottumwa to eat but didn't see any place right be the road except a Pizza Ranch and I've ruled out buffets for lunch while traveling due to too high of a risk for food coma. We passed another restaurant much later, but didn't see it until it was too late. I could have turned around, but didn't really want to.
US34 has lots of passing lane sections and on one, two other dudes traveling together on motorcycles took each lane, preventing me from passing. It was pretty obvious the one guy on the Goldwing was looking at his buddy to get over, but he was a jack-wad. Kudos to Goldwing guy as he slowed down despite his wad friend and let me pass. Oddly, they continued to bungee for the many more miles, slowing waaayyy down, then speeding up again. To each their own; I'll stick with cruise control.
We stopped in Chariton, Iowa for lunch after getting gas. We ended up at the Hy-Vee Market Grill. This place was phenomenal. The breaded pork tenderloin looked good, but my barbecue sandwich (burnt ends!) was amazing. Meat, smoked to perfection so it didn't need any sauce. This was almost certainly one of the best lunch meals on vacation ever.
After the delicious meal we headed west again on US34. One other odd interaction with a group of motorcycles happened after lunch. A group of eight or so motorcycles came up behind me. At a passing lane, I got over to let them pass, but only the first two did. At the end of the passing lane, I had to get back over and did so, ending up in the middle. This is poor group riding. At the next passing lane, the rest past. I saw this same situation occur a half hour or so later. From watching the interaction of the group, the lead guy was kind of a jerk, leaving the rest of the group behind and there was one rather timid person in the middle who was less than enthusiastic about passing. Yet another reason to travel solo.
Shortly before the Iowa/Nebraska border, US34 was closed for bridge construction over the Platte River. I had seen this on Mapquest before leaving. The detour went 10s of miles out of the way which I didn't want to do. I chose to take the road less traveled, which is also a gravel road. This made the detour very short, if a bit unfriendly for an 800 pound bike loaded for touring.
Crossing the Missouri River in Nebraska, I heard this ferocious noise as warplane flew overhead. There was an air show in the area just south of Omaha. Watching the planes fly overhead was pretty amazing as a few times they flew very low over the road. The sound was intimidating (easy to get distracted from driving with a plane roaring a few hundred feet above).
We got to the EconoLodge in Lincoln for the night. After resting in the hotel for a bit we headed out for dinner. Subway across the street would be a poor last option. We walked under the overpass about a mile away and found Luckies Barbecue. The baby back rips were great. Two smoked pork meals in a row and both were fantastic. This after a 10-hour day on the bike.
Vacation doesn't get any better than that.
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