Motorcycle Trip 2008
Travelers: Ernest Lenertz & Richard Becker
Motorcycles: Ernest has 1998 Honda Richard has 1993 Honda Miles traveled: Richard traveled 1,376 Ernie traveled 2,068 I can't remember if the man with Ernie is a relative or not. Our motorcycle trip began from Minot, ND, on Monday, June 23, 2008, at 7 A.M. My riding partner Ernie Lenertz and I started doing this summer trip back in August 9, 1987. Believe me we have really had some good times traveling together. We are amazed at all the beautiful country we have seen while traveling on our motorcycles. Ernie began his bike ride on Friday, June 20, 2008, from his home in Apple Valley, MN.. He spent a couple days visiting his daughter and her family in Fargo, ND, before arriving in Minot, ND, on Sunday, June 22, 2008. He spent the night at my house in Minot. Monday, June 23, 2008, we headed Northwest from Minot on Highway 52, then turned onto 50, then South on 40 to Tioga, ND, for breakfast. A lot of oil drilling was viewed in this area. Some of the roads showed wear from the many oil trucks hauling oil and material. Then it was 1804 headed for Williston, ND, and a gas stop. After gas it was on to tour the Fort Union National Historic Site. Here Ernie ran into a relative on his wives side of the family. After this enjoyable tour we headed to view a closed old train bridge that crosses the Yellowstone River. Walking across this high bridge we entered an old train tunnel. Believe me this is a long and dark tunnel to walk through and we didn’t have a flashlight either. Finally reaching the other sunlight side we turned around and walked back through the dark tunnel. We figured it was filled with bats and whatever else we couldn’t see. Now we took highway 58 to 200 and to highway 85 South to Alexander, ND. Here we found a neat old school house filled with antiques. Richard found an old printing press. This was similar to one he used to run at Morgan Printing in Minot. Our last stop for the first day of our trip found us in Medora, ND. We had traveled about 380 miles. This is a rather short mileage day for us. We set up our tents in a sandy area with plenty of nats to greet us. They even found ways to get between our glasses and eyes. Later that evening we rode through the North unit of the ND Badlands. To our surprise we seen a lot of wild animals near the road. Tuesday, June 23, 2008, Richard awoke early to find something had bit him during the night, so he had big bites all over his face and neck. Richard had forgotten that Medora was an hour behind us in time, so he was showering at 4:30 A.M. After his early shower he found Ernie awake and getting ready for another day of motorcycle riding. We headed West on 94 to Beach, ND, for breakfast and gas. Here a meeting was held to map out our travels for Tuesday. West of Beach we turned South on Highway 7 headed to Baker, MT. From Baker it was Southeast on highway 12 to Marmarth, ND. We spotted a little café, stopped for a cold drink and to ask about the rumored digging going on for dinosaurs. We were told this was taking place, but we wouldn’t be able to view any of this digging. This fellow also told us about the oil well drilling going on in the area. Next stop was in Bowman, ND, here we found a library where we got on the computers and checked our e-mails and read our local newspapers. Highway 85 was taken for our ride to Spearfish, SD. Here we found a nice camp site and enjoyed a nice quiet evening. We also took a short ride though the Black Hills. This is one of my favorite rides. |
Wednesday, June 25, 2008, found us up early and headed down the road for breakfast. A short drive away we spotted a small café with a patio. Here we had coffee and biscuits. This was a very lovely outdoor place and the weather was perfect. Another meeting was held to decide our Wed. trip. We decided to go back to the campsite and pack up our gear and tour the Hills more and end up in Rapid City, SD. This bike ride through the Black Hills is always a very enjoyable trip. In Rapid City we stopped at the School of Mines campus. Here we went through the geology building. We spent a lot of time viewing the things on display. Then it was off to ride more of the hills. We stopped at Keystone, SD, and walked around town under clear skies and temps.in the 90s. The t-shirts appeared to be
pretty expensive, so these two retired guys on fixed incomes decided to purchase some homemade candy. We watched this candy be made and we got to pick the flavors we wanted. Putting this candy in the cooler on ice we headed on through more mountain driving. (Richard when arriving at home found most of his candy and broke out of the plastic bag and floating in the water in the cooler.) We found our way East on 90. A quick gas stop and a snack at Wall, SD, it was on East to Kodoka, SD. As we approached Kodaka a storm was following us, so we decided rather than chance a stormy night in the tents we would treat ourselves to a night in a motel. Many storm warnings were heard on the radio. A nice small motel was found and we both admitted this was a good choice rather than sleeping on the hard ground another night with storm clouds overhead. Thursday, June 26, 2008, found us up early packing and ready to head East on 90. By the way the storm didn’t materialize, so we could have tented out after all. As we packed our bikes the sky was very dark to the East and South. With no rain gear on we headed East on 90. After a short ride we decided to stop at Murdo, SD, for breakfast and to hope the storm in front of us would head out of our travel paths. Here we shook hands and wished each other a safe ride the rest of the way. Richard turned North on highway 83 heading to Minot and Ernie continued South on 90 to his place in Apply Valley. We both traveled through rain on the last leg of our trip. Another great trip was had by Richard and Ernie. Again a lot of beautiful country was seen from our bikes. Thank God for another safe enjoyable trip. We look forward to planning another trip in the future. 
|