I woke up early this morning thinking I won’t wait for Cabelas to open and buy a new SPOT device, I will head southeast and get some mileage under my belt. Sun was shining, packed up quickly and headed towards what I thought was Casper, Wyoming.

THOUGHT! Now, I could just not admit this stupid mistake but I shall share because this trip is all about learning, making mistakes, seeing what works and doesn’t. Stuff like that.

785 KM’s for the day. Sounds pretty good eh? Well, it would have been a very productive day if all the KM’s were in the direction I should have been heading.

My lesson for my life is when adding routes to your GPS trip DO NOT HIT REVERSE direction. I actually got on my bike and headed northwest for 90 miles until I realized I had been this way yesterday. I had good music on, the direction felt NOT right but hey it’s my GPS? Then it dawned on me…OMG I am so not going the correct way. I yelled in my helmet “SHIT”. Pulled over and sure enough my GPS was sending me home.

This picture is of the wrong way…so, what this did was actually make me ride over 310 KM’s out of my. I was like holy crap, now what? I shared this secret with one of my neighbors at home and she said after I said Saint Christopher wasn’t looking out for me…”Maybe he did keep you safe, maybe you went in the wrong direction for a reason? Maybe you “needed” to go back and get that SPOT, I think you are right where you are supposed to be.”

At this point when I got the TM I was indeed in Cabelas parking lot with a Gen3 SPOT in hand. My neighbor has known me for a while but only since Cheryl left have I really gotten to know a few of the great mom’s/friends/wives they are. This person, and you know who you are…is wise and I have been bothering her with TM throughout my trip.

She was right, it was bothering me that I did not have a device that worked. Not only because my Connect malfunctioned but I really do feel a bit better being out here alone with tracking and roadside assistance just in case. Oh, and SOS. So, my day of riding did not really begin at 0700 like I planned, it began more like 1330.

Not a lot of pictures today. A lot of catching up riding. I only made it just past Casper, WY. The winds once again were brutal and I also am getting sunburn on my face with wind burn. My neck is has a bad rash. Not sure what exactly is causing that. I am using the same gear etc, except I think the collar of the Altitude is rubbing me in the wrong way.

Other than that I am holding up. Good thing I worked out quite a bit before this trip or I do believe I would be really sore. I got hit with only one weather storm cell today. I rode around another. I rather get rid of this head wind, x winds and get more of a tail wind.

Gas mileage is crappy, using 5L/100KM but I remember this happening on my 2010 BMW F650GS going across the nation as well. BAD mileage heading east, great mileage heading west.

Not sure what is going on with my pants. Look like oil but it’s not. Like I said yesterday I will see what happens after I wash the suit. Weird on the leather part too.

So, I am not going to bore you pics of yes, I-90. I hopped on to an Interstate to make up for my mistake in the morning. Made for a fast almost 500 KM’s.

As my new friend and neighbor would say, “things happen for reason Leslie”. And I guess my mistake today was not a mistake after all. BTW, my colleagues think I am crazy riding two wheels except one. But I know myself and I also know it takes about 3-4 days to get into a long trip.

I was right. Something clicked today. I am feeling better…problem solving my own on the road issues. Ones I never had to, like navigation.

I am the happiest when I am on my bike. My sister asked me is this therapy? I said…ummmm YEP. It is really. For those who read this and understand what a bike and ADV touring does for the soul, you know what I am talking about.

I promise to take more pics tomorrow and focus on the direction I should be going right at the start. I cannot really believe I admitted to not paying close attention but I did.