July 13th AM

On this Sunday morning my bike was fully loaded. I had a five hour drive ahead of me to White Earth Reservation - to meet folks at the Shooting Star Casino. I was scheduled to meet up with a couple Don and Laurie York. This was going to be my longest drive on the trip and I was anxious to get started. I pulled out of Minneapolis and jumped on 94 towards Elk River. There I grabbed Hwy 10 and backtracked the route I had taken back to Minneapolis from St. Cloud.

The wind was strong, very strong. My stomach dropped a couple times as the wind blew my bike and I, around in the concrete lane. I could feel my body getting beat up. I was hoping that the wind would change as I got further out.

Along the way I caught up with a train running along Hwy 10. I smiled and thought I would travle alongside for a minute. I have no idea why I enjoyed driving with the train. I just did. The contrasting beauty of the train against the open fields and open sky was exciting. I passed the train and road for a while before cutting back to the tracks. I wanted to try and capture the sound of the train going by. I hurried to get my audio recorder up, and my camera out too. I had just enough time before the train came rushing by. I watched as car after car rolled by. Graffiti dressed the sides of the cars, calling my attention to the many towns and cities these cars stop in and the many people who also pay attention to the trains. The last car finished the sounds of the tracks and faded into the distance. I got on my bike and got back on the highway.

The wind was relentless. I had to stop a couple times to rearrange my things. On the road my head seemed to get slapped across the face as huge gusts of wind came across the road. I kept moving between focused and calm to freaked out and scared. I kept riding, I was trying to let this part of the journey happen the way it needed to. Hours passed and my body felt blown, smacked and pushed around. I turned onto Hwy 59 in Detroit Lakes to head into White Earth. This ride was calmer.

The views of the farms were gorgeous. I smelled the air and felt the ground beneath my bike. I had made great time. I rolled into the Casino.