I finally got to strap the camping gear on the bike. It was just a short overnighter with my son’s Boy Scout troop. They left Friday, but I had a bunch of boxes to get out of the living room before I could join them. So Saturday afternoon, I strapped on the T-Bag, tent, sleeping bag, and pad. It was only a 30-mile or so ride out to the campsite, but the headwind made it seem longer. I probably made quite an entrance. The Scouts were camped out at Fort Abercrombie, so I rode down the ditch and around the grass field trying to find my troop. Could not spot them, so rode back across the road and parked in the parking lot of the interpretive center. Saw a truck of one of my ham radio friends there and went and tracked him down. (Not hard to do, mind you, just look for the antennas.) Talked with some folks there and they clued me in on where to find the troop. They had camped BEHIND the fence. No wonder I couldn’t find them! Well, it did make for a grand entrance, circling the camp like I did.

Had parents and boys oogling the bike all weekend. Got to explain how to operate it several times. Given that it’s a stock bike, there wasn’t a lot of bragging to do on it. But I was doing my best to recruit future Harley riders. 🙂

The ride home was quick and easy. Tail wind this time. Could have rode all day if I could have kept going north. As it was, I actually opted out of riding the Harley to Bismarck. It would have been a pretty good crosswind, with a forecast of rain and cooler weather. On another day that wouldn’t have bothered me, but I think I’m more tired than I know from moving. I’m just not up for 4 hours of a crosswind. Discretion is the better part of valor, isn’t it?

Odometer: 4894 miles