6/27/08 Day 1 for Dave M.
Started at O dark 30 under the stars. Mid 50's for temps. 19966 miles on the odometer.

Managed to dodge the roadkill and garbage on I-86. Other than critters, I had the road to myself. Saw Lake Chautauqua at dawn - it was gorgeous.

Once in Ohio the temperature started dropping and remained near 50 or lower all day. Ran into rain in Cleveland and that remained the theme for most of the day, rain off/on, grey and cool temps.

During some heavier rain I missed the turn off I-90 on to 80 near Gary so I got to see downtown Chicago with the tall building in the clouds, steel mills, the skyway, whitecaps on Lake Michigan, the trains that run between lanes on I-90, heavy slow/stopped traffic and a lot of Illinios that was not planned for, including the wind farms near Mendota - must be a hundred huge windmills spinning at ~ 1 rev/4 seconds.

Iowa is beautiful with near flat to slightly rolling farmland, and you can see the curvature of the earth. Temps in the upper 40's.

The final stop for the day was Colfax Iowa, 20969 miles on the odometer for a total of 1003 miles for the day. About 18 hours in the saddle. I am now a unofficial member of the iron butt club. Ahead is the balance of Iowa, Nebraska and Colorado.