North to Alaska - 3

June 22, 2007

Would you believe it took us only an hour to get on the road this morning but we had a few 
short cuts. Jim took a shower last night and we had breakfast at the motel. It was included 
with the rate. That’s what happens when you pick the nicest place on the block. 

We were on the road by 8:00. There was rain last night and forecasts of severe thunderstorms 
and tornados in the area. There were actually two lines of storms. One line was approaching 
Chicago and one in Iowa. There was no sun in the morning and the sky was threatening. We 
managed to snake by the storms in the first line and the weather cleared a little as we entered 
Illinois. Our trip through Illinois was quick but unfortunately it was on the interstate. It 
was also good we filled up first thing in the morning. Gas was $3.50 a gallon in Illinois. We 
had just enough gas to reach Iowa where we paid $2.65 a gallon. As we approached the border for 
Iowa the skies darkened again. We stopped at the welcome center for a break and to verify our 
route through Iowa. We seem to be taking a lot of breaks lately…..I think the frequency is 
increasing. It seems to go along with our whining…oh well. 

We spent another couple of hours on the interstate as we made our way west and north through 
Iowa. The truck traffic decreased as we moved away from Chicago. Once we were well into Iowa 
the truck traffic was bearable….almost. We ran into several pockets of light rain. We passed 
through one line of clouds that looked just like the squall lines we saw while cruising. I 
almost ducked as we entered the dark gray world under this cloud. NO RAIN…what a surprise! It 
was a bit windy but no problem. We finally got off of the interstate about mid afternoon. We 
stopped to take a break and get “another” cup of coffee. I never knew there were so many places 
that sold coffee! We filled up with the least expensive gas we have found so far. Then it was 
on to route 3 in mid Iowa. It started to rain lightly again just before we left. We decided 
not to put on our rain gear based on our earlier experiences…Tom Smith would have kept me dry. 
Well, it wasn’t long before it was a real downpour. Visibility was poor in the rain and much 
worse looking through a wet windscreen and a wet helmet shield. We made good time for a while 
but had second thoughts after a few minutes since neither of us was ready for a soaking rain. 
Our jackets are waterproof assuming you have taken the time to close ALL the vents AND 
tightened the seals around your wrists and neck. Jim managed to close some of his vents but 
couldn’t keep the water from leaking in around his neck. My problem was exactly the opposite. 
Neither of us put our pants liners on but Jim’s pants weren’t nearly as vented as mine. It 
didn’t take long before my butt was sore AND wet!  

Jim asked his GPS for close motels. It told him that there was a Hampton Inn just up the road. 
We were ready! We passed the first motel and I noticed the second was a local motel called the 
Hampton….it happens we were in the town of Hampton. Jim was still looking for the Hampton Inn 
he is used to seeing. He rode another few miles down the road in the heavy rain looking for the 
Hampton Inn….oh well. I had my bike covered and was under an awning by the time he got back. 
The motel is old but nice and inexpensive. We have our riding cloths and gear hung all over the 
place with the AC on to help dry things out. We are liable to have an uncomfortable start 
tomorrow morning and we won’t have a free breakfast.

It took us a while to get dry and get our gear spread out. By then it was time for dinner. It 
was still raining a bit so we put on our jackets to walk across the street. Mine felt heavy on 
the right side.  I apparently left one of my pockets open. I had several napkins and a tin of 
spearmint candy in it. Now I had a pocket full of green water and a pile of mush from the 
napkins. Next time we might get ready before the rain. I can hear you now Tom!
We had a great pizza and packed it in for the day. I hope our things are reasonably dry by 
morning! When all was said and done, we missed the heaviest rains and the two tornados. They 
both tracked right along the interstate. We were 90 miles north when they came through. 
Still, too close for comfort.