Update #18 - Friday, June 29, 2007
CLEAR LAKE, SOUTH DAKOTA
7,012.64 miles (11,220.22 kms) since Jan 01st
6,171.88 miles (9,875.01 kms) since March 03

The ride has been okay from Rugby, MT. After celebrating my 51st birthday in Rugby, MT, I rode westward to Minot. I decided that this was the farthest west I was going to travel. I spent the weekend in Minot since I had to get a couple of spokes fixed on the rear wheel. Also, there was a day of super strong wind (up to 40 mph) from the west so there was no way that I could get anywhere.

I headed south to Gettysburg, SD on U.S. 83. I had an extended stop in Linton, ND. I wasn't planning this but I got seriously ill. A week before, I had a minor problem with diahhrea and bloating. I thought that I might have caught it from one of the kids I stayed with during my stop in Rugby, ND. Last Friday, it came back with a vengeance. I suffered from every gastro-instestinal problem you could think of including throwing-up. I was staying at a motel. I got so sick that the manager took me to the emergency room of the hospital. I had gotten so dehydrated from the diahhrea, that the emergency room personnel had to give me three regular bags of saline, a bag with potassium since my potassium level got really low, a bag with antibiotics, and several shots for the gastro-intestinal problem and nausseau. I was in the emergency room for about three hours. The motel manager let me stay over for two extra days for free so that I could recover.

At Gettysburg, SD, I turned eastward on U.S. 212 to Watertown. I'm getting ready to head back into Minnesota. I'll be either spending the night in Canby or Tracy, MN tonight. I'm on the way to Zearing, IA to visit with some friends there. After Zeaing, I'll be heading across Iowa in a SE direction to Bettendorf on the Missisippi River. From Bettendorf, IA, I'll be riding down the west side of the Mississippi River to Hannibol, MO and then crossing to the east side of the Mississippi River to Granite City, IL (across from St. Louis, MO).

I'll try and post an update as often as I can if my plans change. The next update should be posted between July 05th and July 12h. Hopefully, I'll have more to write about by then.