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Eastward Distraction - Day Seven

By Thom | May 29, 2008

Milford, PA to Pine, PA

Well, today sealed the deal for heading back whether keep going on the trip, or head back to MN defeated. I simply could not repair the bike out in the field and I had developed a leak around either the tach outlet or the fan hub that would require me to take off the radiator to get to. Even with several offers of hospitality from fellow riders, I simply could not take that much time and “home” away from them as I fixed my bike, so on to MN!

We planned our route home using the fastest way possible as rain was predicted to hit Iowa and Southern MN on Thursday. We decided that I80 (the busiest interstate in the US) would be our target road into the middle of Iowa. This road if you never traveled it, is packed with truck traffic, who go go go! At this point, having the CB radios between my father and I was a godsend - it kept us more alert and able to navigate within traffic than even attempting to use hand signals or shouting out the car window/helmet.

We did hit two parks (with a 4 stamp count!) the first one being Dingman’s Falls where the parking lot was “full” and I had to wait 10 minutes before I could go into the park for my stamp. The weather was hot and humid so I was in and out pretty quick as I was starting to feel the day time sun and heat.

Picture of the Dingman’s Falls visitor’s center