Des Moines, IA to Oshkosh, WI

When I awoke and turned on The Weather Channel the forecast called for "abundant sunshine". Now that sounded really promising but as I went out to load up the motrocycle it started to rain. Thankfully it stopped and the storm passed on. I started east on I-80 and on the horizon was another more menacing storm, It looked to be north of Des Moines and moving my way. I focused on the clearing I could see beyond the clouds and kept moving. As I stopped for gas the clouds moved over Des Moines behind me and it looked like there was a lot of rain coming down. I was glad to be out of reach and enjoyed clear skies the rest of the way to Oshkosh.

It was good to finally arrive at the turning point of this journey. From here on the roads will bring me closer to home.

Unfortunately, there was a GPS error and I missed my turn off to ride into Illinois. The error? I misread the Google map directions and missed the turn off to cross over the Mississppi River into Illinois. By the time I realized what had happened I was already into Wisconsin and behind schedule so I decided to bypass Illinois. Instead of 24 states, I will ride through 23 states on this ride but will reach my goal of hitting all states west of the Mississippi River, except Alaska and Hawaii.

8-12-09 Stats
400 miles
3,929 miles down
2,262 miles to go
States - IA, WI