4... 3... 2... 1...

Tomorrow, Julie and I set off on our great adventure of the summer, riding our newly refurbished motorbikes on a nearly 3,000 mile loop that will take us from home in Minneapolis through the plains of the Dakotas, to my childhood habitation in northwest North Dakota, continuing westward into Montana, arriving in Glacier National Park, one of the grand-daddies of the national park system, and regarded by many as a sure-fire cause of stupefaction.

Julie and I will be dropping our jaws for three days or so -- riding, hiking, camping, dodging bears -- before turning northward into Canada, visiting the Waterton National Park, and then turning eastward toward home. (The trip's timing coinciding with the descent of thousands for the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul is just a happy accident.) We're thinking of avoiding interstates, slowing our pace and taking in more small town, middle west Americas.


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We hope to document the journey along the way via photos (available here or as part of RTIR's merged feed) and video we'll post when we return. While I'm sad to see the summer drawing to a close, I'm just giddy to have some play time like this with Julie before she returns to Columbus and OSU for the fall.

4 states;
3 provinces;
2 bikes; and
1 day until we're off!