Day 2, No Legs. Chadron, NE: Mile:860

We have met the enemy and it is "SNOW". We persevered through freezing cold into Chadron, in far west Nebraska. Waking up late it was still snowing. Tomorrow, they are predicting 70 degrees! Crazy. The moutains to the west (Yellowstone and Grand Teton) do not look good, however. We are, therefore, changing plans. We are going to rent a truck and drive to Idaho Falls, Idaho. We'll pack the truck today and drive tomorrow. Then Idaho Falls to Boise to Oregon to Seattle. We should still make it by Tuesday evening; check back for updates.
For those with pledges on the line, we will NOT count truck miles toward the pledge.
Oh, yeah, about that embarrassing episode. Nothing as exotic as a ticket for speeding. I just ran out of gas. Strange, as it was way below my expected tank range. Maybe bad gas, though Alex wasn't affected. Anyhow, Alex rode and found a good samaritan who drove out and filled my tank. Even with gas prices where they are, he wouldn't accept payment. That is the America we all love but often don't know.
We go now to get the truck.
[REL:15]

Day -1, Preparations finished

We leave tomorrow. The mission is defined: Chicago to Seattle, arriving in time for start of the SiiM meeting on Weds, May 14. The rough plan for the outbound ride is to ride US 20 straight across Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska to Casper, Wyoming. Casper northwest to Yellowstone, then 20 across lower Idaho to Boise. From Boise, we go north on ID 95 to Lewiston, Idaho. Lewiston to Clarkston, WA then across the lower tier of Washington to Mount Rainier, then north to Seattle.
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There are DOT interactive maps and web cams for Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington. Also, you can check out Safe Travel USA. If you catch us on a web cam let us know.

3rd Annual Ride-to-SiiM About to Start!

You may have heard about the Ride to SIIM (now in its third year), an exciting and fun cross country motorcycle trek from Chicago to the SIIM Annual Meeting. You can read about the first ride to Austin in 2006, here. This year, you can participate by making a pledge to help us raise money for the SIIM Research Grant Fund. We’re looking for as many per-mile pledges as we can find! Since we estimate the round-trip from Chicago at over 4,000 miles, a 1-penny-permile
pledge will translate into a $40 tax deductible donation to SIIM. Ten cents a mile will raise $400. A onedollar- a-mile pledge will not only get you a $4,000 tax deduction but also an autographed glossy photograph (and DICOM image file) of you sitting on one of the motorcycles, surrounded by the riders. Send pledges by email to SIIM at grants@siimweb.org. Please be sure to send complete contact information with your pledge; SIIM will contact you after the ride to make arrangements for payment and to get you your tax letter. Contributions to the SIIM Grant Program, a 501c(3) organization, are taxdeductible to the fullest extent allowable by law.