Planned 375 miles, actual 454 miles.

Starting out: Trip / Odometer / Time: 64.1 / 41,896 / 8:02 AM PDT

Lola is running very well.  She hasn't missed a beat.  The only maintenance is one light bulb that I had to replace.

Al Murth Harley-Davidson, N6630 County Hwy A, Black River Falls, Wisconsin, 54615, Open Monday thru Saturday, almurth-harleydavidson.com, (715) 284-4725

What I found was a nice dealership.  On the front porch were two fellows with whom I exchanged "Hello's"  Soon we were in friendly conversation, swapping riding stories, adventures and lies, hands in our back pockets looking down and drawing circles in the dust with our toes.

When asked, I mentioned that I was from California.  They had just come back from a 22 day trip, 20 days camping, that took them out to California and up the coast on Highway 1.  The older fellow allowed as how he was a bit afraid of heights and Highway 1 was a bit scary.  We both agreed that going north on 1 felt safer than going south.

Times like this are a true joy.

Wisconsin Harley-Davidson, Inc, 1280 Blue Ribbon Drive, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin 53066, Open Monday Thru Sunday, wishd.com, (262) 569-8500

It turned out to be, as it always does, more difficult than the map shows.  For one thing, on a motorcycle one cannot refer to a map while in motion.  Well, not and live through it.  And the GPS is a static device as well.  While in motion, it is not possible to read the display well.  And, the voice prompts are not audible over the ambient noise and from inside the helmet.

So one can stop every few blocks to take out the map and refer to it, thus making a lot of motorists unhappy with you, or one can go by guess and by golly and hope for the best.

This is a beautiful plant, but is only open for visitors on Saturdays.

Naturally, there is priority parking up front for employee and visitor Harley-Davidsons.

Lola felt a thrill; some of her parts were manufactured here.  She enjoyed saying hi to her younger brothers and sisters.

I decided to try to navigate surface streets between the HD plant and the HD headquarters.  Turned out okay, but took much longer than expected and I spent a lot of time in neighborhoods where I was definitely an outsider.  The driving habits of the local people seem to be obeying different rules than I'm used to.  People zipping in and out of here and there in directions that have little to do with the white line down the center of the street or the current lane count.

It turns out that this is right next to the headquarters for Miller Beer.  Miller has a brewing facility that is many square blocks.  And the route through is is three blocks long and thronging with tourists taking tours, sampling wares, eating at various restaurants, and shopping for souvenirs.

After some searching, I did find the Harley headquarters.  It must have been quitting time, about 4:00 local time because a number of people were leaving work.  Of course, there were lots of Harleys parked around.  And, no one looked like I was doing anything unusual trying to take a photo of my bike and a magazine cover in front of the headquarters.

Stop 3. Was to be the local Harley dealer in Milwaukee.  I had so much trouble finding my way through this town, I       decided to skip this and try for Chicago Harley-Davidson, see below.

By the time I got to Chicago, the local time has passed 6:00 the hour at which most dealerships close.  Oh well, perhaps another time.

Well, this was not my most fun part.  I was getting weary, so I decided to skip taking a side trip into Racine, Wisconsin.  I just kept trekking on.

Milwaukee is about 75 miles from Chicago.  When I finally got to the Chicago area I had been on the road for well over an hour.  There was a sign that said 494 Indiana.  I was guessing that this route would avoid the rush hour traffic of going through the mid-city.

Mistake!  Not only was it much longer, but it is a toll road.  Every 4-5 miles they made me stop and pay 80 cents cash at a toll booth.  Okay, I have to pull up, go and stop with each car in line, get to the toll taker, put it in neutral, take off the gloves, try to find a dollar in my pocket, put the two nickels and a dime change in my pocket, put my gloves back on and then move on.  The drivers behind me were not all that happy with my taking much longer than a normal car.

By this time, I was getting toward the end of this tank of gasoline.  Remember my new sensitivity about gas range.  The toll road has few opportunities to get on and off.  Getting off, there are correct-change toll booths depending on how far you have traveled since the last toll booth.  Getting back on would mean another toll.

I spotted a sign that said something about an "oasis".  As I passed it, I realized that that meant a place with a McDonald's and a gas station.  About 30 miles later, there was another so I took the opportunity to fuel up.  This is highway robbery!  By far the most expensive gasoline of the entire trip.

The signs kept indicating that I should be in the left two lanes to go to Indiana.  The periodic toll booths required me to be in the right-most lane in order to pay cash.  This meant changing several lanes one direction and then back the opposite direction in heavy rush-hour traffic with many of the vehicles being big-rigs following closely one behind another forming a virtually impassible wall.

I was on the expressway from Milwaukee all the way to Gary.  Chicago may be a fun place, but today it was not for me.

To add insult to injury after that long nerve wracking segment, the Indiana information center is only open bankers' hours.

I was able to get my bearings and headed down Interstate 65 toward my destination, Remington, finding a Super-8 motel for the night.  Note to self:  Super-8 is not my favorite.  Let's not do this type of motel again.

Done for the day: Trip / Odometer / Time: 112.8 / 42,350 / 6:50 PM PDT

ABC Letters: New States: Wisconsin

Day's Totals: 454 miles, 10 hours 48 minutes
Trip Totals: 3,455 miles, 83 hours 52 minutes