Thanks to everyone who has commented. It makes me feel like I’m actually writing to someone and not just babbling aimlessly like a hobo talking to a parking meter. Here’s some answers to your questions…

and make sure you do lots of fun things…i’m living vicariously through you. — Stephanie

I will definitely make sure and detail anything that I think you’d want to hear about. I will probably not castrate any pigs, however. I’ve got to draw the line somewhere.

Please stop off at some greasy spoons and start some fights. They would make great writing material. — Don

But don’t listen to my brother’s advice about the fights in a greasy spoon. — Mom

When faced with conflicting advice, I am probably more apt to choose the option that doesn’t involve me getting beat up by a herd of truckers.

I always wanted to travel across the US by motorcycle. Your log makes me want to do it. — Don

Apparently I chose Sturgis week for my road trip - I saw bikers, bikers, and more bikers from Iowa to Montana. Also, you’ll enjoy this Don, I saw a few guys cycling up towards Yellowstone’s trailheads from the entrance - probably at least a 6% upgrade for 10 or 12 miles.

As in, this:

^ Pain. Ful.

How about some info on the tunes you are listening to that are getting you thru all that corn? The newest Rick Springfield CD was just released… –Ann

This is embarrassing. I very carefully transferred 80GB of my music over to an external hard drive that I brought with me, and purchased an 8GB MP3 player for use in my car. And then…I never got around to putting any music on the player, except for a few Ben Harper albums which got me through the Carolinas. Even right now, as I’m writing this and thinking about it, my external hard drive is buried somewhere in my truck and I don’t want to root around for it.

This probably sounds awful, but I honestly haven’t listened to any music for the past 2 or 3 days, not even the radio. I just think.

And Ann, I don’t know where you got your information, but you are way, way off. Rick’s last name is spelled J-a-m-e-s.

Whats the gas run out there? — Seth

It’s interesting. In Iowa and Nebraska, 89 octane with 10% ethanol was $3.79 but pure 87 octane was over $4. I guess those states have a subsidy for the corn usage. In Wyoming gas was $3.79 or so but that was 85 octane and my truck started knocking. I filled up in Washington today for $4.19.

If you had a bigger slope could you break 100? — Seth

This isn’t as clear-cut as it seems, either. My truck chronically underclocks, a fact I discovered in Nebraska while timing the mile markers with a stopwatch. At 75 cruise, it took 45 seconds to tick off a mile, which is actually 80 mph. At 80 cruise, 42 seconds (85 mph). The 98 mph figure I gave was based on driving a mile in just over 36 seconds. So I’m sure that at some point in that mile my truck broke triple digits.

To carry your idea further, I’m sure I could hit some pretty impressive speeds on a -90^o slope, but braking would be a problem.

A seal ate Buster’s hand! OMG! Now he’s got a hook. LOL! — Tom

I told you something would happen to Buster! “He’s going to be all right…”

oh, and you’d have been better off eating the sandwich then having the scent with you the whole time — Einar

Yeah, I didn’t explain this one very well, either. I had a tupperware container with four plain pieces of bread and two unopened metal tuna fish cans. I opted not to open the tuna cans until I got back to the visitor’s center and was surrounded by slower, plumper people.