Back in the USA

August 5^th, 2026

International Falls, MN

Woke at 8:00 am after an unhelpful night’s lack of sleep.  Between the 5:00am postal delivery tossing boxes around (post office was under my room) to the 7:00am septic tank cleaning noise.

Showered and geared up.  Packed the bags and then loaded the bike.

Once done loading, did the final room check and took last things down to the bike.

Checked out of room and bought something for breakfast at the store.  Then fueled the bike.

Last night I changed my route several times.  These last few days has seen several changes.  The long north route I decided not to do, that would have left me at same starting point as this morning, but would have taken at least 1 day longer to reach it.

I had then planned to ride all the way over Lake Superior, but decided that would add 2 more days I did not want to do, so moved my entry to the US to the west of the lake.

I was originally going to cross south of Thunder Bay, ON, but every single room under $300 was booked for this night, no clue why, so gave up and moved to the next border westward.

This border was right north of where I am staying, reason I booked this hotel.  It would have taken me about 5 hours to get here going through some forested areas with lots of lakes.

However, when I looked closer last night, the border includes a very costly toll bridge, so decided to avoid that and cross the land border a few hours west yet.  However, I still came to this hotel, which puts me back on the route I had planned for crossing MN anyway.

Since I made that change, I would not be getting back onto the main highway crossing Canada.  Instead, I rode south, through the small town of Richer and into the countryside.

Not much out here, farms and a few housing areas.  Passed a few small villages, but little if any services in them.

Road then ended and was faced with 8 more miles on gravel to reach the next highway.

Once on that highway, it was only about 45 minutes to the border crossing.

That went smoothly and after stopping to put passport away, I rode the few miles into the nearest town.

Stopped to have food at the Circle K, and while I had more than enough, decided to just top off the tank anyway.

Once I had eaten my pizza from the deli case, I got on the bike and headed in a general east direction.

The highway followed along south of the US/Canada border, rarely more than 3-4 miles away.

At one point I was going through a fair-sized town and suddenly, there on the corner, was a huge statue of a fish!  I had to stop and take a few photos before going onward.

Rest of the trip was nothing special.  I looked at stopping at a rest area, but no restrooms which is what I was wanting.

Went the final distance into International Falls, but was 70 minutes too early to check in.

I rode farther into town to see what was there for food and fuel.  I also needed a restroom really bad.

Pulled into the Circle K, figured I would fuel up to save time in the morning, however, the pumps all had signs that pumps and registers were down, so was basically closed.

I rode to the shell, but it was a really old dumpy station, not even sure they would have a public restroom, so decided to just find food.

Not much for food either.  Many places were either not open yet (dinner only) or were not open till the next day, weekend only places.

I ended up going to Dairy Queen, as only place that I knew would have restroom and parking that would allow me to watch bike while I ate, rest of places were in downtown, and parking was limited.

Ordered my food, used the restroom and then waited for it to come. 

Ate it and was then just going to sit there as I still had about 40 minutes to wait before I could check into the hotel.

I guy had parked next to my bike, and he noticed the AZ plate, so when he came in, he eventually came over to me and asked me how the ride up was.  Guess his sister lives in AZ.

He ended up sitting at my table and we talked about bikes, skydiving, and scuba, things he has done and had interest in.

Eventually I saw it was past 3:00pm, had spent about an hour talking about things, so decided to head over to the motel.

Got bike ready, then found I could cut through the residential area behind the restaurant to get back to the highway on other side of town, instead of going back up and then back down.

Reached the motel and parked up outside the lobby.

Sign at front talked about checking my text messages for instructions, which I thought was odd, until I walked inside.

This is an unmanned lodging.  There is no one working the check in desk (wasn’t even a desk).

When you book the room, they bill your card and then a few hours before check in time, they email you a code that allows you to use the computer screen on a wall of small lockers that hold the room keys.

So, I checked my texts, and did not have any.

Now I am getting annoyed.  Been nice if the listing on Hotels.com had pointed out this check in process, might have found a different place to stay.

I checked my messages on Hotels.com as I noticed the property had sent 2 earlier in the day.

Turns out that booking via the 3^rd party website caused the issue.  Hotels.com (Expedia) does not forward the phone number with the reservation data (Why is anyone’s guess since they send all the other data).

They were unable to send me the info.

I responded to the Hotels.com message, but after 5 minutes, I realized it might be hours before anyone checked those, so I looked around and saw a phone number to call for check in assistance.

While the connection was a bit fuzzy, the automated system got me into a queue after a minute of pressing buttons, and they answered almost immediately.

The lady on the other end found my reservation and confirmed the missing phone number, which I then gave her.

She then said she could just activate the check in so I did not need any code.

She did something and then a button appeared on the touch screen and when I pushed that, one of the little lockers popped open and my key was in there.

She then texted me the Wi-Fi data as well.

Moved the bike in front of my room and went inside.

Nice room, plenty of space.

Unloaded the bike and sorted gear.

Then I oiled the chain as I noticed the bike was making noise in low speeds in 1^st gear.  It had been a few days, and did ride in the rain at least once, so knew the chain needed another oiling.

Once done, I left the cover off, thinking I might ride somewhere for dinner since there is nothing nearby. (Restaurant across the road does not open till Thursday, though from the looks of it, not even sure it is open at all)

I showered and changed into street clothes, then when I checked the pizza place in the gas station down the road, the data on maps said they were closed, but would open at 6:00pm.

Sat around playing online till just after 6.

I then got ready to go, and looked it up….now suddenly it says they are closed and will open tomorrow, suddenly hours are closing at 6, not opening.  WTF.

I looked around, and most the other places in town were either closed, or closing in 30 minutes or less.  Found a Hardees down the highway, and grocery store next door, and thought I might do that, but when I went outside, I noticed the parking lot was much fuller.  Almost certain if I leave, I would lose my spot in front of the room (2 level hotel, so every space is in competition for 2 rooms to take it, no one wants to park on other side of lot near the road.

I decided to forget that idea and just walked down to the gas station.  Figured that they might have something even if pizza place was closed.

Yeah, nope.  This was not a regular station.  Was actually a service garage and car wash with a small, basic c-store and the pizza place.

I bought a candy bar, and a few Cokes.  Dinner of champions?

Walked back to motel, and ended up having a few of my packs of tuna I still had.  Jalapeno flavored version tonight.

I then worked on the finances again, balancing my accounts, paying off the credit card, verifying all the charges and making sure nothing unusual was going on.  They updating my financial tracking documents and the trip expenses documents I am making for this trip.

Once done, I had finished off the cokes and the candy bar was well.

It’s now after 11:00pm, going to finish this blog and update this and last nights, then go to bed.  

Not sure where I am headed tomorrow, will check in the morning and book a room then.  Probably get well into Wisconsin at least, might try pulling a longer day on the bike.  Can ride a bit faster now since fuel stops are more common, and fuel is bit cheaper in the US as well on average, though last few days it has been about the same cost after converting the money back to USD from Canadian dollars.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route