Day 6- not the best day

So our plan was to come up the Needles Highway, go through Lead (pronounced Leed), then head up through Spearfish Canyon to see the falls. Well, that's basically what happened with some additional "excitement" along the way. As we were leaving Lead, a tire came off of a truck in front of us, bounced across the road and hit a bike coming in the opposite direction. Somehow, that driver managed to stay up, get to the side of the road, before he let his passenger off and laid the bike down. We stayed there with them and tried to help until the ambulance and sheriff came. They are alive, but have likely broken ankles/bones and lots of scrapes and bruises. Very scary stuff and but for timing could've been us. Thankfully, we are now safe in our trailer while we wait for the rain/hail storm to pass. #thankyouJesus

Loooong day 5

Decided to go to the Badlands today...Google's "avoid highway" route is no joke. So the only way to get from one little town to another little town is through even smaller towns with cool names like Red Shirt, Porcupine, Scenic, and Interior-population 94. We stopped in Interior at a bar to leave our mark (on a dollar bill in the bar), and meet Double-wide, the bull. 

We finally made it to the Badlands and rode through to see the ages-old formations. It's amazing to me what a beautiful and diverse planet we live on. We even recreated our pic from five years ago. 

We stopped in to Wall, SD and then headed home. Made it back to camp, logged 310 miles, and bonus(!) missed all the storms!

Monday, Day 4

We woke up this morning and figured out our plan for the day. We were on the road by 8:45 AM in order to try and fit everything in. I was surprised that so many bikers were already on the road. Hit up Rapid City HD, then downtown Sturgis for the "main event". While the boys walked around a bit (this boot is really limiting my walking) the girls sat and people-watched, with wine! We then navigated through the throngs of scantily clad people (of all shapes and sizes) to head up to Deadwood. The amount of people in the Black Hills for this rally is unbelievable! 

We ended up back in Sturgis to check out Full Throttle Saloon and have dinner. It's everything the TV show makes it out to be, and more. A real playground for bikers. (Took some pics, but they aren't what you'd call "blog friendly"). A select group got a tiny preview via text, and for that, you're welcome. ;)

Day 3, part 2

As it turns out, I posted yesterday's blog too soon! Once we got back to camp and relaxed a bit (with beverages) we ended up going back through the wilderness loop to see what might be there. We had heard that early morning or early evening were good times to see buffalo. Since we know that the early morning viewing ain't happening, we went around 7pm and saw a HUGE heard of buffalo grazing and trying to cross the street. Very cool! It's really pretty amazing how big (and ornery, yet tame enough to put up with hundreds of gawkers) they are! 

We got back to camp and threw some steaks on the grill. Had a nice little campfire with marshmallows and decided to call it a night. 

Sturgis vacay day 3

Since days 1.5 were spent in a truck, then the last half of day two was a sleepy haze through the wilderness loop, we were finally able to make it out of camp and see stuff on day three! Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Hill City, then finishing it off with a ride through Needles Highway. 

Beautiful riding weather today!! Lots of bikes, sights, and sun for the 75th anniversary Sturgis rally.