Tag Archives: Sturgis

Buffalo Bill and Cody, Wyoming

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I stuck my nose out from under the fluffy comforter and realized that a queen-sized bed is definitely not big enough for two adults, a 100-lb. German Shepherd and two cats, all who had congregated on the bed because they were cold.  “Ole,” I yelled as I poked him in the ribs with my elbow (you see, I had to yell because he wasn’t wearing his hearing aids) “please get up and turn on the furnace, it’s freezing in here.”  After several pokes and a few grunts from him I wandered out to the front of the motorhome and flipped the switch to turn on the furnace.  It took a minute or so and the hum of the fan motor started blowing warm air.  It was soon cozy enough to get up and make coffee.  I gingerly pulled the curtain back to expose the indoor/outdoor thermometer and it read 42 degrees on the outside.  I dropped the curtain back over the thermometer and told Ole I wouldn’t be going anywhere outside until it warmed up “just a bit.”  What a terrible shock to a system that was used to the 90 to 100 degree temps that we’d gotten used to over the last months. 

Anyway, we packed up and headed north to Cody, Wyoming, home to Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show.  The sky was quite ominous looking to the west with lots of dark rain clouds moving our way and clouds hanging very low in the sky over the mountain tops in the direction of Yellowstone Park.  So when we got to our campgrounds we decided that this would be a day of “kicking back,” watching a movie or two and just staying inside out of the cold north wind that was blowing.  And we did.  Everybody took naps – Daisy, Lucy, Senior Citizen Simon and Ole.  Well, almost everybody – I didn’t. 

The next day dawned bright and sunny so we decided to do a bit of riding, but the priority of MY day was to make a stop at the local quilt store, Friends & Co.  Of course that couldn’t go without a purchase of an item or two (snicker). and this time Ole didn’t greet me when I came out of the store with, “What?  No packages?”  Of course I had packages.  When one has a fabric addiction one never leaves a quilt store without a few yards of fabric. 

The afternoon called for a trip to the Buffalo Bill Dam and a ride farther north through the canyon.  We spotted mountain goats on the wall of the dam – (pictures in the video).  I sure hope they all know how to swim.

We spent the better part of an afternoon at the Old Trail Town, the original town site of Cody, right next to the Stinking River, renamed the Shoshone.  The Stinking River is appropriately named as it smells like someone dumped their sewer on the street.  It’s full of sulpher and depending on which way the wind is blowing can be really offensive to the City of Cody.  Old Trail Town consists of various old buildings from around the area that have been moved to the original townsite, and restored.  Very interesting history if you’re into western stuff.  I’m sure you’ve all seen the movie Jeremiah Johnson starring Robert Redford.  There actually was a Jeremiah Johnston (note JohnSTon instead of JohnSOn), and he actually was attacked by a bear and left to die by his cohorts.  He truly did recover on his own out in the wilderness and searched out the buddies that left him for dead and killed them.  He was known as Jeremiah “Liver Eating” Johnston, and I won’t go into the “liver eating” part – I’ll just leave that to your imagination.  Well, Jeremiah is burried in the Old Trail Town cemetery along with Belle Drewery.

Belle Drewery is known as the Lady in Blue whose ghost still haunts the Cowboy Bar in Meeteetse, along with several of her “boy friends.”  She was part of a three-way trist that ended in the murders of her two male friends.  It’s an interesting story – just google “The Lady in Blue” if you’re interested. 

Following Cody we headed for Medora, ND and the Badlands.  We had originally intended to head north toward Glacier National Park, but after looking at distances and time frames that we had to work within we decided we just didn’t have time to go that far.  Isn’t that pathetic?  Retired and don’t have time???  What’s wrong with this picture, anyway. 

Anyway, we landed in Medora this evening.  We’ve taken a ride through the park, spied quite a bit of wildlife, ran into a several dumbshits in the park (as usual) and had a tasty dinner at the Little Missouri Saloon served by a nice young man from Bulgaria, all of which I’ll tell you about tomorrow. 

Video and pictures attached.  Just click the link.

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=11604609bf47856464e56f7&skin_id=601&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Love, Lena

 

 

The Mountain Man of the Black Hills

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“How long you been comin’ down here?” said the scholarly looking older gentleman sitting next to me on the bench on Main Street.  “Well,” I said, “Ole has been coming here every year since 1986.  I’ve only been coming since 1994.”  “Me and the Old Lady, we been comin’ down here since 1972 – and haven’t missed a year!  Ride all the way, too.”  I found out that he and his wife are from Rochester, MN and make the trek every year on their Honda – crossing southern Minnesota and all of South Dakota on their bike, carrying everything they’ll need for a week or more.  From here they were going to pack up and head to Williston, ND and check out the oil fields.  They were hoping they could each get a job doing something there – she could work at Taco John’s and he could drive a truck he thought.  He was 76 and she was 72.  I would have never guessed their ages to be that.

Yesterday was spent taking the curves and turns on Vanocker Canyon Road and Nemo Road.  At one point we stopped for a Butt Break and ran into one of the Mountain Men of the Black Hills.  He was a friendly old soul that rode down to his mail box to retrieve his mail on his quad and stopped to visit with us.  He attire was quite the fashion statement.  His jeans were patches upon patches, the top of his straw cowboy hat was nearly missing and the toes of his steel-toed boots only showed the steel – there was no leather left covering the toes.  He owned 20 acres back in the Hills, had been born and grew up in the immediate area and was a Korean War vet.  We must have visited with him for a good 45 minutes covering everything from his philosphy on life to politics on all levels.  There’s a picture of him in the attached video.

Then it was on down the road, over the pass and on into Deadwood where we stopped at The Chubby Chipmunk, which is one of Friend Karen’s Must Stops. The Chubby Chipmunk is a local store that makes all homemade-hand dipped chocolate truffles of every flavor you could possibly imagine. This time she was thinking ahead and brought her cooler to to stow them in and prevent them from melting in the hot temperatures during the 16 mile trek down the mountain back to Sturgis.

Then, of course, it wouldn’t be a trip to the Black Hills and the Motorcycle Rally unless you got wet at least once. We managed to do it twice this trip.  That’s once thing about the Black Hills – if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes.  Today the sky opened up without much warning and dumped buckets of water for about 10 minutes.  Fortunately, we had left downtown Sturgis as the sky was looking threatening and made it back to the campground just as the buckets started to pour.   The day before we weren’t quite so lucky – you can’t imagine how much rain drops hurt when they hit you in the forehead.  Ouch!!

Lovely Daughter and Lars have purchased all their token t-shirts – saving most of their shopping until today, the last day, hoping to get in on some good bargains.  I haven’t purchased ANYTHING as I couldn’t find anything that appealed to me.  Ole would sit on the back of the bike and people watch as I would go out on my shopping sojourns, and he would always greet me when I returned with, “What?  You have no packages?”  “Nope, not today.  Just same sh-t, different day.  Nothing out there I need.”  Unfortunately, there are only three shops on the Main Street that are locally owned.  All the others are owned by, to be politically correct here, “other ethnic groups,” – okay, I’ll just say it – rag heads!!  Ole and I had a bit of a run-in several years ago with one of the owners who tried to cheat us.  He threatened to call the cops, and I told him to go ahead.  He backed down then, but I fooled him and brought the cops back to his tent.  He was just a bit surprised and denied all.  So I’ve made it a policy not to buy anything from a store-front that isn’t locally owned.

People are packing up and pulling out as tomorrow is officially the last day of the rally.  We’ll be pulling out on Sunday heading over the Big Horn Mountains to a little town called Ten Sleep.  There’s a campground there that has a laundry – and Ole is about due to run out of clean shorts even though he’s turned them inside out so I guess I better wash some clothes. 

Click on the link to see the latest pictures and video.

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=1153854ff5d7ee1afcea291&skin_id=601&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Love, Lena

 

 

 

 

PERVERSIONS

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“Lena, Lena, did you get a picture of that?” Ole yelled at me as we were flying down the Interstate.  “Ole, just why would I want a picture of THAT?” as I slapped him on the back of his bald head for the umpteenth time that day!! 

What had gotten Ole so excited was just another “pervert” – a female (I won’t call her a lady) on the back of a bike totally nude from the waste up – her “purchased” boobs bobbling in the wind.  Yes, they did flap a bit as the silicone had sagged just a tish, and the hard discs were beating her chest cavity as they flew by us at faster than the 75 mph that we were riding.  Obviously, her significant other was okay with the whole thing – to each his own I guess. 

Boy – I tell you – you see just a bit of everything here during the bike rally.  There’s a group of Christian bikers that are very apparent in the downtown area – one that drags a large cross up and down the street and hands out literature to anyone that will accept it – to the chicken man and his wife that parade up and down the main street wearing nothing but a jock strap for him and tassels and a g-string for her, with him flashing a rubber chicken out in front of them – what the significance of the rubber chicken is I haven’t a clue. 

Nudity is against the law on the streets of Sturgis, but body paint is considered clothing – so of course there are females who would never think of doing something like this at home that are painted anywhere from their entire fronts to just their nipples.  Wonder what the Judge had on his mind when he passed THAT law!!  Yes, this is a strange place.

Don’t get me wrong – yes there are perverts here, but the majority of the folks who come here come just to ride the beautiful hills and take in the sights.  Downtown Sturgis just happens to be a side light where the “strange” people go to exhibit their wares – and the normal folks go to do their shopping and to gawk at all the strange people.  Average Joe Blow and his wife/girlfriend would never consider doing anything but walking up and down the street and doing their shopping. 

Yesterday was spent with Ole’s Cousin Joe and his wife, just catching up on old times, doing a bit of riding and enjoying each other’s company.  Ole and Cousin Joe spent a lot of time together as young kids growing up out on the farm.  So there was a lot of conversation about old times, reliving stories, etc.  Fun time.  But of course, fun times always have to come to an end and this one did all too early in the evening. 

Lovely Daughter and Lars arrived last night about 6:30 or so, so there was lots of catching up to do even though it had only been less than a week since we’d seen each other and we talk on the phone at least once a day.  Lars has never been to this part of the world before and was totally blown away with its beauty.  He tells me that he’ll be here next year on his own bike enjoying everything. 

To see pictures and video, click on the link.

 http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=115090479f8c5563002c2f8&skin_id=701&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Love, Lena

DAISY’S BIG RESPONSIBILITY

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You know, every campground has their problems and issues – especially during bike week.  Even though we’re in one of the more “calm and quiet” campgrounds with an owner/operator that keeps close tabs on things there can still be issues.  So there are those campground residents that are kind enough to keep watch on things and quell the issues as soon as they arise. 

For those of you who don’t know, Daisy is an eleven year old German Shepherd that travels with us whenever the RV leaves the yard.  She supervises the loading and all the maintenance that takes place prior to making a trip, and worries when something goes wrong. She makes sure that the two cats that travel with us (Senior Citizen Simon & Lucy) behave themselves and always find the litter box.  Once we arrive at the campground she exits the RV and announces her presence with several loud barks, then makes the rounds of all the surrounding campers introducing herself, giving everyone a good sniff, and if she really likes you maybe a lick or two. 

Most everyone in our “camping neighborhood” has at least one dog, although most of them are on the smaller side – poodles, yorkies, mostly little dust mops.  So of course, Daisy, with her instinctive herding nature, makes sure that they all stay within their boundaries.  Believe me, when those little dogs wander out of their territory and they receive a poke in their behind from a dog that weighs 100 lbs. they run for their lives back to their sanctuary. 

As you can see, Daisy has a big job ahead of her for the next 10 days.  Here’s a shot of Daisy “on guard.”

And Senior Citizen Simon doing what he does best.  He started claiming the laundry basket at home so we decided to bring it along so he had something familiar.  You see, he’s 21 years old, blind and deaf and gets around totally by his whiskers. 

And then there’s Lucy, my little chatterbox.  Judging from the way she “talks” all the time and her sky blue eyes, I would guess she’s part Siamese.  She was so thin when she came to us about 6 months of age, that you could see every rib and her back bone.  She’s chunked up now to the point that she’s nicknamed Pork Chop and Bubble Butt!

 It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood – remember that song that Mr. Rogers would sing at the beginning of his program?  Well, our camping neighborhood is like old home week.  Many of us have had the same camping spots since this campground opened up in 2001.  Karen and Dave arrived from Arizona, although they were two days late due to trouble on the road.  Something went wrong with the computer in their truck and they were stranded for 12 hours out in the wilds of Wyoming.  Then there’s Smitty and his family consisting of his wife, son and daughter-in-law.  They’re out of Alliance, Nebraska.  He’s retired military and now owns his own electrically contracting company.  There’s Jeff & Jerry, father and son from Huron, South Dakota.  They’re big cattle ranchers and operate 17 sections of land.  His beef is all organic and every year he stocks his freezer with steaks and hamburger that we dine on.  The steaks are always an inch thick and you can cut them with a fork.  They are wonderful.  Next to Jeff and Jerry is Chris – he’s a newbie in our neighborhood and is here with his wife, two young boys and his mother-in-law and father-in-law.  They’re here all the way from Los Angeles.  They don’t own a bike but they’re here because his wife has a job at the Full Throttle Saloon.  If you don’t know about the Full Throttle Saloon click here:  http://www.fullthrottlesaloon.com/  Chris is a 16-year vet from the Marine Corps and has spent 16 years on the Los Angeles Police Department, many of those years on the vice squad so he’s got quite some stories to tell.  We’re still awaiting Rocky and Billie out of Kansas City, and Don and Bernie from Arkansas.  So it will be a full house. 

You would think that with this group of people that our area would be “party city.”  WRONGO BUCKO!  We’re all of the age group where we’re back at the campground by 5 o’clock and most of us in bed by ten.  So, if you’re interested, you’ll just have to bear with the boring details as they unfold over the week ahead.

Love, Lena

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’D BUTCHER THAT DAMN ROOSTER IN A HEARTBEAT!

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We made it to Faith, SD last night – after an extremely rough ride for the last 70 miles.  Both Ole and I have now had our practice for riding bucking broncos so we can enter  the next rodeo we come across.  (I know there’s a bull at the Full  Throttle Saloon – but they only let topless women ride that  and I’m not up for that – sorry.)  The road between Lemmon, SD and Faith is so rough and so narrow  you’re truly taking your life in your hands when you travel on it.  And in addition, this time there was a ton of road construction – maybe SD finally realized they needed to do something about that highway. 

Anyway, I always go through the rig from front to back and make sure that all the “hatches are battened down” and locked up securely.  I really hate to have things flying around while we’re traveling down the road.  Things have a tendency to break when that happens and besides that it scares the livin’ tar out of the cats.  Poor Simon got hit on the head with a small candle that went flying off the table.  And this poor cat is blind so doesn’t have a clue what’s going on.  At least Lucy can duck and cover when things get wild.  This trip the road was so rough that not only did some of the cupboards come flying open, but the bumps even blew out part of our electrical system.  The rearview camera quit, Ole couldn’t get his power window up or down, the dash fan quit working – well, you get the idea.  After we “landed” Ole trouble shot things and informed me that things had come loose under the dash and the problem was fixable once we got to Sturgis and could get parts.  Obviously there were no “parts” available in Faith as that town rolls up its sidewalks at five o’clock.

We always spend the night at the city park in Faith.  It’s a nice little park on the edge of town with big trees for shade, lots of room to run Daisy, and it’s fairly quiet – except for last night.  There is a small farm/ranch site located about a quarter of a mile from the park.  Obviously, they have chickens – or at least they definitely have a rooster.  With his attitude he’s probably driven all the hens away – just sayin’ is all.  Someone forgot to instruct him in the difference between day and night – light and dark.  This feathered monstrosity started crowing at MIDNIGHT last night and let loose every three minutes until the sun came up this morning.   Apparently his owners are so used to him they don’t even hear him anymore.  That stringy old geezer would be in my stew pot so fast he wouldn’t know what hit him.  I’d choke his last crow right out of his scrawny old neck.  Just remember – if you come to stay at my  house – DON’T CROW!!. 

Other casualties/issues of the day:  We finally got the satellite receiver working after having a service call from Direct TV.  Fortunately when I contracted with Direct TV I bought a maintenance contract so this was all on their dime.  Then we blew a fitting in the water system – when Ole was loading water on it was running out as fast as he was putting it in.  Unfortunately, the leak was INSIDE the coach – not outside so I had a lot of water to mop up and carpet to dry out.  Then – as Ole was hooking up the motorcycle trailer and we were just ready to pull out of the yard I noticed a hissing noise coming from just behind the right front wheels.  This was extremely distressing as we had just spent $1500 on new tires all around and I couldn’t imagine why we’d be having tire problems.  After close inspection Ole discovered a leaking air line.  This RV has air suspension – so keeping the air INSIDE the line is kind of important.  An easily fixable problem as long as we were at home and not on the road.  So after numerous trips back and forth from the RV to the shop, Ole had it fixed and we were on the road. 

All went well until Ole decided to turn on the in-dash a/c.  Last fall we had to have the compressor and a few other parts on the A/C replaced.  More $$$.  Everything worked fine.  So this is the first time we’ve used the rig this summer because we’ve been so busy.  So Ole flipped the switch, pushed the button and what do we get?  Hot air.  So we ended up just driving down the road with the windows open.  By this time we’re both getting a bit frustrated – but what do you do. Ole has the stuff along to fix it, but didn’t have the correct fitting.  Once again – wait until we get to a hardware store in Sturgis – as the one in Faith had locked the door and pulled the shades at 5 o’clock. 

We’re currently driving through a wide spot in the road called Mud Butte.  Real exciting town that consists of one gas station/post office.  This is the last leg of our journey for today and we should be seeing Bear Butte shortly – that’s just outside of Sturgis.  Hopefully we won’t have any more fiascos, but fortunately those we have had so far have been easily fixable and just inconveniences. 

Stay tuned for the saga – (I’ll just have to teach you more Norwegian words.)

Love, Lena

 

HEAD ‘EM UP AND MOVE ‘EM OUT

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Yup – it’s that time of year again – time to pack ‘em up and head ‘em out.  We’re loaded and ready to move on down the road effective Wednesday morning.  Not necessarily bright and early as you know retired people don’t always move that fast.  There are necessities that need to take place first – drinking a pot or two of coffee, a bit of breakfast, and attendance in the “reading room” – that’s where all the magazines get read, you know.  I keep telling Ole that’s his library – he just scoffs at me.  Oh, well, some people are all about routine, you know.

Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you just exactly where we’re going – duh!  It’s the annual trip to Sturgis and the Blackhills Motorcycle Rally.  Ole has missed only one year of attending since 1986.  He USED TO BE really hard core and would ride the bike down and back.  In his later years (snicker) he became more sane and decided to trailer the Harley.  I didn’t start riding with Ole until our Lovely Daughter graduated from high school (1994) and haven’t missed a year since. 

We meet up with long-time friends every year as we all reserve the same spots so we have our own little Sturgis Village.  It’s like “Old Home” week, and always a lot of fun.

Now I really need to tell you about how I got involved in all of this.  Ole had asked me for numerous years to go to Sturgis with him and I always refused.  After all, all I had to judge the whole shebang by was the pictures of all the weirdoes that he brought home.   I didn’t think there was any reason for me to go that far to see all these strange folks that liked to exploit themselves. all the troublemakers and gangs, etc.  Just didn’t want any part of it.  Finally, just to appease him, I agreed to go, but put a number of stipulations on the trip.

First of all, I would not ride on the back of the bike all the way to Sturgis – that’s only 650 miles, but farther than I wanted to go and get wind/sun burned.  Second – under no circumstances would I sleep in a tent.  The weather down there is just to “iffy” and I definitely wanted a roof over my head should a storm blow up, which it does frequently.  Thought I had him there – as hotel rooms are usually rented a year in advance.  Third – there was no way I was going to wear all that BLACK leather that you saw all the bikers wearing.  I wanted something different - like maybe RED!  No problem, he said.  There’s all kinds of leather for sale down there and we’ll buy it when we get there (smirk).

He got me on all three counts.  First of all he made arrangements to go with a friend who had a pickup.  So we loaded both bikes in the back of his truck.  Okay – No. 1 down.  Thought I had him on No. 2 as he wouldn’t be able to get a hotel room at this late date.  WRONG!  Friend had a hotel room and offered to share it with us.  Got me there.  Darn.

So we arrive in Lead, SD after a 10-hour trip, check into the hotel room and go downtown to the leather vendors in search of something other than black leathers.  Now keep in mind that this was back in 1994 – 18 years ago.  Things were just a bit different back then than they are now.  Besides the fact that red leather only came in a size 4 or smaller, the only people who wore red leather were the HOOKERS!  And it was quite evident at that.  Needless to say I quickly changed my mind and ended up with black leathers with brown suede trim.

Since then I’ve found out there are a lot of reasons for BLACK leather – No. 1 is that it doesn’t show the bug splats quite as much as colored leather.  And it’s usually made of a heavier grade of leather which can withstand a lot more abuse should you lay the bike down and succumb to a bit of road rash if not worse.

So the “saga” (that’s Norwegian for story) shall continue.  If you’re interested, stay tuned, otherwise just delete the entry when it shows up on your email.

Love to you all,

Lena

 

 

Beware – This Harley Stops at All Quilt Shops

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Ole says we need a sign for the back of the motorcycle “This Harley stops at all quilt shops.”  Usually I do my research before we enter a new area, but sometimes there are shops that don’t show up on the internet and when we stumble across them they require a fast stop and a quick turn.  But I knew about this one in advance, so there was no disaster.

We started off this morning to investigate Route 308 which goes through Washoe and Bearcreek, two old abandoned coal mining towns.  There’s not much left of either town, so to see this quilt shop out in the middle of nowhere is quite astonishing.  I had a great time inside browsing through all the fabrics and picked up several patterns that will go on my pile of “Projects to Do.”

Believe me, Washoe is in the Middle of Nowhere.  Here’s a picture of Nowhere.

We could see the top of Beartooth Pass from that point and it’s still got snow on top of it.  We could also see some weather moving in.

But we chugged on through Bearcreek and on over to Belfry where we stopped in the Silver Tip Saloon for lunch.  We bellied up to the bar and ordered burgers and beer.  I couldn’t believe the burgers – they hung over the edge of the buns a half inch on all sides. 

Now, there was an individual sitting at the bar when we walked in that I would have LOVED to have taken a picture of, but I didn’t think it would be polite to flash my camera in his face.  This was a REAL cowboy, right off the range.  He even smelled like a horse.  His black 10-gallon hat was shaped to his head, had a wide band of sweat going around it and was quite beat up and dusty.  I think it had been waved in the air to move cattle more than a few times.  There was even dust on the shoulders of his shirt.  He ate his lunch in complete quiet, never saying a word to anyone at the bar.  When he was finished he pulled out his can of Copenhagen and proceeded to take a big chew.  After paying his bill he got up and sauntered out on a pair of the most bowlegged legs I have ever seen.  After seeing him I couldn’t believe there wasn’t a horse tied up out front at the hitchin’ post. 

Then Ole decided he needed gas in the iron horse before we headed back to Red Lodge.  As we drove through what was left of this little wide spot in the road we noticed a homemade sign that said, “Gas, one block” with an arrow pointing off to the side street.  We finally located what we thought was the gas station.

Now this was not a pump-it-yourself station like we’re used to, and if you look closely you can see the head of one of the owners just on top of the gas pump as she was coming out to pump gas for Ole.  She was a little old lady that was minding the store.  She watched Ole pump the gas and we visited a bit.  I asked several questions about all the old buildings in the neighborhood, most of them boarded up, and she invited me into the station to show me a picture of the town (Belfry) when it was thriving. 

The owners were George and Edwina Black who had owned and operated the gas station since the 50s, such a charming little old couple.  Not only did they run the gas station, but Edwina was also the “local librarian.”  There were bookshelves full of paperback books on all the walls, there were bookshelves full of paperback books in the ladies’ bathroom and the men’s.  The old roll top desk was so loaded with paperbacks that the roll top couldn’t be shut.  I asked her if she kept track of the books going in and out and her answer was, “No, of course not.  People here are very honest and will bring back all they borrow and more.”  When I asked her if she had read all the books her response was, “Heavens yes.  I have a lot of time to read during the day as there just aren’t that many cars and motorcycles coming through anymore.” 

 On our return run back to Red Lodge we stopped at the overlook by the Smith Mine, a coal mine.  In 1943 seventy-four coal miners were killed when there was an explosion down one of the shafts.   This is what’s left of it today. 

Then it was back to the campground where we awaited the arrival of my Big Brother.  He pulled in about 3:30 and he and his two kittens were glad to finally land.  He travels with two kittens that are about 4 months old named O.C. (short for orange kitty), and Pillar (short for caterpiller). 

He had had an exciting run the evening before between Casper and Shoshone where he hit two antelope dead center with his pickup and then heard them roll all the way under his truck and trailer.  Been there, done that – it’s a horrible sound.

Speaking of hoofed creatures – there are numerous deer that come up from the creek right into the campground every evening.  Last evening there were two, and this evening I watched six walk down one of the driveways and disappear into the trees by the creek.  So far Daisy hasn’t seen them, and hopefully she won’t.

Tomorrow is Beartooth Pass day – that should be exciting.

Love, Lena

 

 

 

We’re Moving On – to Red Lodge

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Well, today we wrapped another one up and put it under our belts.  The Blackhills Motorcycle Rally of 2011 is officially over.  So we pulled up stakes and headed northwest through Wyoming and on into Red Lodge, Montana.  As we went west from the Hills the Big Horn Mountains came into view.  This is August and they still have snow on them.

 

The farther we got into Wyoming and then up into Montana, the warmer it got.  At one point this afternoon the temperature was 102 with a humidity of 14%.  Now that’s certainly something we don’t see at home. 

Southeastern Montana is pretty desolate – most of it being Cheyenne Indian Reservation.  We drove by the Little Big Horn Battlefield. 

 We stopped there several years ago and took the tour.   Both Ole and I were interested in the historical aspects of it, but unfortunately ended up with an Indian guide that gave us HIS political viewpoint of the entire thing.  Didn’t enjoy that too much.

So not much exciting happened today – just a day of travel. 

They do grow some pretty nice fields of sunflowers around here though -

Hopefully something more interesting tomorrow – but then again – maybe not.

Love, Lena

 

 

Troubles and Problems

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Now, mind you, it isn’t Ole and me that are having troubles and problems.  Are you kidding?  We’re back in the campground by late afternoon and in bed by 10 o’clock.  Believe me, you don’t find trouble like that.  We keep our nose clean and stay away from situations that get out of control.

Every year there are “issues” that take place and of course, this year has had its share.  First off, I have to tell you that the attendance, according to the news media, is down about 14-20% this year.  It’s quite evident by the traffic on the streets, the number of empty vendor spaces and the number of hotels/motels/campgrounds that have had vacancy signs and space available signs hung out.  I think this downturn is due to a number of reasons — first the economy, and secondly, Sturgis is choking the goose that laid the golden egg.  Greediness.  This sums it up in one word.  It’s also called price gouging.

Last week Ole and I went into a place called the Night Owl.  We ordered one beer and one margarita, which came to $8.  The following Tuesday, during the OFFICIAL rally, we went back to the Night Owl and ordered one margarita and one beer.  This time it came to $12.  You do the math.  What percentage of increase is that?  Same thing with hotel rooms.  A room that normally charges $68/night is now going for anywhere from $130 to $150 a night.  Burgers without fries are running $10 to $12.  A beer in Sturgis is going for anywhere from $7 to $10 apiece.  I don’t have a problem with people making a profit, but I really feel this is price gouging and it’s showing in the attendance.  People are getting tired of this and are spreading out into other areas of the Hills and doing business.  As I said before, there are a lot of empty vendor spaces in Sturgis itself, but you’re seeing more and more vendors spreading out through the Hills where the licensing is much cheaper.  They’re going to places like Hill City, Custer, Keystone, Aladin and even out into Wyoming.  Enough on that – I’m sure you get my point.

And of course there are always the tragedies that take place during every rally.  Two days ago there was a terrible situation that took place on Hwy. 79 north of Sturgis.  There is a biker driving south on 79 just north of Sturgis when a red Honda pickup came up behind him and hit him 4 times from the back, ran him into the ditch and then left the accident scene.  There were multiple witnesses to this accident.  The biker was airlifted to Rapid City but died the next day.  Today, due to the info from the witnesses, the driver of the pickup was taken into custody and is charged with homicide.  Upon interviewing the driver of the pickup, the police determined that it was due to road rage.  

Then there has been the gang issues.  A couple of nights ago the Mongols and the Hell’s Angels got into it over some issue and the police had to intervene.  No one was killed but there were several people that were taken to the ER due to knife slashes.  This took place during the wee hours, or course. 

Then there was the issue of the Gypsy Jokers, who are apparently a group of bad guys out of Australia.  30 of them decided to raise trouble down at Mount Rushmore.  Just what exactly they had in mind I don’t know as it hasn’t been published in the paper yet, but 9 park rangers surrounded them and escorted them off the property, guns drawn. 

Now, there are advantages to being old and gray and being in bed by 10 o’clock at night.  The advantage is that you miss all of this excitement, but then you don’t have the blood pressure raises that this sort of stress causes either. 

So today is the last OFFICIAL day of the motorcycle rally, although I’m sure there will be many folks hanging around for a few days yet.  We’re pulling out tomorrow, heading for Red Lodge, Montana and planning on doing the Beartooth Pass.  It’s quite a fun trek on a motorcycle – 11,000 feet with lots of “twisties”

I’ll touch base with you when we land over there.

Love, Lena

Raindrops Can Be Painful

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After our wild night spent on Main Street in downtown Sturgis last night, our first order of the day was to open our eyes and crawl out of bed.  Let me tell you, this wasn’t difficult because it would have been more exciting watching paint dry than what we saw on Main Street last night.  Usually you can’t find a parking spot and last night there were tons of them.  Usually you can be entertained for hours just people watching, and that got boring after about 15 minutes.  Oh, don’t get me wrong – there were a few oddities here and there, but nothing like the norm.  Either it was too cold for all the weirdoes to be out, or they were all showing off at one of the three concerts that was taking place last night.  Or maybe it was too cold as it did cool down pretty substantially last night. 

So we were all bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning and decided because it was Ham and Jam Day/No Panties Wednesday at Hulett, Wyoming, that the traffic wouldn’t be bad in the southern Black Hills and we would go that direction.  So we loaded up the bikes as our plans encompassed an all-day trek.  We hit the trail heading from Sturgis to Keystone where we stopped for lunch.  Once again we found the streets quite empty compared to normal and were even able to find a table on the boardwalk where we had lunch.  By the time lunch was over there was a nasty looking cloud blowing in making us wonder what we were going to have to deal with going down the road.

So several members of the group leathered up in anticipation (they were from the South, snicker).  Us Northerners stayed in just our t-shirts (snicker).  I admit it was a nasty looking cloud, but we managed to skirt it with just a few drops of rain that hit Ole’s Rain Sensor.  Nothing serious.  But even those few drops of rain can be very painful when they fall on bare skin.  At least I have hair to protect my head – - -

So on we went doing the jackets on/jackets off thing depending on if the sun was shining or it was behind a cloud.  And it wasn’t long until we came across this:

One of the members of our party, and I won’t mention names, was wondering where the National Park Service is going to find space to insert Obama’s face???  I won’t even speculate on that – just leave it up to you readers!!

As we circled around enjoying the scenery and skipping past all the storms we turned onto the Wild Life Loop in Custer Park.  Now this is always an adventure as you never know what you’re going to see.  Unfortunately, today, we didn’t see much.  Years past we’ve seen mountain goats, lots of buffalo, tons of prairie dogs and of course the ever-present donkeys begging for food.  A couple of years ago some disease came through and just about wiped out the prairie dog population.  So as a result, this year there was only one small village, and there weren’t many prairie dogs in it.  The area that used to cover many acres was all overgrown with weeds and nary a sign of a prairie dog in the vicinity.  This was disappointing as it was always fun to stop and throw chunks of carrots to them.  They would pop out of their holes, scramble for the treat, chew on it a bit and then haul it downstairs. 

And of course, there was the constantly present donkeys looking for food.  We always bring carrots or apples to feed them.  This guy was standing in the middle of the road stopping traffic and nibbling at your looking for something to eat.

They all looked pretty healthy this year.  In years past some of them have been covered with sores and just kind of bedraggled looking.  This year you actually felt comfortable petting them.  And there were a number of babies in the group, which also indicates their health status.  Just off the road under a tree was a mother with her little one, who was napping in the sunshine.  She obviously wanted him to get up and she kept pawing at him with one of her front feet.  He just kept ignoring her as I suppose he wasn’t done napping yet.  When she finally managed to get him to his feet she led him over to all the “tourists” and their “goodies” so that he could partake in all  the snacks.  I wish that this blog would let me post the video I took of this as it’s so cute. 

But then it was feeding time from Ole’s napsack.

I’m not sure who enjoyed this more – Ole or the donkey.

So down the road we went and in short order it was time for another butt break.  You can’t imagine how it feels to have no sensation whatsoever in your backside from riding 200 miles on a motorcycle.  Here’s a snap of one of our butt breaks.

So then it was on down Iron Mountain Road which is famous for its pigtail bridges.  They’re quite the thing to navigate as they look like a corkscrew and you go round and round in a tight turn.  They were built back in the 30s to negotiate drastic changes in elevation in a small area.  See how they wind back upon themselves?

One of the things I forgot to show you yesterday was this:

And this – the price tag for the above bike:

Kinda’ blows your mind, huh?

Love, Lena