The place was hopping and we were having trouble finding a place a park. During the rally the entire downtown is blocked off for motorcycle parking only but since we were a few days early the spots were all full with both cars and bikes.
We eventually found spots near the end of the "strip" and started walking. What a difference from when Rudee and I were here a couple of days ago. Most if not all the vendors were set up and open plus the crowd had arrived and the sidewalks were full of bikers.
We walked the entire main street and then turned around and walked back. Here are some photos:
I even spotted a celebrity, Paul Tuttle Sr. from Orange County Chopper:
We all made a few purchases and were all pretty pooped from all the walking. We only saw one scantly clad gal. She was selling beer from a booth and left very little to the imagination (I didn't know they made implants THAT big!!).
Niles then led us back to the town of Nemo where we stopped in a neat little restaurant for supper. The restaurant was part of the 4 T Ranch which is a guest ranch that has been in operation since the 40's. They had a lot of photos on the walls of the old days and the place had not changed much since then.
After dinner we rode back to the 5th wheels and relaxed around the campfire.
After dinner we rode back to the 5th wheels and relaxed around the campfire.
Thursday was to be our last day here :-( and Rudee wanted to try for the Bad Lands again. We headed out early and made a quick breakfast stop before passing through Custer State Park.
I stopped for gas just East of Rapid City and decided to stay on a side road instead of getting back on the Interstate. The road was nicely paved and had very little traffic. Rudee noticed that something kept hitting her foot as we rode. I stopped and that's when we saw all the grasshoppers. There were thousands all over the road!
Once we got to the Badlands I stopped at the first overlook and the front lower 1/2 of the bike was covered with dead bugs. We even had grasshopper pieces all over our shoes and our jeans, YUCK!
We had a nice leisurely ride through the park, taking our time and enjoying the unusual landscape.
The visitors center has a gift shop and full service restaurant so we had lunch there before heading back towards the Black Hills. I took the back roads home and on the way we stopped for a break at a gas station near Rapid City. I stayed by the bike while Rudee went inside and that's when a large group of about 15 bikers pulled in. I guess my old Cop senses were on alert because I immediately thought these guys looked like trouble. I couldn't put my finger on what it was but when they passed by me and pulled up to the pumps I saw why. They were all wearing their "colors" (vests with patches) that identified them as members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club. Luckily Rudee came out of the store about this time and we saddled up and headed out pretty quickly. I'll use the bathroom at the next stop, thank you very much! :-)
We arrived back at the 5th wheel around 4pm and loaded the bike back up onto the Freightliner. We then drove into town and had one final meal in Custer. We made a quick stop at the grocery store and another to top off the fuel tanks and were soon back at the campground where I got hooked on. Rudee busied herself getting things ready inside and I did all I could do the outside to get ready to leave Friday morning.
We are all traveling together on the way home. I am hoping we will get at least 500 miles in tomorrow so we can be home Saturday, I'll keep you posted.
No comments:
Post a Comment