Dirt roads, typhoons & buffalo stampedes

Thursday morning Terri and Ron had some errands to run so Niles,Deb, Rudee and I loaded up on the bikes and headed into Indian Territory.

Our goal was to try and find the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre which is on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Southwestern South Dakota.

We started out in almost perfect temperatures and not a cloud in the sky. Our route took us through Hot Springs South Dakota where Niles wisely suggested we have lunch and gas up the bikes.

With those chores done we rode on. The landscape changes from mountain to rolling prairie with only an occasional tree and very few homes and ranches. The traffic thinned out to almost nothing and it felt like we were the only one for miles and miles, it was turning out to be a really nice ride.

Off in the distance we could see a large business of some sort. I thought it might be a truck stop since we were on a state road and had not seen any gas stations for probably 30 miles or more. Once we got closer we figured out we had entered the Reservation when the business turned out to be a casino. The nearest decent size town was probably 50 miles away and we had not seen a house for probably 10 miles, yet here was this sprawling casino, it looked so out of place.

We finally made it to Oglala South Dakota and we knew our turn off was only 10 miles or so out of town. That's when the ride changed some. We ran into some road construction. Now this was not the type of road construction we are used to seeing in Indiana. Here when they repave a road they take out all the pavement leaving just a dirt road to drive/ride on. This road was mostly soft sand, and rutted mud. Not the kind of thing most "sane" people would be riding a motorcycle on :-).

We hoped the construction was only for the short stretch of highway through the tiny town but when we got stopped by a flagman Niles asked one of the local residents and they told him it was at least another 2 miles. Yikes!

We decided not to risk going any further and turned around, which was no easy feat in itself. Next to the road was a paved sidewalk. No one was using the sidewalk and we had not seen anyone outside except the road crew so we headed for it. Riding on the sidewalk we backtracked the 1/2 mile or so to get back to where the pavement ended. Whew made it. Rudee snapped a photo of us on the side walk. Yep that's the "road" on the left of us in the picture.

We decided to abandon our plan of seeing Wounded Knee and turned the bikes North at the first paved road we came to which turned out to be BIA-41 (Bureau of Indian Affairs?).

Riding North we could see the clouds building and the more we rode the worse they got. The nearest town with any kind of services was Hermosa but it was still about 60 miles away.

Here is a shot of the storm as we got closer.

I turned my radio onto the weather band and they were announcing that Hermosa was under a severe thunderstorm warning and this storm had already produced baseball size hail and high winds. Yuck!

The closer we got to town the more we realized we were not going to make it and started to look for someplace to take cover. The bad thing was there was no place to be found. We had not seen a house, barn, outhouse or chicken coupe for miles and miles. We were all getting a little nervous and by this time the storm was looking pretty fierce.

We finally spotted a house ahead and Niles headed for it. There was a car parked in the driveway but no answer at the door. We quickly covered up the bikes as the rain started and we took refuge on their covered patio behind the house.

We just made it to the patio when the storm hit and it was a doozy! The wind howled and it was bad enough that a limb, about 10" in diameter, was broken off of a tree in the back yard near us. I have to admit it was little scary there for awhile. The worst of the storm lasted about 20 minutes.

We waited for the rain to finally stop and then got our rain suits on and headed out once again.

We had about 30 more miles to go to get back to the campground and our route would take us through a section of Custer State Park. The storm had caused the temperatures to drop from the mid 90's back into the low 70's and we were glad we had our rainsuits on to cut the chill.

We arrived in the State Park and had only ridden a couple of miles when we came upon some buffalo running in the field beside us, pretty cool until we realized the rest of the herd was on the opposite side of the road and were crossing right in front of us! We got the bikes stopped and waited hoping these humongous beasts would not mistake a touring motorcycle for a hot looking buffalo cow :-)

We watched as about 20 more buffalo ran across the highway before we were able to move on.

While waiting on the patio Niles had called Ron and Terri to let them know we were in the storm but OK and had made arrangements to meet them in Hill City to eat supper since the weather was clear there. Well things change when Rudee and Phil are heading into town. The clouds started building again and we got into another downpour less than 5 miles from Hill City :-(. We made it though and had a nice meal and got the chance to dry out some before heading home.

This was one of those days we will talk about around the campfire for years to come. Remember that day in South Dakota when ...... :-).

I'm not sure what kind of mischief we will get into today, it will be hard to top yesterday. I'm not sure my heart can take that much excitement 2 days in a row but I'll keep you posted!

Riding the Black Hills

We have spent the last few days exploring the Black Hills on the bikes. The weather has been great except for one little incident.

Monday we decided to head for the Lead/Deadwood area of the Hills. The ride over was great, traffic was light and it was warm and sunny. We rode to the town of Lead S.D. first and visited their big hole in the ground, the Homestake Gold Mine. This mine was in operation for over 100 years and the hole is huge. We spent some time looking around the museum gift shop but passed on the mine tour itself.

Next we rode through Spearfish Canyon which is a scenic twisty drive following a creek. There was even a waterfall along the way. This road reminds me of some of the roads we have been on in the Smokey Mountains.

The day was heating up and temperatures were getting close to the 90's so we headed for Deadwood which is one of our favorite towns here in the "Hills". I love the historic buildings that line the main drag. Most have been refurbished to what they looked like in the "boom" days of the late 1800's. Rudee likes it because each of the restored buildings houses a casino :)

We parked the bikes in a parking garage. We had set a time to meet back at the bikes so we could all explore on our own. As we were doing our things the skies suddenly became very dark and it started storming. We were inside one of the casinos when we heard a loud roar and looked outside to see tons and tons of golf ball sized hail stones falling. The noise was incredible and I was sure happy both us and the bike were under cover.

The hail only lasted for a few minutes and the skies cleared up and it quit raining. We called Niles and found out they and Terri and Ron had ridden out to see Wild Bill Hickok's grave site and were in the cemetery when the hail hit ...... ouch! They were able to take cover under a pine tree that offered them some protection though and there was no damage to their bikes.

We met up shortly afterwards and headed back to the campers. Welcome to the Black Hills!

Tuesday Ron and Terri joined Rudee and I on a short trip to Hill City S.D. which is only about 15 miles from Custer. We had reservations to take the 1880's train which is ride in vintage cars pulled by a steam engine. The ride winds through the hills over to Keystone S.D. We boarded the train and started our hour long ride. The tracks were used to haul the gold and other minerals from the mines in Keystone over to Hill City where it was transferred to the main line and sent to Rapid City. The main line is now a scenic bike path so this train is now "track locked". We enjoyed our trip and had time to walk all the of shops on the main drag in Keystone before our return trip. The cost of the ride was $22 each but I found a coupon on line for $2 off each.

Wednesday started out with Rudee and I riding into Custer for breakfast. On the way back to the campground I was able to meet and interact with a S.D. State Trooper. I was not paying much attention to the old speedometer and he stopped me for going 52 in a 45 and gave me a warning. I guess they are pretty strict around here and with the Sturgis Rally approaching I think they keep a close eye on the motorcycles.

Back at the campground we loaded up and headed out. Today was going to be another riding day. We rode into Custer State Park and paid our $12 for a week long pass. We spent the day touring the scenic roads of the park. I think the pictures show it better than I can describe it so I'll just post some photos

We are having a great time and looking forward to exploring more of this beautiful area. I'll keep you posted.

South Dakota

Once we got backed in and set up Niles and Deb surprised us with a great meal! Niles grilled steak and chicken while Deb took care of all the side dishes. It was Great! Thanks Guys!!

Here is our site for the next 12 days.

The sites here have a nice amount of room between them and we have some shade trees as well. The rest of the campground is mostly open. They all have full hook ups but there is no cable TV and we only get one station on the antenna. Satellite would work on most sites but we canceled ours last year since the KOA provides free cable.
This campground is fairly new with gravel roads and pads but dust hasn't really been a problem since we are at the far end, maybe closer to the office it could be.

We did get the bike unloaded and I wiped the travel dirt off and we took a short ride through part of Custer State Park. On the ride we saw a small herd of Buffalo, another of Antelope and stopped next to a Prairie Dog town and watched them for a while. Those little rats make a lot of noise and are fun to watch.

Our plans for the next 2 weeks are pretty loose. We have already seen all the popular sites here when we visited five years ago so this trip we may just do some of the "lesser known" sites. Of course we are going to do a lot of riding since the roads and scenery are some of the best. I'll keep you posted.