H-D Report Card

It's become a tradition for me to rate the motorcycle performance and issues of the trip. For those that do not know, we ride a 2010 H-D Ultra Limited (FLHTK Electro Glide in Harley-speak). Accept for some accessories, it's factory stock - no pipes or other performance upgrades, just the 103 ci engine that was stock for the Limited that year. Here's the breakdown:

• I spent $86 on oil, air filter and spark plugs and performed the labor myself. Needed to do that anyway.
• I spent $229 on the new front crash bar that cracked. Bad H-D! People that don't ride H-D may be shocked at the price of this simple bent-steel tube with chrome plating, but H-D really means that there is nothing you can buy less than a Hundred-Dollars!
• I averaged 40.6 mpg @ about 60 mph over the 1,363 miles on mid-grade (87-89 octane) corn fuel. Not too bad considering the weight, altitude and mountain pass driving conditions.

The good news is that I'll get 20% back on all parts from the Motor Company through my friend John, an H-D employee. Other than the crash bar, the bike ran flawlessly with only the usual hill-pulling issues when using Cruise Control in 6th gear so I give it a rating of A- on this trip.

As for the trailer, I mentioned earlier that I borrowed it from my friend Paul. This trailer is nearly $2K less than the Triton aluminum trailer I was considering to buy. Half the price but twice the weight. The jury is still out on this - the price is right, but I can [barely] move it myself without the truck and it's a gas-hog (we averaged 10.6 mpg for the trip and I get 14.5 mpg towing an enclosed snowmobile trailer; but I suppose I can buy a lot of gas for $2K! Paul's trailer although heavy, was solid and tracked-well (and didn't budge on a Bambi) so I give it a B+.

As for the old 2004 Toyota 4Runner, it ran great with a max load for all 2,000 miles averaging 62.5 mph (with stops) - a solid A.

Lastly, I liked this Hill City Horse:

One Thousand, Three Hundred, Sixty-Three Point Two

That's right - we rode an impressive 1,363.2 miles this week! What a fantastic trip! I can hardly believe this is my last post about our activities (unless something crazy happens on the way home!). I'll leave any further recap of the trip to John.

Anyway, all good things come to an end and this trip is no exception! We got an early start and headed back through Spearfish Canyon. It was just as beautiful as the first drive through - maybe even better coming from the other direction. We also made a stop this time during the canyon route to Roughload Falls, where there were several "levels" from which to view a beautiful series of waterfalls.

From there, we were determined to once again find Nemo, and more importantly, drive the first stretch of Nemo Road that we weren't able to pick up from the route we took yesterday. Again, a great stretch of road and a nice ride. This time we even stopped at Nemo Mercantile for a snack, where we got a hot tip on lunch.

So it was down Nemo Road and back up Highway 385 for a lunch stop at The Sugar Shack for some tasty burgers. Toward the back of the property, they had a huge chair. Now the folks who suggested this spot for lunch mentioned the chair, which we all pictured as one of those eight-foot tall photo opp type of things. But no, this was literally big as a house! And apparently they hold concerts ON it!! It was neat.

Finally, as planned, we did a "take two" of Iron Mountain Road (also known as 16A), which was our last route yesterday. The loopdy-loos and twisty-turns were just as great! We knew, though, that it was now Friday afternoon and, sure enough, traffic was much heavier. And, wouldn't you know, something crazy happened!

We're coming through the park, on a downward slope. To our right is a bit of a dropoff with trees and nice naturey things like that. The oncoming traffic lane is to our left and just beyond that is a tall sort of cliff-like rock structure. So we come around a lefthand curve and imagine our surprise to see a BUFFALO running (trotting?) in our direction in the oncoming traffic lane!! Luckily the car behind it in that lane was smart enough to just stop and wait. We didn't have much of a choice - we had to react quickly and luckily that meant cruising on through as quickly as possible. Just as we were passing him, he started swinging his head around as he was trotting and we are still sure he was gearing up to get unpredictable. I felt bad for him, pinned against that cliff and probably very scared. And he scared us too - remember how I said those things were BIG?!?!

Well, if you know me at all, you know I tend to take to humor when I'm uncomfortable, so I rewrote an All-State Mayhem commercial to commemorate the occurrence. It goes something like this: "I'm a hot buffalo out trotting. I'm making sure all this (hoof motions up and down body) stays tender." Now read it again and picture the guy from the commercials dressed in his suit with a furry buffalo horn hat and fur around his wrists. LOL

Anyway, from there it was back to Newcastle, where the guys got the bikes loaded up while Michelle and I did the indoor packing. Then we went to dinner back at Canyon Springs, where we just enjoyed one of the best meals ever on Wednesday night. Well, tonight it was clear when we got seated in the front of the house alone, while all the locals got seated toward the back together, that this was going to he a very different experience. And so it was. The food took a very long time and it was alright but just not the same. Feeling satisfied but slightly dismayed, it was back to the Sundowner for our last night of sleep before the trek home.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our excellent adventures - we sure enjoyed having them!

Hi-ho Silver!

And away we went! John did some research with the new book we picked up the other day and found a few new roads we wanted to try, instead of the "usual" roads we've come to know so well over the course of the week. First stop, though, was a quick breakfast at West End - it IS the most important meal of the day, you know.

And then we were off on a new discovery to Silver City. I instantly imagined something from the Wizard of Oz, all shiny and exciting! The route was rated moderate to extreme in the book and it surely did not disappoint! Lots of ups and downs with fun twists and turns through a forest-like setting. There was a stream in some areas and we even saw a herd of free range cows! (They just keep sendin' pictures)

When we got to Silver City, however, we were (at least I was) slightly dismayed to discover that Silver City was not really a city at all - more like a few houses with a gravel road intersection. Oh well, the ride was a blast! And we got to do it again the other way back to the main highway.

Next stop - Sturgis! I can officially say I've been there now! All the businesses were already preparing for the upcoming rally. It's the 75th this year and they are expecting HUGE crowds. Boy am I glad we'll be gone before all those yahoos get here!

Our next quest was to find Nemo. Nemo, South Dakota, that is! And, more specifically, Nemo Road - another of the routes suggested in the book. And we found it! While the town itself was quite unmentionable and the road started out a bit "boring," the book was right again! It shaped up to be another nice ride. We pulled over and rested for a while on a small bridge overlooking what I would call either a small, rushing river or a large stream. Not sure where the line is drawn on that?

Anyway, while in Sturgis, I was studying the map and discovered Iron Mountain Road, which a guy we met at breakfast had highly recommended. It's actually the only stretch of Custer National Park that we hadn't explored yet. Happily we were able to work it into our route on the way back to Custer, where we planned to stop for a bite before heading back to Newcastle.

Wowwie zowwie!!! All four of us agree that the Iron Mountain stretch of road was perhaps the best part of the whole trip! What a beautiful ride! There were several one-lane tunnels, like the ones in the Needles area of the park. But on THIS stretch, when you were heading into the second tunnel, you could see Mount Rushmore in the distance at the other end! It was awesome! Again, I feel the need for a thesaurus. The route was so great that we will be doing it tomorrow.

Finally we made it back to Custer for sustenance and decided to eat at Frontier, which is the place that let us pull the bikes under the awning during the storm earlier in the week. The food was good AMD the sky was sunny.

Although it was fairly early, we headed back to home base. On the way, John and I pulled over for a picture that he's been wanting to take for a few days now. In the middle of a field near the road, someone put a stove out with the oven door open and there's a sign over it that says "open range." Pretty funny, right?

So we've got an early morning planned for tomorrow and it's so hard to believe that its our last day out and about already.

PS - can you find me in the crowd photo?

What a Rush

The first Republican and other notable presidents!!!

Guess what day it is? Guess what day it is!!

Happy Hump Day!! We got an early start this morning (well, early for us) and headed back to Custer Park. The weather was near perfect - 70 and sunny - and this time we came in through the Wildlife Trail to see it from the other direction. What a difference too! We started counting wildlife, hoping for the ultimate buffalo experience. We saw a turkey, a deer, two buffalo behind trees, a prarie dog (little cutie!), a man, a weird donkey hanging out on a rock thing and a group of horses and donkeys sticking their heads into car windows. All the while, John was calling "beeefaloooo" to the tune of the Ricola cough drop commercial in hopes of gathering all the buffalo in one place for a photo opp.
Then things got interesting! We came over a hill to a clearing just FILLED with buffalo on both sides of the road! There were 100+ all just hanging out doing their buffalo thing. Mamas, babies and big, mean dudes roaming the prairie, crossing the road wherever they please. Boy those things are BIG!! I even saw a mama nursing a baby! What a sight!
You may have deduced that since we entered the park through what was "the end" last time that we also took the reverse route through The Needles. This, too, was another great ride and gave a new perspective. We stopped off a few times for photos but by this point it was about noon and we were getting hungry for lunch.
So, back to Hill City for a bite at The Bumpin' Buffalo, where the soup special was (no lie!) beefalo chili!! John and I had a good laugh about that. Then we get seated inside only to discover that our server's name was Mike!!!! So of course I said, "MikeMikeMikeMikeMike guess what day it is?" He didn't get it. I didn't care - we laughed some more. The food was delicious.
Once again we took the old railroad path headed toward Mount Rushmore. Turns out the road crosses the tracks for the scenic train 13 times (yes we counted this time). Mount Rushmore was awesome once we finally got up to the visitor area. Upon arrival, John and I both had to use the restroom. Imagine my surprise when I came out but he wasn't there yet. I saw Dan and Michelle right away and they said he was still in there and there was no way he got passed them. Well, after at least 15 minutes of waiting I was starting to worry. I knew that either he wasn't in there anymore or something was seriously wrong. Dan said, "trust me - he's just sweatin' it out in there." I said, "trust me - there's no way he'd spend this kind of time in a public restroom." But alas, Dan wouldn't go check. Finally I get a text from John asking where I am. All this time, he's been up in the visitor area photobombing people and eating ice cream! I was relieved and celebrated with a root beer float (with chocolate ice cream, of course).
We admired the monument, watched the brief movie about the creation and took in the sights at the museum. What a cool place!
During lunch, MikeMikeMikeMikeMike told us about a cool little back road that wasn't a tourist path, so we set out to find that as a partial new way home. But we didn't find it - could be because we had all eyes on the increasingly ominous skies. We decided to book it home. This time we made it to the other side of Custer before the skies let loose. We got rain jackets on just in time. Luckily it wasn't a true soaker but it was enough to make the haul home pretty miserable.
Of course it was supper time when we got back to Newcastle. We decided to take the truck on the 20 mile quest to Four Corners to try a steakhouse that the owner of The Sundowner kept telling us about. They're not open Monday and Tuesday so today was our day. What a great place! It was tucked pretty far off the beaten path and it was so worth the journey! The establishment itself was in impeccable condition and was sort of a mini museum, as they had many collectables around the place. The owners, Frank and Judy, had the best personalities and refreshing senses of humor. We all had steaks, which were delicious - perfectly seasoned, perfectly cooked. The stop was just what the doctor ordered.
We'll see what tomorrow will bring. There are still a few things to tick off the list. I can't believe there are just two more day left in which to try and do it all...

Buffalo Chip!!!

Genuine, farm fresh!

Tuesday's Gone...

But the great memories remain! Another fabulous (dry!) day in the Black Hills. Today, we got a leisurely, yet respectably early, start to the day. Which was good, because we hit our first bit of road work. It wasnt too bad though, which was good because we were headed to Deadwood!

What a cool little old town - just enough of a touristy feel to be fun and different without being totally overboard like Keystone. We stopped in at a saloon, were we chatted it up with Ken, the friendly, super fab-u-lous bartender. He gave us some tips on how to get to our next destination too. We did some quick parusing of the shops, grabbed a bite to eat and hit the road again.

Next stop - Bella Fourche, the original geographical center of the United States. They had a great little museum and an original old cabin that was fully furnished, in addition to a huge granite marker to show mark the spot. We stayed here a little longer than we thought we would because there were so many fun little things to see.

After that, we went to the DC Hatch Historic Fish Hatchery. Well, Dan did - the rest of us sat out and enjoyed the sunshine by the nearby stream. John thought it would be nice to dip his feet in. Turns out the water was REALLY cold! As you may have noticed, I took the opportunity to catch up on the blog too. :)

It was interesting because John ordered a book from Sturgis and had it set to deliver to the hotel. Well that was a week ago and it had still not arrived, so he called to find out what was going on. Turns out the fulfillment center was like six blocks from where we were sitting in Spearfish! He arranged to pick it up on our way out of town. Not only did he finally get the book, but they also refunded the shipping fee and gave him a cool patch for the trouble! It was cute because the place we went was just an internet order fulfillment center for all kinds of stuff. The (two) employees we saw were so excited to actually MEET one of their customers! So everyone was happy.

Finaly, we rode through Spearfish Canyon on the way home. And, once again, wow! The area did not disappoint at all! We saw some waterfalls and all kinds of other cool stuff. The roads were great, traffic was pretty light and it was just a really enjoyable ride.

The weather was called for evening rain so we headed back to Newcastle a little earlier than usual. We agreed on a 6:00 meeting time for dinner. Dare to venture a guess on where we went? Eehh - wrong! No Pizza Barn for us tonight! We tried a new place in town called Isabella's and it was great! It is Italian, so you KNOW I was happy. We've all agreed that we would come back if we end up eating in town again before we leave (which I'm not ready to think about yet!) The rain started just as we were paying the bill, so we got back to the hotel safe and dry to hunker down for the evening.

The Devil's in the Details

As you likely gathered from John's pictures posted on July 6, we tackled the glorious Devil's Tower. But before that, we changed up the schedule and went out for breakfast so we'd be hungry for dinner in someplace (anyplace!) other than Newcastle. You might suspect that we are a little tired of Pizza Barn. Anyway breakfast was super good from the West End Bar and Grill.

We headed on toward Sundance and eventually The Devil's Tower came into sight. I think I need a thesaurus because I'm about to overuse the words beautiful, majestic and awesome. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before! We stopped at a scenic pulloff area for some pictures (where I quickly replied to a text from my boss - I'm very dedicated to my work, you know), stopped at the gift shop for some goodies and then headed into the park.

The first stop inside was a prarie dog field (prarie?) where we could see more of those little cuties and get more white of The Tower from a closer, different perspective. We rode on through the park and stopped at the visitor center, where I got my photo taken with two characters that looked like Teddy Roosevelt. John called them the Teds. Dan, John and I took the mile and a half hike around the The Tower to check it all out. Luckily it was about 70 degrees and slightly overcast, with a slight breeze. Perfect conditions for a hike. It was interesting to see how different The Tower looked as you worked your way around.

In the parking lot before we left the visitor center area we met a local woman and got to talking about the area. We had a hankering for Mexican food and she recommended a place about 30 miles out and kind of on the way home in Spearfish, SD - perfect distance to get there around dinnertime.

We were delights to see that the restaurant, Guadalajara, had a nice, large billboard before the exit on the road. But do you think we could find the place when we turned off the highway? We drove through the entire town before stopping to ask. Turns out it was all the way back at the frontage road that paralleled the highway! I think they should invest in one more sign - we never woulda found that place on our own. But boy, the food was great and it was totally worth it.

We took highway 85 home and it offered a delightful ride with lots of interesting things to see - even a nice stream that ran along with us - enough gentle curves and turns to keep things interesting and nice smooth roads. Another successful day, and another excellent adventure!

A Hill City Adventure

Captain's log. Star date July 5, 2015.

Today's adventure took us into Hill City, which in close proximity to many of the landmarks on our to-do list. We were all feeling a bit peckish by the time we arrived (you know, that continental breakfast) so we were on the lookout for food, of course. We parked in front of a diner, but recalled seeing a billboard for the Mangy Moose and that sounded interesting. We had about 20 minutes to kill before they opened at 11:00 so we shoped, of course!

Eleven finally rolled around and we got our sustenance. John and I shared "Pig Tails," which was a skewered picked of pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon and grilled to perfection, then drizzled with barbecue sauce. Yummo!!!

There is a train (The 1880 Train) that runs between Hill City and Keystone and it seems preety cool but tickets are on the higher end of the entertainment budget spectrum. So in an effort to get a better idea of whether we would like to ride it, we took the old highway that runs "next to" the tracks from Hill City to Keystone. All I can say is WOW! The road was awesome and the scenery was gorgeous! One of our favorite sights was two huge slabs of rock that must have fallen from higher up some time ago. Well, someone noticed how close they were to their house, saw the width between them, slapped a piece of sheet metal across them (somehow) and turned it into a garage! To wrap up this leg of the day, we are all in agreement that the train ride will be a great investment and expect to do that later in the SEO.

We got into Keystone (picture Niagra Falls or the Dell's on steroids!) And needed gas. After filling up, Dan had a hankering for peach cobbler or pie. Well, we were next store to a diner so we told him to call over. It sounded like a crank call - they answer the phone and he says, "do you have pie?" Turns out they had peach pie! So he and Michelle shared a slice while John and I shared a slice of cherry.

The plan was to then head to Crazy Horse but none of us could resist the giant Alpine Slide right across the street. After all, it WAS already in the list of things to do! You take a chairlift to the top of what looks like a big bobsled track. You get in these little plastic sleds with a speed control lever and then let 'er rip! What a blast! Michelle stayed at the bottom and took video as we came through "the finish line."

As we are not ones to foil a perfectly well-laid plan, the next stop was indeed Crazy Horse. It impressed me that the project is completely privately funded. That might be a factor in why it is moving along so slowly. When the monument is finished it will be HUGE! Mount Rushmore could fit in Crazy Horse's head! If you have a few minutes to research, the story about the project and the sculptor commissioned to do the work is all very neat.

It wouldn't be a motorcycle vacation without a little rain, you know. Today was our day. Just as we left Crazy Horse, the skies grew black and cracks of thunder surrounded us. We stopped off at a soloon on the far side of Custer to try and wait out the worst of it. They were kind enough to let us pull the bikes up under the awning that covered the patio so we were able to get our rain gear on comfortably. After about 45 minutes the worst was over and we made the trek back to Newcastle. Slow and steady won the race and we arrived fairly dry and without incident.

We sure were glad to have the truck in town, as it was still sprinkly and it was also dinnertime. Well, we forgot that small towns pretty much shut down on Sundays. After trying 3 or 4 different places from one end of town to the other, guess where we ended up? If you said Pizza Barn you win a prize! We are officially regulars over there now.

So hopefully the obligitory rain ride is over and we can continue on our excellent adventures!

Saturday... In the Park...

And, yes, it WAS the fourth of July! The irony was not lost on us when that fine little ditty, courtesy of Chicago, played during our expedition through Custer National Park. Really, I'm not even sure how often the Fourth falls on a Saturday but I can tell you we don't go to parks all that often!

What a beautiful ride it was! When we first entered the park, there was a nice little lake surrounded by hills, trees and all the other glorious naturey-type things you might expect by a lake. Oh and lots of tourists too! The park is split into different areas because you can see many types of terrain without leaving the park. So we got outta that touristy lake area pretty quick and headed for the section called The Needles. We had to enter under this one-lane tunnel through rock just to begin our journey. The scenery was breathtaking! Hills and trees lay out before you as far as the eyes can see, but you're also surrounded by majestic spires of stone that seem to come up out of nowhere. The road through this area is full of twists and turns and hooks. Sometimes the speed limit was just 5 miles per hour due to the sharp turns. It was fun and there was so much to see.

When we got through that section of the park we were glad to happen upon a General Store with grills set up outside. The morning's complimentary continental breakfast was wearing thin and the aroma of freshly seared meat had our mouths watering! There was one choice - a bison burger. We thought at first that perhaps it would be dry, but to our delight it was quite the contrary. With full bellies and empty bladders, we ventured on to the wildlife loop of the park.

What a difference in terrain - you'd think you entered a different country! There were soft, rolling hills in the distance and wide open meadows. Early into this stretch, we came upon a huge traffic jam - people jumping out of cars, cameras flailing about - that surely could only be caused by a giant herd of buffalo or some other scarcely seen wildlife. I realized how much I must take Wisconsin wildlife for granted when we realized all this activity was for one tiny deer, waaay off in the distance. By a rock. Surprisingly this happened several times! We saw a group (pack? herd?) Of wild horses that were very beautiful. I was, however, disturbed to see several families approaching them, with little kids running full speed in their direction. Maybe its just me but that sure seemed dangerous! Finally, near the end of the loop, we also saw a prarie dog pasture. Those little guys are just too cute!

Earlier in the day we had purchased tickets to tour Jewel Cave, so on our way back to Newcastle we stopped off for that. Jewel Cave is the third largest known cave in the world. Exploration is ongoing and miles of new area are discovered each year. The scenic tour we took was approximately 732 steps up and down throughout the cave. One of my favorite parts was when we entered a particular chamber and the guide asked us all to turn off our cameras and phones. He then flipped a switch and it was the darkest dark you could ever imagine! There were many types of formations to see throughout the tour and at one point we were kind of inside a giant geode. Oh I think the neatest thing to see was near the end. There was a particular type of formation that literally looked like a giant slice of bacon growing on the side of the cave wall!! It looked good enough to eat!

Speaking of eating, guess where we went for dinner? If you said Pizza Barn, you would be correct! There's not much selection in Newcastle and on our way out we saw them hand tossing dough. Plus they have a stone pizza oven. It was a tasty choice and a nice way to end the day.

But the day wasn't quite over yet! When we got back to the Sundowner, Michelle realized that she did not have her purse. It turns out that while she was packing up their leftovers in the saddle bag, she set it down on the back of their bike. Then we drive away! Turns out that it was discovered by a veteran who lived a few blocked from the Pizza Barn. He called the Sundowner because he found the room key in the purse. So she and Dan went and picked it up and thanked a vet for our freedom while they were at it! Now that was a nice way to end the day!

Almost there!

Sundance Wyoming!

On our way to Devils Tower!

Preparing to Leave

I know it's a bit out of sequence but I thought it would be good to say something about how the Motor Company let me down on this trip!

What you are seeing in the photo is the front top of the crash bar of the motorcycle. The bar is attached at the top by a bolt that runs through the frame and into a tab on the bar. The tab is approximately 1/8 inch thick and cracked clean through! We discovered the crack after loading the bike on the trailer and attaching the tiedown straps on the night before we left!!!

The next day I was able to locate a new bar Milwaukee Harley Davidson and purchased it to bring with us. The plan was to install it at the hotel when we arrived The following day. Of course, the design of that mount had been changed so the new bar would not install the same as the old bar! Stupid H-D

Hopefully this will be the only time!!

While writing this, this morning, in the middle of town, I had a little visitor.

Yes, We DID Arrive!

Sorry to all you hardcore followers out there for not posting anything yesterday. As you can imagine, we sure were tired when we finally arrived in Newcastle!

We finished loading up and hit the road Thursday (the 2nd) at about 7:30 pm. I'm happy to report that overall, the drive was smooth and fairly uneventful. But I won't disappoint you - there are a few stories to share, of course!

We passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then... Just kidding - there was nothing like that! But there was a Hardee's at our first gas stop. Did you know they apparently "hand scoop" their shakes and malts? Anyway, the miles and hours ticked past and I was very disappointed that I handy slept hardly a  wink yet. As we pulled off for one particular gas stop, we past the aptly named Slumberland furniture store. Boy did I wish I was in Slumberland at that point! But I wasn't, so while John pumped gas I got out for a smoke. That's when things got a little interesting...

I walked up to the building - so as to not blow us up or and all - and although the station itself was well-lit, there was a dark gravel parking lot-type area to the side and behind the station. It was probably about 4 in the morning. I was trying to be particularly aware of my surroundings, especially since I had my purse. Suddenly this strange dude with glasses and dressed in all black appeared next to me. He asked for a light and I said sure. He was standing REALLY close to me so I took a step away before I opened my purse. Well, for every step away I took, he took two steps toward me and was kinda starting to freak me out. Then he started asking me all sorts of questions. I indicated which car was mine, hoping he'd notice I was with other people and they'd notice if he tried any funny business! Eventually John joined us but the guy just kept talking! At one point he asked if we were in the middle of Iowa (we were on the east edge of South Dakota). Finally he said, "maaaan I'm soooo stoned right now." I'm like why didn't you say so sooner - now I know what I'm dealing with at least!! Turns out he plays in a band with Bobby V, you know that guy from the 50s? Then he asked us if we know the actor Gary Busse because he plays for his band too. I never did find out what instrument he played, but from what I saw I'm guessing cowbell or triangle or something like that.

Back on the road we went, and eventually I did get a little sleep. At one point I woke up because it was getting light out and BOY was it FOGGY!!!! It scared me so I shut my eyes and tried for a little more sleep. The fog started burning off and that was good because there were a million billboards to see now! Not the big Lamar ones, the cool little old timey ones. In particular, there was a ton of advertising for a magical land called Wall Drug. They seemed to have everything you could want there! Yes, we stopped. Not sure who's brilliant idea that was - it was a little old town type place with store fronts on either side of a street and about, oh, 2 or 3 blocks long. And, seeing as how its fourth of July weekend, the place was PACKED!! But I got some sweet earrings and John and Michelle bought shirts. We thought about eating there. With the time change it was getting on the late side of breakfast time and we were hungry. We looked at the menu (and the prices!) and decided to move along.

It was good we did that. We stopped in Rapid City at a place called Firehose Brewery for lunch. Having seen a few billboards and at least seven old fire trucks on the road along the way, this seemed like the way to go. The service wasn't great but the food was tasty! When we got done eating, our server disappeared with the credit card, as you would expect. However, we kept seeing him walking around with the card and not coming back to our table! This was both annoying and suspicious. Turns out their internet went down and he was trying to find a place to run the card that would actually work. Crisis averted! We then hit the Harley dealer in town and agreed that our next stop would be The Sundowner Inn.

And so it was. We all agree that the room pictured on the website may not exist - neither of our rooms look quite like that! However it is clean, the beds are decent and the price is right so we are content. The website also touted the glorious fact that Taco John's is just two doors down. But, alas, the doors are shuttered and our yellow brick road to endless potato oles is just a concrete path to nowhere. While that threatened our potential for a satisfying supper, it did not prevail. Dan had a hankering for prime rib, so prime rib it was! After a bit of research we discovered that the best place in town for prime rib was The Pizza Bar. Yes, it is also the only place in town for prime rib but never mind that...

The food was great and we were all relieved to hit the hay and enjoy a restful night's sleep. Knowing that we began our quest just over 24 hours before our heads hit the pillows made the moment that much sweeter.

The Preamble (or pre-ramble?)

Since Melissa was nice enough to set-up the blog, I thought I’d add my first post with an overview of the trip.

We decided on the Black Hills area because Mel’s never been, and I haven’t since my teenage years. Dan made the suggestion last year and we jumped right on it! Early on, we decided to take the truck and tow the bikes on a trailer – not because we’re too old (maybe a little), but nearly everyone that goes to Sturgis complains about 700 miles of brutally boring interstate driving. 

I was nearly about to pull the trigger on a trailer purchase when I talked to my outlaw brother-in-law that he had a trailer he was preparing for a Sturgis run in August. He offered its use and I grabbed at the chance. All I needed was to mount some additional D-rings, get some locks and quality tie-down straps. As for the bike, I’m setup well and just needed to do basic maintenance; same for the truck & trailer.

We’re staying in Newcastle Wyoming – just over the SD-WY border and about 45 miles from Mount Rushmore. This location is ideal for day trips to all the Parks, Monuments, Sites, Cities and tourist traps in the area. We have 7 riding days and 5 planned routes for a couple of “do whatever you want” days. The planned routes have no schedule and we want the flexibility of changing anything at anytime. I used Google maps for route planning and there is no way to distinguish between Paved and Unpaved roads so this flexibility is important!

Black Hills Area

We’re departing Thursday night, driving through the evening and should arrive in Newcastle just after noon Friday at a nice relaxed pace. We’re staying at a “cute” little Hotel that had extremely good reviews. Since they have WiFi, our daily detailed post will be made each evening, but on the road, cell coverage allowing, we plan on short mobile picture posts. Our checkout is Saturday but we haven’t finalized our return plans yet.

Even though I have trust issues with Google, their blog platform Blogger has really good mobile apps (iOS & ‘roid), and a hell of a lot more free space than Wordpress (free) we used on our Canadian trip. If you look to the right, you can subscribe to an email subscription which will alert you whenever we make a post. It’s quick & easy but you do need to click a confirmation link in the Feedburner email to activate. At the bottom of this page there is a link to subscribe to a newsfeed of the posts if you’re into that kind of thing.

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Welcome to the On-road Adventures of John and Mel

Thank you for visiting our blog! This is THE place for all your breaking news about John and Melissa's on-road motorcycle adventures! We're gearing up for an awesome trip to the Black Hills area with our friends Dan and Sweetpea, so visit often for updates and photos.

If you missed the details of our biggest and baddest adventure (so far!) or would like to revisit the fabulous - sometimes unbelievable - stories, please feel free to visit our last blog.