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!
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