Today was D-day, of sorts, for us. We started the morning with a stop at Devil's Tower, Wyoming, and we ended the day at Deadwood, South Dakota.

Leaving Gillette, WY on I-90, we had a good run to exit 153 towards Devil's Tower, a short 50 minutes or so from our starting point. This part of Wyoming has really nice features and was a pleasant way to start the morning. The earth started to get red about 30 miles out of Gillette. As we turned north on SR 14 and got deeper into the Black Hills, the combination of dark green forests with deep red earth, made me think of a Christmas setting. All the residents of this area have to do is wait for snow and their decorations for the holidays are complete. Devil's Tower Monument is just a short drive now, down a small two-lane road with a couple of curio shops and trading posts right at the entrance to the park.

Devil's Tower is somewhat deceiving since you don't see it until you get pretty close to it. As you drive along SR 14, you get a brief peek at this thumb of rock sticking up, way off in the distance (photo 1 & 2). We purchased a National Parks Pass so we don't pay to enter any of the National Parks or Monuments anymore, something we learned from last year's trip. As you enter the park, it's another three miles to the visitor's center but as I look over to my left, I see that image we are all so familiar with that those images from Close Encounters of the Third Kind come flooding into my memory banks (photo 3)

We park the wing in a shaded area reserved for RV's and those with trailers. Hey, we have a trailer. Linda and I walk up to the base of the Tower and elect not to take the hour-long hike around the complete Tower. This is a popular place with lots of people on the hiking trails of all ages, sizes, shapes, and physical condition. I was almost shamed into taking the hike around by an elderly great grandma type, with a cane. I resisted the urge.

At the base of the Tower, we can watch some of the mountain climbers learning to scale these huge straight walls (photo 4). The Devil's Tower is in the Black Hills of Wyoming and is considered a scared place for many of the surrounding Indian tribes. The Visitor's Center has the Lakota Sioux folk story about how the Tower was created (photo 5). I will just show the picture of the bear trying to get to several Indians who had been rescued by several brave warriors. The bear has originally stolen one of the Indian maidens and was determined to get her back. Anyway, the straight marks in the side of the Tower come from the bear trying to reach the top of the Tower to kill the Indians for rescuing the maiden (photo 6).

After leaving the Devils Tower, we went north and east on SR 24, a really nice ride with great scenery. We passed through the small town of Hulett, WY and stopped for some pictures. This is a really great town. Nice location, great buildings, friendly people, and close to the Devil's Tower action (photos 7,8,9,10). While we were stopped, we happened to see a flock of ducks just kicking the snot out of one of the other ducks. They had ganged up on him, and in the duck world, this is called a pecking order; the weak get pecked by the strong (photo 11). Very similar to countries, actually

I was really enjoying the ride when we reached Aladdin, a mere seven miles from the state line with South Dakota (photos 12 & 13). Wouldn't you know it, we came upon some serious road construction and had to ride over gravel and dirt for about three miles before being stopped by a flagman, well actually a flag woman. After waiting for about five minutes a truck came along to tell us that the road ahead was deep gravel and dirt that had just been wet down and they felt that we might be better served turning around and taking SR 111 to I-90. Since discretion is the better part of valor, and I have Linda on the back and I'm pulling Dave's trailer, I turned around. In no time at all, we were back on I-90 and stopping for lunch in Spearfish, South Dakota.

Decision time, where are we going to stay the night? We look at maps and opt for Deadwood, SD tonight, which will give us an early start tomorrow for Mt. Rushmore and points south. We will also have time this afternoon to visit that Mecca of motorcycling, Sturgis, SD.
Sturgis is only about 20 minutes from Spearfish and Deadwood and as we got off the freeway, we were greeted by a friendly sculpture of a mounted soldier with two youngsters saluting him (photos 14 & 15). Well done I might add.

As I rode through town, I couldn't help but wonder what all of the fuss was about. My assumption is that this place is located in the middle of beautiful country, which encouraged great rides during the week. The town is nice, but not worthy of attracting the huge numbers that flock to Sturgis each year. It has to be the surrounding scenery. And this rally just keeps getting bigger, they tell me.

Bike Week starts August 4th and then all hell breaks loose as an expected 650,000 motorcyclist will arrive to party, eat, drink, party, buy tee shirts, party, tour the surrounding countryside, and generally have a good time. Since the town itself is only 6442 strong, via the sign at the entrance to town, that means bikers will increase the size of Sturgis by 100 fold, if I've done the math right. As we rode through the town, I was hard pressed to see where you could lodge 650,000 people. Sounds crowded to me. We will be long gone by the time Bike Week gets into full swing, although you already see quiet a few motorcyclist in the area. I hope everybody has a great time.

All of that construction raised hell with the cleanliness of the Goldwing and trailer so we stopped at a local carwash in Sturgis to cleanup a bit. While we were there, a young man on a Harley pulled into our booth while we washed the bike and talked with us about our trip, Sturgis, his bike, and just generally talking motorcycles and politics between two biker types. We finished, we wished each other well and safe riding, and we parted company, better for having met him. I have concluded that this is the best part of riding, the people we meet.

The other day, during one of the hot spells, our Goldwing almost tipped over when the kickstand sunk about an inch into the soft asphalt. I was able to get it upright before if sunk any deeper but it gave me a scare. I started carrying around a big, flat, rock and a small piece of 2 x 4. We stopped by the Harley-Davidson dealer and bought a plastic "big foot" to put under our kickstand in hot weather. It's light and broader than what we've been using. When we told the lady we were riding a Honda Goldwing, she joked that she hoped we parked that thing out back (photo 16). It was all in the spirit of good-natured kidding and we enjoyed looking at all the stuff you can buy for a Harley, my goodness. We were tempted to get a small Harley infant outfit for the new baby Peggy is expecting, but decided we could find a better use for the money.

We then headed over to the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum (photo 17) and, while there, entered a raffle for a new Harley Ultra Glide. Who knows, I may become a Harley owner yet. They had a 1932 Harley on display and my dad used to own a 1934 so I'm sure they were similar (photo 18). They also had some Cushman motor scooters on display, which were very similar to the one I rode when I was in the eighth grade (photo 19). Nostalgia is a wonderful thing if it doesn't become a melancholy longing for the past. I prefer my Goldwing.

It was time to head over to Deadwood for the night. We headed out of Sturgis (photo 20) on SR14A, a great road. What a nice way to end the day as this little back road wound down through a deep little, forest covered valley. And it's good road. There are several nice sweeping curves and two lanes going uphill for passing trucks. The seventeen miles passed all too quickly. We entered Deadwood, an old town that has become yuppified. It is still an attractive town but if you're looking for an historical old town with old west ambience, forget it. They have the reenactment of the shooting of Wild Bill Hicock by Jack McCollum and the subsequent trial, but that's more like Disneyland than old Deadwood. If you really want to see an old western town, visit Bodie, a ghost own in California. It's the real thing, kept in a state of arrested decay.

Tomorrow we visit the boot hill, the graveyard in Deadwood. We'll also try and visit Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse carvings, and maybe even visit some caves. There's a lot to do in this part of South Dakota.

Today's Route: I-90 to Exit 153, SR14 to Devil's Tower Nat. Monument. SR24 to Aladden, the SR111 to I-90, to Spearfish and Sturgis. SR14A to Deadwood.