2012 Motorcycle Trip
Week 2
..............June 13-22 2012,
Day 9, we woke up to rain so we waited a little while for the rain to pass. Most of the heavy storms were North of us and we were going
South so it worked for us. I turned out to be a real nice day. The temps got up in the 80's but it was really windy so we fought the wind
all day. We stopped at the Pipestone Monument in Minnesota. It was really interesting and then we headed for South Dakota. We did 350
miles today and not much to look at except pasture land. Miles and miles of it. The hotel we stopped at had an indoor pool and whirlpool
and our room was facing the pool. Real nice and the whirlpool really felt good after riding 350 miles.
Day 10 was another beautiful day and as soon as we left the hotel we crossed the Missouri River and we were in Mountain time and gained
an hour. Today we headed for the Badland's National Park. It is just awesome. It is really hard to put into words. If you have never seen it ,
it is mind blowing. Once we had seen all we wanted to and taken as many pictures as we could we headed for Rapid City, SD. We were at the hotel
early so we headed to Black Hills Harley to get the oil changed in the bike and then back to the hotel. Just about the time we were unpacking the
trailer we got a thunder storm with small hail. No damage to the bike or trailer. there is a water park in the hotel. Really to busy with kids
for us to worry about going in the pool. We will stay here for two nights as there is so much to see and tomorrow we will go site seeing.
Day 11 we headed for Mt. Rushmore first. Another beautiful warm day. To get to Mt Rushmore we went through Custer State Forest. Buffalo
roam in there with no restraints. We came around the corner and they were all over the place including the road. We just went real slow
and they didn't bother us and we didn't mess with them. The roads in the forest were a lot to be desired by me. Pretty scary stuff for
me but it didn't seem to worry or bother Bernie at all. Mt. Rushmore was really great and we got some wonderful pictures. After we left
Mt. Rushmore we headed for the "Needles Highway. A really unique road that is really hard to describe. It kind of looks like needles coming
out of the earth and heading to the sky. Here again the roads were really scary for me but didn't worry Bernie at all. Absolutely awesome and
we got some great pictures from there. After this we headed for Crazy Horse, This is something like Mt. Rushmore as they are carving Crazy Horse
and his horse in the mountain. So far only his head is done and they are now working on his arm. They started the planning in 1948 after they got
permission from the Indians. They have quite a set up there and there is a museum and all kinds of gift shops. It takes a while to get through
the whole thing. It was a long day but we got to see a whole lot of stuff.
Day 12 we headed for Sturgis first thing in the morning. Another great day weather wise. We rode through Sturgis and made sure we went to the
Full Throttle Saloon. Of course nothing was open when we went through. The motorcycle week is not until the 1st week in August so all was quite.
From Sturgis we headed to Deadwood, SD. I guess it is a great place if you like to gamble. From there we drove through Spearfish Canyon. Really
beautiful riding through there . Once we got through there we headed for Belle Fourche, SD which is the geographical center of the USA. They have
a monument and all the state flags there. Really nice. Next was the State line for Wyoming and on to Devils Tower (in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Here again it is a National park and really awesome. Bernie and I are so impressed with the scenery out here. You can see for miles and it is just
so hard to explain what it really looks like. Even pictures don't do it any justice.
Day 13 was again a real nice day. Started out cool but warmed up nicely. We headed to the Little Big Horn National Park. It was really interesting
but once you ride the 5 miles out in the park you figure out it is not like Gettysburg, Pa. It is just really wide open spaces. After we
went through the museum and took the 5 mile ride we headed for the Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area. We went up the mountain to over 9000 ft.
Again I was not crazy about the height as there was a lot of places with no guard rails and we were so very high up. Of course Bernie liked it.
It also got cold up there and we had to put our jackets back on. There was still snow up there and we took lots of pictures except when I had
my eyes closed. Once we were up the mountain and then back down we headed for Cody, Wyoming and stopped for the night. Tomorrow, Yellowstone.
Day 14 started out sunny but pretty cool and as we went into Yellowstone it got even colder.
We ran most of the day in the high 40's or low 50's. We did the east side of Yellowstone
Park headed south. It was really an awesome place. Of course, Bernie went up the Beartooth
Highway. We were up above 8000 ft. and no guardrails. Needless to say we did not get any
pictures unless Bernie stopped at a scenic overlook. Once we were down on the other side of
the mountain the photography started again. We saw buffalo, a black bear with her cubs and
steam vents . After we got out of Yellowstone we went toward the Teton Mts. and stopped for
the night in Jackson Hole, Wy.
Day 15 was sunny and a little cool but we broke out the heated gear and it was fine.
We went through the Teton Mts. and then went up the west side of Yellowstone. It was
a much easier ride. We visited Old Faithful and a whole lot more of the geysers. We
also went to the hot springs in Yellowstone and it was just beautiful. The Sapphire
Pool was the color of sapphire and so deep and you could look down in it so far. After
we left Yellowstone we crossed into Montana. We stopped for the night in Livingston, Mt.
Day 16 started out in the 50's but quickly went into the 70's. Did not do much site seeing
today as it was mostly a travel day. We stopped early and I got the laundry done and we
got a much needed break. Our overnight stay was in Conrad, Mt.