The land and the bikes
August 02, 2008
Please bear with me on the frequency or infrequency of these posts. Either Verizon does not like South Dakota or South Dakota does not like Verizon. Signals fade in and out with the hills.
What strikes me about this place, just east of Rapid City, S.D., is the vastness of the land. You can see for miles and miles and miles. Homesteads are few. Towns too. Exits are spaced out and it comes a time when you better fuel up when you can. This is rural country.
A lot of bikes are on the road. Gas station lines are forming and a 25-foot trailer is not the easiest to navigate in and out next to diesel pumps. I don’t even want to think how much fuel we have consumed. But we have driven 1,585 miles at about 9 miles to the gallon.
As many bikers rode their bikes out, as trailered. We see a lot of folks where the girls are pulling the trailers and the guys are riding. We see all-girl groups riding. Couples, large groups, small groups and singles. Traffic is picking up as we approach the Badlands.
It feels like fall here. Maybe this is their fall. This morning I actually shivered when I stepped outside. But, I shiver around 72 degrees. Many must share my thoughts, though because we’ve seen lots of riders with leather jackets on, even though it has warmed up to 88. It is not a south Alabama 88 by any means.
I was hoping when we stopped last night we could find a cheap motel. Motel 6 several hours out from Sturgis was $89! Two double beds crammed against the walls. The husband, who is 6-6, his feet hung way off the edge of the bed. No continental breakfast. No hair dryers. No complimentary shampoo. A bed, a TV and a shower. It was enough.
We are over another hill and there is more road. More hills. More, more, more of vast nothingness. I find it peaceful as I imagine the settlers heading west and the settling of this great country.
OK, I was getting caught up in the experience until a voice broke the silence. I am signing off for a while. The husband says to put that in all caps. A WHILE. CLOSING OUT. FOR A WHILE. OK. OK.
Look for bike pictures via the cell phone later today. Thanks, Whitney, for posting for me. And I wanna give a shout-out to our friend, Tim L. in Alaska, who is reading the blog. Wish you were here, man!
114 miles to Shade Valley Campsite in Sturgis, S.D.
