Gary and I survived our four days of motorcycle riding in the Black Hills. We left Hardin around 10:30 am Thursday. Our original plan was to meet the main group on the overpass at Hardin. We figured why should we drive an extra 100 miles going to Billings to meet them when they have to pass by Hardin anyway. That didn't go well. Somehow we missed the group. The group was leaving Billings at 9:00 am. It takes about 40 minutes to get to Hardin. We waited on the overpass until 9:45, we then decided to wait for them at Crow at the interchange of I-90/Hwy 212. We were at the gas station waiting patiently when a group of bikes drove on by staying on the interstate. Any other time we have ridden with the group they always take the two lane highways. Figures that when we have it figured out they change it up. We decided to continue on Hwy 212 to Belle Fourche.
A group had left earlier at 8:00 am and when we got to Alzada we had caught up to the earlier group. Gary was glad, he really enjoys the group rides. It was my idea to wait for the group at Hardin. Along to the road we were seeing signs warning of road construction on Hwy 212 at Belle Fourche and it was recommended to take an alternate route. The group decided to go to Huelet and get on the interstate at Sundance. Up ahead were some pretty dark clouds, so we pulled over at Devil's Tower to put on our rain gear. Good thing because as we left Devil's Tower it had started to rain. We must have been behind the storm because we didn't get dumped on, just enough to get wet and make things miserable. I felt like the Michelin Man wearing all that gear. Remember by now I am wearing about 3 layers of clothes. We made it to Deadwood and checked into our hotel. Spent the rest of the night getting settled in and getting all of the stuff from the casino. We both played in the slot tournament. I was the 6th highest score and they only awarded prizes to the top five.
On Friday we went with another couple and rode to Hill City, Mount Rushmore and Keystone before heading back. The couple with us had wanted to stop at Silver City. I couldn't figure out why but okay, fine with us. Silver City is 5 miles off the main road, but it is a pretty 5 miles. We saw a big horn sheep on the side of the hill. I missed that photo op because Gary just can't stop right in the middle of the road. Silver City is an old mining town and it was pretty much a dead end, nothing to see there. Now we know why all these years we've never been there. Naturally the big horn sheep was gone when we went back. Taking photos from the back of the motorcycle is pretty challenging. I am getting better at it.
Saturday we rode with three other couples and went to the Badlands. Out of the eight of us I was the only one who has been there before, so Gary and I ended up leading the group to the view points. We didn't stop at all of them, but we hit the main ones. We ate lunch at the Cedar Pass Lodge in the park, it was very good food. As we were making our way back to Rapid City we could see the storm up ahead, so we pulled off the highway at the huge fireworks place and put on our rain gear. Other bikers behind us had the same idea. As soon as we hit Rapid City, we got pelted with rain. We made our way to the Harley dealership and they had set up a huge awning for bikers to park under. We waited out the storm in the dealership, just long enough to do some shopping. One of the salemen told us that if we are going to make our way back to Deadwood we better hurry as the storm is going to circle back around and this time have hail. We did make it back to our hotel in plenty of time, but a few in our group did get caught in the hail storm.
That night we met with the main group for a little get together. They raffled off a leather coat and a 100-100 raffle. Neither one of us won the big things, but I did win a Harley cap and Gary won a Harley dog bandana which I will be giving to Sandy. We also got some patches that they make for this run. It was alot of fun, then we spent the night gambling. I think we ended up with about $20 more than when we started. I was playing the penny machines. At one I put $5 and as soon as I hit the button I walked away with $30. I walked away and was happy. Gary had won about $20 playing poker. We mostly spent our winnings and we each got $20 promo money from the hotel.
Sunday morning it was time to leave, so we got packed up and ready to go. We rode with the same group at Saturday. Once we got to Sundance it was pretty windy all the way to Gillette. We made it to Sheridan and again we could see a storm coming, so geared up again. We got pretty heavy rain in Sheridan and again in Lodge Grass. Once we got to Crow it was nice and warm, so we dried out. We ate lunch in Hardin with everyone, then said our goodbyes. We were laughing because we got to break off before everyone else.
In all we put 960 miles on the bike, didn't feel like driving around to add the other 40. We sure do have a very dirty bike to wash.
Now I have to get ready for vacation number 2.
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