vacation09 day 6 back on the road

Rapid city S.D.

Up and out of the hotel at 7:45, a quick stop to top off the tank and we head south to ride the Black hills area. We take route 16 to route 79 and pick up Route 36 west to Custer state park, there we turn onto Iron mountain road. In all of my travels, of all the roads I have ridden this is my favorite.Beginning in Custer State Park, the Iron Mountain Road is most popular for its series of pigtail bridges which bear a corkscrew shape, and its three single-lane granite tunnels that perfectly frame the faces of Mount Rushmore in the distance. The pigtail bridges enabled road engineers to reduce elevation without needing to build a switchback. The road comes off the bridge, makes a circular turn, and continues below the bridge. Definitely an experience, even for well-seasoned travelers Next we pick up Needles highway,with a short stop at Sylvan lake state park. The Needles Highway curves and winds through 14 miles of magnificent rock formations called 'needles.' One of the most prominent rock formations on the Highway is the Needles Eye, reaching 30 to 40 feet in the air with a 3 foot wide slit.

As we exit the park it is nearing lunch time and we are hungry. We pull into a picnic area at Stockade lake, make some sandwiches, grab the chips..time to eat. We are about ready to leave when a deer wonders up to the picnic are. She did not seem to care that we were there, was able to get some nice pictures of her.

Time to leave, Steve wants to go to Montana, lets roll...We head north with a fuel stop in Deadwood. Steve says we should be at Pompeys Pillar in Montana in 2 1/2 to 3 hours. ...8 hours later we arrive,, Its getting dark, we are tired and hungry and in the middle of nowhere. We pull into the Town of Ballentine ,population,,336. The only hotel in the area is a trailer that has 4 units, well we don't have a choice. We ask where we could find a hot meal,,"let me make a call" says the clerk. We here her say " I got a couple of hungry bikers here, you open?" once off the phone she tells us the fella on the other side of the highway has a small bar and owns a George Foreman grill,,he'll fix you a burger. OR you can ride over to Worden, next town over,,they have a couple of places, The Dark Horse Saloon and Eatery is a fine place. We choose the Dark Horse,,great decision.

At the Dark Horse we have the best meal of the trip, The people are friendly the food is great and the beer is cold,,perfect!!! An older couple at the next table , a rancher and his wife tell us they have two daughters, both work at the pentagon. One is an Officer in the Air force. We chat with them, and they offer us a place to stay for the night, Steve thanks them for the offer, but tells them we already have a room. We take a ride through the town of Worden before calling it a night. It has been a long day. Just as we settle in for the night we hear,,,WOO,,WOO,,a train whistle,,CLOSE!!!! great,,but I am so tired I have no trouble falling asleep.

vacation 09 day 5 rain rain and more rain

Today we wake to pouring rain and cold temps, we decide we do not want to ride in this. I decide to take advantage of the day off and do laundry. I gather up my clothes and head to the Laundromat. I get there, take off my rain gear and pull my laundry out of the plastic bags I use to keep them dry. While I am waiting on the washing machine the lady who works there strikes up a conversation with me. She had an interesting story, she was moving from Kansas to Washington when she stopped at this laundromat to do laundry and the owner offered her a job. That was 15 years ago, she likes the area so well she just stayed.

Well my laundry is done and I am bored to tears at the hotel, I go to the lobby to see what I can do in Rapid city. I ask the lady in the lobby what there is to see close to the hotel? "well,,A and A salvage has a museum, you might want to go there" A salvage yard, hmm,,I have my doubts but get directions anyway. Talk about a jewel of a find...I pull in and it is a salvage "junk" yard. ok,,lets check it out. I was amazed, if in Rapid city South Dakota,,,Go see this museum. You will see everything from old motorcycles, cars, a WWII half track,,even an old biplane.

vacation09 day 4 a busy day

Winner South Dakota

We are up and out early today, west on 44 we head for the Badlands. As the temperature seems to drop, we pull over to get some winter gear on. While at this stop we meet a couple on a Goldwing trike pulling a pop up camper, complete with an electric heater in the camper. They are from Maggie Valley N.C. where they have an rv park. We tell them we will be through there in September when we ride the Blue ridge parkway,,they invite us to stop and see them,,I hope we have time to drop in and say hello.

Back on the road we follow them towards the Badlands, when one of the strangest things I have ever seen happened. We have all seen birds fly close and thought we would hit them,,but they always soar away. I watch this bird fly low and turn upwards, but not fast enough. I am watching him get closer and closer,,then THUMP!!! he hits my windshield, I duck my head to the left and see his body fly over my right shoulder, a quick look in the mirror and I see him hit the ground. Steve pulls alongside me and yells,,bird killer!!! We had to laugh, that was was of the strangest things to see.

We top a hill and the Badlands comes into view, incredible,,the scenery is beautiful,,I have never seen anything like it. We ride into the park and stop often for pictures. We even hiked on Saddle pass trail. At Burns basin overlook the VTX hits the 10,000 mile mark, that many miles in just 1 year,,,that's a lot of riding.

Next stop, Wall drug in Wall South Dakota. We make the ride to Wall where we have Buffalo burgers for lunch. From there we decide to head to Rapid city , get a room and then ride south to Mount Rushmore and Crazy horse.

Once in Rapid city I go to a bike shop to buy a new helmet. I needed to replace mine before the trip but put it off. Now the face shield will not stay in the down position so I have no choice. From there we get a room and head south to Rushmore. Mount Rushmore is quite a site, we enjoy our visit and take plenty of pictures. From there we go to the Crazy horse memorial, stay longer than we should. As we leave it is getting dark and cold. Oh well it is only a 40 mile ride back to the hotel,,how bad can it be?? Well when it began raining we found out.

It has been a long and busy day, we hit the hotel tired and irritable , sleep comes quickly tonight.

vacation 09 day 3 desolate

day 3, Algona Iowa.....This morning we stop and look at motorcycle trailers at a small dealership in Algona, we pack anything else and we may need one. A short stop to top off the tank, and we head west on route 18 . Just over a 100 miles later we stop in the town of Hull Iowa for a snack break and map check, while there we top off the tanks. Between the speeds we are able to run out here, and the wind we are fighting I notice a drop in my mpg.

We continue on route 18 into South Dakota, stopping at a truck stop at the state line where we top off, make a few calls,, and grab a snack.

Riding across South Dakota the first thing I notice is how desolate the area is. Just because you see a town on the map is no reason to think you can find fuel when you arrive. With the VTX getting less mpg, that becomes a worry.

We stop to take a break in Turkey ridge, just a dot on the map. The reason I stop is the small general store along the road, a place that looks to inviting to pass. we visit with the owners for about half an hour , take a few pics and we are underway again. We go north on route 81 to the town of Freeman looking for fuel. The station does not have premium , so we ride on up 81 to the next town. Doulton South Dakota,,"No fuel Here" Doulton , population 38. according to the 2009 census,yes I looked that up online.. The town had a gas station at one time, long closed up and overgrown with weeds. On fumes now, we head back to Freeman, no choice today, fill up with regular. Leaving Freeman we turn west on route 44, an hour later we pass through the town of Parkston South Dakota, this is where things get interesting. I have seen road construction before, but not like this. They were repaving 44, and had , in many places,,ground the pavement down to the dirt. 18 miles, single lane,,dirt!!! the traffic in front of us kicked up so much dirt we could barely see. We were covered in it, our bikes turned brown from the clouds of dirt and dust.

That evening we call it a day in winner South Dakota, we stay at the Buffalo Trail motel. After unloading our bikes, we had to find a car wash to clean up the bikes. They had a thick layer of brown dirt on them. Back at the motel for a long shower and dinner out of our packs,,time to rest.

vac 09 day two...off to the museum

I wake at 5:30 am.,, shower and load up. Today we are headed to the National Motorcycle Museum, in Anamosa Iowa. A quick stop at a park on the Mississippi river, near the stadium of The Clinton Lumber Kings, a single A ball team.

We head out of town on route 136, once out of town this winding two lane road provides a beautiful scene, rolling hills and a few nice curves through the countryside. I can't help but think,,this is why I do this. This makes up for the four lane ride yesterday. I stop along route 136 for a quick picture.

On the way we roll into the town of Wyoming Iowa, a small town. Population,,613. There we stop for a picture in front of the town library. The town looks as though it has not changed since the 50s. The first thing we notice in Wyoming IA. are the gnats,,,the minute you stop they swarm you.

From Wyoming we continue on 136 to route 64, then into Anamosa. The National Motorcycle Museum is a must stop for any motorcyclist traveling through Iowa. When we leave the museum we decide to have a quick lunch before moving on, we dig into our supplies and make some sandwiches.

Back on the road we head northwest to avoid some bad weather that is moving into the middle of the state.As we cross Iowa we see a wind farm, I was amazed at the size of the windmills. At 6pm we make it to Algona IA.,,we fought a nasty cross wind all afternoon and we are tired. We have dinner at The Chrome shop restaurant,,a bad decision,,bad food poor service. What happened to the days when truck stops had good food??? After dinner we head to the local hotel where we stop for the night.

vacation 09,,day 1 I just wanna ride

It's 5:50 am, I roll into Bob Evans parking lot to meet Steve for breakfast before we leave. I see him and Patrice waiting in the parking lot for me, she came to see us off. The morning is cool, but comfortable riding weather. While inside having breakfast a shower moves through, but the rain stops before we finish eating,,good deal.. After breakfast Patrice snaps a few pictures for us, we say good bye, mount up and we are on our way.

Today's ride will be boring, we have decided to ride the four lane most of today to make time and get a jump westward on our trip. We take route 35 west, and make our way to I 70 west. The sun is coming up and so is the air temperature,,it is a great morning.

In Indianapolis we face road construction and heavy traffic,,this stinks. We take I 74 west out of the construction . A stop for fuel Veedersburg Indiana, and lunch at the Apple tree Restaurant. A cheeseburger, fries and a diet soda and we are on our way.

We make our way to route 67 into Clinton Iowa , 558 miles for the day, we check into a hotel and go to the grocery store. Time to call it a night.

vacation 09 preview

6/11/09 I just got home this evening, what an adventure this trip was. Just to give you an idea of whats to come,,13 days on the road, 4410 miles, and 10 states. . I met some great people, made some new friends.