My wife and I just got back from our maiden voyage to Sturgis and I wanted to post this for everyone, but particularly for those who haven't yet made the trip. This was our first cross country road trip and I have to say of all the places we've traveled over the last 21 years, this was the best so far. Let me caution a certain segment of the HDF member base that this thread may contain material some could find offensive. Specifically, this thread will contain real images of --- wait for it --- a bike trailer. Anyone who suffers from trailer envy should make use of this button at the top left of your screen now:
I got home from work around 7 pm on Friday, July 24th and immediately began preparations for the following day's adventure. Two suitcases, a small cooler, a snack bag, a clutch of audio books and the dreaded EVIILLL trailer constituted our caravan of one.
We got up early on Saturday and left the beautiful NC mountains for points west. Our initial route would take us up to Marion, VA where we would hit I-81N to I-77W. Less than two miles after getting on 81, a doe appeared out of the darkness right in the middle of my lane about 50 feet in front of me. A quick swerve narrowly avoided catastrophe for both parties, though I'm not sure the deer made it safety to the other side of the road. There was a car in the other lane just behind me. He didn't stop or even slow up so I assume everyone escaped harm. This was taken about 30 seconds before said deer encounter.
I'm inserting this picture specifically for those with trailer envy who did not heed my warning. I know you're reading this so I post this for you.
As the sun finally began to climb the horizon in the east, we made our way north through Virginia and into Charleston, West Virginia where we picked up I-64W into Kentucky. My experience in Kentucky prior to this trip was limited exclusively to Breaks Interstate Park and Pikeville. The horse farm country around Lexington was just beautiful and I was intrigued with Louisville. I think I could enjoy spending more time in both and I am considering doing so in the latter towards the end of this month.
More to come...
Last edited by mountainpharm; 08-04-2015 at 06:14 PM.
We continued west through Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. I don't have any pictures of interest to share for this leg of the trip other than the one crossing the Mississippi. I started to post a pic of our lunch stop at White Castle somewhere in Illinois or Missouri (I haven't been to a White Castle since I was a kid) but I prefer not to relive that moment any more than required. It was awful. Pretty safe to say I've darkened the doors of White Castle for the last time. At any rate, we stopped overnight in Columbia, MO after a little over 800 miles. We grabbed a couple of salads in the hotel restaurant which were quite good by the way -- props to the Holiday Inn on I-70 in Columbia -- and we crashed for the night. The next morning saw another early rise for the second leg of our trip. We left the hotel and again headed west on I-70. It was cool to see the St. Louis arch for the first time, even if it was from the interstate running 75 mph.
In Kansas City we headed north with our sights set on Sioux Falls. We would travel through parts of Nebraska and Iowa to get there which I actually enjoyed. This was the first real change in scenery from what we have somewhere in North Carolina. I am absolutely stunned at the amount of corn grown in this country. We skirted around Omaha and continued north, stopping briefly for a gas n' grub stop in Sioux Falls. I have to say there was a feeling of achievement when we finally got on I-90 as we both knew this was the road that would take us to our destination. We both enjoyed the final 350 miles of our journey across South Dakota. Neither of us have seen horizons that stretch as they seem to do there. And just when we started to get a little bored with the flat plains, the terrain changed up a bit starting with this lake.
We continued west and the Badlands eventually came into view to our left as we clicked off the final few miles on the odometer. Somewhere around Murdo, the western sky darkened and eventually the clouds opened up. We saw about 100 "real bikers" huddled under a Conoco canopy waiting out the rain and hail.
Thankfully the storm was relatively short-lived; the sun re-emerged and was low in the horizon as we pulled into Rapid City and found our hotel. We checked in, unpacked and wrested the bike from the clutches of our EVIILLL trailer and rode a few miles to grab a bite to eat before turning in for the night. The next morning would bring Wall, the Badlands, and a visit to Black Hills Harley Davidson.
Last edited by mountainpharm; 08-04-2015 at 04:11 PM.
The next morning (7/27) we saddled up and headed east on I-90 for about 50 miles or so to the town of Wall and then on to Badlands National Park. The sky was a sapphire blue and almost completely free of clouds. Temperatures were in the low to mid 70s that morning and the ride was great.
For those who have never traveled the area, Wall Drug has dozens, maybe hundreds, of signs up and down I-90. It reminded us of South of the Border on I-95 between North and South Carolina. With the promises of "Free Ice Water" and "5 Cent Coffee", how could we pass up a visit?
Buried among the souvenir shops, Zoltar machines and statues of Wild Bill Hickok was still a functioning pharmacy so as my username indicates, I had to stop in. While my practice setting is on the hospital floor rather than a traditional drug store, I still found it rather quaint and I signed their "Pharmacist Only" guestbook for posterity.
From there we walked down to Badlands HD for shirts and souvenirs, both for ourselves as well as to take home to family members not fortunate enough to be visiting the gorgeous state of South Dakota on a perfect summer day.
I don't know how many pictures we took in The Badlands -- I know it was a lot -- at least 100. I've spent about 30 minutes trying to decide which ones I should post. I could go on and on about this place, but I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. A truly spectacular place and worth the trip out by itself.
We headed back to Rapid City on 44 which was a great ride through the grasslands. By this time the temperatures were above 90 so we decided to cool off and grab a bite to eat. Afterwards, we headed to Black Hills HD to see what was happening out there.
The story can't stop there. And yep you are right there are no words needed for the Bad Lands. I had seen many pics before my first trip there, none does it justice
The story can't stop there. And yep you are right there are no words needed for the Bad Lands. I had seen many pics before my first trip there, none does it justice
Gotta sort and upload the next batch of pics to Photobucket. Hopefully more to come tomorrow!
08-04-2015, 02:09 PM
First trip to Sturgis (pic heavy)
