8-11-17 (Day 11 - Buffalo Gap Campground)

                                                           Headed north on country roads

We really wanted to stay a few more days near Sturgis, but wanted to get to our next adventure.  Been there, done that, never been to North Dakota, so it was time to move on.

We got off the interstate and took the country roads.  We had a great lunch standing outside at the South Dakota/North Dakota state line pull out, while watching prong horns grazing across the road.

                                                                 lunch stop

 After 279 miles of hay, horses, cattle, prairie dogs, grass fields, wheat fields, sunflower fields, dead deer on the side of the road, and numerous prong horn grazing, we have reached our little place of paradise.

We are at Buffalo Gap Campground in Sentinel Butte, North Dakota, overlooking a hill of grass sweeping in the wind.

We have no electricity, no water, an awesome, somewhat secluded campsite, and are  living, (slightly), off the grid with the solar Lauren has installed.  We would not have phone or internet  service without weboost assistance.

Ferny Kat is in cat heaven.  She keeps going inside to rest, but doesn't stay long.  She loves hunting in the grass.  Another Ferny Kat approved campground.

After grilling a burger and calling it a night, (although it is still daylight outside), it came a thunderstorm.  Mother Nature put on a pretty show right about dark.

By the way, we haven't seen any buffalo at Buffalo Gap Campground.  LOL


More pics right here:

8-10-17 (Day 10 - Custer State Park and Needles Highway)

It was cold, cloudy, and in the low 60's riding today.  We listened, to classic rock riding through the country.  I thoroughly enjoyed singing along with the 80's songs.  It's a good thing the rumbling drowned me out so no one else had to hear me sing.

We went a short distance from the campground to Custer State Park and rode the Wildlife Loop.  The wildlife were scarce.  We saw lots of birds, prairie dogs, burros, and finally on the last mile of the loop, saw a few buffalo.  A little disappointing but still a pretty ride.

We puttered on to Needles Highway, pulling over to let the ones in a hurry go on by so we could take our time and enjoy the scenery.  We saw a few more buffalo,  one turkey, and several mountain goats. We stopped for a break at one of the overlooks and got our picture taken with some Italian bikers.  The next stop was The Eye of the Needle and it was as spectacular as before when we were here.

We came back through Mount Rushmore and Keystone, then took Highway 40 back to camp.  We saw a lot of deer on Highway 40 grazing in the fields.  Another peaceful ride.

We made a quick trip to Wally World, fueled up the truck, loaded Amber, and are pulling out heading North tomorrow.

                                                           Plenty of bikes in Rapid City also

I made a good ole' pot of chili tonight.  We sat by the campfire and could see the movie  on the drive in theater screen in the nearby field.  Campfires in August and Drive In Movie theaters are a rarity down South.

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8-9-17 ( Day 9 - Badlands)

                                                                     Hwy 44 to Interior

It was a strong northerly crosswind as we headed east this morning on this beautiful day.  It wasn't too bad of a ride, as long as you are comfortable with feeling like your lips are blowing to the other side of your face.

After we got to the Badlands National Park, we rode up to a couple of overlooks  then came back and had a picnic lunch at the Visitor's Center with a great view.

We really enjoyed the scenery throughout The Badlands among the many Big Horn Sheep and the Prairie Dogs. We checked out some boondocking places outside the entrance that were really nice. We probably won't be boondocking there this trip as we are headed North in a few days.

We took a ride to Wall, strolled down the street, bought some tee shirts and watched T Rex at Wall Drug.  We just couldn't miss a trip to Wall Drug.

We made the loop back on I 90, with the wind HOWLING.  I thought it was going to blow my eardrum out the other side of my ear.  Thankfully, I can still hear.

Even with the wind, it was another day of fantastic riding, looking at the scenery, and enjoying life with a gorgeous sunset.


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8-8-17 (Day 8 - Sturgis Day)

We changed all our clocks to Mountain time yesterday, except for Fernykat's.  She started trying to get Lauren up at 5:00 am and was more persistent than a snooze button on the alarm clock, coming back over and over until he got up.  Too bad when we were changing all our clocks yesterday to Mountain time, there wasn't a button to change Ferny Kat's.

                                                         Hair twirlin in the wind...Sturgis or bust...

This is our first ever Sturgis  Bike Rally.  We traveled the Nemo Highway this morning to get there.  When we first got on the highway, it was a nice peaceful, curvy ride through the Black Hills.  When we reached Nemo, it changed.  We were bumper to bumper with motorcycles in both lanes.  A very unique riding experience.

                                                                     Nemo

When we arrived and parked on Main Street around 10:30 am.  It was busy, but not that busy and then the motorcycles kept pouring in.  We walked up and down the street, visited the shops and vendors, biker watching, walking shoulder to shoulder with fellow bikers, ate lunch, bought tee shirts,  got the HOG member pin, and headed out. A very enjoyable experience.

Main Street

We rode through Deadwood, Keystone, went by Mt. Rushmore, and rode Iron Mountain Road.  It was some beautiful riding in the switchbacks, with a few one lane tunnels, plenty of bikers, with on and off  rain showers. 

We were very fortunate with the weather.  It came a flood at the campground while we were gone. 

   I checked out the restroom/showers at the campground, which by the way are super clean and nice.  This is painted on the wall, says it all!!

Da Pictures are here:

8-7-17 (Day 7 - Southern Hills RV Park, Hermosa, South Dakota)

                                                             getting closer to Sturgis

We moved 272 miles and have set up camp for a few days at Southern Hills RV Park in Hermosa, S.D.  The entrance of the campground is a miniature Mount Rushmore, without the Mount, cause its in a field and not nearly as big. It is called Big President Heads.  It is  3 different 15 foot bust of Presidents George Bush, Ronald Reagan, and JFK.

We have been seeing frequent corn fields along the interstate for the last few days.  Today, it was sunflower fields.  I always loved to plant sunflowers growing up.  I just had a few plants, not a field of them. The sunflower fields were very pretty.

We got into more hills today, saw a lot of cattle, and a bunch of Wall Drug Store signs.  We had stopped at Wall's in 2009 and did not want to stop there today, but we were very entertained by their persistent signs along the interstate.

One of our best stops today was the Dignity sculpture at the Louis and Clark Information Center in Chamberlain, South Dakota. This Native American statue wears a quilt that has 128 stainless steel blue diamonds that glitter in the sun overlooking the Missouri River. The quilt she wears represents respect, honor, and admiration in Native America Culture.  She is a 50 foot beauty!!

We grilled a late supper, thought we were in for the night, until I saw this gorgeous orange moon out the window.  Mother Nature has some beautiful art!

The pictures are here:

8-6-17 (Day 6 - Hill RV Park again)

We slept in this morning and eased into the day.  We had been at the Corn Palace several years ago with Lisa and George, thought we had been there and done that, until the lady at the rest area yesterday told us Willie and Elvis were the murals this year.  We had to go!!

We walked in and smelled that popcorn. Guess who had to have popcorn ?????.  As I walked around,  I remembered the 4 of us there in 2009.   I almost cried, then I  remembered how much fun we had. Can't cry about that!!

I did the laundry while Lauren and Ferny Kat rested up.  We will be on the move tomorrow.

Here da pics:

8-5-17 (Day 5 - Hills RV Park, Plankinton, South Dakota)

                                                       unusual scenery along the highway

We had a nice cool night without the need for a/c. It was a quiet night until  2 Hoot Owls started taking to each other, It bought back memories of us waiting for Daddy to run his trout lines on the Pearl River.  Momma always said every time a Hoot Owl hoots, Daddy was catching a fish.  I was always counting a bunch of Hoots and Daddy was always catching a bunch of fish.  ( Just got to say it ..... It was a Hoot.!!).

We had to put our jackets on when we ate lunch at the rest area.  We weren't expecting to wear jackets in August, considering the temperature last week in this area was about a hundred.

                                                                 home for 2 nights

After 222 miles of traveling west with a lot of motorcycles, toy haulers, utility trailers, etc.  We are at a nice quiet cg, Hills RV Park in Plankinton, South Dakota, wearing sweat shirts and sweat pants.  When we checked in, Lauren told the owner of the campground,  that he saw the temps had been in the 100's in the area and was hoping for cooler weather when we got here.  She told him it's all his fault that it is this cold.

We grilled the delicious fresh Mayview corn and ate a hamburger tonight.  You can't beat that Mayview corn!

We had a nice long hot shower/bath and have 2 heaters on, we will stay here another night to rest up and plot our next move.

The Pics: