Sunday, June 23, 2013

South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana


DAY 22, SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013

Well, Good Morning People!  After last night’s storm in Spearfish, S.D., I finished my blog and pictures by 9 PM.  I actually got to sleep by 10:30 PM!  I had eight hours of sleep and I woke up to my alarm at 6:30 AM, refreshed.  C.E.’s alarm sounded just as mine did.  We got up and dressed, packed and took a couple of bags to my Motor.  I wiped my Motor from the rain last night.  There were older gentlemen there with old, classic, restored cars.  One was a 1956 Chevy, 1961 Chevy, 1978 Olds Cutlass and others.  They all live in Washington and, once a year, they go out riding the country.  Does that sound familiar?  It was a CLEAR day and it was brisk.  We had breakfast and were soon ready to go.  We left at 8:09 AM with Jan in the lead.

Jan led us through Spearfish and into Belle Fourche.  On our Four Corner’s Ride, we rode into, stopped and took pictures in Belle Fourche.  This town is the geographic center of the United States, including Hawai’i and Alaska.  I accidently found it in the map when I was doing the blog and getting information from the map.  It was very fitting that we stopped there since we were doing the Four Corners.  After going through Belle Fourche, we turned onto US 212 West. This road is a two lane highway with farms, grasslands and hills.  We rode for a short distance and before we knew it, we came upon a sign, “Welcome to Wyoming.”  I wasn’t prepared for it.  I tried taking a picture of it but I missed it!  I did; however, take pictures of antelope and deer.  They were a lot of them scattered in pairs and small groups.  We passed an unmarked Police SUV who had pulled over a midsize, white car. A female wearing pajama bottoms had just gotten back into her car as we passed them.  She drove up behind us and a few miles later, she passed us…in a “No Passing Zone.”  We rode for 112 miles and stopped in Broadus, MT at 9:44 AM for gas.  When we rode up to the Conoco Station, the white car was parked there and the lady in the pajama bottoms was walking out of the mini-mart.  We also needed a pit stop, as I showed the guys when we pulled up.  I was the second in line and stopped in front of the mini-mart and went inside to the restroom instead of gassing up first!  The others followed suit after gassing up.  We left at 10:11 AM with Ken in the lead.

Ken got us back on US 212 west.  We rode passed more farms and grasslands and then entered Custer National Forest.  We rode for a while and came upon a town called, “Crow Agency.”  There was a road leading to the Little Bighorn Battleground.  Ken stopped at the Exxon and thought that maybe we could take a break.  Chuck rode up to Ken and suggested to continue on and stop elsewhere where there was a Subway for lunch. We continued west, and after riding 127 miles, we stopped in Hardin, MT at 12:12 PM at a Subway.  The Subway was connected to a Casino and bar.  We didn’t go in to gamble.  We left at 1:04 PM.

Back on I-90, we headed for Billings, MT.  We didn’t need to go very far.  We rode for 49 miles and stopped at 1:44 PM at a Conoco gas station.  We gassed up and parked our Motors at the opposite end of the parking lot.  Everyone got off their Motors to go into the mini-mart and I was the last to leave the Motors.  I walked away, stopped and turned back to get my water bottle.  I noticed that all of the Motors were shut off except Chuck’s.  Chuck’s Motor had its headlight on.  I went and turned the ignition off for him.  After we were all back at our Motors, I went to Chuck and looked at the map to see where we were going.  He told me that we were going to Red Lodge, MT.  I put it on my Navigation System and we left at 2:04 PM and I had the lead.

As we were going west on I-90, the mountains to the west of us were snowcapped.  I haven’t been in this area before so I wasn’t sure if we were going in that direction.   We exited on Exit 434 and went west on US 212 West, again.  It was a two lane road with a 70 mph speed limit.  We couldn’t go much faster because of the traffic.  After riding 62 miles, we arrived in Red Lodge, MT at 3:03 PM at the Comfort Inn.  Jan, Chuck and I went in to “make the deal.”  We did get the price lowered too much because the young lady at the counter told us that there were no specials.  We asked her a question and she had to go to the back room and talk with the manager.  She came back with her final offer.  We had no choice but to take it.  We all checked in, unloaded our bags from our Motors and took them to the rooms.  Jan, Chuck and Bruce rode about a mile away to the Bear Tooth Harley Davidson store.  I bet that you would have never guessed!  I also bet that you can’t guess what they got at the store. 

While the Harley Boys were gone, I got my computer and went to the breakfast room and started my blog.  I am determined to finish this blog and the pictures that I can get another 8 hours of sleep.  It is now 3:51 PM here and I am about finished.  Eight hours of sleep is definite for tonight.  We will be riding to a dinner place.  We will go and have dinner and when we return to the hotel, we will “tuck” our Motors in for the night.

Today, we rode 350 miles.  We had great weather and no problems.  Life is good!  Tomorrow, we will ride Bear Tooth Pass and ride into Yellowstone National Park.  I have never been there and am fortunate that I will be leading the Group through the Park.  Stand by for plenty of pictures!  I don’t know where we will end up tomorrow.  We shall see.  So, until tomorrow…

  

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