6/24/2017 Still in South Dakota

Dawn came bright & cold, well, cold for us S. Texas folks, low 50's in June is cold!  So we donned the jackets, found breakfast down the road, and headed for the Badlands Nat'l Park.

Badlands, it didn't take long to surmise where the name came from.

Obligatory pic

As we were traveling to the Park, about 60 miles east of camp, the wind began rising. Looking at the landscape, I expected there to be blowing dust. However, those canyons & cliffs are rock, didn't see any blowing dirt.

As we were driving thru

The mountain sheep weren't concerned that we & dozens of other tourists were looking at them. They kept their back to the wind...  and to us!

A couple of more area pics

We stopped at the Visitor's Center on the way out, got the Passport stamped & picked up a lapel pin. The ride back to Hermosa was interesting. The wind from the north, had picked up to a steady 30 mph, with gusts to near 50 mph (gusts estimated from living on the Tx plains for many years).  We had thought about cooking steaks on the grill tonight, but was afraid blowing sparks from the Park's bbq grills would be bad for the surrounding pastures. 

So, early to bed, time to head west in the morning.

6/23/2017 South Dakota

After leaving Scott's Bluff, we continued north, towards South Dakota & all it has to offer.  We had intended to base in Rapid City, but quickly found there were no vacancies at the motels there. After spending quite some time on the phone looking, I remembered a place we had passed just south of there, a newer RV park with a row of just completed little cabins. A quick call found them ready, and reasonable. We had to supply our own bedding, but we had it in the trailer (along with a tent) for emergency situations, so we were good. The place had very clean restrooms & showers, very friendly people.

Our three day base

Now that we're settled, the next morning we set out for a long day of riding the western sites. First was the Custer State Park. Pretty country, lots of wildlife wandering the woods near the roads,in some instances, on the road.

In the pic below, every road shown, we rode this day.

Pics of the Park

We went farther south to Wind Cave NP. While the cave seemed interesting from the brochures, we really weren't interested in being below ground, when all the beauty was above...  but we got the NP stamp for the Passport.

Next, up the road, was the Crazy Horse Memorial. Not a State or Federally subsidized endeavor, but funded from entrance fees & donations.

Now, on to the most iconic place in South Dakota,  Mount Rushmore. First, some pics of the road to Rushmore

And, as usual, some dummy can't read the warning signs for width & height along the road, and has to stop all traffic to back down a few miles of narrow roadway.

... And, we're here

On back to the cabin. Below are just some random pics from the day's ride. All beautiful country, just can't remember exactly where these were taken, just in the park area referenced in the above scenic byway pic.

A very long day of sight-seeing. But glad we did it. I didn't even figure the miles on this ride... forgot to.

Later

6/ 21 & 22/ 2017 Nebraska

Heck of a delay in my entries, but riding & sight-seeing have been taking priority.

After the ride to LaJunta, and the heat experienced, we took our time headed north. In fact, we didn't stop at another landmark until  Th, 6/22. We drove to ScottsBluff, NE, found a room and a good meal on Wed night, then first thing Thursday AM, we drove to the Scott's Bluff National Monument.

The Bluff is just a giant rock face jutting up from the surrounding landscape. A landmark for the pioneering folk on their way west.

We watched a short film on the history of the area (got a lapel pin & the passport stamped) and found there is a winding road to the top. Yeah, gotta go!  Road pics

When we arrived at the top, we found the State Police & Rescue Units practicing what they do, get stranded folks off mountains. We observed them for a few minutes, then took some photos of the surrounding area.

Above, rescue units pulling injured up a hellofa incline.

Finished up top, we headed back down. Took a photo of the Visitor Center and a Conestoga wagon with faux oxen pulling.

Finished here, we turned our attention to getting to South Dakota and the myriad of attractions there.

Of course, vacations are never without some kind of problems...  we'll talk about that tomorrow.

Finally, Back at it!! 6-20-2017

Finally concluded some family health problems with my Dad, got the forks rebuilt on the trike, so it was time to head out again, on a trip we've been thinking about for months.

This time, we have some friends along. They're riding to celebrate their 50 years together, we're just riding for fun, and to complete the  IBA National Parks Master Traveler Certification. We're headed north this time, up into South Dakota & Wyoming, and other places as time and funds allow.

We left Monday, met our friends a few miles up the road, then continued on US-287. ....And, it rained, while we were still south & east of DFW. Ah well, starting out in the rain..  must mean we got it out of the way early... right???   (We hope)  We traveled only to Vernon, Tx for the day, opting for an early start today.

We hit the road around 6.30am. We figured we'd find a local cafe/restaurant for breakfast. I guess the fast food joints and the chain restaurants put them all out of business. We could find none open, until Amarillo. A jaunt of 170 miles, then had to settle for a Denny's...  brunch.

We then hit the road hard, thru the rest of the Texas panhandle, the Oklahoma panhandle, into Colorado. I did get a pic of the Colorado welcome sign...  for got Oklahoma. But, in my defense, we had a cross wind from the west...  hard & hot.

Colorado

We continued on to Lamar, detoured around road construction that stretched the length of the city, then headed to a Historic Site that I wanted to visit. It's called Bent's Old Fort, near LaJunta, Co. A very colorful history and accurate restoration.

The Fort itself is set back a ways from the parking area & restrooms. There is a walking trail, or a phone call from the parking area will bring a shuttle for your pleasure. While the others called for the shuttle, I walked some of the way back to see some interesting fauna along the trail.

and finally, Bent's Old Fort, outside & in

An old cannon parked out front, and an actual Conestoga Wagon on display, plus a teepee (don't know if it's historically accurate or not)

We are overnighting in LaJunta, headed more northerly in the morning.

445 miles for the day...  and the bike ambient air temp showed a high of 99*, averaged 97* most of the day. Forecast for tomorrow, in this area, is 102*.  We're gonna start EARLY!!!!