June 30th - last riding day



The cloud cover again provides spectacular views. 





Our last day of riding starts early so we break camp the final time.  No more tent set up or sleeping bags (though I'm not complaining) we are ready to get home.  Today holds alot of miles but some things to see as well.  I want to take Brad and Rebecca to WALL DRUG - (the tourist trap of tourist traps!) and the Badlands.       



Many signs point to Wall Drug... 



Wall Drug in Wall South Dakota

The Badlands are just down the road from Wall.  The town was established by early settlers who encountered the badlands and followed the wall of cliffs north to the end where they could continue journeying west. 


While traveling through the badlands it was hard to imagine trying to negotiate this area with a wagon as a settler.

 

Brad and Rebecca pose in front of incredible yellow and purple
hills.

 



An Oasis in the usually dry plains




Bikes are great here but the heat could be uncomfortable. Fortunately the heat is not bad yet and we enjoy the overlooks and the lunar like landscape. 



Hopefully we don't see these.



Further east in South Dakota old farmstead can be seen along the highway.




The landscape changes to prairie --- boring - so glad we only have to get to Nebraska to the trailer.

My odometer rolls 77,777 close to Freeman SD

 yeah!!! Nebraska



The sun is setting and we are still on the road -
the oppressive heat has forced us to stop about every hour to soak our shirts to keep cool.
This adds a significant amount of time to our travel.



Our trip included parts of 11States, British Columbia, 20 days and 5800 miles of travel with no serious problems until.........

Only 2 miles from our rendezvous point with the trailer in Norfolk NE we had a problem.  Being only two miles away from our destination greatly reduced the seriousness of the problem.  In retrospect it could have been much worse and with more serious consequences.  The problem - my trailer hitch broke,  more precisely the trailer totally detached from my motorcycle.  

At the corner of Norfolk and 25th as we crossed the intersection I hit the intersection pretty hard and the cross street had a significant crown in the road.  The bike bottomed out and I heard scraping.  I thought the hitch hopped off the ball so I slowed to a stop gently.  The trailer was about 20ft back and to the right side of the lane.   

     

We quickly moved the trailer off the road by the mailbox above and went for Brads Four Runner.  At the time it was rather funny - it couldn't have been better (unless it broke in Ed's driveway).  Thinking more about the situation i could have been really bad - 80mph on the highway with Brad and Rebecca behind me? or coming down a mountain pass with no guardrail?  or 1500 miles earlier?  We are thankful to God that that was not what happened.

We arrived late to Ed and Kerri Leah's and were able to visit briefly before bed.  A real bed!





June 29 - Devils Tower and Rushmore

The morning at the campground finds clear skies and the beginning of a warm day.  Wild flowers, a magpie and other wildlife including a dragonfly that found a way into Rebecca's helmet for the night are things we find around us.  Today is a short day in terms of mileage but lots to see in eastern Wyoming and Western South Dakota.
   

Early morning sky over the lake (Keyhole Reservoir State Park) 

 

Are they twins? --- Antelope are playing early today.

We head to Devils Tower about 30 miles from our campsite and we see some nice wildlife on the way.  Deer, prairie dogs
 etc....

A great area to ride motorcycle - no wonder they have a rally in Sturgis

Incredible beauty

These guys are sooo photogenic - ask my wife how many pictures of prairie dogs
I have taken.



Thistles are weeds but they are pretty.



Brad the Tourist

LOOOOOOOONG HORN

Snow fence on the left of the road to help to stop drifting snow

After Devils Tower we head to Hermosa, SD to a campground we stayed at on a family trip last year.  Good place to do laundry, take a swim (though the water was very warm) and to be close to Mt. Rushmore.  As we travel into the Black Hills again we encounter wildlife.  More mountain goats, some wild turkeys with chicks............... 

and snakes.... we keep seeing signs for "S"nakes... we like those signs 

It looks like Brad and Rebecca have tamed this one.

Rushmore...Incredible vision to be able to see these faces in a "raw" mountain 

After the late evening visit to Rushmore we return to our campsite for our last night in tents on this trip.  After a quick stop for some ice cream about 1/4 mile from our camp a wind storm hit and nearly pushed us into the oncoming lanes of a 5 lane highway.  The tents were being blown flat as we tried to batten the hatches.  No rain but some did not sleep well this last night but I sure did.  ROAD WEARY. 

June 28th - On toward eastern Wyoming - Heat and Cold

After a good night sleep for some of us (Brad heard a LARGE animal outside the tents during the night some time) we woke to another clear day.  The skies were blue and clear.  A quick breakfast and packing - today will be a high mileage day. 



Glory in the morning.  Small beauties at the base of grandiose mountain peaks.   



Wyoming is a beautiful place - heading to Cody
Wyoming our first fuel stop today.

Speed touring again - today will be a long day so we try to keep moving.

 Cody is our first stop -  re-creation of the original town on the right. 



Is that the end of the earth I see?



Large Farms/Ranches in Wyoming...



Large vehicles on the road as well...... something to be on the look out for.





Waiting for the paving crew to let us through. The temp is 97.8 degrees and Rebecca has some difficulty with heat exhaustion and Brad and I are feeling it too.  After a break to get our core temps down we start out again.

HWY 14A up over the mountain and the temp is dropping.

Hwy 14 A was an alternate route for us instead of Hwy 14 since the road caved in.  Hwy 14A was not much better as it had portions that had been repaired but seem to be caving in again. 
This view is beautiful but we are not at the top yet. 



Looks like the top is up there.



Nice day for a snowmobile ride!  June 28th?

 I spoke with the guy on the snowmobile and he worked at the lodge in the Big Horn park.  They have been cancelling reservations at the lodge because they cannot get the guests to the lodge.  He does however, have lots of places to ride the snowmobile or other fun vehicles. 


Moose!! with a rack



Two moose - meese?



Descending the mountain was fun except for some road construction.  Notice the roadway below.




More LARGE trucks



And back to the interstate to cover some miles fast.

The sun is sinking and we need to start trying to find a campsite.



 

Sage covered hills - a great place for antelope to play



This gentleman on the late model BMW we met back when we stopped to deal with overheating.  He was a great help and his medal of honor 200,000mile on a BMW (actually 273,000 now) wow.  He said he doesn't take many pictures he just goes back if he likes a particular place.  Apparently he goes back multiple times....


Sun setting over our shoulder.



Heading back west after a navigation error - the end of the day is when we want to get to camp not add extra miles - the dead GPS is missed at times like this.  

A very buggy campsite but beautiful anyway.  The stars were particularly astounding.