Deadwood South Dakota - Arrival day

I was worried about checking into the hotel since the room was in Sherm's name but the lady on the desk didn't care as long as I was able to pay. She said i could park the trailer across the street. The room wasn't the same one we had last time but it was even bigger.

Sandy and I unloaded the bike and parked the trailer. When I unhooked, one wheel chock slipped so I found myself holding back a ton of trailer while Sandy put down the second set of chocks. Then we carried all the bags into the room. I wondered how we ever travelled with just motorcycle luggage.

The bike, truck and trailer

The WiFi would not connect. I spoke to the desk and she said to wait until the girl came on at 3:00 PM. We were still waiting when Sherm, Lanny and Stewey pulled in about 2:40. Their WiFi didn't work either. Soon after, a thunderstorm came over the mountain, drenched everything and then rolled on. The new desk girl called the Internet guy who came out and got things all sorted out. On line again, which is more than we got two years ago.

Stewey checking WiFi

About 5:00, Stewey's wife May, daughter Wendy and granddaughter Tighler arrived from Peoria, Illinois. He had been out touring Colorado for a week. Talking about supper, we all paid the $1.00 to take the trolley that stops in front of our hotel. We rode it for at least five miles before getting off about three blocks from the Gold Country Inn. We had supper at Diamond Lil's, part of Kevin Costner's White Diamond Casino.

Mary, Stewey, Lanny, Sherm, Sandy at Diamond Lil's

Plus Wendy and Tighler on the left

We walked around downtown for a bit and then trekked back uphill to the Inn. Lanny remembered a stuffed buffalo and we tracked it down.

Lanny, Sandy and Sherm on Main St.

Tighler, Sandy, Mary and Stewey

Wendy doesn't like having her picture taken

Sandy and friend

Lanny and his buffalo

Typical Deadwood scene

Our hotel

Back at the hotel, some of the Arkansas crowd had arrived. Magellan, Brian and "the other" Duck were here and our organizers Jamie T and Trouble stopped by. You may recall they live just up the hill in Lead. I am actively campaigning to change Jamie's name to Rocky. No one had figured out why so I broke down and told him.

"Now somewhere in the black mountain hills of Dakota 

There lived a young boy named Rocky Raccoon"

He acknowledged that fit him and said he would think about it. I suggested he might not have a say:-))

I did some blogging and, being the party animals that we are, we were in bed by 10:00 PM.

Chamberlain South Dakota to Deadwood South Dakota

For a change, we were not in any rush this morning. Sherm and Lanny would be meeting Stewey in Casper, Wyoming at 9:00 Mountain time and a front tire change would then follow. Stewey had delaminated his and needed new rubber. Since the goal was to arrive in Deadwood at about the same time, I finished yesterday's blog and we went down for the continental breakfast. The heat was starting to build already as we went back to the room.

Bridges across Lake Francis Case

Looking good

Again, regular is more expensive than super

After a short panic when I couldn't find my electric toothbrush (we found it right where  it was supposed to be), we loaded the truck and were rolling by 8:30.  This would be equal to 7:30 Mountain Time in Deadwood. We crossed Lake Francis Case, as they now call this wide spot in the Missouri River backed up by the Fort Randall Dam, and went up the hill past Al's Oasis. This is where, in the summer of 1980, I learned that prime rib was meant to be eaten rare.

Al's Oasis

I had forgotten how hilly the countryside was here. Ups and downs, hardly ever level and there was a crosswind from the south. For some reason the cattle in field after field were huddled together. I don't ever recall seeing this behaviour in so many herds at once and have no idea what it means.

The rolling hills of South Dakota?

If you've been out here, no explanation is necessary

A painted Lees-ure Lite trailer

Congregating cows

Short Safari Trek diesel pusher

South Dakota plains forest

I got all the way to 10:00 AM before I started to get tired. I do believe out here that driving is just so numbingly boring that it is hard to stay awake. We stopped at a rest area where I straightened the bike up in the trailer. It was a couple of inches off vertical and I'm fussy that way. I also took a picture of a storm cell ahead of us.

Dark skies ahead

With the wind from our left, the truck is will pull left whenever a semi or large RV starts to pass us. No big deal, the RV did the same thing. Today, one went by and set up an oscillation between the truck and the trailer that threatened to get out of control. I had visions of going off the road and rolling through the fields as my foot pressed the accelerator to the floor. The truck kicked into second gear at 65 MPH and pulled us back straight but it was a scary moment.

I do like the flexible posts they use out here to separate the lanes in construction zones. They are a lot less threatening than the concrete barricades we are more familiar with. Around Wall, there was a long stretch of two lane as they reconstructed the two eastbound lanes. From the amount of crushed rock laid out so neatly, I realized that when they decide to rebuild a road out here, they go all the way.

I like these posts

That is one large amount of crushed rock

As we approached Wall, the fringes of the Badlands came into view. We went through them the  last two times out here so decided to give it a miss this time around. As I adjusted the clocks for Mountain Time, I wondered why the GPS wasn't smart enough to know what zone it was in. It has satellite time and a precise location and I still have to manually set it every time we go from one to another.  Soon, we passed the Conoco station at the Wall exit where I either lost, or someone stole, Sandy's sheepskin seat cover two trips ago.

The edge of the Badlands

The infamous gas station

We reached Rapid City and found the WalMart where we had spent the night with the RV two years ago. There were a lot of motorhomes and trailers here and I saw two diesel pushers in what I knew to be the only level spot in the lot. We also saw a huge blue rig that could have been hauling as many as four cars in the massive trailer behind it. Lettering on the side of the truck indicated it was not for hire and registered as an RV, probably to keep the DOT enforcement people at bay when they bypassed a scale.

This is a serious RV

In WalMart, we picked up bottled water and some hair shampoo while returning a three-pack of defective underwear I bought in Waynesville, North Carolina on our last trip. I like that you can do that. Then we followed the GPS instructions to to a Culver's restaurant where I had a mushroom Swiss butter burger (I love the flavour) and Sandy had a very good order of chicken tenders. The man who took our order told her that if she was having the Culver's root beer, not to add ice because it would cut the special taste. Good to know. They give you a number for your table and then bring the food when it is ready. Sandy had a caramel cashew sundae for dessert.

Our table number at Culver's

We fueled at a Pilot station that didn't require a Zip Code for pay at the pump and then continued west on I-90 towards Sturgis. Sherm called to say they were having lunch in Newcastle, Wyoming and would see us soon.

We got off the big road in Sturgis and followed 14A to Deadwood. I had forgotten how curvy the road through the canyon and up the mountain was. As we drove through Deadwood, we saw a new establishment advertising a Randy Travis concert on Wednesday. We found later that Travis was very ill in Texas and was not expected to be here. We arrived at the Gold Country Inn at about 2:00 PM.

Today's Route (251 Avalanche/trailer miles):

Appleton Wisconsin to Chamberlain South Dakota

Sandy woke me at 5:20 this morning. Oh well, I said I wanted an early departure. We had everything packed and loaded in the truck by the time the continental breakfast opened at 6:00. While Sandy had her raisin bran and I drank coffee, we talked to a nice older couple from Menominee, Michigan who were joining a bus tour to new York City.

We were moving south on US 41 by 6:30. There was hardly a vehicle or person to be seen this early on an Appleton Sunday morning. As we drove south on the six lane highway with a large concrete barrier down the middle, I spotted a very confused looking large box turtle in the centre breakdown lane. We were past before I realized what it was or I would have stopped to help it over the barrier.

Private mini wind farm near Oshkosh

In Oshkosh, we took the exit for Wisconsin 21 and immediately ran through two roundabouts. Not as bad as the seven we faced in The Dells a few years ago, but these were also brand new. It looks like the state has really committed to them.

West, that's the way we're going....

Oshkosh is even prettier than Appleton. Then we were out in the scenic green rolling Wisconsin countryside. Some guy on the radio said "Life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think." There, the quote of the day. We drove through a few small towns before stopping in Wautoma for coffee and a sausage McMuffin.

City Hall (1896) - Omro Wisconsin

Interesting Omro business

We didn't know if this was a residence or a future country club

I saw a bald eagle flying east parallel to 21. I thought it was another vulture at first but the white head gave it away. We reach I90/94 at 9:15 and I wondered why I was starting to feel tired again this early in the day. As we approached Lacrosse and the Minnesota border, I stopped at a rest area to walk around and splash some water on my face.

Coulee country

Then we were through the construction on the bridge over the Old Man River and into Minnesota, where we started to climb out of the valley. And climb.

Dam Mississippi River

Minnesota had a more washed out appearance than the lush Wisconsin. We drove along up and down the  long, slow grades as we passed small towns from time to time. We passed a number of wind farms, although many turbines were not turning. Those that were confirmed the headwind we were facing. There were also sections where I-90 was down to one lane each way as we went past miles of orange barrels. We stopped for lunch (to go, as usual) in Albert Lea and for gas at a station in Alden, a nice little town with the gas station as its only business.

Rochester - home of the Mayo Clinic

Many idle wind turbines

That reminds me what's on TV tonight.....

I cut the speed back to 55 MPH and saw the mileage indicator improve. The wind was now out of the south but was still pushing against us. I  was being passed by half ton pickup trucks towing trailers, some of them as big as ours. At the pace they are going, I have to wonder what mileage they are getting.

Outside Worthington, I saw a very nice industrial building with large lettering that said Hitchdoc. I've used their hitches before. We stopped at a rest area while still in Minnesota for another walk around. I talked to a couple from Alberta on a Harley as well as a man and his son on a 2004 Wing. It was hot and humid enough that I was happy to be back in the air conditioned truck.

A bit earlier, Sandy had taken a picture of a trike from behind but we didn't catch him. He was here in the rest area and slowed down when he saw me getting ready to take a picture.

Trike in the distance

Trike up close

It was 32 C (90 F) as we plugged along and crossed the border into South Dakota.

Cow art in South Dakota

As we approached Mitchell, we could see some weather cells building on the horizon. We stopped and fueled at a Shell that used to be a Pilot. The regular gas was $3.69 while the mid-grade was $3.49. This phenomenon means that regular is ethanol free and lets you know how much the motoring public appreciates alcohol in their fuel. We did NOT visit the Corn Palace. Sorry, Gary, it isn't on our bucket list:-))

Still no visit to the Corn Palace

We encountered another stretch of orange barrels starting in Mitchell and extending west. I was still not totally awake when the phone rang. It was Heather looking for Sandy's chili recipe. The conversation propelled me into second wind territory and I didn't have any urge to nod off after that.

The afternoon weather cells changed to what looked like a nasty storm front. We found a local FM station that was passing on severe thunderstorm warnings. They named to counties which did us no good at all since we have no clue where each of these counties are. Then Sandy dug out the Road Atlas which did have the counties marked. We found the worst of it, with large, damaging hail was passing south of us.

The rain was heavy for a bit and the winds were gusting so I slowed to 40 MPH and put the four way flashers on. There was significant water build-up on the road but it was all controllable. The temperature dropped from 32 C to 19 C in a matter of miles. Before too long, we were out the other side and approaching Chamberlain, our destination for the day.

Ominous looking line

Starting into the rain

And out the other side

Through the back window

And then it was all over

Do I have enough mirrors?

I stayed in Chamberlain, SD back in 1980 on my way to Sturgis. It hasn't improved with age. Remembering our supper last night, Sandy and I decided we would pick up Subway on the way to the motel. There were a few people in line but the line was so slow we went to McDonald's instead. We decided to split an Oriental Chicken salad and ten McNuggets which we took to the motel via a scenic route imagined by the GPS.

Downtown Chamberlain SD

There are Super 8's and then there are Super 8's. This was one of the latter. It sits high on a hill overlooking the Missouri River. We couldn't get Sandy's tablet to hook up to the WiFi and the front desk said that was just the way it was. Apparently there was a sign I didn't see at check-in that said the WiFi was flakey. Then the TV channel guide didn't match what was actually on the TV. But it cost almost double what we paid for that nice place in Appleton last night. Oh well, locale dictates quality.

We did talk to a nice lady from Connecticut. She and her husband are meandering their way home after a camping trip out west. We wished her well in their travels.

Sandy read for a bit and then went to sleep as I took care of my end of day chores. Then I hit the sack before 11:00 PM.

Today's Route (592 Avalanche/trailer miles):