Thurs
– We had a very short drive but we hit the road reasonably
early, exited I90 on the truck bypass just before Rapid City and
pulled into Crooked Creek RV shortly before the check-in time of 11.
Our site was vacant so a very nice guy escorted us to our site,
waited while we unloaded the bike and capably backed us into our
spot. We set up and immediately went grocery shopping. I don't know
if I mentioned that we are joining 8 friends – Al & Linda, Bill
& Linda, Bob & Claudia and Russ & Joanne – to ride
motorcycles in the area and I am going to make dinners for the group.
We had seen a WalMart on the drive here and hoped to get a bite of
lunch before shopping but there wasn't a fast food outlet in the
store or nearby. It took quite a while to get through my huge
grocery list, check out, get back and put stuff away. We had bought
General Tsao chicken for dinner but I suggested that since it was mid
afternoon we might as well have a late lunch/early dinner before I
started cooking (spaghetti sauce & desserts) & prepping food.
Everyone else will be arriving tomorrow.
Fri
– I continued with some food prep and Terry went into Hill City
to the only grocery store and found flat iron steaks that we didn't
find at WalMart. We were still missing a few food items so after
lunch we went back to the grocery store. The rest of the group
arrived with Bob & Claudia in their motorhome right beside us,
Bill & Linda up on the hill near the entrance in a cabin and Al &
Linda and Russ & Joanne on the opposite side in a motel that also
belongs to the campground. The weather was perfect for sitting
outside for drinks, catching up & laughing and Javanese Chicken
was well received for dinner.
Sat
- We had agreed on a departure time of 10 so we all had time for
coffee and breakfast. The park does breakfast (biscuits & gravy,
eggs or all you can eat pancakes) so some of the group took advantage
of that and some of us had zucchini bread, etc at our place. Today
Al took us into Custer State Park (paid entrance fee and had tags
good for a week attached to the handle bars) and we paused to admire
and take pictures of huge buffalo herds. It was quite warm already
so the buffalo were mostly laying down or moseying around). We also
stopped to watch the donkeys approach vehicles to ask for food. Then
it was on to Mt. Rushmore which we had all visited previously but it
is always impressive. We continued riding including Iron Mountain
Road which is Terry's favorite. We stopped at Spokane Creek RV (we
stayed there last year) to get Tee shirts and ended up having lunch
as well. Luckily Al knows the area fairly well so we were happy to
follow him where-ever he wanted to go. I took pictures & videos
which we all enjoyed later. Dinner was flatiron steak which
unfortunately took longer to BBQ than I expected so it was good that
everyone was having a good time and didn't mind waiting. Actually,
Al wasn't having a good time as his stomach was really bothering him
and he didn't even eat dinner.
Sun
– Again a 10:00 suggested leave time but we were ready a little
earlier. We went past Deadwood & through Lead on the way to
Spearfish Canyon which is very scenic. There were lots of cars &
bikes so we didn't stop anywhere in the canyon. We arrived at a
pizza buffet place in Sturgis for lunch and then drove into town so
we could stop, walk & shop. The weather was very hot so Terry
hit the pool when we returned to the park and the rest of us relaxed
in the shade and some even napped for a while first. Had planned a
different dinner but there was lots of steak leftover so we stopped
at a grocery store in Custer for a few ingredients and I made Beef
Stroganoff.
Mon
- We planned to attend a concert with “Brule” this evening
so Al organized a shorter route which included the Needles Highway,
Iron Mountain Road again, a visit to a stockade and a stop in Custer
so we could take pictures of painted buffalo statues scattered around
town. While in Custer we had a light lunch at DQ as we were going
have an early dinner before the concert. Change in plans! While we
were enjoying our pre-dinner drinks, it started to rain and hail
which made the outdoor concert a no-go. Terry set up the table in
the “garage” and we were able to seat all 10 of us inside for
spaghetti dinner. The Ninja Warrior show was on TV so we all enjoyed
it during and after dinner.
Tues
– Bill & Linda left early this morning so the group was
down to 8. There were a couple of roads that we missed so Bob led
the ride today. We rode Needles Highway in the opposite direction
which is really great as you see totally different vistas. We
stopped at the top to take pictures including the Needle Eye which is
a slot in a huge, tall rock formation. We rode Playhouse road and
then planned to go to Mystic for lunch. Unfortunately we were
following a slow farm tractor and took a turn in the road instead of
going straight. Al finally realized we were on the wrong road and
caught up to Bob. I suggested that we go back to the park and have
burgers for lunch since that was the planned dinner replaced by the
stroganoff. Everyone was agreeable (dark clouds forming!) so we
turned around and headed back. Made a quick stop in Hill City on the
way to look for a phone purse for Linda. The dark clouds dumped a
little rain before we had lunch and then let up. Bob & Claudia
went to Hill City to shop a bit and ended up getting quite wet on the
way back as the rain returned. I had pork roasts in the crock pot
for dinner which we ate inside again. We had planned go to the
“Brule” concert tonight but knew that wasn't going to happen as
we saw weather forecasts for huge hail. Everyone left a little
earlier as we all hitting the road tomorrow.
Wed
- We found out this morning that Custer (about 10 miles away)
got hit with the forecast hail last night but we didn't have any.
Everyone showed up for coffee, etc this morning and we all hugged
farewell (don't do goodbyes!). We had to pull out to load the bike
and then headed east on I90. We were a few miles from Wall when we
heard a huge bang and the truck slowed way down. Terry recognized
the sound & symptom from a couple of years ago in Mesquite NV. A
hose that a diesel repair guy had fixed with a huge clamp had popped
loose again. It has to do with compression and the engine will
continue to run at 18% so we limped to an exit. Unfortunately we
were on a long uphill so we wondered if we could make it. Terry
remembered a big service station where we could turn around and park.
Terry was able to put the clamp back on and we headed out only to
have it blow again a short ways down the highway. This time Terry
repaired it on the side of the freeway and put it on slightly
differently which made the difference as we had no more problems and
pulled into Grand Falls casino RV park just out of Sioux Falls IA
about 5. We had to go into the casino to register for an RV site and
spent a few dollars.
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