Still trying to figure out why Buffalo is called Buffalo.
So we leave, full of breakfast and confusion, and head west on US Highway 16, through Bighorn National Forest, riding the Cloud Peak Skyway.
We roll past beautiful Meadowlark Lake – population 8 and elevation 8,199. The lake is named for former Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon, who’s in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Half of that preceding sentence is true – the HOF part. Wyoming’s state bird is the Western Meadowlark. Seriously. Somewhere it is written that all states must have a city or town named after their state bird.
Scott and Dave relax in Ten Sleep, after a spectacular ride over the Cloud Peak Skyway between Buffalo and Ten Sleep.
As we descend out of the mountains, we arrive in the town of Ten Sleep, population 260. We’ve ridden about 60 miles since leaving Buffalo. Ten Sleep was an American Indian rest stop that got its name because it was ten days travel, or “Ten Sleeps,” from Fort Laramie, from Yellowstone National Park, and from the Stillwater River. Ten Sleep is home to Ten Sleep Brewing Company, a microbrewery whose tagline is “Good Beer for Good People.”
Ten Sleep Brewing Company: good beer for good people.
It’s a bit early in the day for beer, no matter how good it is for us, so we press on toward Worland, where we turn north on US Highway 20 toward Manderson. That’s where you’ll find the Hi Way Bar & Café.
Checking out tourist info in Greybull.
This one’s for you, Sarah! The author puts on SPF 50 sunscreen in Greybull. (photo by Scott)
In the town of Greybull, home to actor Wilford Brimley, we head west on US Highway 14.
Fifty miles later, we arrive in Cody, on the banks of the Shoshone River at the western edge of the Bighorn Basin. The city is named after William Frederick Cody – better known as Buffalo Bill – a scout, bison hunter and showman – and one of the most colorful figures of the American Old West.
At one time a rider for the Pony Express at age 14, he got the nickname “Buffalo Bill” when he had a contract to supply Kansas Pacific Railroad workers with buffalo meat. He’s purported to have killed 4,282 American bison (commonly known as buffalo) in an 18-month period in the late 1860s.
Buffalo Bill Cody. A legend in Cody, Wyoming.
The city of Cody’s primary industry is tourism, and the big deal in town is the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, a celebration of Buffalo Bill’s influence on western culture. The Buffalo Bill Center has five museums, including the Cody Firearms Museum, the Whitney Western Art Museum, the Draper Natural History Museum, the Plains Indian Museum, and the Buffalo Bill Museum, which chronicles the life of William F. Cody, for whom it’s named.
In Cody, the forecast is for rain for the next hour or two, so we put on our rain gear.
In Cody, ready for rain. We rode in the rain continuously from Cody to Yellowstone National Park. (photo by Dave)
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Leaving Cody, we continue west on US Highway 14, passing Cedar Mountain, Buffalo Bill Reservoir and State Park, before rolling into Wapiti, 20 miles past Cody. Wapiti is named for the Cree Indian word for elk.
Yellowstone was the world’s first national park, established by Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S Grant in 1872. The park is known for its wildlife and geothermal features, especially the Old Faithful Geyser, which we will visit tomorrow.
Grizzly bears, wolves and free-ranging herds of bison and elk live in the park. The Yellowstone Park bison herd is the oldest and largest public bison herd in the US. More than 6,000 bison roam inside the park’s boundaries.
Bison in Yellowstone National Park: largest public bison herd in the US.
The bison’s resurgence in the park is a success story for nature lovers. After a mass slaughter of tens of millions of bison on the Great Plains in the late 1800s, conservationists brought about the nation’s first efforts to successfully recover a species teetering on the brink of extinction. While only 23 bison were left in Yellowstone in 1916, the herd today is thriving. In May 2016, the bison became America’s official national mammal, so named because of its historic, ecological, economical and cultural value.
With 4.5 million visitors in 2016, Yellowstone is the fourth-most visited National Park. Only Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite have more visitors. Yellowstone is huge – more than 2.2 million acres. You could spend weeks here exploring its natural beauty.
We have today and tomorrow. We’ll do a drive-by and hope for the best.
It’s cold and raining, and we’re still having a great time.
The Red Brigade pauses in Yellowstone.
From the park’s entrance, we continue west for 25 miles, riding along the shoreline of Yellowstone Lake. We turn north, hugging the Yellowstone River, at 678 miles, the longest undammed river in the continental US. Fifteen miles later, we arrive in Canyon Village, the civilized hub of the Park.
Warming up with chicken noodle soup at the Fishing Bridge General Store. It was a relief getting out of the rain — and the cold.
No ribs, no fries, no ice cream. Just a nice cup of chili🌶 . (photo by Dave)
Canyon Village gets its name from the nearby Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, which is about 20 miles long, 4,000 feet wide, and up to 1,200 feet deep. Artist Point, Lookout Point, Grand View, and Inspiration Point all provide breathtaking views of the canyon.
At the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. (photo by Dave)
Scott at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
After snapping photos and selfies galore, we turn west onto Norris Canyon Road, which takes us to the Norris Geyser Basin, the hottest and most changeable geyser basin in the park. The tallest active geyser in the world, reaching more than 300 feet, is Steamboat Geyser, located here in Norris Basin.
The Steamboat Geyser, in its “steam” phase.
Unlike the slightly smaller but much more famous Old Faithful Geyser, which we’ll visit tomorrow, Steamboat has an erratic and lengthy timetable between major eruptions. Sometimes, Steamboat Geyser goes more than a year between major eruptions. Since you couldn’t be here with us, the next best thing may be an online tour offered by the National Park Service.
The online tour is much quieter and less stinky than actually being here. The Norris Geyser Basin is one of the most thermally extreme environments on the planet, with temperatures measured as high as 459 F, 1,000 feet below the surface.
Throughout Yellowstone National Park, there are more than 10,000 hot springs and geysers. Tomorrow, we’ll visit the most famous – and predictable – of them all. Old Faithful.
But first, we’re tired and hungry, so we jump on US Highway 89 (sometimes called Grand Loop Road), then US Highway 191, and head for tonight’s destination, West Yellowstone, Montana – just outside the Park’s western entrance. Montana is the eighth of nine states we’ll visit on this trip.
West Yellowstone is home to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, a non-profit wildlife park that provides a safe way to observe these creatures up close and personal. Wanna see what the bears are up to? Check out a live view, known as the Bear Habitat Webcam.
There are no panda bears here, but that would be an interesting tourist draw. Turns out more than half the tourists coming through West Yellowstone are from China. The tourism surge is being fueled by looser visa rules, rising middle class salaries, and a growing desire among the younger generation to explore the world.
Chinese visitors to Yellowstone have increased so dramatically in recent years that the park has hired three Mandarin-speaking interpretive rangers to help with communication. This trio of rangers tries to help with language and cultural barriers. In the 2016 summer season, a tourist from China was fined $1,000 for walking off a boardwalk in the park and collecting thermal water, apparently for medicinal purposes.
Stay on the boardwalk, to avoid hefty fines!
For many Chinese, the attraction to Yellowstone has to do with it being a natural place, without the severe pollution and big crowds found in larger Chinese cities. And, they get to see old American guys on Harleys pursuing their bucket list dreams.
Like a bad penny, Randy’s back. Here, he arrives home in Seattle after a two-day drive from a Rapid City, South Dakota. Randy made it home about the same time as Dave, Scott and Gary arrived in West Yellowstone.
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Day Thirteen Summary: Channeling Meadowlark Lemon, honoring Buffalo Bill, seeing Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon, smelling the Park’s odiferous geothermal features.
Click here to see today’s complete route from Buffalo to West Yellowstone.
We’re on our way home.
Vroom, vroom.
***
Today in Bucket List History:
Bucket List item: “Do Something To Restore Faith in the Country.”
Goal Achieved: On August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon resigns the presidency, and Vice President Gerald Ford becomes the 38th president. Nixon’s final words to the White House staff: “You are here to say goodbye to us, and we don’t have a good word for it in English – the best is au revoir. We’ll see you again.”
It wasn’t easy, but Gerald Ford restored faith in the presidency after Richard Nixon’s self-destruction.
The guys begin the long ride home, and the girls say goodbye to Rapid City, too.
So, our Table for Six is again a Table for Three.
One last pic with the girls before they catch a flight to John Wayne Airport in Southern California.
Gail, and Jackie make a run for the Rapid City Airport, where they’ll start their journey home to Southern California.
With Evel Knievel-like daring, Randy loads his bike into the bed of his F-150 for the long drive home to Seattle.
Randy loads his bike into the back of his F-150 and heads home to Seattle.
And the boys ride through the Black Hills one last time on their way south. Their trip is far from over.
And he’s off! Randy leaves Rapid City for the 18-hour drive home. Note his bike resting comfortably in the pickup.
The Harleys point southward on US Highway 16, leaving Rapid City for the last time. We roll through Rockerville, Hill City, and past Black Elk Peak, at 7,242 feet, the highest point in South Dakota and the Black Hills. We rode past Black Elk Peak last Friday, but forgot to tell you about a recent shit-storm surrounding its name.
The top of Black Elk Peak. Or Harney Peak. Whatever.
If you haven’t heard of Black Elk Peak, that’s because until August 2016, it had been known as Harney Peak, the highest US point east of the Rocky Mountains. Harney Peak was named after Army General William Harney, whose troops fought against Indians during American expansion in the west. Harney was also a US government negotiator with Native American tribes over treaties.
In 2015, the South Dakota Board of Geographic names took testimony from across the state on requests to change the name to either Black Elk – named after a Sioux holy man – or Hinhan Kaga (Making of Owls). But amid public backlash, the state board backed away from renaming the peak.
Then, in 2016, the Federal Board of Geographic Names moved ahead with the change, despite opposition from the South Dakota Department of Tourism and the Department of Game, Fish and Parks. The Federal Government won, as it usually does. So today, we ride past Black Elk Peak.
***
The Crazy Horse Memorial, not far from Custer.
We’re soon riding by a turnoff to the Crazy Horse Memorial – a monument that’s been under construction since 1948 and is still far from completion.
The Crazy Horse Memorial will depict Crazy Horse, an Oglala Lakota warrior, riding a horse and pointing into the distance. The sculpture’s final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet wide and 563 feet high. If it’s ever completed, the Crazy Horse Memorial could become the world’s largest sculpture, dwarfing nearby Mount Rushmore. For now, the Crazy Horse Memorial is just considered the world’s largest mountain carving in progress.
The Crazy Horse Memorial: a work in (very slow) progress.
The monument is proceeding on a glacial pace; all it needs is money, and lots of it. As a private endeavor, its future is dependent on funding from a Memorial Foundation that charges fees for its visitor centers and earns revenue from its gift shops. At $11 per visitor ($5 per person on a motorcycle), it’s gonna take a long, long time to fund the millions of dollars needed to complete the memorial.
A few miles south of the Crazy Horse Memorial, we arrive in Custer, generally considered to be the oldest town established by European Americans in the Black Hills. Custer claims to have the widest Main Street in the United States, but it should be noted that quite a few cities make a similar claim – including Plains, Kansas; Greenwood, South Carolina; Onawa, Iowa; and Keene, New Hampshire. We’ve all got to get on the map one way or another.
Whatever. Not to be outdone, Custer made the street wide enough in the 19th century for a team of oxen pulling a wagon to turn completely around.
Custer is named for Major General George Custer, a cavalry commander in the Civil War and American Indian Wars. Custer was admitted to the US Military Academy (West Point), where he graduated last in his class of 1861. He died at the Battle of Little Bighorn in Montana, at the age of 36, fighting a coalition of Lakota and Cheyenne Indians. The Battle of Little Bighorn has come to be popularly known as “Custer’s Last Stand.”
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From Custer, it’s about a 15-minute ride on US Highway 16 to Jewel Cave National Monument, which contains the third-longest cave in the world.
Inside Jewel Cave, Dave checks the weather app on his phone, then realizes there’s no signal. Cuz he’s in a cave.
Jewel Cave has nearly 182 miles of mapped and surveyed passageways. As recently as 1959, less than two miles of passageway had been discovered.
The cave got its name in 1900. That’s when early miners dynamited an opening to make it larger, and an observer discovered crawlways and low-ceilinged rooms coated with beautiful calcite crystals that sparkled like “jewels” in their lantern light.
Inside Jewel Cave National Monument: dark, damp, chilly and a little claustrophobic.
A local movement to set Jewel Cave aside for preservation culminated in President Theodore Roosevelt proclaiming it a National Monument in 1908.
We continue west on Highway 16, crossing into Wyoming and continuing west on Wyoming Highway 450 in Newcastle. About 100 miles after leaving Jewel Cave, we arrive in the town of Wright, population 1,856. Settlement began here in the 1970s, with the creation of the Black Thunder Coal Mine, at the time the most productive mine in the US. The majority of people living in Wright are employed by the various mines surrounding it.
We’re still 110 miles from today’s destination, so Wright is a good place to stop, gas up, have a snack, and grab a cold one. Dave does all four, as the photo below shows.
Dave’s lunch in Wright, Wyoming. Something from every food group.
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In Wright, we turn north on Wyoming Highway 59, and head for Gillette, about 40 miles away. Gillette is centrally located in an area involved with the development of vast quantities of coal, oil, and coalbed methane gas. With its location, Gillette calls itself the “Energy Capital of the Nation,” noting that the state of Wyoming provides nearly 35 percent of America’s coal.
Coal mining near Gillette, Wyoming. Would you want this in your backyard?
Over the past ten years, Gillette’s population has increased by nearly 50 percent, and the city now is home to more than 30,000 residents. Interestingly, the last huge Gillette population growth spurt – in the 1960s – resulted in what is now known as the “Gillette Syndrome.” The study that coined the term “Gillette Syndrome” found that social disruption can occur in a community due to rapid population growth. Gillette’s quick increase in population resulted in increased crime, high costs of living, and weakened social and community bonds.
We leave the city as we found it, and head west on Interstate 90 toward Buffalo, 67 miles away, where I-90 meets I-25, at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains. Buffalo is booming, too. Same reason: energy. Methane extraction and production are driving the boom.
Last rest stop before riding into Buffalo.
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Today’s blog post ends with an interesting tidbit about Buffalo, and how it was named. Of course, it must be named after the big animal, sometimes called bison, that roams the Great Plains. Wrong, buffalo breath.
Here’s what really happened. When time came to name the town in the 1880s, several names were placed in a hat, and one was drawn. “Buffalo” was the name suggested by William Hart, in honor of his hometown, Buffalo, New York. OK, fine.
But where did Buffalo, New York, get its name? Buffalo, New York, formerly known as Buffalo Creek, received its name from the creek that flows through it. Yeah, but … where did Buffalo Creek get its name?
Well, There are two theories, and you can choose whichever you prefer. One theory is that Buffalo Creek is named for the American Bison that were found in Western New York state at one time. The other theory is that the name is an Anglicized form of the French name Beau Fleuve (“beautiful river”), which was supposedly an exclamation uttered by missionary Louis Hennepin when he first saw the Niagara River.
Spin the wheel. Flip a coin. Draw straws. Your choice.
All Buffalo, All the Time.
We arrive in Buffalo while the girls are still on their flight home. This is the view from Gail’s seat, mid-flight. They considered this pic a postcard “Thanks for the Ride.”
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Day Twelve Summary: Girls fly home, boys ride and drive west, cavemen on the loose, Wyoming’s gigantic carbon footprint.
Click here to see today’s complete route from Rapid City to Buffalo.
We’re on our way home! And so are the girls!
Vroom, vroom.
Dinner at the Dash Inn, in Buffalo. As you can see, Dave was famished.
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Today in Bucket List History:
Bucket List Goal: “Wear Something Completely Inappropriate to Work.”
Goal Achieved: On August 8, 1976, The Chicago White Sox baseball team suits up in shorts during the first game of a doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals. Despite winning the game, 5-2, the shorts are such a fashion disaster the White Sox dress in pants for the second game.
Bucky Dent bats in shorts for the White Sox on August 8, 1976. Who does that, anyway?
Today is what the bucket list is all about: The world-famous Sturgis motorcycle rally, attracting more than a half-million bikers for a week of craziness every year in early August.
The route to Sturgis is easy. Ride west on Interstate 90 for 30 miles, then look for a place to park. Or, take the more scenic route, through Nemo and Vanocker Canyon. We take the scenic route, which, sadly – for a lot of Harley riders – is the road less travelled.
Three lonely women in search of a Harley stud. They found one.
Sturgis has a population of 6,267 – until the first full week of August each year – when it swells to a half million or more. The city is named after Brigadier General Samuel Sturgis, who served as a Union general in the Civil War. A sculpture of him mounted on horseback sits at the town’s eastern entrance, on South Dakota Highways 34 and 79, not far from the Full Throttle Saloon.
Sturgis has quite a few colorfully named saloons: One-Eyed Jacks, Iron Horse, Knuckle Saloon, Loud American Roadhouse. They all spring to life during Sturgis Rally Week.
Here’s a cute couple having a good time in Sturgis.
The 77th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is why we’re here.
It began in 1938, originally held for stunts and races – and has since evolved into a meeting for motorcycle enthusiasts from around the world. The city of Sturgis estimates the Rally brings more than $800 million to South Dakota every year. The Rally makes up 95 percent of Sturgis’ annual revenue.
While we explore Sturgis, you can keep an eye out for us. Here’s a live web-cam from Sturgis. Here’s another.
We’re spending the entire day in Sturgis, so today’s blog post is spare on words and heavy on photos.
Gail finds a great perch for taking photos on Main Street.
Because we practice safe photography, Dave hangs on to Gail. Or, maybe he just likes holding on to her.
Overlooking Main Street.
Dave captures the action from a tower overlooking Main Street.
Randy on Main.
There were some interesting “bikes” in Sturgis. Like this … (photo by Scott)
… and this. (photo by Scott)
There was plenty of live music, indoors and in the sunshine.
All kinds of manufacturers had their stuff on display. It was a marketer’s dream. Here, Randy checks out a Slingshot, made by CanAm.
Meantime at the huge Harley display, Scott lusts after a 2017 CVO Street Glide.
Scott also has his eye on this V8 Chopper. Somewhat impractical, but he’s only window shopping.
Gail went shopping, and found some cool stuff.
Dave seemed to enjoy her purchase.
Jackie takes a pic of Dave and Gail.
Gary, Scott and Jackie on Main Street. (photo by Gail)
Scott and Jackie, ready to party in Sturgis. (photo by Gail)
From what we could tell, Sturgis wouldn’t be Sturgis without a little skin.
There were even bikini bike washes, which we didn’t need, cuz our bikes were already spotless.
You gotta love a well-branded event.
Clean machine.
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Day Eleven Summary: Sturgis. That’s our story, and we’re stickin’ to it.
Click here to see today’s complete route from Rapid City to Sturgis and back to Rapid City.
We finally made it to Sturgis!
Vroom, vroom.
***
Today in Bucket List History (Special Edition):
Bucket List Goal: “Do Something Impetuous, Improbable and Daring.”
Goal Achieved: On August 7, 1974, actress Faye Dunaway marries Peter Wolf of the J Geils Band. It is one of the first celebrity rock star marriages, predating Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley, Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli, and Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson. Dunaway’s marriage to Wolf lasts five years. Dunaway has been nominated for three Academy Awards, and won the Best Actress Oscar in 1976 (while married to Wolf) for her performance in the movie Network.
Faye Dunaway and Peter Wolf. A very early celebrity rock star marriage.
Goal Achieved #2: Also on August 7, 1974, Frenchman Philippe Petit walks a tightrope strung between New York’s World Trade Center towers for 45 minutes – 1,350 feet above the ground. Several movies have been made about his feat, including the 2008 Academy Award-winning documentary Man on Wire, and The Walk, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Petit celebrates his 67th birthday next week.
Philippe Petit walks a tightrope between New York’s World Trade Center towers.
Goal Achieved #3: On August 7, 1940, a stamp collector pays $45,000 for a one-cent 1856 British Guyana stamp – at the time the most ever paid for a stamp. Impetuous and daring? The same stamp sells in 2014 for $9.5 million at a Sotheby’s auction. For reasons apparent only to philatelists, it’s the world’s most-famous stamp with its own mystique.
$9.5 million for this. Seriously?
Goal Achieved #4: On August 7, 1947, the Kon-Tiki expedition comes to an end when the balsa wood raft strikes a reef on an uninhabited islet off the Raroia atoll in French Polynesia. The six-man exploration team, led by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, had travelled more than 4,300 miles in 101 days. The journey from South America to the South Pacific’s Polynesian islands uses only materials and technologies available to people in pre-Columbian times. Films about the voyage have won two Academy Awards, one in 1951, the other in 2012.
The Kon-Tiki. A nice way to see the world, and travel back in time.
Today’s blog post celebrates Dave and Gail Bowman’s 34th wedding anniversary. August 6, 1983 … truly a day to remember. The photo location is a preview of today’s ride.
We begin the day, as so many children do, by finding Nemo.
Children the world over have been finding Nemo since 2003, when the Pixar film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Finding Nemo is the most popular DVD of all time, with more than 41 million copies sold. In theaters worldwide, Finding Nemo grossed more than $940 million. That’s a lot of clownfish.
Finding Nemo: everyone’s favorite clownfish!
Today, we find Nemo by heading west out of Rapid City and turning onto Nemo Road. Nemo Road leads us, of course, to Nemo, South Dakota, a tiny town about midway between Rapid City and Deadwood. Nemo is home to the Nemo Guest Ranch, as well as large stands of birch and aspen trees.
Every February, Nemo hosts the Nemo 500 Outhouse Race and Chili Cook Off. In March, you can compete in Frozen Turkey Bowling at the Nemo Winter Games. Woo-hoo!
About as quickly as we find Nemo, we un-find it and continue west through the town of Roubaix, a community so small the US Census Bureau doesn’t monitor it. From Roubaix, it’s about eight miles on US Highway 385 to the charming town of Deadwood.
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Main Street in Deadwood.
Once a boomtown during the Black Hills gold rush in the 1870s, Deadwood is named after the dead trees found in its gulch. Its population is only 1,270, but the place is hopping during Sturgis Rally Week.
Dave enjoys a hot dog for a mid-day snack in Deadwood.
This photo, also on Main Street in Deadwood, would be marked NSFW (not safe for work), except we don’t know anybody who’s still working.
The entire city of Deadwood is a National Historic Landmark. What you see in Deadwood today is a careful, accurate restoration of a town that once was a playpen for Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. The 1953 Warner Bros. movie musical Calamity Jane, starring Doris Day, was set in Deadwood.
Doris Day, as Calamity Jane.
Deadwood now has more than 80 places to gamble, a major driver for tourism. It’s said to be the largest historic restoration project in the US.
At Deadwood Harley Davidson, there were plenty of opportunities for retail therapy. Here are a few pics of our posse shopping there.
Jackie finds the perfect gift for herself. Purple, probably.
Dave, ever the fashion horse, had his eye on just the right tee-shirt to complete his outfit.
Gail shops for new Harley sunglasses. She shops, she scores!
In Deadwood, we turn west and south on US Highway14A, passing through Blacktail and Central City before riding along the Terry Peak Ski Area. Terry Peak is the place to ski and snowboard in the Black Hills. With a vertical rise of 1,053 feet, the area features 30 runs and three high-speed quad chairlifts. Terry Peak’s peak: 7,064 feet.
The road turns north at Cheyenne Crossing. Soon, we pass through Elmore and Savoy, then find ourselves in beautiful Spearfish Canyon. We ride the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway, a 22-mile journey that leads us to Spearfish.
On this Scenic Byway, Bridal Veil Falls and Roughlock Falls are oft-photographed scenes along the way. Spearfish Canyon was the location for several scenes in the Oscar-winning movie, Dances With Wolves.
We stop at O’Neal Pass, and take the opportunity to snap a few pics.
The author and Mrs. Bowman at O’Neal Pass. Note her stylish new sunglasses.
Gail shows off her new iPhone case, purchased yesterday at Wal-Mart in Rapid City.
Bowman’s and Donaldsons along the roadside.
In need of a bathroom break, Gail and Jackie scamper up a hill in search of the perfect place to be one with nature.
Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway leads us, of course, to the city of Spearfish.
Spearfish got its name from Native Americans, who would spear fish in the creek at the mouth of what is now Spearfish Canyon. The city grew during the Black Hills Gold Rush, and became a supplier of food to the mining camps in the hills. In the 20th century, the history of Spearfish was closely tied to mining and tourism.
The city’s biggest claim to fame is a weather phenomenon that occurred on January 22, 1943. On that day, at about 7:30 am, the temperature in Spearfish was -4 F. A Chinook wind picked up speed rapidly, and two minutes later the temperature was +45 F. The 49-degree rise in two minutes set a world record that still stands. The sudden change in temperatures caused windows to crack and windshields to instantly frost over.
Today, the second-largest employer in town is Black Hills State University, home to more than 4,500 students – primarily pursuing degrees in education. The BHSU Yellow Jackets play in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, and its rodeo teams are members of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association.
Black Hills State University student athlete Lane Rossow from Herreid, South Dakota, competes in a roping event for the Yellow Jackets during a 2016 intercollegiate rodeo.
An economic development postscript: Spearfish’s largest employer is Spearfish Regional Health, and its third-largest employer is, of course, Wal-Mart.
***
Leaving Spearfish, we hop on Interstate 90 West. Ten miles later, we cross into Wyoming, quickly passing by Beulah, population 33. Next town of note: Sundance, 20 miles down the road.
The author and Dave, in the road in front of Sundance Harley Davidson. (photo by Randy)
Sundance, population 1,182, is named for the Sun Dance ceremony practiced by several Native American tribes. The town is the primary setting for Lorelei James’ novels in her “Rough Riders” series of 16 books involving the fictional McKay family.
Sundance may be best known for providing a nickname for Harry Longabaugh. After his release from the town jail in 1888, Longabaugh acquired the moniker, “The Sundance Kid.”
You may know the rest of the story. Longabaugh was an outlaw and member of Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch, which performed the longest string of successful train and bank robberies in American history. Along with his girlfriend, Etta Place, and Cassidy, he fled to Argentina, then Bolivia – where they were apparently killed in a shootout made famous by the Hollywood film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Twenty-first century outlaws, like most of us who ride Harleys, still hang out in Sundance. They wear black and can be found at Deluxe Harley Davidson on Sundance’s Main Street.
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Just past Sundance, we exit I-90 and turn west on US Highway 14. We are headed to the day’s primary destination: Devils Tower National Monument.
Devils Tower: close encounter with the real kind.
Devils Tower is a laccolithic butte rising dramatically 1,267 feet above the tree-lined Belle Fourche River. The tower itself stands 867 feet, from base to summit. Every year, about 400,000 tourists like us visit Devils Tower. About one percent of them, not like us, climb it.
Randy photobombing at Devils Tower.
The name Devil’s Tower originated in 1875 during an expedition led by Col. Richard Dodge, when his interpreter speaking to Native Americans mis-interpreted the name to mean “Bad God’s Tower,” which then became Devil’s Tower. Following standard geographic naming conventions, the apostrophe was dropped and, voila, you have Devils Tower.
Devils Tower was called many other things in the years before non-Native Americans reached Wyoming. Tribes including the Arapaho, Crow, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Lakota, and Shoshone all had cultural and geographical ties to it. And they all had their own names for the block of rock, too: Aloft on a Rock (Kiowa), Bear’s House (Cheyenne, Crow), Bear’s Lair (Cheyenne, Crow), Bear’s Lodge (Cheyenne, Lakota), and Grizzly Bear Lodge (Lakota).
Dave and Gary, pretty much seeing things eye to eye for a change. (photo by Randy)
The film used the igneous rock formation as a plot element and as the location of its climactic scenes. In the Close Encounters climax, several characters – who have been so unknowingly obsessed with the structure that they have sculpted it in mashed potatoes and repeatedly sketched it – descend on Devils Tower, where they greet a gargantuan alien mother ship. The movie’s release caused a huge increase in the number of visitors (and climbers) to the monument.
As we approach Devils Tower, it quickly becomes apparent this is no fantasy. Most years, it sees nearly a half-million visitors, almost as many as the Washington Monument.
A final pic before heading back to Rapid City.
In 1906, the two-square mile park surrounding the tower was proclaimed America’s first National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt. The stone pillar is about 1,000 feet in diameter at the bottom, and 275 feet at the top, making it the premier rock climbing challenge in the Black Hills.
Today, hundreds of climbers scale the sheer rock walls of Devils Tower every summer. If you’re thinking of climbing it, here are some tips, courtesy of the National Park Service.
If you plan to climb above the boulder field, the Park Service requires you to register before the climb, and check in when you return. Your climbing permit is free.
A less thrilling, but more popular route, is to hike the popular Tower Trail, a paved 1.3-mile loop around the base of the formation. The loop starts at the Visitor Center. Sign us up. Table for Six.
***
Leaving Devils Tower, we begin the two-hour ride back to Rapid City.
We’re heading north and east on Wyoming Highway 24, which takes us through the town of Aladdin, a former coal mining settlement. Aladdin has a post office, a general store, and a population of 15.
In 2014, the entire town was for sale: $1.5 million would buy 30 acres and 15 buildings, including the general store, which does a brisk business serving travelers on the road between Devils Tower and Belle Fourche, South Dakota. According to my research department, it’s still for sale.
Best photo from Belle Fourche: this Wyoming cowboy, on his way home from Denver, where he’d just picked up this 10-week old kangaroo to take home to his ranch. Yes, that is a newborn roo!
Lacking the resources – even among the six of us – to buy the town, we press on toward Belle Fourche, French for “beautiful fork.” The town was named by French explorers who discovered the confluence of what are now the Belle Fourche and Redwater Rivers, and the Hay Creek.
The monument marking the geographic center of the USA.
Belle Fourche’s claim to fame: it’s the geographic center of the US. Close, anyway. In 1959, the US Coast and Geodetic Survey officially designated a point 20 miles north of Belle Fourche as the center of the nation. That honor belonged to Lebanon, Kansas, until Alaska and Hawaii became states.
Wyoming Highway 24 becomes State Highway 34 as we re-enter South Dakota. We continue on South Dakota Highway 34, until it merges with Interstate 90, which takes us the rest of the way into Rapid City.
Along the way, we pass Sturgis, tomorrow’s destination. We’re finally, almost, in Sturgis!
***
Day Ten Summary: Finding Nemo, spearing fish, in the shadow of the Sundance Kid, speaking of the Devil.
Click here to see today’s complete route from Rapid City to Devils Tower and back to Rapid City.
We’re on our way to Sturgis!
Vroom, vroom.
***
Today in Bucket List History:
Bucket List Goal: “Have Your Number Retired Before Turning 50.”
Goal Achieved: On August 6, 1989, the Boston Red Sox retire Carl Yastrzemski’s Number 8, two weeks before his 50th birthday. Yaz played his entire 23-year Hall-of-Fame career with the Red Sox, collecting 3,419 hits, 452 home runs, and making the All-Star team 18 times. He played 3,308 games for the Red Sox, more than any other player in history has played for a single team.
Gary and Randy are startled by something in Badlands National Park. Scary place Bad lands.
Rapid City’s Table for Six is on the move again.
Today’s destination: Wall Drug, with stops along the way in Badlands National Park.
On second thought, that’s a bit bass-ackwards. We’re visiting a National Park fergawdsakes, and making a stop at Wall Drug in beautiful Wall, South Dakota, on the way home. Because, well, you just have to.
Gail, in her new rain suit, all ready for the day’s ride. She calls the jacket her “space suit.”
***
We leave Rapid City and head southeast on South Dakota Highway 44, quickly rolling through Rapid Valley, Green Valley, past the Rapid City Regional Airport, and 73 miles later, we arrive in the tiny town of Interior, population 94.
Along the way, it was super windy, with crosswinds gusting up to 35 miles an hour. The riding was challenging, and not all of us made it to our original destination for the day. No problem … we just invented alternate destinations for part of the group, and said, “we’ll see you back at the barn.”
Randy waits on his bike to get served at a fancy dive bar in Interior, South Dakota.
If a person did steno work here in Interior, what would they be called? Wait for it …
Secretary of the Interior.
In Interior, the skies darkened before opening up and pouring rain all over town, and our bikes. Luckily, we went into another dive bar for an hour or so to wait out the storm.
We turn northeast on South Dakota Highway 377 and quickly enter Badlands National Park. State Highway 240, which becomes the Badlands National Park Scenic Loop, is on our left.
Why the name “Badlands?” The Lakota people were the first to call the area mako sica, or “land bad.” Extreme temperatures, lack of water, and the exposed rugged terrain led to this name. In the early 1900s, French Canadian fur trappers called it les mauvais terres pour traverse, or “bad lands to travel through.”
Badlands National Park: les mauvais terres pour traverse.
It’s not so bad to travel through today on a Harley, so we join the loop, heading northwest through a labyrinth of sand buttes and spires that appear to come from another planet. These striking geologic deposits contain one of the world’s richest fossil beds.
Badlands National Park protects nearly a quarter of a million acres of land, including the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the US.
The author, taking a selfie in Badlands National Park … (photo by Randy)
… and the resulting photo.
The Badlands Wall is a 100-mile stretch of tiered cliffs, a huge natural barrier ridging the landscape, sculpted into pinnacles and gullies by the forces of water. National Geographic compares the Wall to an enormous stage set – colorful, dramatic, and not quite real. Water has been carving away at the cliffs for the past half million years or so, and even today, it continues to erode the cliffs an inch or more every year.
Soon, we arrive at the Panorama Point Overlook, one of the better vistas in the park. Pics or it didn’t happen? OK, so we pull over, snap some photos, and continue to the next overlook, at Conata Basin.
Actually, there are tons of overlooks on the Badlands Scenic Loop, few of them with names. From here, the Scenic Loop continues west for a few more miles, but we see signs for Wall Drug, so feeling the magnetic pull, we turn north and five minutes later arrive in Wall, South Dakota.
At Wall Drug. (photo by Randy)
Wall is named for the nearby steep Badlands, which we now have in our rear-view mirrors. The town is most famous for Wall Drug Store, which opened as a small pharmacy in 1931 and eventually developed into a large roadside tourist attraction.
Anyone who’s ever driven through South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming or other neighboring states, is familiar with the ubiquitous signs and billboards that remind you, “785 Miles to Wall Drug. Free Ice Water.” Most of the billboards are on a 650-mile stretch of Interstate 90 from Minnesota to Billings, Montana. At its peak in the 1960s, Wall Drug had more than 3,000 highway signs!
Inside Wall Drug, Randy and his “date.” He’s getting a little lonely after a week on the road.
Wall Drug struggled for years until the owner’s wife thought of advertising – and offering – free ice water to parched travelers heading to the newly opened Mount Rushmore monument 60 miles to the west. To this day, tourists like us still drink the free ice water, though it’s no longer the main attraction.
Thirsty? Free ice water at Wall Drug may help.
Besides the free ice water, Wall Drug also has a cowboy-themed shopping mall, western art museum, a chapel and an 80-foot apatosaurus – a dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period.
To give you a sense of Americans’ twisted sense of travel priorities, more than two million visitors cruise through Wall Drug each year. Less than one million visit Badlands National Park.
Gary’s bike, in front of Wall Drug. There were a lot of other Harleys there, too.
***
From Wall Drug, we hop on Interstate 90, and ride the 54 boring miles back to Rapid City.
We’re nearly back where the day began, but first we pass Ellsworth Air Force Base, home of the 28th Bomb Wing and the California-built B-1B bomber. Ellsworth is one of only two hosts to the B-1B; the other is Dyess AFB in Texas.
Ellsworth was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base. It was later named in honor of Brigadier General Richard Ellsworth, who was killed when his RB-36 bomber crashed during a 1953 training flight in Newfoundland.
Over the years, Ellsworth has hosted various missile systems (Nike, Titan, Minuteman) and the B-52 Bomber. Today, the base’s population of 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
Next to the base is the South Dakota Air and Space Museum (Free!), rated by Trip Advisor as #7 of 66 things to do in Rapid City.
Number one on our list is a relaxing dinner, so what’s left of our roving Table for Six exits the Interstate, begins happy hour, and contemplates tomorrow. Devils Tower, anyone?
No dinner pics tonight, but because you’ve all been so good today while we’ve been on the road, here are a few bonus breakfast photos:
The author, with Ronald Reagan, while we wait for a table at Tally’s Silver Spoon in downtown Rapid City.
Yum! More than one of these plates showed up at our table. Guess who did NOT have chicken fried steak for breakfast?
Dig in, big fella!
Table for six, at Tally’s Silver Spoon.
***
Day Nine Summary: Going to the Wall, seeing some bad lands, free ice water at – where else? – Wall Drug.
Click here to see today’s complete route from Rapid City to Badlands National Park and back.
We’re on our way to Sturgis!
Vroom, vroom.
***
Today in Bucket List History:
Bucket List Goal: “Write and Record a Hit Song”
Goal Achieved: On August 5, 1967 singer-songwriter Bobby Gentry from Chickasaw County, Mississippi, releases her only hit, “Ode to Billie Joe.” The song is a first-person narrative about the day Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge. “Ode to Billie Joe” was the No. 3 song for all of 1967, behind only “The Letter” (by the Box Tops) and “To Sir With Love” (by Lulu).
Bobby Gentry, writer and singer of “Ode to Billie Joe.”
What’s on your bucket list?
***
Bonus pic: Scott in semi-shock after visiting the tattoo parlor at Black Hills Harley Davidson in Rapid City? Got Ink?
OK, Scott. Where’s the tat? Don’t make us hunt for it. (photo by Dave)
Found a Colorado state flag in South Dakota! (photo by Dave)
This morning, our Table for Six hits the road.
We won’t be alone.
Half a million riders from all over the country are gathering for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which officially begins on Monday.
Riders have dispersed throughout the region, from Rapid City to Deadwood to Spearfish. Even Belle Fourche.
They’re overnighting in hotel rooms, rental houses, and campgrounds. The lodging runs the gamut, from luxurious to seedy, and everything in between.
But it’s not about the beds. It’s all about the bikes.
So off we go. Four bikers, and a Table For Six.
Table for three. Ice cream snack. Why not? (photo by Scott, who apparently eschews ice cream)
***
We begin by heading south out of Rapid City on US Highway 16, also called Mount Rushmore Road. Soon, we pass by nearby two critter-themed parks, Reptile Gardens and Bear Country USA.
Reptile Gardens is said to be the world’s largest reptile zoo. You can be creeped out by snakes, or you can pet a baby alligator. Reptile Gardens also has a botanical garden showcasing 50,000 flowers. Bear Country features the world’s largest collection of privately owned black bears.
Bear cubs frolicking at Bear Country USA.
Who owns bears, anyway?
Twenty minutes from Rapid City, we pass through the abandoned gold rush town of Rockerville. The town is dead, but somehow The Gaslight Restaurant manages to survive.
In Rockerville, we turn south on Rockerville Road. Soon, we’re on Playhouse Road, which if you follow it long enough, takes you to the Black Hills Playhouse, a performing arts theater in the Black Hills. Sponsored by the South Dakota Arts Council, the playhouse is now in its 72nd season.
We don’t make it to the playhouse, but we follow the road until it intersects with US Highway 16A, where we turn west and head for Mount Rushmore – eleven miles away.
Dave approaches one of the tiny rock tunnels on the Iron Mountain Highway. There’s only room for one vehicle at a time! (photo by Gail, Dave’s passenger)
This part of Highway 16A is known as Iron Mountain Road, a 17-mile stretch of paved paradise featuring more than 300 curves and 14 switchbacks. One of Iron Mountain Road’s unique features is the three “pigtail” bridges which spiral the rider back over the road they just went on in one massive sweeping turn.
Pigtail bridges and tunnels on Iron Mountain Road.
It also has one-lane rock tunnels that offer spectacular views of Mount Rushmore as you exit the tunnels. The tunnels were blasted through sheer granite walls when they were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Your speed seldom exceeds 20 miles an hour on Iron Mountain, all the better to make the leisurely ride utterly enjoyable. Before long, we turn off Highway 16A onto South Dakota Highway 244 for the 1.5-mile journey to Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
Gail snaps a pic at Mount Rushmore.
The following sentence is for blog followers who’ve been living in a cave all their lives: Mount Rushmore is a sculpture carved into the granite face of the mountain, featuring 60-foot high carvings of four US Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. For perspective, the highest building in South Dakota is CenturyLink Tower in Sioux Falls. It’s a massive 11 stories and soars 174 feet into the sky!
Cute couple posing at Mount Rushmore.
Tourism is South Dakota’s second-largest industry, and Mount Rushmore is the state’s top tourist attraction. Nearly two and a half million visitors come here each year; it’s the 10th most visited national monument or memorial – the only ones seen by more tourists are in Washington DC or New York City. Sturgis rally week is a particularly crazy time at the Memorial.
Sitting down on the job? Not exactly. Dave has a keen eye for the perfect shot.
Work on the mountain took place between 1927 and 1941. The faces of the presidents were carved by Danish-American Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum, between 1934 and 1939. The Borglums led a team of more than 400 workers on the sculpting project.
More than 90 percent of the memorial was carved using dynamite; the blasts removed about 450,000 tons of rock. Details were finished with jackhammers and hand chisels. The initial concept called for each president to be depicted from head to waist, but lack of funding forced construction to end in late October 1941, with faces only.
The author, somewhere in the Dakotas.
***
Our Table For Six leaves Mount Rushmore, continuing west on Highway 244. The highway takes us around 7,242-foot Black Elk Peak, the highest point in the US east of the Rockies. Atop Black Elk Peak is a stone fire tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The tower has a panoramic view of the Black Hills. The trail to the Black Elk Peak fire tower begins near Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park.
We continue circling Black Elk Peak, turning south on South Dakota Highway 87, part of the Peter Norbeck National Scenic Byway. The byway is a loop that includes a number of different roads snaking through the black Hills.
Norbeck proposed most of the roads that now make up the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway when he was a US Senator in the 1920s and ‘30s. Norbeck also served a term as South Dakota’s Governor, and is best remembered as “Mount Rushmore’s great political patron,” for promoting construction of the sculpture and securing federal funding for it.
Applying sunscreen, SPF 50, in Custer State Park. Please note my excellent new habits, Sarah. (photo by Randy)
Highway 87 next takes us past Sylvan Lake, and Sylvan Lake Lodge, known as the crown jewel of Custer State Park, which we’re now in. Custer is South Dakota’s largest state park, with more than 71,000 acres of hilly terrain and home to many wild animals – which we’ll see later today.
The Sylvan Lake Lodge sits in a serene spot suggested by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It was once a stopping point for adventurers hoping to scale Harney Peak.
Sylvan Lake: nice setting for a Bar Mitzvah.
Sylvan Lake is probably the most recognizable of the five Custer State Park lakes. It’s a favorite for photographers and artists, and a popular spot for weddings and other popular occasions (bar mitzvahs, anyone?).
This portion of Highway 87 is known as the Needles Highway, which also has three narrow rock tunnels that can only fit one car or motorcycle at a time.
On Needles Highway. Those are some of the Needles, in the background. (photo by Gail)
The Needles Highway is often found on lists of the top ten motorcycle rides in North America.
The road’s name – Needles Highway – comes from the needle-like granite formations that seem to pierce the horizon along the highway. The Needles are eroded granite pillars, towers and spires, popular with rock climbers, tourists, and dudes on Harleys.
Needles Highway. Great motoring adventure.
A portion of the Needles Highway is designated a National Natural Landmark, recognizing and encouraging the conservation of the natural history in the US. The National Natural Landmarks program recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in both public and private lands. The National Park Service administers the program, which includes around 600 landmark sites.
Bowmans and Donaldsons on Needles Highway.
Closer to home, Southern California examples of National Natural Landmarks include the Anza-Borrego Desert near the Salton Sea, and the Amboy Crater, near the ghost town of Amboy in San Bernardino County.
Back in the Black Hills, the Needles are one of 13 National Natural Landmarks in South Dakota, and were the original site proposed for the Mount Rushmore carvings. But sculptor Gutzon Borglum rejected the location because of the poor quality of the granite and the fact that the Needles were too thin to support the presidential sculptures.
The Needles attract about 300,000 people every year. Make that 300,006 – including our Table for Six.
On Needles Highway.
***
In Custer State Park. (photo by Gail)
We continue south on Highway 87, and eventually turn east on Wildlife Loop Road, one of the highlights of Custer State Park. Wildlife Loop Road travels through 18 miles of open grasslands and pine-speckled hills that much of the park’s wildlife calls home.
On the Wildlife Loop Road, you might see bison, pronghorn, whitetail and mule deer, elk, coyotes, burros, prairie dogs, eagles, hawks, and a variety of other birds. That’s why it’s called Wildlife Loop Road. Traffic is congested and the pace is slow, rarely over 20 miles an hour. But what’s the hurry? We might come face-to-face with a buffalo.
Face-to-face with a buffalo herd. Now what?
The free-roaming buffalo herd in the park numbers about 1,300. Most safety guidelines suggest you stay in your vehicle when buffalo are approaching. Not exactly sure how that works on a Harley.
Buffalo, as seen from Randy’s bike.
We slowly follow Wildlife Loop Road through the park until it meets up with US Highway 16A near the State Game Lodge at Custer State Park Resort. The lodge, built in 1920 from native stone and timber, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It served as the summer White House for President Calvin Coolidge in 1927, and was visited by President Eisenhower in 1953.
The view from Dave’s bike, in Custer State Park. (photo by Gail)
Now heading north on Highway 16A, we ride 10 miles, leaving the Wildlife Loop in our rearview mirror, and turn onto Playhouse Road again. After only four miles, we hang a left onto South Dakota Highway 40 for the short ride into the historic town of Keystone.
In Keystone, there are two distinct parts to the town – the “New” Keystone, a mile-long retail district along US Highway 16A, and the “Old” Keystone, the original gold mining settlement along east-flowing Battle Creek.
The author’s bike in Keystone. No, we did not stop for big beautiful BBQ buffalo ribs.
Keystone is only two miles from Mount Rushmore. If you’d rather your Presidents were carved out of wax instead of granite, Keystone has the National Presidential Wax Museum. Here, there are more than 100 life-size wax sculptures, clearly more than the number of presidents we’ve had (45).
In addition to the waxology, the museum has historical artifacts, including President Bill Clinton’s own red, white and blue saxophone, and Florida’s controversial ballot boxes from the 2000 presidential election (won by Al Gore).
From Keystone, it’s a 20-mile ride back to Rapid City, where our rolling Table for Six finds a real table for six. Dinner, drinks, and more fun in the Great Plains tomorrow.
Table for six. Dinner. (photo by our server)
***
Day Eight Summary: One hundred twenty five miles of Black Hills beauty, visiting Mount Rushmore, riding Iron Mountain, threading the Needles Highway and staring down a herd of buffalo.
Click here to see today’s complete route from Rapid City through the Black Hills and back to Rapid City.
We’re on our way to Sturgis!
Vroom, vroom.
***
Today in Bucket List History:
Bucket List Goal: “Overcome Adversity (before doing something really stupid).”
Goal Achieved: On August 4, 2012, South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius becomes the first amputee to compete at the Olympic Games, running the 400 meters at the London games. Known as the Blade Runner, his personal best in the 400 meters was a blazing 45.07 seconds. Less than a year after his Olympic appearance, he fatally shoots his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in his Pretoria home. Following his murder conviction, Pistorius is currently serving a six-year prison sentence.
Oscar Pistorius, before doing something really stupid.
I’m missing Sarah, so am hugging a bear to ease the loneliness. You’ll see more of the bear later in today’s blog post.
Today is a transit day. There’s no other way to put it.
Not much to see, not much to do.
Just saddle up and ride. Find some good tunes to listen to. Think of the great sights we’ve seen and roads we’ve ridden. And point north toward Sturgis.
It would take a blog miracle to make this interesting. I’ll give it a go.
***
Today, our sole reason for being is to ride the 296 miles from Cheyenne to Rapid City, South Dakota, so we can join a half-million other bikers waiting for the 77th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally to begin.
Our day begins by riding north along Interstate 25 out of Cheyenne.
What a world! Two idiots with their fingers on the nuclear trigger. Bigly bad.
We roll past Warren Air Force Base, pretty confident that there were no overnight ICBM launches.
We’re on the Interstate for only six miles before turning east on US Highway 85, which we’ll be on for the next 180 miles. Eighty-four miles after leaving Cheyenne, we arrive in Torrington, which sits along the banks of the North Platte River. Torrington is the first civilization of any consequence we’ve seen since leaving Cheyenne.
The Red Brigade in Torrington.
A city of 6,500, Torrington was founded in 1900 by W.G. Curtis. He named the city for his hometown of Torrington, Connecticut. Torrington, Wyoming, is home to Eastern Wyoming College, a two-year community college, Torrington also hosts the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution, a prison with more than 300 inmates.
Not that you’d know it, but Torrington is within five miles of the Wyoming/Nebraska border. Much of Highway 85 is not far from Nebraska, a state I’ve never been to, and it would be the seventh state on our trip – if we bothered to check it out.
In lovely downtown Torrington.
I know little about Nebraska, other than its college football tradition, miles and miles of corn, and the Movie Nebraska, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Film in 2013.
***
From Torrington, it’s another 55 miles north to the next town of note: Lusk. Much of eastern Wyoming is high plains, and Lusk is no different. It sits at 5,020 feet.
With a population of 1,567, Lusk is best known for being the county seat of the least populated county in the least populated state in the US.
Lusk was founded in 1886 by Frank Lusk, a renowned Wyoming rancher and partner in the Western Live Stock Company. Apparently, little has changed; the primary industry in Lusk is still cattle ranching.
Lusk, Wyoming. County seat of the least populated county in the least populated state.
Lusk’s motto: “Little Town with Big Possibilities.” Its most famous former resident is James Watt, US Interior Secretary from 1981 to 1983. Watt was born in Lusk in 1938. In 2008, Time magazine named Watt among the 10 worst cabinet members in modern history, and Rolling Stone magazine called him the Patron Saint of the Moral Majority. There are no famous current residents of Lusk.
But Lusk does have a street with a fun name, Beer Can Road, which we pass on our way out of town.
And, it’s got some mighty fine gas stations, one of which we visit before our final push into South Dakota.
Do-rags on parade at a Lusk gas station. This one’s for you, Tess.
From Lusk, we continue north for 46 miles, then turn east on US Highway 18, and cross into South Dakota, the seventh of nine states on our journey. South Dakota, at last!
First town we come to on Highway 18 to is Edgemont, which lies on the far southern edge of South Dakota’s Black Hills. Edgemont’s claim to fame is that it’s a crew change point for Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight trains.
The open road in Wyoming, as seen from Randy’s perspective. Note that Wyoming has a different visual vibe than Colorado.
***
In the 1800s here in the Plains, buffalo were huge, pun intended. Turn the clock back to the 1850s, and you’ll understand why.
In the prairie and Black Hills, buffalo were everywhere. Sixty million buffalo once roamed the Great Plains. Hunting killed millions of them. By 1889, when South Dakota became a state, the buffalo was nearly extinct.
Today, an estimated 500,000 buffalo currently loll their lives away on private lands. About 30,000 more are on public lands – many of them in South Dakota. For South Dakotans, the buffalo is a symbol of pride. For Native Americans, it’s a sign of spiritual strength.
The scientific name for the buffalo is Bison bison. Its true name is the American bison.
An American bison, waiting for the parade of Harleys.
European explorers gave the American bison the name of buffalo. Whatever you call them, they are huge animals – and we expect to see a boatload of them as we ride the Black Hills over the next week.
Buffalo look lazy and slow. Looks can be deceiving. They weigh more than a ton, are as high as six feet and as long as eleven feet. They’re freakin’ huge, but they can outrun and outmaneuver a horse. Not exactly sure what happens when they come face-to-face with a Harley. We’ll get back to you on that.
***
We’re finally in the Black Hills.
The Black Hills. We made it!
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains, whose highest peak is 7,244-foot Harney Peak. Not exactly Rocky Mountain-worthy, but it would be rude to hold any area responsible for its geography.
Black Hills? The Lakota Indians considered the hills black because of their dark appearance from a distance, as they were covered in trees.
Native Americans have a long history in the Black Hills. After conquering the Cheyenne tribe in 1776, the Lakota took over the territory of the Black Hills. In 1868, the US government signed the Fort Laramie Treaty, exempting the Black Hills from all white settlement forever. But when an expedition led by General George Custer discovered gold in the Black Hills in 1874, thousands of miners swept into the area in a frenzied gold rush.
During the gold rush, the US Government defeated the Lakota and their Cheyenne and Arapaho allies, taking control of the region, in violation of the Treaty of Fort Laramie. The Lakota never accepted the validity of the US appropriation and to this day, they continue efforts to reclaim the area in the Black Hills that was once theirs.
Today, the Black Hills may be best known for Mount Rushmore and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
***
A few miles north of Edgemont, we turn north on South Dakota Highway 89, which takes us into the heart of the Black Hills. The Black Hills National Forest is predominantly ponderosa pine, and has an area of more than 1.25 million acres. The forest includes many of the areas we’ll visit the next few days.
US Highway 18 takes us past the Fossil Cycad National Monument. At least it used to be one. Fossil Cycad was a National Monument from 1922 to 1957, when the National Monument designation was withdrawn. Cycad lost its National Monument status because vandals stole or destroyed all of its visible fossils.
Not far from us is the eastern side of Wind Cave National Park, part of the Black Hills National Forest. Wind Cave was the first cave anywhere in the world to be designated a national park. Wind Cave is the sixth-longest cave in the world, with more than 140 miles of explored cave passageways. On average, four new miles of cave are discovered every year.
Boxwork formations at Wind Cave National Park.
The cave is notable for its displays of the calcite formation known as boxwork. About 95 percent of the world’s discovered boxwork formations are found in Wind Cave.
***
We turn onto South Dakota Highway 89 just north of what used to be Fossil Cycad National Monument. Fifteen miles later, we pass through the tiny town of Pringle, whose population is officially listed at 112. Pringle has a post office and a bar, but does it offer complimentary Pringles? It also has a secluded compound connected to the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints. The 150-acre compound reportedly has six residential structures, 61 bedrooms, and houses up to 250 devoted followers of convicted FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs. Jeffs is serving a life sentence for two felony counts of child sexual assault.
In Hill City, at a convenience store, before making the final push to Rapid City. (photo by Scott)
From Pringle, we approach the historic city of Custer, then roll through Hill City. Both have their roots in the Black Hills mining rush of the late 19th century.
After a week on the road, even a (male) bear looks sexy to Dave.
We’ll, that bear put a smile on Dave’s face. Tess, this do-rag shot is for you!
As we wind through the Black Hills, we eventually find our way to US Highway 16, which takes us the remaining 20 miles to Rapid City, tonight’s destination.
Rapid City, known as the “Gateway to the Black Hills,” is our home for the next five days. Named after Rapid Creek, on which it sits, Rapid City is South Dakota’s second-largest city. Elevation here is 3,200 feet.
The largest sector of the Rapid City economy is government services – local, state and federal. One of the area’s major employers is Ellsworth Air Force Base, home of the 28th Bomb Wing.
The B-1B Lancer, a fixture at Ellsworth AFB.
The base has 27 B-1B Lancers, long-range bombers produced in Southern California by Rockwell International (now Boeing). The base, with a 13,500-foot runway, is one of only two B-1B bases in the world.
***
We settle into our Rapid City motel, and look forward to dinner, more so than we have all week.
Tonight, we’ll get a table for six. Yes, six.
Do the math. Gary + Dave + Scott + Randy = Four.
+ Gail + Jackie = Six.
In a first for any of my Harley trips, our wives, at least the cool ones, are joining us. Woo-hoo!
Dave and Scott, waiting for Mrs. Bowman and Mrs. Donaldson to arrive from the airport. Nice signs, boys.
Earlier today, Gail (Mrs. Dave) and Jackie (Mrs. Scott) flew north to Rapid City from the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California. They will ride with us for the next five days as we explore the Black Hills, Badlands National Park, Devils Tower National Monument, Mount Rushmore National Memorial – and finally, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally!
Gail and Jackie celebrate their arrival in Rapid City. Cheers!
In what can only be described as a first-class bummer, Sarah (Mrs. Gary) recently had to bow out of our Sturgis adventure. On-going back and neck pain made her participation impractical and potentially painful. In recent years, Sarah’s had a series of epidurals, facet joint blocks, a rhizotomy, cortisone shots in her back, neck and sacroiliac joint, and in May, an experimental procedure called a cold fusion radio frequency ablation.
Sadly, sitting on the back of a Harley for hours on end would not have provided much in the way of pain relief. I’m more than a little disappointed that Sarah isn’t here in South Dakota. Maybe another time.
***
As is the custom with this blog when anyone new joins the ride, here’s a brief introduction to the newbies on Team Sturgis.
Gail Bowman: Gail, a bubbly blue-eyed blonde, is the quintessential California Girl. Born and raised in Long Beach, she attended Jordan High School, where she met Dave in her senior year. He was a jock, and she was captain of the cheerleading squad. Gail’s had some interesting jobs — importing and exporting cargo for Stevedoring Services of America, and working in Security for McDonnell Douglas. Her real calling, though, was being a stay-at-home mom for Tess and Nathan, both recent graduates of Hope International University in Fullerton, where Gail and Dave live. Gail is a member of Fullerton’s Community Emergency Response Team, which works with the local fire department and FEMA to help out in the event of emergencies like earthquakes, major fires, and terrorist attacks. She’s a devoted volunteer to the Special Olympics movement who recruits coaches and athletes, manages new sports programs, and is active in fund raising. Not one to sit on the sidelines, Gail has run 14 half-marathons, and regularly takes part in the Camp Pendleton Mud Run (she claims to love both Marines and mud). A licensed boat captain, Gail enjoys riding on the back of Dave’s Harley when the opportunity arises – which it will this week. On Sunday, Gail and Dave will celebrate their 34th wedding anniversary riding the Black Hills. At the top of her bucket list: bungee jumping.
Jackie Gomez: Jackie took a more circuitous route to Southern California. Born in Chicago to parents from the Dominican Republic, she learned Spanish before English, and to this day, occasionally lapses into Spanglish when tongue-tied. Jackie lived in the Windy City until the age of five, when California’s blue skies beckoned and her family moved to Cerritos, a suburb of Los Angeles. In the early 1970s, Cerritos was California’s fastest-growing city and it turned out to be the geographical center of Jackie’s life. She graduated from Cerritos High School and attended Cerritos College, working toward a degree in criminal justice. The births of her children Robert, Christina and Pablo – and becoming a full-time mom – put her higher education on permanent hold. Jackie began her working career as a waitress, then became a medical assistant for an OB/GYN, where she worked for 14 years, helping women prepare for their adventure of motherhood. In 2004, Jackie joined Long Beach-based Homeport Insurance Company, and is now a claims examiner there. Homeport is a division of SSA Marine, where she met the love of her live, as she describes him – “that hunky cargo vessel Superintendent Scott Donaldson.” They were married in 2013, and their blended family of eight includes Scott’s three adult children. Jackie, who once entertained thoughts of owning her own Harley, instead enjoys riding on the back of Scott’s, primarily in Southern California. At the top of her bucket list: jumping out of an airplane. With a parachute.
Sarah Murr (Team Sturgis wannabe, status: AWOL): Sarah grew up on a small family farm in Greenback, Tennessee, where she learned to drawl (y’all) like the Southern girl she still is. From a young age, she helped keep the family afloat by milking cows, feeding chicken and pigs, hauling hay, and harvesting the crops – corn, wheat, and tobacco. In 1977, Boeing hired Sarah to be the first local employee at its new Oak Ridge, Tennessee facility, which would build centrifuge machines for the Department of Energy. Starting as a secretary, she built a 35-year career that took her to Everett, Washington, where she gave factory tours of the world’s largest building to Jordan’s Queen Noor and golf’s Greg Norman. Following her 1999 marriage to Gary (the blog dude), they grew weary of Washington’s gray skies and moved to Southern California, where she invested millions of dollars in the community on Boeing’s behalf until her retirement in 2012. In La Quinta, Sarah turned her energy to community service, serving on boards and committees, elected and appointed. She is a fitness fanatic, working out or practicing yoga pretty much every day. Sarah has a California motorcycle license, and is a former Harley owner/rider, but hasn’t ridden much in recent years.
***
Table for Six. Woo-hoo! Dinner at the Dakota Steakhouse. (photo by our server)
Day Seven Summary: Two hundred ninety-six miles, Beer Can Road, Buffalo on parade, and a table for six.
Click here to see today’s complete route from Cheyenne to Rapid City.
We’re on our way to Sturgis!
Vroom, vroom.
***
Long day on the road. Randy takes an hour nap before dinner. Must be exhausting on a ride like this for someone his age.
Today in Bucket List History:
Bucket List Goal: “Hope Something Happens to Your Boss, Then be Prepared to Take His Place”
Goal Achieved: On August 3, 1923, Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes the 30th US President, after President Warren Harding dies suddenly while on a speaking tour. Many historians rank Harding as the worst of all US Presidents (history hasn’t yet had a chance to judge George W. Bush). Calvin Coolidge fun fact: he’s the only President born on the Fourth of July.
Calvin Coolidge. One way to get to the top.
What’s on your bucket list?
***
Bonus photo: this is “how the sausage gets made.” Here, Gary is busy finishing tonight’s blog post, one echaracter at a time on his iPhone.
Note the over-the-shoulder supervision by Scott. (photo by Randy)
All hunky, all the time. Note the outerwear; it was a cold morning. Photo by Randy, who was wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops.
We leave Silverthorne and head north on Colorado Highway 9, riding toward Green Mountain Reservoir, which sits at an elevation of 7,950 feet.
The Green Mountain Dam was built between 1938 and 1942 by the Bureau of Reclamation. The dam and reservoir store water to benefit Colorado’s Western Slope, which is pretty much everything in the state west of the Continental Divide.
The reservoir’s lake is popular with fishermen, who catch rainbow trout, lake trout, brown trout, and kokanee. Green Mountain Reservoir empties into the Blue River, which we follow to the town of Kremmling, just north of the confluence of the Blue River and the Colorado River.
We arrive in Kremmling, elevation 7,313 feet, less than an hour after leaving Silverthorne. Like so many towns in the area, Kremmling was founded during the Colorado silver boom days. The original post office here was called Kinsey City, named after brothers Aaron and John Kinsey, who had a local ranch. The Kinsey City postmaster was Rudolph Kremmling, who ran the town’s general store. In 1895, the town was officially re-named Kremmling.
Kremmling sits at the intersection of Colorado Highway 9 and US Highway 40, once a main east-west route through Colorado.
US Highway 40. A good way to go.
Before the Interstate Highway System, US-40 once traversed the entire country, from San Francisco to New Jersey. Today, US-40’s western terminus is in Utah, not far from Park City, where we expect to be in nine or ten days.
We turn east in Kremmling onto US-40, which follows the Colorado River, running through the towns of Parshall and Hot Sulphur Springs, After passing through Hot Sulphur State Wildlife Area, we continue east on Highway 40, toward Granby, a mountain town 7,935 feet above sea level. Granby was founded in 1904, along the route of the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway. It was named after Granby Hillyer, a Denver lawyer who later served as the US Attorney for the area.
At Hot Sulphur Springs, we stop and visit with a group of riders from Geneva, Switzerland. (photo by Randy)
***
Just outside of Granby, we turn north on US Highway 34, and continue riding past Lake Granby, the third-largest body of water in Colorado, and home to the Lake Granby Yacht Club, established in 1902. At 8,280 feet, it’s recognized as the world’s highest-elevation yacht club. It’s a beautiful setting for a regatta.
Lake Granby. Nice place for a regatta.
Not far from Lake Granby are Shadow Mountain Lake and Grand Lake. A short segment of the Colorado River connects Lake Granby with Shadow Mountain Lake and Grand Lake.
Grand Lake is Colorado’s largest and deepest natural lake, and is part of the headwaters of the Colorado River. That might explain why we’re now riding on the Colorado River Headwaters Scenic Byway.
Less than a mile north of Grand Lake, we arrive at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center, the western entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.
Off in the distance, about seven miles east of Grand Lake is the last 14er in the neighborhood, Longs Peak (14,255), the highest mountain in the park, and the northernmost 14er in the Rocky Mountains. On a clear day, you can see Longs Peak from many areas in the park. We can’t see it from here, but hope to catch a glimpse as we climb toward 12,000 feet in the park.
The mountain is named after Major Stephen Long, said to be the first to spot the Rocky Mountains on behalf of the US Government, in June 1820. A US Army explorer and topographical engineer, Long covered more than 25,000 miles in five expeditions.
If you’ve got the time, energy, and nerve, Longs Peak is hike-able, climb-able, scale-able. More than 20,000 people do it every year. Here are some things to consider before you head up the mountain.
Lightning over Longs Peak: one reason to think twice about heading up the mountain without a weather report.
But don’t try this at home; there have been more than 60 deaths on Longs Peak since the park opened in 1915. This may make you think again before you head up the mountain.
Our climb up the mountain, on Trail Ridge Road, comes with considerably less risk.
US Highway 34, also known as Trail Ridge Road, takes us to dizzying heights. With a maximum elevation of 12,183 feet near Fall River Pass, Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuously paved road in the U.S. A continuously paved road is one that doesn’t simply doesn’t end at a summit, resulting in a turnaround to head back down. The road is considered continuous because it, um, continues.
Randy posing on Trail Ridge Road.
***
Leaving Grand Lake, we soon arrive at Rocky Mountain National Park’s western entrance. The Kawuneeche Visitor Center is one of five within the park.
Last year, the National Parks system celebrated its 100th birthday, drawing more than 325 million visitors. With 4.5 million visitors in 2016, Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the most visited national parks, right up there with Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Yellowstone. Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina is by far the most visited park, with more than nine million visits a year.
From the Kawuneeche Visitor Center at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, Trail Ridge Road follows the North Fork of the Colorado River through the Kawuneeche Valley.
Gary’s Harley, above the tree line on Trail Ridge Road.
Trail Ridge Road is yet another of Colorado’s Scenic Byways, designated as an All-American Road, and is, of course, rated Difficult. It’s one of only 25 roads given the “All-American” designation by the US Department of Transportation. The San Juan Skyway, which we rode Monday, is another. These are considered “roads to the heart and soul of America,” and it’s easy to see why. In its announcement of the All-American roads, the Department of Transportation calls them “the roads less traveled … providing an exceptional traveling experience so recognized by travelers that they would make a drive along the highway a primary reason for their trip.”
Scott in selfie mode on Trail Ridge Road.
Trail Ridge Road runs 48 miles from Grand Lake to Estes Park. It took the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1929 to 1932 to build the road, because heavy snows kept them from working more than three months a year.
As you might guess, it’s closed during the winter. Trail Ridge Road usually opens in late May, and closes around Columbus Day in October, when the National Park Service gives up fighting the snow and turns the road back to Mother Nature for the winter.
National Park Service plow operators normally begin clearing the snow in mid-April, when crews from the west side of the park and crews from the east side of the park eventually meet at the Alpine Visitor Center – 11,796 feet above sea level. That Visitor Center is the highest in the National Park System. It’s not easy being a snowplow operator on this road; snowdrifts are often up to 22 feet deep.
Rocky Mountain National Park has more than 100 peaks above 10,000 feet. The 10ers are so common you almost don’t even notice them. The park has nearly 60 peaks above 12,000 feet.
Randy practices his photobombing skills at Milner Pass.
Sixteen miles into the park, after a series of steep switchbacks, we arrive at 10,759-foot Milliner Pass. It sits on the Continental Divide.
After Milliner Pass, the trees become increasingly weathered until we reach the tree line and see the rolling hills of short grass and wildflowers that make up the tundra. Eleven miles of Trail Ridge Road are above the tree line. Those same 11 miles are all above 11,000 feet.
Milliner Pass, I’m pretty sure, is named for a person who makes or sells women’s hats. You can look that up. Notable milliners include John Boyd, known for the famous pink tricorn hat worn by Diana, Princess of Wales.
Some of milliner John Boyd’s hats. He’s famous enough to have a Colorado pass named after him.
Blog disclosure: the previous paragraph exists solely to see if you’re paying any attention.
The pass is not Milliner, but Milner. Milner Pass is actually named for T.J. Milner, an early day civil engineer for railroads and streetcar lines in Colorado. Really.
Scott checks out a high alpine lake at Milner Pass.
Soon, we reach the Alpine Visitor Center, which is at 11,796 feet. Here’ we’re about two miles, and less than 400 vertical feet, from the highest point on Trail Ridge Road. It’s the highest Visitor Center in the National Parks system.
Sadly, the Alpine Visitor Center Center is closed for repairs, so we blow by it and head for the highest spot on Trail Ridge Road.
The view from Randy’s helmet. Note the gloves, or rather, glove. In a nod to the Michael Jackson one-glove look, Randy goes with the sequined glove on the right hand. #bikerstylin’
It would have been a good place to rest, grab something to drink and enjoy the sights from the rear deck, before continuing east for the 20-mile ride to the park’s east entrance near Estes Park.
The view from Dave’s helmet, above the tree line, on Trail Ridge Road. The bikes in the distance are Scott, Randy and Gary. The pic is a still from Dave’s GoPro video, which may be made into a movie someday.
From the Alpine Visitor Center, Trail Ridge Road climbs another 387 feet to its peak elevation of 12,183 feet. The highest point on the road is almost anti-climactic. There’s not even a sign marking the spot.
You hardly know you’re at the road’s apex. Not even time to think about altitude sickness, which fortunately, none of us experience.
Just below the highest point on Trail Ridge Road. Photo by Scott.
***
Now, we begin the gradual descent to Estes Park, a drop of about 4,600 feet. The town is named after Missouri native Joel Estes, who founded the community in 1859, then moved his family there four years later.
Estes Park sits along the Big Thompson River, and adjoins Lake Estes. Its most famous landmark is the historic Stanley Hotel, which opened in 1909. The Big Thompson River is named for English fur trapper David Thompson, employed in 1810 by the Northwest Fur Company to explore the Rockies.
From Estes Park, we continue east on US Highway 34, winding our way along the Big Thompson River. We pass through the town of Drake, and 16 miles later, turn on Buckhorn Road. We’re heading north.
Waiting out a rain squall at a Bed and Breakfast along the Big Thompson River. We did not get a room. (photo by Scott)
Buckhorn Road becomes Stove Prairie Road, and in 20 miles, we arrive at Stove Prairie Landing, little more than a campground. Here, the road ends, as we arrive at Colorado Highway 14, aka Poudre Canyon Road, which follows the Poudre River. Poudre is French for powder.
The Cache La Poudre Scenic Byway runs along the Cache La Poudre River.
Highway 14 is known as the Cache La Poudre Scenic Byway (Difficult!), the last of Colorado’s Scenic Byways we’ll ride on this trip. We turn east on the Scenic Byway, and ride toward Fort Collins, Colorado’s fifth largest city and home to Colorado State University.
Colorado Highway 14 ends after 16 miles, when it becomes US Highway 287, which takes us to Terry Lake, a restricted member-only lake, like Lake Arrowhead in Southern California.
Heading for Wyoming.
At Terry Lake, we turn north on Colorado Highway 1, which, after 10 miles, leads us to Interstate 25. We hop on the interstate for the short ride to Wyoming, the sixth of nine states on our trip. Just east of Soapstone Prairie Natural Area, we cross into Wyoming and say goodbye to Colorado.
It’s my first visit to Wyoming since the late 1960s, when as a college student in Salt Lake City, I’d make the 80-mile drive to Evanston for beer we thought was better than you could get in Utah. Because of that, Evanston was, and still is, known as Wyoming’s Sin City.
Evanston has the closest liquor stores to Salt Lake City that aren’t owned and operated by the Utah state government (Utah Liquor Commission).
Evanston is in the far southwest corner of Wyoming. We are now 350 miles away, in the southeastern corner of the state, nearing Cheyenne, tonight’s destination.
***
Cheyenne, which sits at 6,062 feet, is Wyoming’s capital city. In all my Harley rides, this is the first time I’ve been to a state capital. At 146 feet tall, the State Capitol is the tallest building in the city.
This is not what you’d called a destination city. It’s a stopover from somewhere to somewhere else.
The city was named for the Native American Cheyenne nation, and is a term meaning “people of different speech” or “red talkers.” Cheyenne claims to be home of the world’s largest outdoor rodeo, Cheyenne Frontier Days, a nine-day event in late July with cowboying, concerts and Air Force flybys.
Cheyenne Frontier Days. Yee-Haw!
Frontier Days just wrapped up on Sunday; country music star Jason Aldean was the closing act.
Besides the rodeo, the biggest show in town is Francis E Warren Air Force Base, home to 90th Missile Wing. Warren is it’s the oldest continuously active military installation within the Air Force, established in 1867. Oddly enough, it’s an Air Force Base without a runway for fixed-wing aircraft.
The only conventional airfield ever located at F. E. Warren AFB was a single dirt strip. This field, never used by modern-day pilots, was made famous by World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker, who crashed his plane on the field and survived.
The Base’s claim to fame: it operates 150 land-based Minutemen III ICBM’s.
Yes, ICBM, as in Inter Continental Ballistic Missile. Range: more than 8,000 miles. Speed: more than 17,000 miles an hour (Mach 23). And, thermonuclear warheads, each said to have a capability of 475 kilotons of TNT, 30 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. End-of-the-world stuff. A good reminder of why it’s a really, really bad idea to let the current occupant of the White House anywhere near the nuclear codes (“If we have them, why can’t we use them?” #tweetyourwaytoarmaggedon).
An ICBM in a silo, waiting for launch. “If we have them, why can’t we use them?”
Warren Air Force Base’s 150 ICBMs comprise about one-third of the US’ land-based nuclear capability. The missiles sit in hardened silos scattered over a 9,600-square-mile area of eastern Wyoming, western Nebraska, and northern Colorado.
Tomorrow, Day Seven of our trip, is a big day. We’ll enter our seventh state – South Dakota. If that rings familiar, it’s because we’ll finally be on Sturgis’ doorstep. Woo-hoo!
Dinner at Don Reyes Family Kitchen. Good food, but not exactly standing room only. (photo by Randy)
Cheers! (photo by our server)
***
Day Six Summary: Two hundred forty miles, riding above the clouds, two more scenic byways (Difficult!), and no missile launches on our watch.
Click here to see today’s complete route from Silverthorne to Cheyenne.
We’re on our way to Sturgis!
Vroom, vroom.
***
Today in Bucket List History:
Bucket List Goal: “Start an Awesome Tradition That Will be Appreciated for Years to Come.”
Goal Achieved: On August 2, 1873, the first trial run of a San Francisco cable car occurs on Clay Street between Kearny and Jones. The San Francisco cable cars are the world’s last remaining manually operated cable car system, with more than seven million riders annually.
A San Francisco cable car at the top of Hyde Street. What a great tradition!
My own personal Rainbow Coalition 🌈 , in an undisclosed parking garage. Sarah: note the SPF 50 sun sleeves! (photo by Scott)
Today we ride yet another Scenic Byway, another All-American Road. And we cross the Continental Divide at more than 12,000 feet. Ho, hum.
We leave Hotchkiss and turn east on Colorado Highway 133, following the North Fork of the Gunnison River.
In ten miles, we pass through the town of Paonia, named for the flower, Paeonia mascula – and we begin climbing.
Like many other areas on Colorado’s Western Slope, Paonia once had a thriving coal mining business. In 2016, depressed coal prices caused one of the mines – Bowie Number 2 – to shut down, idling more than 100 full-time workers. Only two active coal mines remain in the area, whose coal industry employment has dropped from 1,200 to less than 400 in the past four years.
The West Elk Mine near Paonia is barely hanging on.
Pressured by cheap and abundant natural gas, coal is in a precipitous decline, now making up just a third of electricity generation in the United States. Renewables are fast becoming competitive with coal on price. Electricity sales are trending downward, and coal exports are falling. Paonia is in trouble. Nice place to ride through. Raise a family here? Not so much.
From Paonia, we ride past the Paonia Reservoir and Paonia State Park, as the road begins to climb toward McClure Pass, 16 miles away. McClure Pass, at 8,763 feet, sits on the boundary between Pitkin and Gunnison Counties. The approaches on either side of the pass have an eight percent grade, making McClure Pass among the steepest in Colorado.
McClure Pass is named for Thomas McClure, an Irish immigrant known as the developer of the Red McClure potato. His variety was introduced around 1910, and by the 1930s, the valley exported more than 400 rail cars filled with potatoes every year, more than the entire state of Idaho. Take that, JR Simplot!
During the 1940s, the potato fields here in the Roaring Fork valley vanished, and so did the McClure potato. But it’s making a bit of a comeback these days. Slow Food USA has added the Red McClure to its “Ark of Taste,” a list of 200 foods from across the country deemed delicious, endangered and worth fighting to protect.
The McClure potato: first developed in 1910, and reintroduced less than a decade ago.
***
Following the steep descent from McClure Pass, the road flattens out and we soon roll by the turnoff to Marble, a rustic little town five miles away. If we were hungry, we’d make a sharp turn on to Gunnison County Road 3, and head for Slow Groovin’, a hidden gem where you’ll find the best barbecue imaginable.
Maybe even better than Rebel BBQ in Blythe.
As Slow Groovin’ likes to say, it’s “ridiculously good BBQ,” and that may be an understatement. It’s tragic and heartbreaking that we don’t have time or the appetite for ribs today (ribs, fries and slaw at 9 am?). But lucky me: it’s likely that Sarah and I will soon become regulars at Slow Groovin’, which is exactly 27.6 miles away from our new home.
The town of Marble, home to Slow Groovin’, got its name from the stone that is quarried there: marble. In 1873, a prospector named George Yule was looking for silver and gold – and discovered marble, which is 99.5 percent pure calcite. The only place on earth where this type of marble is found is in what is now called the Yule Creek Valley, about three miles southeast of the town of Marble.
Because the marble is quarried inside a mountain at 9,500 feet above sea level, Yule Marble can be quite expensive – difficult to extract and even harder to transport. Steep slopes, deep snow, and winter snowslides make the quarry environment quite hostile. But the Yule Marble quarry eventually became successful after a tram was built to bring the marble down the mountain, where it could be loaded onto a train.
Marble for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier came from Marble, Colorado.
The beautiful white marble from Marble soon became a part of the American fabric. The Yule Marble quarry provided the stone for the exterior of the Lincoln Memorial, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. At the time, the 56-ton block of marble for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was the largest single piece of marble ever quarried.
Today, there are about 100 full-time residents of Marble. Fifteen to twenty of them work at the quarry. It’s believed that the remaining operational quarry has enough marble to last for several hundred years.
We continue riding north on Colorado Highway 133. To our right is the town of Redstone, home to the renowned Redstone Inn. Redstone was established in the 19th century as part of a coal mining enterprise by industrialist John Clevenholm Osgood. Osgood built 84 cottages and a 40-room inn — for his coal miners. Most of these Craftsman-era Swiss-style cottages are still used today as homes.
A dominant feature of Redstone is Redstone Castle, a 42-room Tudor-style mansion that Osgood built for his second wife, Swedish Countess Alma Regina Shelgrem. It’s for sale, or at least it was a few years ago. It could have been yours for $7.5 Million.
About ten miles east of Redstone, obscured by other mountains, are Capitol Peak (14,131 feet) and Snowmass Mountain (14,098 feet), two more 14ers. We’re now following the path of the Crystal River, through a narrow canyon with tall blue spruce trees flourishing along the river. The blue spruce is Colorado’s state tree.
As we approach Carbondale, the dominant feature to our east is Mount Sopris. At a puny 12,953 feet, it’s not quite a 13er. Still, Sopris dominates the skyline of Carbondale and the lower Roaring Fork Valley.
Carbondale, a haven for outdoor-minded Coloradans, sits at the confluence of the Roaring Fork and Crystal Rivers.
At Carbondale’s River Valley Ranch golf course, slightly northeast of the 14th green, there’s a 13,000-square-foot lot with a view of Mount Sopris that, last year, called out to Sarah and me: this is the place!
We bought that lot, and are now beginning construction of a house on it.
At the Lesser/Murr homestead. Should be ready to move in next May. (photo by Dave)
A few of you have asked, what was so wrong about PGA West that caused us to leave? Nothing was wrong. We loved it. But after 16 years, it was simply time for a new adventure.
The posse, still on their bikes, at 150 Sopris Mesa Drive. Photo by Dave (which explains why he’s not in the shot).
Today, the Sturgis posse rolls by the future Lesser/Murr homestead for a brief visit. We park the bikes in front of what will be the driveway – elevation: 6,388 feet above sea level. It’ll be a great place to store the Harley; the garage even has a special spot for a motorcycle.
For now, it’s all imaginary. Next year, with thanks to the team at Key Elements Construction, our dream will turn to reality. No pressure, Kent.
After leaving the homestead, we stopped at the Village Smithy for breakfast, and ran into George Nettles, the project superintendent for our home.
That’s George, our honorary biker, closest to the camera. (photo by our server)
Breakfast pic #1. Guess who ordered this?
Breakfast pic #2 Guess who ordered this?
***
In Carbondale, we turn east on Colorado Highway 82 and head toward Aspen.
En route, we pass by El Jebel, Basalt, and Woody Creek, home of the world-famous Woody Creek Tavern.
In a flash, we are in the heart of Colorado ski country. To our right is Snowmass, then Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, and finally Aspen itself.
About a mile past Buttermilk Mountain, you can turn southwest on Maroon Creek Road to see what is believed to be the most photographed mountain scene in all of North America: the Maroon Bells. The Maroon Bells are two 14ers, just 10 miles from Aspen. Visiting them is a highly worthwhile side trip. Maroon Creek Road takes us to the Maroon-Snowmass Trailhead, at the foot of Maroon Lake.
At the parking lot, waiting for the bus to Maroon Bells.
They’re called the Maroon Bells because of their shape (bell-like), and their color (maroon-like, when the light is right). The Bells are maroon because the rock that forms most of their mountains is soft red shale and a paler siltstone, called the “Maroon Formation.” The red color comes from tiny iron particles that have been oxidized, or rusted. Because the shale is very soft, hiking on this type of rock can be quite dangerous. Consider that both a geology lesson and a friendly warning.
The Maroon Bells, reflected in Maroon Lake.
The view of the Maroon Bells to the southwest is one of the most famous scenes in Colorado – which is saying a lot. Of Trip Advisor’s 59 rated attractions in the Aspen area, the Maroon Bells rank Number One; many of the visitor comments describe the view as just short of a religious experience.
Dave sharpens his photobombing skills at Maroon Lake.
It’s so popular that in the summer, the only way to get there is to climb on a bus operated by the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority for the 30-minute ride to the Maroon Bells parking lot.
Randy, with Maroon Bells in the background.
One last pic at Maroon Bells. (photo by a park ranger)
***
The Maroon Bells turnoff from Highway 82 is only a mile or so from Aspen, named for the abundance of aspen trees in the area. Aspen is a thriving ski area in the winter, and a summer destination for the rich and famous. Really rich, and really famous. Bank accounts with lots of zeros and commas. Front-page news in your grocery store tabloid rags.
They fly in to the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport in their private jets, landing on the 8,000-foot runway. If you don’t own your own jet, this blog extends its sincerest condolences. The airport is also served by American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express.
Private jets, play toys of the rich and famous, lined up at the Aspen airport.
Aspen is easy to get to, and very expensive to visit. It’s a pretty darn pricey place to live, too. Home sale prices in Aspen last year averaged $7.7 million. A penthouse condo sold for $16 million, or $5,247 per square foot. Ouch! And yet, inexplicably, the Aspen real estate market was down in 2016. Good time to buy?
Unable to afford much more than a burger and fries, we push on, continuing east on Highway 82. We’re on the “Top of the Rockies” Scenic Byway (Difficult!), which climbs at a six percent grade.
The road over Independence Pass gets quite narrow in places. Photo from Randy’s helmet-mounted GoPro camera. Note the bug splatter on the camera lens. Ick!
Twenty miles east of Aspen, we cross Independence Pass. At 12,095 feet, it’s the highest paved crossing of the Continental Divide. The pass is generally open from Memorial Day to November 1.
At Independence Pass, 12,095 feet.
The Continental Divide is a natural boundary line separating the watersheds of the Pacific Ocean from those of the Atlantic Ocean. Technically, a continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent where the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side feeds into a different ocean or sea.
The Continental Divide runs north-south from Alaska to Northwestern South America. In the continental US, it follows the crest of the Rocky Mountains. Thirteen paved mountain passes in Colorado cross the Continental Divide. Independence Pass is one of them.
Like many of the passes that cross the Continental Divide, it’s closed in the winter. But when Independence Pass reopens annually in late May, it’s a popular tourist destination. The pass gets its name from the village named Independence, which was established on July 4, 1879 as a gold mining boomtown. Independence is now just a ghost town four miles west of the pass.
In addition to marking the Continental Divide, Independence Pass is also the crest of the Sawatch Range, the Pitkin-Lake county line, and the boundary between the White River and San Isabel National Forests. And, a darn good place to pull over for photos from a spectacular vista point.
At Independence Pass. Steep grades, sharp curves. Yikes!
On a clear day, the Independence Pass scenic overlook offers views east to Mount Elbert, at 14,440 feet, Colorado’s highest peak. Mount Elbert is the second-highest mountain in the continental US (California’s 14,505-foot Mt. Whitney is the highest).
To the west, more 14ers stand out – including the Maroon Bells, Snowmass Mountain and Capitol Peak. At some point, you become almost numb to these elevations. Still, to put 14ers in perspective, Mount Elbert is just shy of half as high as Mount Everest.
I’m half as high as Dave (great segue), and here I moderate a conversation between Dave and Scott. (photo by Randy)
***
Since 2011, Independence Pass has been central to the route of the week-long USA Pro Cycling Challenge, held in late August. The bicycle race begins in Aspen and finishes in the streets of downtown Denver. Well, it did, anyway.
Pro cyclist Andy Schleck of Luxembourg approaches the top of Independence Pass (12,095 feet) during the now-defunct USA Pro Cycling Challenge. A month earlier, in July 2011, he finished second in the biggest bike race of all, the Tour de France.
There was no race in 2016, due to sponsorship issues, and race organizers cancelled the 2017 race as well, unable to find sufficient funding following the departure of key investors.
The race had been kept financially afloat by the founders of the Quiznos and Smashburger restaurant chains. But after losing an estimated $20 Million over the first five years, the backers decided to pull the plug. Sadly, with the demise of the 2017 race, the Pro Cycling Challenge is effectively dead. In its heyday, winners included American cyclists Tejay van Garderen, Levi Leipheimer and Christian Vande Velde.
***
We leave Independence Pass, and begin our descent toward Twin Lakes, 17 miles east of the pass. We drop 3,000 feet, before arriving in Twin Lakes, 9,200 feet high in the San Isabel National Forest. Twin Lakes is beautiful, but sparse. It has a population of less than 200. If you don’t eat at the Twin Lakes Inn, you’re not going to eat at all.
Just past Twin Lakes, we turn north on US Highway 24 and 30 minutes later, arrive in the historic town of Leadville. At 10,152 feet, Leadville is the highest incorporated city in the US. It’s a former silver mining town, whose population was nearly 30,000 at the height of the mining boom. Today, the population is closer to 2,700.
Leadville is credited with producing 240 million troy ounces of silver and nearly three million troy ounces of gold. For the curious among you: a troy ounce is a unit of measure used to denote the value of a precious metal; it’s about 10 percent heavier than the “avoirdupois” ounce, which you use for everyday purposes. So, an ounce of gold weighs 2.759537 grams more than an ounce of sugar. Got it?
If you’re into all things troy, you can visit Leadville’s National Mining Museum and Hall of Fame, which opened in 1987. Or, you can enjoy Leadville’s 70 square blocks of Victorian architecture, which are designed a National Historic Landmark District.
In the early 1980s, Leadville had the highest unemployment rate in the US. That’s when marathon runner Ken Chlouber dreamed of a way to restore vitality to the city. His solution: the inaugural Leadville Trail 100 run in 1983.
The Leadville Trail 100 Run is now in its 35th year. Sometimes called the “Race Across the Sky,” it’s a 100-mile ultramarathon with elevations ranging between 9,200 and 12,620 feet. In most years, fewer than half the starters complete the race within the 30-hour time limit. The course record is 15 hours and 42 minutes, set by Matt Carpenter in 2005.
Biking the Leadville 100. Are your quads burning?
Readers of this blog who hate running but enjoy mountain biking can try the Leadville 100 mountain bike race, held the same weekend on a course that roughly parallels the running route. This year, both events will be held on August 19 and 20.
Good luck.
***
In Leadville, we turn north on Colorado Highway 91. A few miles east of Leadville along Highway 91 are a slew of 14ers: Mount. Sherman (14,036 feet), Mount Democrat (14,154), Mount Cameron (14,238 feet), Mount Lincoln (14,286 feet), Mount Bross (14,172 feet) and Quandary Peak (14,265).
Twenty four miles past Leadville is the Copper Mountain Ski Area, the US Ski Team downhill training venue. Copper Mountain has 22 lifts, 140 runs, 2,465 skiable acres – and was featured in the 1994 movie, Dumb and Dumber.
Copper Mountain, high-altitude golf in the summer.
As we ride north on Highway 91, Copper Mountain is on our left, and to our right is the Breckenridge Ski Resort. Breckenridge is owned by Vail Resorts, which also operates Vail, Beaver Creek, Arapahoe Basin and Keystone in Colorado – Park City in Utah, Whistler/Blackcomb in British Columbia, Stowe in Vermont and three California Lake Tahoe resorts – Heavenly, Kirkwood and Northstar.
You can ski all those areas on a single Vail Resorts “Epic Pass,” which will set you back $859 for the 2017 / 2018 ski season. The Epic Pass also includes access to major European ski resorts, including Val d’Isere (where Sarah and I skied on our honeymoon) and Les Trois Vallees in France, Skirama Dolomiti Adamello Brenta in Italy, Verbier in Switzerland, and Arlberg in Austria. Air fare not included.
Copper Mountain, seemingly one of the few remaining ski areas on the planet not owned by Vail Resorts, is conveniently located at the junction of Highway 91 and Interstate 70. OK, well, there are other ski areas not in the Vail Resorts stable – among them Aspen, and Sunlight Mountain, which is exactly 18.2 miles from our front door in Carbondale. If only we had a front door.
***
We hop on I-70 for the 10-mile ride to Silverthorne, tonight’s destination. Silverthorne sits at 9,035 feet, not far from the Dillon Reservoir, which provides 40 percent of Denver’s fresh water supply.
We navigate to our motel, park the bikes, and settle in to our evening routine: a cold beer (diet coke for me), a hot shower, a tasty dinner, and a good night’s sleep.
***
Day Five Summary: Two hundred seven miles, two more scenic byways (Difficult!), coal country in decline, Mad Dogs and Englishmen, and crossing the Continental Divide.
Click here to see today’s complete route from Hotchkiss to Silverthorne.
We’re on our way to Sturgis!
Vroom, vroom.
***
Today in Bucket List History:
Bucket List Goal: “Leave Town and Don’t Tell Your Anyone Where You’re Going.”
Goal Achieved: On August 1, 1958, the US atomic sub “Nautilus” makes the first undersea voyage to the geographic North Pole. The Nautilus dived at Point Barrow, Alaska, and traveled nearly 1,000 miles under the Arctic ice cap to the North Pole.
Four biker studs, starting the day with a hearty breakfast. (photo by our server)
After three days of “transit” – long, mostly boring rides to get to where you really want to be – we are truly ready for some serious riding. Seriously awesome riding.
Leaving Durango, we head north on US Highway 550, which will take us all the way to Ouray, 70 miles to the north.
We’re on the San Juan Skyway, another of Colorado’s designated Scenic Byways. Eleven of Colorado’s 26 byways are designated as “America’s Byways,” giving Colorado more national designations (America’s Byways) than any other state. The Colorado Scenic and Historic Byways Program is a statewide partnership designed to provide recreational, educational and economic benefits to Coloradans and visitors. Sponsors include Colorado’s Departments of Tourism and Transportation.
These byways even have a motorcycle skill rating map, providing a useful tool to help riders decide whether they have the skills needed for these often-challenging roads. The “ride difficulty levels” are rated Easy, Moderate or Difficult.
Easy roads are suitable for beginning riders, with gradual grades and gentle curves. Difficult roads require advanced riding skills, have steep grades and sharp, technical turns.
San Juan Scenic Byway. Technical turns, and a thrill a minute!
The San Juan Scenic Byway, which we’re riding today, is rated Difficult. Over the next few days as we ride through Colorado, we’ll be on at least six more Scenic Byways rated Difficult: West Elk Loop, McClure Pass, Independence Pass, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Cache la Poudre Canyon.
Buckle up!
***
About 25 miles from Durango, we pass by the Durango Mountain Resort, sometimes known by its former name, Purgatory. The name Purgatory comes from Purgatory Creek, which runs through the area – and from Purgatory Flats, today the location of the ski area’s base. The ski resort’s base is at 8,793 feet; its peak is 10,822 feet.
Legend has it that the Purgatory name comes from miners who were trying to get from Durango to the prosperous mines in the Silverton area. They had to pay 50 cents to use the toll road. Miners who couldn’t afford the toll were stuck in the area, which became known as Purgatory Flats. They couldn’t afford to get up the mountain, but couldn’t see themselves quitting and going down, either. Now that’s purgatory.
***
On our way north, we see the spectacular nature of Colorado’s Rockies. With the exception of California’s Mount Whitney (14,505 feet), the Rockies have the highest peaks in mainland North America, the highest of which is Mount Elbert at 14,440 feet.
Colorado has more than 50 mountain summits that are 14,000 feet or higher. They’re known as the 14ers.
Reaching the summit of Capitol Peak (14,131 feet), the most dangerous of the 14ers.
A few miles to the east is Mount Eolus, at 14,083 feet – actually the 32nd-highest of the 14ers. Close by are Sunlight Peak (14,059 feet) and Windom Peak (14,082 feet). After a while, you almost become blasé about 13,000-foot peaks. Colorado has 637 of them, way too many to mention, but hugely impressive, nonetheless.
The Rockies are a haven for snow-addicted thrill seekers. Some have climbed all 54 of the 14ers. Chris Davenport thought that wasn’t difficult enough, so he decided to climb up, then ski down all the 14ers. If you’ve got the time, check out his adventure.
I’ll point out some of the 14ers as we ride near them in the next few days.
***
On Silverton’s main street. (photo by Scott)
We continue north on US-550 to Silverton, a former silver mining camp, now designated a National Historic Landmark District – and the only incorporated municipality in San Juan County.
Silverton, at 9,308 feet, is home to the world’s highest Harley Davidson store. The store draws quite a few Harley riders, including us. “They want the T-shirt,” said store owner Jeff Murray, “and the only way they can get it is to come to Silverton.”
Nearby Silverton Mountain, six miles from downtown Silverton, is Colorado’s highest and steepest ski area, with un-groomed, no-easy-way-down expert terrain only. With more than 400 inches of snow each year, the resort describes itself as “all thrills, no frills … deep and steep.”
Silverton Mountain. Not for the feint-of-heart.
It has one chairlift that begins at the base elevation of 10,400 feet, and rises to 12,300 feet. For the truly adventurous, which is pretty much everyone who comes here, the ski area includes skiing all the way up to 13,487 feet. To get there, you can hike. Or, take a helicopter.
Because of the unpatrolled and un-groomed nature of Silverton Mountain, skiers are required to have avalanche gear: a beacon, shovel and probe. The ski resort is open December through April, Thursday through Sunday. Lift tickets are $59 for the day. Or, you can get an all-day heli-skiing pass for $999, which includes six “drops”.
Breakfast burrito at the Brown Bear Cafe in Silverton.
***
From Silverton, the remaining 25 miles of US Highway 550 are quite a thrill. This road, part of the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway, is known as the Million Dollar Highway. It’s one of the most scenic roads in the US – and one of the most perilous, according to dangerousroads.org.
Million Dollar Highway. Better bring your “A” game.
The Million Dollar Highway has steep cliffs, narrow lanes, hairpin curves, and few guardrails. On a motorcycle, it’s a thrill ride and a truly sphincter-tightening experience. I’ve ridden the road four times now, each time like Grandpa would. That’s how I roll. The Million Dollar Highway gets a little less frightening every time you ride it. Or not.
That’s Randy on the left side of the double yellow line, apparently convinced he’s riding in England or Australia. Photo shot from Dave’s helmet-mounted GoPro camera.
Though the entire stretch from Silverton to Ouray earns the Million Dollar designation, it’s really the 12 miles from the summit of Red Mountain Pass through the Uncompahgre Gorge to Ouray, where the highway gets its reputation.
The Million Dollar Highway goes over three mountain passes: Coal Bank Pass (10,640 feet), Molas Pass (10,970 feet), and Red Mountain Pass (11,018 feet).
It’s unclear exactly where the Million Dollar Highway gets its name. Locals disagree as to whether it is named for the millions of dollars of gold, silver and other minerals extracted from these mountains, the cost of building the road (reputed to be a million dollars a mile), or for the spectacular views.
Another one from Dave’s perspective, on the Million Dollar Highway. Note the gorge on the left the picture is awesome, but doesn’t convey the sphincter-tightening nature of the road.
***
Riding north from Silverton, we pass through the ghost town of Ironton. At one time, Ironton was a major transportation junction between Red Mountain and Ouray, in addition to having some of its own mines. Ironton sits at 9,756 feet, and is about two-thirds of the way from Silverton to Ouray.
Ironton: Not much here anymore, but it sure is beautiful.
In the winter, Ironton has cross country ski trails and hiking trails leading to beautiful vistas. In mining’s heyday, it was home to many miners who worked in the mines above town on the slopes of Red Mountain. In the late 1800s, two trains arrived daily in Ironton, coming from Silverton.
Ironton’s mines made their wealth from silver and lead, and eventually from gold. From Ironton, it’s only eight miles on US Highway 550 before we get to Ouray.
We arrive in Ouray with a sense of exhilaration and survival.
Exhale.
Scott shoots a selfie on Ouray’s Main Street — Highway 550.
Ouray, which sits at 7,792 feet, is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful mountain towns imaginable.
Ouray is called the “Little Switzerland” of Colorado for good reason.
Named after Chief Ouray of the Ute Indian Tribe, Ouray was originally established by miners chasing silver and gold in the surrounding mountains. Prospectors arrived here in 1875. At the height of its mining boom, Ouray had more than 30 active mines.
All of Ouray’s Main Street is registered as a National Historic District. Several buildings are listed on the National Register or Historic Places.
Today’s Ouray economy is based entirely on tourism. Ouray bills itself as the “Switzerland of America,” because of its setting at the narrow head of a valley, enclosed on three and a half sides by steep mountains. Much of the tourism is focused on ice climbing, mountain biking, hiking and off-roading in the San Juan Mountains.
The author, hiding under a hanging plant on Main Street in Ouray. Sarah: note the SPF 50 sun sleeves. #stylingrider (photo by Randy)
Ouray is considered the winter ice-climbing capital of the U.S. It has the world’s first ice climbing park, expanding on previously popular natural falls, with dozens of frozen waterfalls from 80 to 200 feet high along more than a mile of the Uncompahgre Gorge. The Ouray Ice Park’s slogan: “Get Your Axe in Gear!”
Get your axe in gear, at the Ouray Ice Park.
Ouray is also a popular destination for motorcyclists, as it marks the beginning (or end) of the Million Dollar Highway.
Randy enjoys a cup of chocolate carmel swirl ice cream before leaving Ouray.
***
We leave Ouray and continue north on US Highway 550. In 10 miles, we come to the town of Ridgway, which sits just below 7,000 feet. Ridgway was featured in the John Wayne movie, True Grit, and other western movies including How the West Was Won, and Tribute to a Bad Man.
One other thing about Ridgway: the Grammy Award trophy is manufactured here by Billings Artworks. The trophies are all hand-made, assembled and plated on site. The Gramophone trophy – Grammy for short – has been awarded nearly 8,000 times since the first Grammy Awards ceremony in 1959, and every single one of those Grammies was made here in Ridgway. Click here to read more about the Ridgway workshop that works all year long to produce the precious trophies.
Ridgeway is also known for having the only stoplight in Ouray County – at the intersection of US Highway 550 and Colorado Highway 62.
We stop at the light, then continue north toward Montrose, another 27 miles down the road. The city was incorporated in 1882, and named after Sir Walter Scott’s novel, A Legend of Montrose.
Montrose sits at 5,806 feet above sea level, and is considered a gateway to many spectacular areas in the Rockies. If you have time in Montrose, you can visit the Museum of the Mountain West, the Ute Indian Museum, or the Russell Stover Candy Factory.
You can also head east out of town and visit a nearby National Park, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. That’s our plan.
Dave risks life and limb, taking a selfie on the edge of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison gorge. Not for the faint of heart.
The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is only about 11 miles northeast of Montrose. To get there, we ride east on US Highway 50 for 6 miles, North on Colorado Highway 347 for 5 miles, and we arrive at the Park’s visitor center.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It’s a long way to the bottom.
The park gets its name (“Black Canyon”) because parts of the Gunnison River gorge receive only 33 minutes of sunlight a day. As a result, it’s often shrouded in shadow, causing the rocky walls to appear black. The steepness of its walls makes it difficult for sunlight to penetrate the canyon, which is known for crumbling rock and dizzying heights. It’s a haven for rock climbers. Experts only.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison. (photo by Scott)
The main attraction in the park is the scenic drive along the canyon’s south rim, which we explore for the next hour.
***
After staring at the canyon walls, we press on, riding east on US Highway 50 toward Gunnison.
Gunnison was named in honor of Captain John Gunnison, a US Army officer who surveyed for the transcontinental railroad in 1853. The city is home to Western State Colorado University, originally founded as the Colorado State Normal School for Children in 1901. A normal school is one created to train high school graduates to be teachers; its purpose is to establish teaching standards, or norms – thus the word “normal.”
But we never quite get to Gunnison. About 25 miles west of town, we reach the Blue Mesa Reservoir – along the Gunnison River – and take a detour.
The Blue Mesa Reservoir is the largest body of water entirely in Colorado.
A productive fishing day on the Blue Mesa Reservoir.
With 96 miles of shoreline, it’s the largest lake trout and kokanee salmon fishery in the US. It was the first large dam built along the Gunnison River.
At Blue Mesa Reservoir. Peace, Out.
When we arrive at the west end of the Blue Mesa Reservoir, we turn onto Colorado Highway 92, a twisty mountain road that snakes along the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. There are gorgeous views at seemingly every turn. We’ll be on Highway 92 for the next 52 miles.
Highway 92 is part of the West Elk Loop Scenic Byway (Difficult!) and is considered among the best motorcycle rides in Colorado, right up there with the Million Dollar Highway.
We peer down into the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River from a different perspective than what we saw earlier today. We’re now riding along the north rim. In the park a few hours ago, we rode along the south rim.
The road begins to straighten as it takes us past Gould Reservoir, Crawford Reservoir, and Crawford State Park – before we arrive in the town of Crawford.
It’s a tiny ranch town, perhaps best known for its resident rocker, Joe Cocker, who owned a 240-acre ranch here until his death in 2014. Called Mad Dog Ranch, it has a European-style, seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom, 15,873 square-foot home with a turret at the entrance.
Mad Dog Ranch is named after Cocker’s 1970 album, Mad Dogs and Englishmen. The ranch, if you care to visit it, is at 43405 Cottonwood Creek Road, about three miles east of Crawford.
Joe Cocker, rocking Woodstock.
At the time of his death nearly three years ago, Cocker had the place on the market for $7.85 million. With no buyers coming forward for several years, his estate tried unsuccessfully to sell it at auction. Earlier this year, it was on the market again. Asking price: $4,950,000. I scoured the internet far and wide, unable to find out conclusively if anyone had bought the property. Good news for you: it may still be available.
***
We continue north on Highway 92 for another 11 miles until we reach the town of Hotchkiss, our destination for the night. Hotchkiss calls itself the “Friendliest Town Around.”
Hotchkiss. Seriously?
It’s a town whose population is less than 1,000 – but it has the aptly named Hotchkiss Inn, and the awesome Zach’s BBQ for dinner. Sounds like a great place to park the bikes and get ready for tomorrow.
We’ll call it a day, despite our disappointment that Zach’s is closed on Monday’s. Boo-hoo.
Dinner at Tucker’s in Hotchkiss.. Two pizzas, a calzone, and (for Randy) chicken fried steak. Nobody is thrown under the dinner 🚌 bus. (photo by our server)
***
Day Four Summary: Two hundred fifty five miles, a million-dollar highway, seeing our first 14ers, and surviving one of the most dangerous roads in the world. We are awesome!
Click here to see today’s complete route from Durango to Hotchkiss.
We’re on our way to Sturgis!
Vroom, vroom.
***
Today in Bucket List History:
Bucket List Goal: “Take a Memorable Journey.”
Goal Achieved: On July 31, 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts take a three-hour ride on the moon in the Lunar Roving Vehicle, covering more than 17 miles. Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission to the moon, quite a trip in itself – lasting more than 12 days, and covering about 477,000 miles. Apollo 15 made 74 orbits around the moon – totaling 1,264,137 miles – while astronauts David Scott and James Irwin were on the moon.
Rain! All decked out in rain gear, ready to leave Flagstaff. Fortunately, bad weather only lasted 30 minutes or so, then it got hot again.
As I wake up this morning in Flagstaff, I think about the day’s ride. Three hundred ten miles, through hot, lonely, windswept, godforsaken deserts – hours and hours of nothingness on our way to the Rocky Mountains, one of the most spectacularly beautiful places on Earth.
Contemplating the ride ahead, I recall my first thoughts about a bucket list motorcycle trip. It began in Homer, Alaska, in July 2011.
Homer is known as the halibut fishing capital of the world, and the home of Tom Bodett – famous for his Motel 6 commercials: “We’ll leave the light on for you.”
It’s also called the “end of the road,” since Homer is where Alaska’s Route 1 comes to an abrupt halt, 538 miles from its beginning in Tok.
This small city on the Kenai Peninsula is where my idea for a bucket list ride began to crystallize six years ago. Walking through town, on a cold, rainy morning, we met three men and a woman on BMW motorcycles with Quebec (Canada) license plates. All were in their 60s, wearing soaked raingear and grinning ear to ear.
From Quebec, to Homer. Living large! (photo by John T)
Sarah and I stopped to chat with them, curious if they had their bikes shipped out west, or how they otherwise arrived in Homer. They were French-speaking native Quebecois, from Quebec City, about 165 miles northeast of Montreal, and 4,500 miles from Homer.
Their English was very broken, and yet, we had no difficulty understanding why they were in Homer.
Turns out several months earlier, one of the men in the group was diagnosed with some sort of end-stage cancer. Rather than just giving up on life, he decided to live. Really live.
He convinced his friends to join him in a ride from Quebec to the end of the earth, which they considered to be the northern reaches of Alaska. They had been on the road for something like six weeks, having the time of their lives, seemingly cheating death along the way. Hearing their story was an inspiration.
At the time, I had been on several week-long Harley rides, including two trips to Lake Tahoe and back. I thought I was pretty adventurous, but their ride made me realize what a slacker I really was. Hearing about their journey gave me the idea to, one day, ride to Alaska, or in Alaska, or somewhere quite far away.
I often wonder what happened to them.
Was there a miracle cure? Did they reach the Arctic Circle?
***
We leave Flagstaff, and the few remaining traces of Route 66 soon fade into oblivion. It’s a sad end to a great highway.
Route 66: riding into the sunset.
In the absence of Route 66, we’re on US Highway 89 for the next 48 miles. Highway 89 is a major north-south route, stretching for more than 1,250 miles. The southern section begins in Flagstaff and runs nearly 850 miles to the southern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The northern section runs from the northern entrance of Yellowstone National Park to the US-Canadian border in Montana.
Highway 89 is sometimes called the National Park Highway, as it links seven National Parks across the Mountain West. Sunset magazine calls it the greatest road on earth.
Because we’ll visit so many National Parks and National Monuments on this trip, you may wonder, what’s the difference? It can be quite confusing.
Colorado National Monument. Awesome!
Best I can tell, a National Monument is designated by the sole authority of the President of the United States, using powers conveyed by the Antiquities Act of 1906. The President can set aside for protection “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest” by the stroke of his or her pen.
A National Park is designated by an act of Congress. National Parks predominantly feature large expanses of America’s most unique and treasured lands.
The primary difference between National Parks and National Monuments is the reason for preserving the land. National Parks are protected due to their scenic, inspirational, education and recreational value. National Monuments have objects of historical, cultural and/or scientific interest.
That’s pretty much it.
There’s very, very little difference, other than the prestige conferred upon a Park, and the economic benefit to nearby communities because of the significantly higher number of visitors at National Parks, compared to National Monuments.
Yosemite National Park. Awesome, too.
Still confused? Here, here, here and here are some explanations you may find more enlightening. You choose.
***
Fifteen miles north of Flagstaff, we pass Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. The Monument was created in 1930 to protect Sunset Crater, the dominant peak in the area.
In 1887, John Wesley Powell was the first modern-day explorer of the area. He named the mountain Sunset Peak because of its distinctive red-brown patches formed by oxidized iron and sulphur. Powell is best known for making the first passage through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River.
As we pass Sunset Crater, off to the distance to the west is Humphreys Peak. At 12,637 feet, it’s the highest point in Arizona. Humphreys Peak is the highest of a group of extinct volcanic peaks known as the San Francisco Peaks.
A few more miles north, and we ride past Wupatki National Monument, rich in Native American ruins. Here, ancient pueblos (villages) dot red rock outcroppings across miles of prairie. Wupatki is one of several sites preserving pueblos of ancient peoples. The pueblos all have a distinctive red color and were made from thin, flat blocks of the local Moenkopi sandstone.
Wupatki National Monument
All of the dwellings were built by the Anasazi and Sinagua Indians during the 12th and 13th centuries. You reach Wupatki National Monument on the same loop road that passes Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.
***
In the parking lot at the Cameron Trading Post. Note the SPF 50 sun sleeves, Sarah!
Fifty miles after leaving Flagstaff, we arrive in Cameron, where you’ll find a gas station, restaurants, crafts stalls, and other tourist services for north-south traffic on Highway 89. In our case, the traffic (us) is northbound. Cameron, which sits at 4,200 feet, calls itself a trading post.
After a short hydration break, we continue north, then turn off on US Highway 160 toward Kayenta, 98 miles away. Highway 160 runs through the Navajo Nation, and is often called the Navajo Trail.
About ten miles before Kayenta is the turnoff from Highway 160 to Navajo National Monument, nine miles north on Arizona Highway 564. Navajo National Monument was created to preserve three cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan people. These villages date from 1250 to 1300. Unlike many US Parks where a drive-by can soak in the view-worthy stuff, it’s a three-to-five-mile hike to the cliff dwellings – a tough slog on a late July day with temperatures well over 100 degrees.
So, we press on to Kayenta, the only municipal-style government within the Navajo Nation. Kayenta has three motels, three gas stations, a handful of fast-food restaurants, an Ace Hardware, and a Navajo Arts and Crafts store.
The Navajo Nation is huge, covering 27,425 square miles, much of it in northeastern Arizona, where we’ve been the past few hours. It’s the largest land area retained by a US Native American tribe, slightly larger than West Virginia.
Still on US Highway 160, 80 miles east of Kayenta, we briefly cross into New Mexico, then turn northwest on New Mexico Highway 597 before the road abruptly ends. The half-mile long highway is the second shortest in New Mexico.
It ends in a good place though, at the Four Corners Monument, marking the point where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet – the third, fourth and fifth states on this trip. The monument is the only point in the US shared by four states, which is why this area is called the Four Corners region. Doh!
There’s a 45-minute wait in line, just to have your picture taken at the Four Corners Monument.
The Four Corners Monument, which attracts about 250,000 visitors each year, is maintained as a tourist attraction by the Navajo Nation. For a $5 admission fee, you can snap cheesy photos that’ll last a lifetime. Honestly, it’s little more than a photo op.
Hard to believe, but some people actually come here to cross it off their bucket lists. After taking photos and contorting your body to be in four states at once, you’ve done about all there is to do at Four Corners.
Was it worth the wait? Not really, but Scott took this photo anyway. I’m standing in Colorado, and those “goalposts” behind me are for flags. One has the Colorado flag, which is appropriate, since I’m now a Colorado resident. (photo by Scott)
As the only “quadripoint” in the US, it’s almost an accident of political geography. But is it in the correct place? Some cynics claim the Four Corners Monument is in the wrong spot.
And, this defense of the location, from the National Geodetic Survey.
You be the judge.
Canada’s Four Corners Point
Interestingly, Canada also has a four corners point, too. It’s where the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Territories meet.
There’s a three-foot high aluminum obelisk marking this extremely remote location. It’s hundreds of miles from any road or railway. Next time you’re there, send me a selfie.
There’s only one international quadripoint. It’s in the middle of the Zambezi River in southern Africa, where Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana all touch.
Eagerly awaiting your photographs.
***
After snapping our own photos at the Four Corners Monument in the US, we saddle up and continue east on US Highway 160. We enter Colorado, and cross the San Juan River. In a few miles, we reach Chimney Rock National Monument, an archaeological site that’s been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1970. Former President Obama made it a National Monument on September 21, 2012.
The rock itself is over 535 million years old, and offers a 75-mile panorama of the local area.
At Chimney Rock is the intersection of US Highways 160 and 491. We turn north on 491, which is also a continuation of Highway 160. The numbering is a bit confusing, but there aren’t many roads out here, so it’s pretty obvious we’re on the right track toward our destination: Durango.
At Ute Mountain Casino, waiting for massive thunderstorms to blow over. We had our rain gear on shortly after the photo was shot.
We are now on the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation, home to the Ute Mountain tribe. The Ute Mountain Tribe is one of three federally recognized tribes of the Ute Nation. As followers of this blog may recall, I’m a Ute, a proud graduate of the University of Utah (BS, Journalism, 1973). The name Utah is derived from the name of the Ute tribe.
To our left along the roadway is the Ute Mountain Casino, motto: “This is Your Lucky Day!” Among the things to do here, if you can believe their marketing materials – Stay, Play, Eat Meet, Park and Shop. We’re now about 11 miles south of Cortez, Colorado.
One more at the Ute Mountain Casino. That’s me at the far left, with arms raised. Go Utes! (photo by Scott)
Not much in Cortez, but it does have a unique claim to fame: a U-2 reconnaissance airplane made an emergency nighttime forced landing here in 1959 after an engine flameout at 70,000 feet. The airport was the only one in the area with a runway whose lights were on overnight.
The monument covers 176,000 acres. It’s part of the National Landscape Conservation System – consisting of 32 million acres set aside by the Bureau of Land Management to conserve, protect and restore nationally significant landscapes. The Canyons of the Ancients has more than 6,000 archaeological sites representing Ancestral Puebloan and other Native American cultures.
On the west end of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument is Hovenweep National Monument, which includes six groups of Ancestral Puebloan villages. Here, there’s evidence of hunter-gatherers as far back as 8,000 B.C. In 900 A.D., it’s believed that more than 2,500 people lived here.
The International Dark-Sky Association designated Hovenweep an International Dark Sky Park in 2014, making it a good place to stargaze – because there’s not much out here to get between you and the stars.
Hovenweep means “deserted valley” in the Ute language.
As you may have noticed, Arizona is a hotbed of National Monuments, primarily focused on archaeological preservation. You could spend weeks here just visiting the sites.
But we’ve been on the road for nearly 300 miles already today, so we push on, riding east on Highway 160. We pass our last National Park of the day, Mesa Verde National Park. It, too, protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the US, including 5,000 sites and 600 cliff dwellings. One of them, the Cliff Palace, is believed to be the largest cliff dwelling in North America, with more than 150 individual rooms and 20 kivas – rooms for religious rituals.
Cliff Dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park
The Ancestral Pueblo people made it their home for more than 700 years, from 600 to 1300 A.D.
Mesa Verde National Park has been a World Heritage Site since 1978, recognized for its exceptional archaeological relevance.
Continuing east on Highway 160, we pass through the towns of Mancos and Hesperus, and before you can say Ancestral Puebloans again, we’re in Durango, today’s destination.
Durango is named after Durango, Mexico – which was named after Durango, Spain. All three Durangos are sister cities. The word Durango originates from the Basque word Urango, meaning “water town.” Durango sits on the Animas River at an elevation of 6,500 feet.
The city was founded in 1879 by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway. The railroad arrived in 1881, constructing a narrow gauge line to haul passengers and freight to Silverton – and to transport silver and gold ore from the San Juan Mountains. The historic train has been in continuous operation since 1882.
Thrilling train ride: Durango to Silverton
For $85, you can board in Durango for the 3 ½ hour, 45-mile ride to Silverton. There, you’ll relax for 30 minutes before the return trip begins. The train’s top speed is 18 miles an hour.
Durango is also home to the SnowDown Festival, a historic downtown district, and Fort Lewis College. My good friend, Curtis Smith, originally from Soldotna, Alaska, once attended Fort Lewis College, where he was a walk-on player on the golf team. Curtis, originally part of the annual Alaska golf invasion to La Quinta, now works for Shell as a PR executive in the Washington DC area.
It’s a beautiful setting for a college, a motorcycle ride, or a movie. Parts of the 1969 film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, were filmed north of town along the Animas River, and scenes from the 1991 film City Slickers were shot in Durango. Best line in City Slickers: “We’re lost but we’re making really good time.”
We made pretty good time today, and now it’s time for dinner, a drink, and a good night’s rest before tomorrow’s ride on one of the most famous motorcycle rides in the US.
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But first, who do we bump into in Durango? My old friend, Randy Suhr. Bumping into old friends before dinner is getting to be a habit.
Followers of this blog will remember that I’ve ridden long-distance twice with Randy: in the Canadian Rockies in 2015, and last year on a tour of Utah’s National Parks. Here’s a little about Randy; if you already know him, feel free to skip ahead a few paragraphs.
Randy, at Athabasca Falls, in the Canadian Rockies.
Randy: After growing up in Republic, a tiny town 43 miles west of Kettle Falls, Washington., Randy found his way to Eastern Washington University in Cheney, where he received a bachelor’s degree in Radio and TV Management. Randy says his crowning achievement in Cheney was getting high with Arlo Guthrie. Seriously. Following graduation, he was hired by KOMO-TV in Seattle, in the shadow of the Space Needle. There, he worked in the production department and directed nightly newscasts. Randy often sat next to me in the control room and – incredibly – made me look like the genius I clearly wasn’t. Randy left KOMO in the mid-1980s to work at KNBC in Los Angeles, where the proximity to Hollywood allowed him pursue his dream of being a film director. After working on a number of films, Randy’s last 15 years in the entertainment business were spent primarily as a first assistant director on various TV sitcoms, including Everybody Loves Raymond and The New Adventures of Old Christine. Following his retirement in 2014, Randy and his wife, Jo, split their time between Phinney Ridge, near Seattle – and Poulsbo. Randy, who’ll be 64 next week, is riding his Kawasaki Vulcan 900, purchased just in time for this ride.
Randy, sneaking a beer at dinner tonight in Durango. Oh boy!
I haven’t seen Randy since we toured Utah’s National Parks last summer. Over dinner, we catch up, eat up, drink up, and talk about the ride ahead. It’s a get acquainted and get re-acquainted dinner. I’ve known Randy since 1983. I’ve known Dave since 2002. Randy and Dave have known each other since last year. And a few minutes ago, Scott and Randy met for the first time.
Team Sturgis is rolling.
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Day Three Summary: Three hundred ten miles, four states, through desert, past mesas and mountains, archaeological sites, boatloads of national monuments, and all the while, riding with an inspiration that began in Homer, Alaska six years earlier.
Click here to see today’s complete route from Flagstaff to Durango.
We’re on our way to Sturgis!
Vroom, vroom.
Dave having an appetizer before dinner. He thinks this photo is throwing him under the bus. What do you think?
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Today in Bucket List History:
Bucket List Goal: “Do Something Great for the Country.”
Goal Achieved: On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signs the Medicare bill, which goes into effect in 1966. Today, nearly 54 Americans receive Medicare benefits. (Full disclosure: I love Medicare!)
LBJ signs the Medicare Bill, 52 years ago. I love Medicare!
Riding With Gary 