Greg Writes:

Friday July 14th
The day began in Gordon Nebraska. We left the Jefco Inn and rolled north into South Dakota. The Jefco was a pleasant surprise, and for the 2nd year in a row we lucked into a really nice motel with quaint personal touches that really make us feel at home. Both of them, by the way, were in Nebraska. The problem with the chain hotels is that they are all so similar you can’t tell one from another. It’s nice when you find the Jefco Inns of the world.

After about 50 miles, we arrived at Wounded Knee, on a site in the Sioux nation. Wounded Knee, site of an 1859 massacre of mostly women and children by US Calvary forces, is a simple yet powerful place. For the first time on the entire ride, nearly all of our group was silent, or talking quietly in reverent tones as we wandered the trails among the gravesites, some with headstones, others with stacked rocks as grave markers. The obelisk marking the site is fenced off from the public, but this hasn’t stopped people from leaving many tokens of remembrance at the foot of the monument. If you’re anywhere near, go and experience the moment. If you feel nothing at all when you’re there, go ahead and choose the music for your service, you’re probably done.

While in Wounded Knee, we met David Whary, a super nice policeman in the Lakota Sioux nation. It turned out that he was from Pennsylvania, and had been on the job in South Dakota about 5 years. We made sure he had enough kazoos for his 6 children and some of their friends. While we were at the monument itself, David drove up to chat again and gave us a donation for the ride. We wish David safe travels, and hope to meet him again sometime.

To get to the monument site, one has to either walk or ride up a powdery dirt rutted road, which means to leave the site, one has to either ride or walk down the rutted dirt road. Happily, no incidents occurred as we rode off the hillside and turned west towards Pine Ridge and then Hot Springs. I’d highly recommend Highway 18, it’s a really nice ride.

We had lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Hot Springs, Mi Cocina. The Burrito Supreme was nothing less than superb. I tried to practice my muy mal, muy poco Spanish, but the hostess didn’t speak a word of Spanish. I went next door and got some of the 1-page tourist maps and passed them out. We decided on the afternoon’s route, and headed back out after lunch.

First up, the Custer State Park Wildlife Loop. We saw bison, some of the biggest hawks I’ve ever seen, antelope, turkeys, a plethora of prairie dogs, and the semi-wild burros. Matt noted that the youngsters in the burro herds were burritos. Some folks in a white truck were feeding the burros right on the road, which caused quite a traffic jam for a few minutes.

After the Wildlife Loop, we headed up one of my favorite roads, the Iron Mountain Road. Absolutely perfect riding conditions, and three tunnels give three successive views of Mount Rushmore. The curves were sweeping and smooth, and the relief from the constant heat was welcome as we climbed up and up before cresting and heading back down.

Mount Rushmore was imposing and impressive as always, but the biggest draw for our group was the ice cream stand in the food services building. David treated us, and we all pretty much had brain-freezes after a few minutes. We all wandered for a while, and then gathered back at the entrance to Flag Avenue. A group shot later, we left for Rapid City, a most excellent meal at the Golden Corral, courtesy of Super-Manager Mary, and then about 12 of us headed over to Flags and Wheels for a round of screaming-fast go-carts to finish off the day.

Bill writes:

We're all excited about getting to Rapid City today. It's an easy day at only 200 miles. We got another early start to try and beat the heat, at least for an hour or two. The morning rides have been the best as we're all refreshed and the temperatures are tolerable.

Our first stop today was Wounded Knee, SD. It's about 35 miles north of Gordon. There's a marker there put up by survivors and relatives of those killed here. It sits amidst a small community cemetery. There is very little to see. You should go there anyway.

Then we were on the road headed for Hot Springs. This is the town where we had a great lunch last year in a Mexican restaurant. To our delight it was still there. We had a leisurely lunch and planned out the rest of our day.

Mike Sapsis has been having some trouble with his left eye and he bought an eye patch in Gordon. He's been named the official pirate for the rest of the trip. It's hard to get anything out of him now except for an occasional "Aaargh, Matey."

Our trip through Custer State Park was fun but we didn't see as much wildlife as we had last year. Most of the buffalo are staying away from the open fields and hanging around the water holes because of the heat. We did see lots of deer, antelope and pronghorn sheep. They all had young ones with them.

After that Mike and I headed for Rapid City and the rest went up to Mt. Rushmore. We all met up again for dinner at the Golden Corral. After dinner we went to the Go-Kart track for a couple of quick laps before they closed. We all decided that Henry was the best rookie driver around. His dad wasn't too shabby either.

Tomorrow morning we lose Rob and Scott as they head off to Seattle and back to work. Several of the bikes will be headed into the shop for some needed minor repairs and I'll get some much needed laundry done.

It's great to finally be here but it's also hard knowing that once we're finally here people will begin to start heading home soon. Most of us will be leaving on Sunday morning. But there's still Saturday.

Be well
Bill