We decided to get breakfast on the road. The trick with the long rides out here is to get some serious miles up before the heat and traffic get you. On really good road we pushed through Sheridan and about 90 minutes out of Cody came upon a little place called Emblem with a population of 10. I know how many people lived there because there was a sign at the town limits telling me this. This is such an American thing. I am always left wondering who goes around and counts heads. I assume it is based on the Census data but it still intrigues me - as in every time a person leaves, dies or is born do they get a new sign?
We were desperately in need of breakfast and from Emblem we rode through the little town of Shell and found their only Diner shut. This actually turned out to be a good thing because we found Dirty Annies in the middle of nowhere - and no - it was not a brothel.
What a place - both General Store and Diner. As we pulled in a local in a big ute pulled up and said it was the best place for breakfast within a hundred miles. My bet was that it was the ONLY place for breakfast within a hundred miles. But damn you could smell the grits and gravy from the car park.
Breakfast with coffee cost Bo and I $8 in total - that was a full cooked breakfast! It turns out that Dirty Annie was a real person and actually built the place after coming out of the hills having worked the land for most of her life.
From here we headed for the Big Horn Pass. The Big Horn pass was a pleasure to ride through. Great surface with nice sweeping bends that you just roll through. It took us into the Big Horn National Forest and a great stop just at the entrance to the forest. Here we were able to walk out into the river area where we could get close to the falls and some particularly superb vistas. I keep coming back to this time and time again. We have great scenery back home but you often have to get off the beaten track to access it. I know a lot of people like that and I can understand it but many people just drive past beautiful places and don't know they are there. Out here they serve it up on a beautiful highway so you can't miss it and you are there right amongst it.
From here we made for Devil's Tower. Years ago when I first saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind I was mesmerized by the sight of that great big mountain that the spaceship finally landed on. I remember thinking - wow - I wonder if that place is real.
Devil's Tower is sacred to the local Indian tribes. According to the native American tribes of the Kiowa and Lakota Sioux, some girls went out to play and were spotted by several giant bears, who began to chase them. In an effort to escape the bears, the girls climbed atop a rock, fell to their knees, and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them. Hearing their prayers, the Great Spirit made the rock rise from the ground towards the heavens so that the bears could not reach the girls. The bears, in an effort to climb the rock, left deep claw marks in the sides, which had become too steep to climb. (Those are the marks which appear today on the sides of Devils Tower.) When the girls reached the sky, they were turned into the star constellation the Pleiades. The real story as to how this geographic wonder was formed is much less interesting and scientists are still arguing over it. It is now a National Monument.
All I can say is it was worth the ride and there were hundreds of other bikers with us doing and thinking the same thing!
From Devil's Tower we rode about 70 miles to Sundance. We were getting closer to Sturgis and you could feel it. There were Harley's everywhere loaded to ride. At Sundance we stopped at the local Harley Shop and you guessed it - bought another T Shirt. Cool little place this in the middle of bloody nowhere. A band playing in the bar next door made me want to fall to drinking but we still had some riding to do to make Sturgis so I resisted.
From Sundance we pushed hard and skirted around the back of Deadwood arriving on the outskirts of Sturgis around 3.30 in the afternoon. It was hot, we were thirsty and ready to play. All we had to do was ride through Sturgis to the camping ground on the other side where we had two tents and cold beer waiting for us. Now that should be easy. Like hell! From 50mph we got down to 20 mph and then down to 10 mph and then down to 5 mph and then down to walking - the bikes were tyre to tyre two and three abreast and going hardly nowhere - and we still hadn't hit the township.
This turned out to be a real killer - so a word to those of you that want to do this. Aim to get to Sturgis before midday and even then be prepared for some delays. Still there was plenty to see as we strolled along. Each side of the street was packed full of people and the bar balconies were fully loaded. As we finally got into Sturgis itself they were already in full party mode downtown. Now this is only Sunday and the official rally doesn't kick off till tomorrow so Main Street was not cordoned off thank god - arriving in Sturgis on the Monday would not have been a good idea. As we slowly progressed my Harley started to really heat up. By now this thing was a 103 cubic inch rotisserie oven and my right inner thigh was just about ready to fall off the bone.
It took nearly three hours to travel the 15 miles from one side of town to the other and then on to Lamphere Ranch Campground. We pulled into the Camp General Store and while the girls got directions to our camp site I brought a chilly bin full of ice and two dozen beers. We rode through the camp which was filling up fast with tents and RV's. Right by a brand new shower block we found our tents. They were already up and had cots, pillows and blankets waiting inside. This is the way to go. No need to cart camping gear across the USA just bring a sleeping bag. Couldn't be simpler. Bo arranged this for us and she did a bloody good job. The big guy and I snuck around behind some nearby tents and found a large wooden picnic bench table that belonged to the campground. We quickly picked it up and lumbered back to our tent site with it. Got the beers - game on.
I have got to say that riding into that mayhem in Sturgis for the first time was bloody fantastic - AND - even if it did take a hell of a long time to get across town - AND - even if I did get third degree burns to my leg - it was worth every goddamn hot minue of it. It was worth it even more to be able to taste those first six or twelve ice cold Coors Lights in the late afternoon sun by our tent, but more importantly it was worth it the most to know - we were finally AT Sturgis! As the evening settled in I could hear the Doobie Brothers lighting up the stage at the nearby Buffaloe Chip.
(Postscript - we went back to the General Store for more beer - and then - we went back to the General Store for more beer. Wo oh ohhhh Listen to the Music...Wo Oh Ohhhhh Listen to the Music...We will sleep well tonight!)
(Additional Postscript - apparently I was drunker than I thought as Bo has just pointed out to me that the Doobies didn't play on the Sunday night - it was ZZ Top! They must have done a Doobies cover song! LTGTR)
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