Our "Day Off"......

Okay...our first REAL "day off" (without relatives nor with miles to put on the bike)......so what do we do? We ride 177 miles (for those of you with an abacus, we are now over 3k miles...)....so how did this happen....

On our day off - you NEVER know where it could end up!!!

Well it all started innocently enough as Jeanette and I were sitting in the motel room. This is one of the worst hotels we have stayed at - the accomodations ......well, I don't want to say they suck, but they are not the best - but I don't want to dwell on that.... so we decided to go to a little breakfast place about 10 miles away called The Millstone here in Spearfish, SD......
FYI - last night it poured and thundered and lightning-ed (is "lightning-ed" a word??) - any rate it was a terrific storm - but when we woke up this morning - it was GEE-oor-geous outside.... so we thought we would just go out for a quick spin.
We headed out for breakfast (sorry - we didn't take photos) but it was a nice place - like a slightly upscale Dennys. Afterwards, we saw there was a "Hwy 14" - so we just turned down that....GREAT "mistake" - as it was a beautiful, curvy road - and being that it was Saturday morning, there was not a lot of truck traffic - but there were a lot of walkers, bikers and motorcycles out....matter of fact - this morning, we saw more motorcycles (and 4-wheel ATV's) on the road than we saw cars......

Our "route" for the day....all within South Dakota

We continued down Hwy 14 for about 25 miles - and then it hooked up with Hwy 85 - which takes you into the old mining town of Lead, SD. This is where we stopped and got photos of "mama bear" and Jeanette with "baby bear"....

mama bear....

Jeanette posing with "baby bear" just outside of Lead, SD

Well, once we got into Lead, we drove through the town and I saw a sign that said something like "Mt. Rushmore 39 miles away" - so we decided to head over there after all - and once we got within striking distance, we saw that Crazy Horse was only a few more miles away - so we decided to go there first.....
The cost was only $5 per person - and that was pretty good (and I know most of the Indian Casinos are going broke, right??? so I figured they needed the money)...anyrate, they had a beautiful "visitors center" with a lot of junk for you to buy (at first, I thought some of it was "art" - but I think most of it is for sale....)....but it was some cool stuff and it was nice to see all of the items they had on display. Jeanette did buy herself some turqoise earrings....but it did have some neat stuff....

I don't know what this is made out of - 
or what its function is....
but apparently it is called a "PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH" 
as that was the only sign that was anywhere near it.....

As with all of the art, the photo doesn't do it justice.  
The Indi....oops..."native American" was lifesize as was the horse 
and several other items in this display.  
The horse is wearing all beaded items (including the saddle 
and bridle)....all kidding aside, this was a beautiful display....

This is the original "baby carriage" - 
to hold the little papoose while mama was doing all the work....

They had several teepees or wigwams on display...
this one was outside on the scenic deck.

Here is what the monument looks like now.....
(to be completed in 10-15 years - 
depending upon the house odds on the casino 
(and I am kidding - there is no casino there....)). 

Okay, look close - I tried to be real creative 
and show you the scale model projection of Crazy Horse - 
and in the background is the memorial as it stands today - 
so you can kind of get an idea of what it will eventually look like.

A braver soul would say something about a squaw right about here
.....alas, I was never a brave soul.... 

Great.....Crazy Horse and Whacky Wade....

So we doubled back a few miles - and went to Mount Rushmore. The drive up there (and back) is very pretty and nice and curvy - so it was fun on the motorcycle (again, I was "passed" by little old ladies in minivans with their sewing circle in the back seat).....so when I say "fun" I mean "low speed fun."
But there were not a lot of crowds - it cost $11 for us both to get in (again....STILL cheaper than the Laura Ingalls Wilder "House".....what a joke!)....but it was pretty impressive to see it...

Each State has it's own "side of a pole"
 on the walk up to the Memorial....
Here Jeanette is standing under the Ohio 
(the flag is flying above her head - I missed that on the shot...) 
- but as we were standing there....some guy and his wife came up and said
 "O-H" - to which we promptly replied "I-O!"  
They were from Akron - and we got a kick out of it....

We took several photos - and they all looked like postcards
....but this was a great monument. 
The one thing I can't believe they haven't done is to put up a 
photo place (and charge for it of course) - where you could stand there 
and it would look like your head is "amongst" all the other presidents...

So after our brief stop at Mt. Rushmore, we decided to go to the "Biker's Mecca..." Sturgis, SD.  It was on our way home.....

So we rode into town and stopped at the Harley Shop - so I could get a "Sturgis" Pin (even though I don't ride a Harley - and probably never will - I still like the pins)....

B-B-B-Bad......Bad to the Bone.....

Then we went to the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum.....it was $5 per person to get in - it was a little small, but they did have some interesting motorcycles and associated items....

One of the things that Jeanette and I got a kick out of 
was this motorcycle that had over 1 Million miles on it...
from the front it didn't look too bad - but (as you can see in the next photo) 
Jeanette went and looked at "the cockpit" and started laughing....

The seat was ratty, the handlebars were basically 
electricians tape - it was in REALLY rough shape....
but hey, I would be happy if I could get 200,000 miles out of my bike! 

And Jeanette found what she wanted for OUR next bike
.....although I would have to ensure that the side car 
has air conditioning, plush seats and a DVD player.....

After we finished the tour of the museum, it was close to 2 pm - so we decided to get lunch at one of the local steakhouses....The Easy Rider Saloon.....it was pretty good.....it even had some buffaloes out front...

Jeanette - in front of the Easy Rider Saloon....
Since I already made the crack about the squaw- 
I won't say anything about a "saloon girl" either.....

This is lunch....(and dinner - we brought most of it home)
......but again.....
 - IT IS NOT A PRETTY SIGHT - 
......however it is part of the food chain!!

So that was our "day off". Tomorrow, we will be packing up and be off to tour more of South Dakota and a little slice of North Dakota.....
We hope you are enjoying sharing our adventures!!
Wade and Jeanette
GNTNYCGTB LY <3