Northward Ho; Day 3; June 12, 2011

We left Alliance, NE at 8:00 am.  It was 61 degrees under blue clear skies.  A great day to ride.

Our route today was Hwy 385 north all the way to Lead, South Dakota and we used Hwys 87 and 16 around Custer State Park.

Just south of Chadron, NE we rode through an area that looked very similar to the Black Hills area.  It didn’t last long, however.  We got gas and took a break at the junction of Hwys 385 and 79, 5 miles south of Hot Springs, SD.gas stop; junction of Hwys 385 and 79; 5 miles south of Hot Springs, SD

We rode through Wind Cave National Park and saw a lot of buffalo very close to the road.  They are big critters.Buffalo in Wind Cave National Park

We paid our $10 to ride the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park.  They provided each of our motorcycles with a colored band to show that we had paid and they were good for 7 days.  On the Wildlife Loop we saw donkeys,donkeys in Custer State Parkpronghorn antelope,prong horn antelope in Custer National Parkand a wild turkey or pheasant with babies tagging along beside the road.  It was a pretty ride but not a lot of wildlife to view.

Immediately upon leaving the Wildlife Loop of Custer State Park we found a nice picnic area for lunch.picnic stop

After lunch we went to ride Needles Highway.  It was a pay to ride part of Custer State Park, unbeknownst to me.  Carl and I had already disposed of our park pass bands that we got from the Wildlife Loop.  Mel, the HD boy, was the only one who still had his band on his bike.  Fortunately, the man at the entrance believed we already bought one pass and he gave us another for free.

Needles highway was beautiful,following two unknown motorcyclists on Needles Highwaybut it was a slow steep ride up a steady and steep grade.  My motorcycle started to over heat, just as it did last summer in Rocky Mountain National Park.  We stopped and I dicked around with it a bit and made it over Needles Highway.

We stopped for a DQ break in Hill City, SD before riding up to our rented cabin south of Lead, SD just off Hwy 85.Cabin south of Lead, SD; our lodging for two nights (June 12th and 13th)Nice digs!  Carl and I rode into Lead to pick up steaks, taters, and veggies that were cooked up for a dinner that was absolutely LARRAPIN good.

240 miles today with great scenery.

For pictures from today click on the following link: https://picasaweb.google.com/goldwinger.shawnee/NorthwardHoDay3061211?feat=directlink

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Colorado; Day 9; June 30, 2012

Image
The evening of June 29th we saw the play, “Is He Dead” at the Creede Repertory Theater ( http://www.creederep.org/ ).  It was very entertaining,  one of the better plays I’ve seen. When we drove away from Creede at 6:05 am it was 41 degrees.  A short distance south the temperature dropped to 39.  We tried soaking up the cold for what we knew would be a hot afternoon. We rode South Fork and then east to Alamosa.  From Alamosa we took a detour north up Hwy 17 to see the UFO Watchtower ( http://www.ufowatchtower.com/ ).  It is a place for UFO enthusiasts to go to watch for UFO’s.  The lady who runs the place said something about some sort of vortex existing on the property.  Weird stuff, even for an open-minded guy like me. If the UFO Watchtower wasn’t weird enough we saw a male driving a Jeep with eye lashes over the headlights at a gas station in Alamosa, CO.  Hopefully it was his wife’s Jeep and he was just gassing it up for her. We continued east to Walsenburg, LaJunta, and La
Read more

Florida Trip; Day 15

Image
At 7:30AM we drove away from Russellville, AR on a cold 25 degree morning. At least the sun was coming up. Our route was 7 north to Harrison; 65 north to Springfield, MO; I-44 west; 13 north to Clinton; 7 north to Harrisonville; I-49 north; I-435 west to Kansas in the KC area and home. Hwy 7 in Arkansas is a scenic route with hills and curves galore. We stopped several times for photos. On the south side of Bolivar, MO we enjoyed lunch at Smith's Restaurant. It was 39 degrees when we arrived home at 2:20 but we saw a high of 44. It was a good day for our final of the trip. We drove 330 miles today and the total trip mileage was 3,109. I only have 6 photos today but you can click here to see them -  Final Day Pics
Read more

My Last Ride

On January 11th, 2017, I departed on a ride to Kelli's Korner (Paradise, MO - near Smithville, MO) for lunch with four friends (Carl, Gary, Bill and Larry). It was a beautiful day, which was all the excuse we needed for a ride. I was leading the group and we were taking a long way there. Riding north on county road N, about 6 miles north of Hwy 152 and I-435, the road turned and I didn't. I exited the road into a field. Fortunately there were no fences, trees, rocks, oncoming cars, etc. I have no explanation for this except that I was out of it for awhile. I remember crossing the center line but I was looking down at that time, which is weird. I have no memory of seeing anything after that until I was laying in the field separated from my motorcycle. I do remember a sensation of tumbling but that is all. My first thought was to drive my motorcycle out of the field and get it cleaned up so Chris would not know what I did. What a ridiculous idea that was. After I'd been up
Read more