Badlands, Black Hills, Devils Tower

June 14, 2006
Badlands to Morecroft, WY 318 mi


Get up before sunrise, try to take early morning pictures of the Badlands but the sun and clouds don’t cooperate. Take the back road into WALL DRUG, and what a store it is. The store takes up more than a city block and has all types of stuff, from old fashion hard candy to taxidermied Turduckins. This thing was a mix of turkey tail, duck body and chicken head all taxidermied into one bird.
Black Hills
Head down to the road to the Black Hills where I cruzed a long lazy loop to the south then back up the center on small roads. There were wild mules feeding in the woods, Buffalo walking the hill tops. Drive through solid stone tunnels in the hillside on winding, twisting roads. As I head up past Mt. Rushmore I see a guy on the side of the road hiking back up the hill trying to hitch a ride and carrying a full gas can. No one s stopping for him so I stop and asks if he wants a ride in the sidecar. His face lights up in a big smile and he said that he always wanted to ride in a sidecar. I gave him a ride to his car about 4 miles way, he thought it was pretty cool to show up to where his wife and kids were waiting for him on a motorcycle.


Sturgis
A dead town with many empty stores – if not for the annual Harley Motorcycle rally I don’t think that it would even be on the map. Pick up some Sturgis Fire Department T-Shirts.
Another hot day
Lunch of a Cesar salad and a bottomless cup of ice cold lemon aid.

Devils Tower
Mary Lou and I had climbed Devils Tower years ago. I had to stop by and take a look at it again. The lady at the entry gate was a grandmother that had taken this summer job to keep busy and she wanted a ride in the side car but she still had to work another hour till closing. I almost got her to sneak off the job and go for a ride to the top with me.


Find a small motel in Morecroft, the hotel owner had a hyperactive puppy called Banjo, who loved everyone. To my surprise when I go out for a walk around the corner to the store I found myself in the same town that I had stopped in last Sunday morning.