Today we decided to pay homage to the great Motorcycle Mecca, Sturgis. Every year, bikes and bikers of all shapes and sizes, but mostly Harleys, gather for a day of comradery and debauchery. And Al really wants to go. He has a friend who goes, so he may join them next year. He especially loves the story his friend tells of getting gas when 2 women rode up on Harleys, and they were only wearing boots. Not a stitch otherwise. I’m so damn practical that all I could think about was how that would chaffe.
Anyway, Sturgis is a small town and is pretty calm the rest of the time. It’s hard to imagine a few hundred thousand or more bikes in this little town.
Afterwards, we headed into Deadwood. Famous for the shooting of Wild Bill Hickock and the home of Calamity Jane, Deadwood is now a gambling district. The buildings try to be true to the town, but I couldn’t help feeling like I was on a movie set.
This was even more evident when we went to Kevin Costner’s place, The Midnight Star.
We walked around and looked at all the memorabilia from his movies, then had a great lunch, (well, I did—All had buffalo) and an even better drink, a martini with pomegranate liquer and vodka.
After buying Al the most gorgeous leather jacket ever, we headed over to Boot Hill, or Moriaha Cemetery to be exact. This is where Wild Bill and Calamity Jane are buried (Jane wanted to be buried next to Wild Bill).
It’s a lovely cemetery with a lovely view of the Deadwood and the mine in Lead.
Next, we headed to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. It was only a little over an hour a way, so it seemed a shame to miss it.
And it was worth the trip because it is spectacular. Many of you will recognize it from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. And like all the other dorks, you’ll stand looking at it humming those notes.
This was shot in the rearview mirror as we were leaving Devil's Tower
We were pretty much exhausted by this point and it was time for dinner, so we headed to an Indian restaurant called Curry Masala, which I had read about in a tour guidebook. Then we watched another glorious full moon.
