Monthly Archives: August 2018

Motorcycles

Before I go much further about our journey, let’s turn attention to the topic of motorcycles.  Yes, that’s me – way back in Sweetwater, Tennessee at the Caverns.  It was in the parking lot and I thought it would be funny to send a photo along to Adam, telling him I’d just bought it.  He believed me.  Bless his little heart – he gives me a lot more credit for chutzpah than I actually deserve.  I will say, though, that there is a part of me that WISHES I could drive that beauty.

Little did I know that this flirtation with a motorcycle would be a foretelling of a theme in our trip.  Not long after entering South Dakota – early in August, we started to notice a lot of motorcycles on the road.  The further West we got, the more there were.  Bob mentioned that there was a BIG RALLY coming up in a town called Sturgis – and that maybe we’d drive up through the town and check it out. HAHAHAHAHA.

By the time we arrived in the Badlands, they were EVERYWHERE.  Hundreds became thousands.  When we arrived at the funky town of Wall (known to everyone in the world, apparently, as the home of Wall Drug Store), the entire Main Street was blocked off from all traffic other than MOTORCYCLES. That became the rule in every little town we visited. And along the scenic routes were churches with open doors, huge tents with BBQs, every restaurant, every bar, all with welcoming open arms the throng of bikers.

 

 

 

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At first, I thought ‘this is kind of cool’ – fun, I said.  Then, as we headed to the Black Hills, there were even more.  I learned that this Rally attracts about 1/2 million bikers.  Seriously.  So, Mount Rushmore and the scenic routes – and every campground – were packed with folks decked out in boots, leather, studs, Sturgis tees, sometimes their dogs riding in the back.  Our fanciful idea of checking out the Rally in Sturgis was soon tossed aside and we made tracks for Wyoming.

 

As we arrived in Hulett for a much anticipated visit to Devil’s Tower, we looked down into the parking lot and said, in unison, “They’re here”.  After our close encounters with them at Devil’s Tower, we pretty much left them behind as we headed for Yellowstone.

Cody, Wyoming

Well onto the other side of Big Horn – we are in a vast (seems to me, anyway!) Prairie.  LOTS of Sage Brush.  undulating hills with some cattle, goats, horses, occasional oil wells, grass.  Space – with images of mountains ahead.  We decided to stop in Cody before heading into Yellowstone.  No expectations – but then a dear friend mentioned there is this museum.  Why not? So, turns out it is a fabulous museum – the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.   It really consists of several museums under one gorgeous roof – one of the most beautiful museums I’ve ever seen. The Natural History Museum is structured in a gently rising circuitous design – with each level dedicated to the seven ecoregions found in Wyoming.

Sounds of native birds, wolves, fabulous exhibits of underground structures created by Prairie Dogs, Eagle nests, a tutorial on wildlife in this part of the world – all in an exquisitely designed structure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Art Museum boasts the great sculptors and painters of Western art, including extraordinary Native American subjects and heroes and lots of American Cowboy art.


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There is a special exhibit of the great sculptor Remington which is based on the actual studio from New Rochelle New York, where he did so much of his  best work.

We were fortunate to be here to see a visiting exhibit of Albert Bierstadt and many of his best works featuring Western themes.

There is a wing dedicated to Buffalo Bill, the Plains Indian, and Firearms.  The exhibits are glorious – but truly, the setting of this magnificent building is the master frame for the art.  Worth a day.

 

 

 

 

And after indulging in the musem, a nice walk in the beautiful city park was  in order- a lush carpet of soft green grass, a fantastic amphitheater, miniature golf, picnic tables and pavilions, all among spectacular spruce and cottonwood trees.  The City has this feeling of being loved, well tended and maintained.  Alkali and Beck  Lakes run next to the main road, one of which is a breeding ground for many birds, some migrating – including the White Pelican and Loon.  Lovely City buildings and charming homes, beautiful schools, nice restaurants, and a rodeo every night!  What a great City.

Time passes…..and now it’s August!

I had forgotten that I’d started to write about this trip – way back at Cape Canaveral at the end of June.  Here it is August 10.  So much has happened that I am hoping I can remember most of it – at least the highlights.  It might help me to go backwards!

So, here we are in a little town called Moreland, Wyoming.  We’re in a small campground for the night, on our way to Cody.  The drive from Devil’s Tower today was through Big Horn National Forest.  We climbed to 9,666 feet before the road began its steep twists and turns, plummeting to a mere 4,000 feet.  Gorgeous.  Scary.

But let’s go back to Devil’s Tower.  This was on my ‘list’. Introduced to the iconic national monument via the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, I have felt drawn to the place ever since – over 40 years ago.  As you drive toward the location – through fields and hills – from South Dakota, you start looking for it.  And then, suddenly, there it is.

 

Alone in its magnificence.  Not an awful lot on the way – a couple of small (REALLY SMALL) towns, that’s about it.  The campground is literally at Devil’s Tower, on the sight where (in the movie) the military was stationed to protect the covert operation at the top of the Tower.  A couple of the buildings are there still – the Post Office and a long, tan building that is now the Devil’s Tower Trading Post.  We drove up the mountain – about 3 miles – to the Visitor’s Center.  It was packed with ‘tourists’, primarily motorcyclists from the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.  More about that later.

For those able, there is a walking path around the base of the Tower – about a mile.  I was happy just to take photos and drink in the energy of that remarkable edifice.  There are several stories about how it was formed – but I like the one about the huge bear that was trying to get to the people on the top – hence the claw-like marks all around the sides.  Why not?
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On the road up, there is a large field which is home to who knows how many Prairie Dogs.  I wasn’t content to watch them from the road; I walked down one of the paths into the field and they didn’t seem to mind.  In fact, I sat down on the ground and several of them came around to check me out.  Adorable little creatures, crafty enough to build their underground homes, replete with flood shelters – air trapped spaces where they can go in case their homes fill with water.  Smart.  They like to make their chattering little sounds and they kiss a lot.  I was smitten.

Back to the mountain.  I couldn’t make just one trip up there, so returned at sunset – and was rewarded with quiet and the colors painted on the Tower by the setting sun.  No, I did not have any encounters with kindly creatures from another galaxy.  But, I felt the energy of the space.  The spirituality of it.

It is a sacred place to local Indian Tribes and you can feel why. Perhaps endowed with some mystical qualities of its own.  Perhaps simply reflecting the adoration bestowed on it for centuries.

Either way, it is a very special place.