Day 2...Making Our Way to Rapid City

I was up early on Sunday morning ready to get back on the road so that we could get to Rapid City and do a few things around town. We had our coffee, headed over and fueled up at a gas station down the street and got on our way down I -90. The weather was chilly and it was sprinkling but not enough to justify rain gear. As we worked our way west the sky started looking wicked and there was the most insane looking Wall Cloud in front of us. The closer we got the more the wind picked up and the darker it became. Before we knew what was happening we were riding through the cloud. I can't even imagine how many mph the wind gusts were. There were moments when I thought that the bike was going to blow over but Dan kept her straight and steady and on the road. Thank God! I of course didn't get a photo of it so I found something similar on the Internet so you could see what it looks like.After making it through the Wall Cloud it began to rain so we pulled off the road and put on our gear. Other people were pulling over too and commenting on how wild the whole Wall Cloud experience was.

Back on the road we made a couple more stops for fuel and to relieve our aching butts a little. We both agreed that we probably won't be able to do the Iron Butt ride any time soon.

The closer you get to Rapid City the more beautiful the landscape becomes and em no...I have no photos of it...why? Who knows. But let me tell you it was beautiful. There was one moment that took my breathe away and Dan told me when we got to Wall that there was a moment when he got a little disoriented because of the beauty of what was in front of him. You come up over this hill and before you is the beginning of the Badlands and a beautiful river. It was a breathtaking view. I remember thinking to myself...is this Heaven? No it's South Dakota!

I'm sure everyone has heard of Wall Drug and if you have not there is something wrong with you. All along the interstate are billboards enticing you to stop at Wall Drug. The ones that make me smile are Free Ice Cold Water at Wall Drug and 5 Cent Coffee at Wall Drug. And you know what...both signs are still true even today! Well we of course stopped in Wall and found Wall Drug. It was fun and there were so many bikes and bikers there. It's really funny to observe the common folk who forgot to do a little research and didn't find out that the week they were going on their Badlands/Black Hills Family vacation was the same week as the Sturgis Rally. We had lunch in the Wall Cafe and enjoyed our free ice cold water and 5 cent coffee. We ventured through the rest of Wall Drug and hit some of the other shops. It's a fun place and I'm glad we stopped. I hadn't been there since I was a kid.

Back on the road, finally headed to Rapid City. In no time we are there...we found our hotel with ease...checked in...got unloaded and headed on over to Black Hills Harley Davidson. And once again...no camera. DUH! It's a huge dealership and they give you your first taste of rally fun. They had vendors everywhere...Drag Specialties, Vance and Hines, Kuryakyn, and Dunlap Tire Corp to name a few. We both spun the wheel at the Bud Booth and got a fun prize. I got Bud Beads(and I didn't even have to show anything) and Dan got a cap. We were there about a hour and decided to go down to the Convention Center to the Harley Davidson show. We got our HOG pins at the HOG Hospitality suite and looked around the show. There were some damn beautiful 2009 Harleys there.

We went back and forth on if we wanted to head into Sturgis and decided that we would save it for Monday. We were both seriously pooped and hungry so we rode around Rapid City...found some dinner and then headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

Here are a few pictures that Dan took at Wall Drug on Day 2.