The Road to Rapid City and Sturgis

Monday morning I was up with the chickens. The anxious feelings I was having had gotten the best of me and I think I was showered and dressed by 5:30 am. I went down to the hotel lobby and checked my e-mail and other internet things, waiting for Dan to get up and around. When Dan was ready to go we went to the hotel restaurant and ate our complimentary breakfasts. It was funny because on the menu it was titled the "Senior Breakfast". That cracked me up and I said to Dan that we were honorary "Seniors" for the morning. After breakfast we loaded up the bike, talked to a really cool biker from Ohio, and finally took off for Mecca!

First stop along the way was 1880 Town. We didn't pay to go through the museum but I did take some pictures of the bikers that were stopped there for gas and a little bit of rest.

There was a lot of construction this year on Interstate 90. I do have to give South Dakota a huge compliment though...they have really great roads. I don't think we experienced a bad one the entire trip. The next stop on the journey to RC/Sturgis was none other then Wall Drug. We ate lunch, picked up our free Wall Drug bumper sticker, and then went on a little exploration of the area we didn't get to last year. We forgot to see Wall Drug's Backyard.





We made it to Rapid City and checked into the luxurious Motel 6 for our 4 day stay. This year our room was cleaner so I didn't worry about bed bugs near as much. lol I convinced Dan to ride into Sturgis for a little while to check things out. I couldn't just sit in Rapid City knowing what was only 25 miles away. Thank God he agreed or I would have had to ask for a ride from another biker. As we decended onto Sturgis I was ready to sit in line to get into town for about a 1/2 hour. Nope...zip...zing...right into town. Found a parking place and made our way to Main Street. Our first stop was the Sturgis Webcam where I called my folks and waved at them. They kept telling me that it was really good to see us on the cam. After that we walked up and down Main Street and took a few pictures.








Going east on Main Street I noticed a black building. I was all excited when I realized that it was a mock club house from the Son's of Anarchy. I'm so excited for season 2 to begin in September. Should be a great one!





Dan and I were both very beat so we headed back to Rapid City. Went to Walmart and got some food for the cooler. Went back to the motel and relaxed with a couple beers and Dan smoked a cigar. It felt so good to be there again. We watched the bikers riding west to Sturgis. I felt at ease again. My anxious feelings had finally left me. I was finally there...finally in the place that makes my heart sing. Finally home with my fellow brothers and sisters that understand my wild heart and obsession for riding! Home Sweet South Dakota!

The Ride Home...

Thursday, August 7th we got on the road headed back east toward the great state of Iowa. We got to Wall and stopped for breakfast at Wall Drug. Blonde's love Wall Drug and they also love hanging out with good looking bikers.

The next stop was Oacoma, SD and Al's Oasis.


We made it to Mitchell, SD about 4:00 and decided to tough it out and ride to Sioux Falls and stay the night there. I'd like to thank the biker chick at the gas station that told us the exit to take in Sioux Falls to find a hotel to stay at. We stayed at a Sleep Inn and it rocked.

Along the way I had plenty of time to think about things. I kept thinking how tough and strong biker women are. It takes a lot to sit on a tiny pillion seat for miles and miles and not bitch about it at all. A trip like the ride to Sturgis is a test of how strong willed you are and how much you can take a long the way. If you have ever ridden any distance you can attest the fact that it is an endurance thing. Everytime I saw a bike on a trailer I felt sorry for it. It was like it was crying out...RIDE ME...why aren't you riding me like the people are riding that bike??? LOL...if motorcycles on trailers could talk that is seriously what they would be saying!! It's very spiritual to me being out in the elements...feeling the wind, feeling the rain, smelling all the smells, hearing all the noises of nature. You never experience that kind of freedom in a car. Not even with all the windows rolled down. When you look down at the road and watch the center dividing lines fly by it's a rush. I bet it's even more of a rush riding your own and that will happen for me one of these days but for now I'm somewhat content riding two up.

I thought about all the cool people I met on this trip. I thought about how thankful I am to be able to freely ride to Sturgis and enjoy it so much. I said some prayers for our troops. I thought about how much I miss my family back in Iowa and that I need to spend time with them. I thought about my 40th birthday that is coming up way too soon. I thought about getting a tattoo. I thought about all of my blogger friends and thought about us all getting together next year. I thought about what I was going to write here. I thought and thought some more about so many things and finally we arrived home on Friday, August 8th....Home Sweet Home. 1749.6 miles and we were back where we started the Saturday before.


I spent Saturday really pretty depressed. I missed being in Sturgis...I missed all the bikes and the people. I even cried and that's when Dan said to me...Stephanie...only 51 weeks to go until the next one and we are there! That cheered me up big time.

Thanks for following my trip along the way. It was fun posting all the pictures I took on my phone at various points along the trip. I really do hope that the Motorcycle Blogging Family that we've created can get together next year and enjoy the 69th Anniversary Sturgis Rally together.

Much love!! IHG :)

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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.