Carolina Biker News - December 2007 Issue
On The Road With Nancy and Jeff
By: Nancy Plumblee

Completing the loop…. After spending the night in Fort Collins, Colorado we rode through Cheyenne, Wyoming and continued north eventually stopping at a rest stop in Wyoming where a group from the Christian Motorcyclists Association was giving out refreshments to the travelers. What a way to witness! We enjoyed the visit with them and then headed into South Dakota to check out Custer State Park – a beautiful ride with lots of wildlife. It was frightening to be as close to some of the buffalo as we were when they were being so protective of their young. We actually saw one of the bulls charge at a motorcycle in front of us and missed it by only a few feet. We came back to Newcastle, Wyoming to spend the night.

We packed our days rather full and Crazy Horse monument was our first stop the next morning – a monument dedicated to honoring the Native American Indians and is a work in progress that was started in 1948. 

Many other bikers were climbing Iron Mountain as we were and at the top we stopped to pet some wild donkeys. A hailstorm jumped on us and in just a few minutes the ground was covered with giant balls of hail. We had our helmets on and were clustered under a tree but at first some people were running around hollering as the hail pinged them on the head. It really was funny. About 20 minutes later the hail had melted enough for us to travel on.  Needles Highway was next and I guess it got its name from the high spikes beside us as we passed through the “eye” of the needle. We ate outside with a wonderful view of Mt. Rushmore before heading back to Newcastle.

Badlands here we come – Area so dry and barren you wonder why you came here but there is a beauty that is hard to explain. There is no place to get anything to drink and it takes hours to go through but worth doing one time! The thermometer on our bike showed 118 degrees.

You cannot come into this area without going to the Wall Drug Store. The Wall Drug Store got its start during the Depression years by offering free ice water to thirsty travelers. Even still they strive on giving friendly service to the public and have lots of touristy treasures to buy.

The final leg of our trip brings us into Lead, SD where we stayed for several days. – a small town just outside of Deadwood and about 15 miles from Sturgis. Deadwood and Lead were true little western towns with saloons and stores that looked like movie sets and Sturgis was, well…Bikes EVERYWHERE! While in Sturgis we went to the legendary Buffalo Chip Campground and had a pitchfork fondue supper where our steaks were put on pitchforks and cooked in a large vat. We were served in an old barn and ate in the barnyard but it was a very delicious meal. There were so many little events that made this such a great trip.  If you get the opportunity to go “out west” jump on it. Check out some of these areas and make a path of your own. The memories are a real treasure.