Hi all,
Apologies for missing a few posts... Things have been very busy and phone power is hard to come by at the moment. Since the last one we have travelled from Sioux falls into the badlands and out again.
Pretty hard to describe what we saw there, it is both beautiful and haunting to stop at the outlooks before anyone is on the road and look over lands which proved impassable for so long. Great to ride through but can only imagine the troubles that the badlands brought for the first farmers in the area. It would be a real struggle to navigate without a road! Will have pics below soon.
Pretty hard to describe what we saw there, it is both beautiful and haunting to stop at the outlooks before anyone is on the road and look over lands which proved impassable for so long. Great to ride through but can only imagine the troubles that the badlands brought for the first farmers in the area. It would be a real struggle to navigate without a road! Will have pics below soon.
Not more than 60 miles away lies the only remaining minuteman launch station accessible to the public. During the peak of the cold war there were hundreds of these silos with nuclear weapons ready to launch within 30 minutes of notice (the missiliers called it the '30 minute guarantee'). Quite a sobering thought to know that the fate of the world was essentially in the hands of a few kids confined to a square box underground in South Dakota. One single missile had the total power of 60% of all ordnance dropped in WWII and each control station could launch ten missiles with over a 1000 in service at the peak of the cold war... Crazy.
We are definitely in country America at the moment, lots of 2nd amendment shirts and yesterday I saw a massive billboard that said 'Help control wildlife, wear fur!' Might buy myself a coon hat to do my part... Other highlights of the badlands area was Tim getting bitten by a prairie dog and the Wall drug store. I have never seen a town whose economy solely depends on tourist shops selling cheap shit!
By this point, the roads are swamped with bikes, literally thousands in every direction. Rumour has it that Sturgis will have a million bikes pass through it over the next week or so and it certainly felt like it when we rode through the city yesterday. Absolute grid lock and stand still traffic on hot Harley's for over an hour, not pleasant but something that had to be ticked off the list.
We are in Buffalo Chip now with our first night over. Clear skies and good weather which is great as I'm not sure our tent would hold up in a storm.
This place is unbelievable, kind of reminds me of Neverland from Peter Pan, but all the lost boys are now adults and the girls certainly don't dress like they did in the film! Don't seem to be many rules at all and last night I was buying shots from a woman on stilts who would tilt your head back while standing over you, pour a shot in your mouth and then slap you across the face when it was over.
By this point, the roads are swamped with bikes, literally thousands in every direction. Rumour has it that Sturgis will have a million bikes pass through it over the next week or so and it certainly felt like it when we rode through the city yesterday. Absolute grid lock and stand still traffic on hot Harley's for over an hour, not pleasant but something that had to be ticked off the list.
We are in Buffalo Chip now with our first night over. Clear skies and good weather which is great as I'm not sure our tent would hold up in a storm.
This place is unbelievable, kind of reminds me of Neverland from Peter Pan, but all the lost boys are now adults and the girls certainly don't dress like they did in the film! Don't seem to be many rules at all and last night I was buying shots from a woman on stilts who would tilt your head back while standing over you, pour a shot in your mouth and then slap you across the face when it was over.
Until next time,
Bill
Bill
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