Sturgis Monday Aug 6

Monday and Tuesday somehow blended together, we knew we were going to the Tobey Keith concert Monday night at a campground in Sturgis so we thought we would get up early and ride to Mt Rushmore hoping to get back in time to rest a bit before leaving for that event later in the afternoon. We were in such a hurry that I failed to check my gas and left town with maybe a gallon of fuel. As we got farther from town with no sign of a station, I began to worry we would have to call for help, but we did finally find a town for breakfast and gas. Both were badly needed.

The ride from Keystone to Mt Rushmore was wonderful, the temperature had gotten warmer and the skies cleared from an early morning fog. After taking a few pictures, we headed on to the Needles highway, a twisting stretch of road winding through interesting rock formations and tunnels, at times narrowing to a single lane. The curves and slopes on this road are definitely different and more challenging than anything I have seen in Florida. A week before our trip I took an Experienced Rider Course, and certainly had an opportunity to practice what I had been taught. Debbie did great despite her fear of heights tunnels and bridges.

After a little rest in the afternoon, we went to the Buffalo Chip campground around 4:00 for the concert which would start around 10:30 pm ( past my bedtime ). There were other bands playing earlier, and we need to get there to find a good spot front and center to enjoy the show. We knew we would not want to fight the traffic and strange roads at 1:00 am to get home, so we bought a sleeping bag at Walmart as our home for the night. We found a place to park the bike near some tent campers, and took 30 seconds to set up our hubble.

The show was great, the air filled with that typical concert aroma'... he wrapped up around 12:30 and we headed back to our chosen spot for the night where we would spend the next few hours watching the stars and a line of slow moving bikes and cars in the distance. The party continued with other bands, and even after that we were entertained with crude but interesting stories told by people camping or passing by.

We got little sleep and this would eventually catch up with us later the next day... or that day I guess. Anyway we would be tired later on Tuesday.