No juice, Indian Chief, Wet Presidents, Boomers, a Roadblock, White Stuff and Buffalo - Day 10

Things started out ok with breakfast at Cooks with Fire. After that, it seemed to go south. Started off with a cracked video cam lens and dead HOG at the gas station. Shut down Big Red and wouldn't start again. No juice to the starter. I told Ed that I either need a battery or a tow truck. Figured it may be the battery in the FOB, so Ed did a quick run to the local supermarket and picked up a fresh pair. Changed the battery, and still a no go. Fiddled with it a few times and finally, contact. Could have gone to the local dealer in town, but decided to head off to the destinations of the day.

First stop, the Crazy Horse Monument. Wasn't aware of what all of the crowds were about, but it just turns out that today, tomorrow and one day on October are the only 3 days of the year that people are allowed to walk the arm of the monument. It's called the Volksmarch. The place was a Zoo, so we took a few pics and moved on.

Next stop, Mount Rushmore. Not as crowded here since the skies were gray. As soon as we parked, it started to rain. At least we were spared and parked under shelter. Walked to the monument, took some pics, and the skies opened up. It just so happens that the wind we've been riding through, for what seems forever, stopped. That meant that a big storm cell sat over the park and just grew and grew, but didn't move. Rain delay - about 1 1/2 hours or so. Boomers, boomers everywhere echoing off the mountains and sounding like a high output audio system. Storm warnings and severe weather alerts predicted local flooding and 1/2 inch size hail balls. We decided to wait it out.

As we left the drenched presidents, we headed West in a light rain. After travelling about 20 miles, traffic stopped. Once we got to a junction, we found that the troopers were turning traffic back due to the road being washed out from the storm. Luckily, there was a route going north - and we needed to head that way anyway. About 10 miles into the detour we  saw some white stuff on the road and in the woods. Lots of white stuff - SNOW! Really? Yup. Riding thorough was non-eventful and after riding almost 40 miles of the most enjoyable roads to ride on a motorcycle ,we finally reached the Interstate and headed West.

Travelling on I-90 through South Dakota and Wyoming is surreal. Miles and miles of highway, and like magic, when you cross the border the whole landscape changes. Rock walls and rock filled mountain landscapes gave way to green rolling hills. Endless green rolling hills.

Our destination took us to Buffalo, Wyoming. A place with a population of about 4,000 just past Crazy Woman Creek. We found a place to spend the night with a steak house right next door. Couldn't have had a better ending to an ever changing day.

Tally - 9 states, 293 miles, 4 Presidents, One Indian Chief, Snow, and yes, Buffalo - Wyoming that is.