A report on Thursday
August 08, 2008
Seems I am always a day behind here. I can’t help it. I am nearly 50 and I am in boot camp. At some point, the body shuts down.
Yesterday we logged 200 miles—me on mine and the husband on his. We took off west and crossed into Wyoming and then drove over into Montana. Beautiful country and the elevations make for some great riding.
At one point we were riding and riding and I noted that there was not a car, bike or cow in front of us, behind us, beside us. There was no house, no farmstead. No sign of life, I am telling you, for miles and miles. That’s when I cried. That’s right. I cried out of both appreciation for this country and out of gratitude for the opportunity to be here. In life we take so much for granted. This is a great trip and I am privileged to be able to take it.
After the Montana trip, we headed over toward Rapid City. The sun was a killer yesterday and even with 40-something sun block, I am suffering today. We have heard umpteen locals comment on the humidity here.
“It’s never this humid!“ they exclaim.
People, it is so dry my nose bleeds every day. Humid? Please.
We stopped just north of Sturgis where we took a demo ride on the Ridley. This is a cool automatic bike made in Oklahoma. I have looked at them before, since we discovered their booth in Daytona about three years ago. This is a bike with power and it has a bike sound. My little scooter sounds like a moped and against the wind yesterday, I was struggling to keep up. 55 on the interstate is not good, but traffic was not bad. The Ridley, at about $20,000, has REAL power. I am not ready for that.
The speed limit on two-lane roads is 65, 70 in Montana. Every billboard we see tells us how many minutes, not miles, to the advertised destination. If the speed limit was not fast, I get the feeling you would NEVER get there.
Rapid City is a little bigger than Dothan, about 67,000 people. Beautiful downtown with lots of little shops and restaurants. Think Dothan will ever get to that point? I wish people understood the value of downtown. When we travel, it is the first place I head to, looking for quaint little places to shop. Which I found yesterday. Got the teenager a shirt. The more I think of it, the more I have my doubts she will like it. I will tell her it is EXPENSIVE—which it was. She may like it then.
Wanna give a shout out to Sidney’s teacher, Barbara Spivey, who took my little girl home with her last night. If anybody else with an empty nest needs to rent a 6-year-old for the night—the rates are cheap, cheap. Actually, Barbara is helping me out. Thank you, Mrs. S!
When we left Rapid City, we rode back to Sturgis and stopped at Full Throttle. Think bar that is a little city. There are shops, racetracks, wrestling pits, shops, campgrounds, restaurants, vendors. Oh, and dancing girls in little pink saloon outfits. Pasties made of candy. As a mama of girls, I can’t help but think, “what would her mama think?“ We did pass a sign yesterday: “Go ahead and show ‘em. Your mom’s not here.“
Heading out to a wedding today. Tim and Sandi from Dothan are marrying at high noon in Deadwood. Will send photo.
