Off Roading by Galena

Yesterday we drove through the "Ghost" town of Galena.   It's still populated by some hearty souls, but was once a booming mining town.   We drove through a creek, and up some pretty rocky stuff.  We hit a huge mud hole and had to turn around - even the UTV that was just ahead of us had a tough time getting through the mud, and we didn't want to risk it in the Jeep.   We were trying to get to Vanocker Canyon road, so we tried an offshoot of the Galena road - but it petered out into another big mud hole. (Thanks to all the rain we've had all summer).   So we turned around and went back the way we came.  It was fun, a little nervewracking at times (the rocks), and the Jeep did great!

Here we are mid-stream!

Coming up on the creek

The rocks don't look bad in this picture, but there were some big ones!

A real adventure!!

More August 2019

Today we went to Badlands National Park, and explored new areas.  We took the Jeep on Sage Creek Road, which we could never do on the bikes because it's a dirt road.  Beautiful day, beautiful scenery!!   Then we stopped in Wall and walked through Wall Drug - and found a picture referencing John Hart (of Hart Ranch!) hanging on the walls where there historical photos are.   We had a burger, and then headed home.  Fun day!!!

August 2019

We've been having fun.  Working the rodeo with JoAn and Susan, we were goofy in the photo booth:

Then this past Wednesday, Susan and Scott took us UTVing in the Hills behind their house.  We were in and around the Norris Peak area, and at one point we were on the ridge overlooking Nemo.  It was really fun, the Hills are beautiful, and even the couple of REALLY, REALLY ROCKY trails were exciting!!

Even Scott had to get into the picture!!

This is on top of the ridge that overlooks Nemo

Mike and Scott down by the mouth of the cave

That's Nemo in the valley below

An old homestead in the Hills

Susan and Scott

Nemo

Sturgis 2019 - 79th Annual Rally

Sturgis started on Friday the 4th.  There are lots of bikes in the park; I love the sound as they rev up to go ride in the morning!!

People are saying it's not as busy this year - probably waiting for next year's 80th Rally.

On Monday 7/29, Mike and I took a ride through Custer State Park.  There were lots of bikes - and lots of Bison - out on the wildlife loop.  It made me nervous watching the male bison huffing and snorting as they meandered so close to the bikes!   This is mating season and the males can be nasty!!  And the mamas are very protective of their babies!

On Tuesday 7/30, my friend Jo An and I went to Sturgis.  She had never been there - she's new to South Dakota - so I took her to the Full Throttle Saloon, we walked up and down Main Street to find shirts and hats, and SHE GOT A TATTOO!!!   She said she had always wanted one, and she got a butterfly in memory of her Mom.   We had supper at the Loud American; what a great day!

On Tuesday 8/6, we went off road to Cement Ridge Lookout with our friends Deb and Lee Ralston. Cement Ridge is a fire lookout tower just over the border in Wyoming, relatively close to Lead/Deadwood.  The elevation is 6700'.  We had to go through Hill City - lots of bikes, but it didn't seem like as many as in prior years.  My guess is that is because next year is the 80th anniversary, and  people are planning on coming next year.

One of our favorite places - the Gaslight Saloon in Rockerville

Lee and Deb had a dusty ride - we were in the Jeep

View from the top

View from the top

Cement Ridge Lookout

Main Street Hill City on 8/6

Lots of bikes and Bison.  See the bikes in the side mirror!

Oh this made me nervous watching the bison walk/run through the bikes!

I sent this to Neil - Bob is at the Full Throttle Saloon

Jo An getting her tattoo