Sometimes the pace is fast; sometimes it is...

half-fast.

I suggested a scooter run to Iron Mountain Road this morning.  It was overcast - the weather weasels were calling it "partly cloudy, high of 79º."  It was 66º when we geared up to head out...

Overcast isn't bad - it allows you to see the surface irregularities in the road.  We had a nice ride on our favorite stretch of nearby road...

We decided to stop for lunch in Keystone...

There is a new Mexican restaurant there, I suggested we give it a try.  This was the beginning of our "half-fast" day.  It was taking a long time to get our food; not like the restaurant was overly busy.  I have a theory about most Mexican restaurants: you have beans, you have rice; meats: beef and chicken; some different tortillas.  From there, it is pretty much different shapes and how you assemble it.  It should go pretty fast.  When they finally brought our food, it was wrong - I'm guessing they sent someone else's meal to our table.  So, more waiting.  When it finally came (Joan's food before mine), the food was decent.  No one came back to check on us.  We finally had to ask another waitress for the check.  No big deal, just not typical.

Back on the scoots, heading south, then turn left to Iron Mountain Road instead of right to Mt. Rushmore.  This is one of my all-time favorite motorcycle roads - the amount of fun on this stretch of road between Keystone and Custer State Park is dependent on traffic.  Heading onto Iron Mountain Road...

The above images show one of the pigtail bridges that this road is famous for.  Below are a couple file photos to show it from above...

There are also a couple sections of one lane road where the two lane divides and each lane goes through the woods on its own...

It is fun to open the bike up on this single lane stretch, but that wasn't going to happen today - too much traffic.

Another feature of this road are the one lane tunnels...

If the traffic isn't heavy, you can stop in the tunnel and get a photo of Mt. Rushmore through the tunnel... not going to happen today, but here's another file photo...

At a picnic and view area further down the road, we pulled in - this would be our turn around point.  The temp was around 65º at this point, so Joan took this stop to pull her neck gator up to warm up part of her face...

65º may not sound chilly... we are acclimated to the heat of south Texas; I was wishing we had put the liners in our coats.

Back over that same road...

No, that Harley behind Joan wasn't gaining on us.  ;-)

Coming off of Iron Mountain Road and out of the Black Hills National Forest...

Going through Keystone once again, we saw this...

The Mr. PeanutMobile.

Billboards are allowed in South Dakota.  Some folks think they are a blight on the natural scenery, I think they are informative...

Turning east in Keystone, we got behind a vehicle that was driving way less than the speed limit... about 15 when the speed limit was 25, more like 30 when the speed limit went up to 55.

If you look in the upper right corner of the display, you can see that it was all the way up to 69º by this point.  We knew that we'd be in good shape with no traffic, with our turn onto Rockerville Road... arrrrrggggh - that Colorado SUV turned onto that road, too.  Judging by how slow they were driving, it must be the only Colorado vehicle that has no experience with mountain type roads...

When we turned onto Neck Yoke Road, that SUV went straight!  Our chance to pick up the pace again...

It was a good ride all the way back to Hart Ranch.  When we got home, I put the scoots away and Joan let Rufus out on the patio...

Birds!  Rufus is on the job, keeping us safe...

Then, inside and a bit more kitty snuggling...

Chilly, for what we have been used to, but still some nice riding.  The weather predictions are into the upper 90s for the weekend.  I think we will miss these 60s.