Tourists...

No, this is not another rant on stupid tourist tricks... today, we were out and about, touristing.

It was a foggy start to the morning - I had to put on a jacket to get my walk, exercises, and bike ride in.  Then, Rufus needed some attention...

"Did you want to go outside, buddy?"  He was at the door in a flash, ready to get his harness on.  Out we go; we walked for a bit, then he wanted to sit in his chair and keep an eye on the neighborhood...

Back inside for him, then out to take in a bit of history...

That is the B29 Fifi, one of two flying examples of a Super Fortress, the bomber that helped put an end to World War II.  There was also a P51 Mustang and a T6 Texan out at the Rapid City Regional Airport...

That is the B29 taxiing out above and taking off, below...

I didn't know if we'd be able to get close to any of the planes... nope.  You could, however, get a ride in them...

If you can't read those prices, it is $1495 for a ride in the B29 ($595 in the "cheap seats"); $1995 for a 30 minute ride in the P51.  Since that is my entertainment budget for the next year or so, I had to take a pass.  But, cool to see those planes in the flesh.  We have seen P51s and T6s before, but my first view of a functional B29... it is not sleek, but these got the job done in their day.

From the airport, we headed north - no firm destination, but I thought it might be nice to drive through Spearfish to see what has changed.  Joan suggested lunch at my favorite steak tips place (in Sturgis); as we rolled into town, it was packed!  Main Street was closed off.  There is a Mustang rally going on here, and it is a big deal.  "Mustang" as in the Ford pony car, not the P51 Mustang we saw at the airport.

We found a place a couple blocks away and walked to the Loud American Roadhouse - it, too, was packed... over an hour for food, if we placed our order now.  It wasn't that much of a wait during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.  We decided to pass, and walked out on Main Street to check out some Mustangs...

I bet this guy can't wait for someone to ask him "What do you have under the hood?"

Yes, that is a mural on the underside of the hood.  There were Mustangs of all vintages, colors, body styles.  They have numbers according to their registration at this event - the highest number we say was 478, but I'm guessing there were a bunch more than that.  They were lined up on both sides of Main Street for blocks, and down each of the side streets for another block.

Also, a live band (Come Together) doing Beatles covers...

We sat and listened for a half hour or so - they were good.  Back to the Mustangs...

This one was a Mustang police car...

Well, maybe not an "official" police vehicle...

We decided to grab a burger at Mickey D's and scrap going any further north today, since we spent a bunch more time in Sturgis than we planned.  As it was, we got back home just in time for Rufus to get supper.

No scooter-riding today, but fun playing tourist.

Game called on account of rain...

Today was a rain day.  I did manage to get a walk in this morning, in between rain showers.  This afternoon, we did some shopping and out for lunch.  One of the shopping stops was Ulta... for any guys reading here: Ulta is a women's cosmetic store.  They have all kinds of stuff for your hair, eyes, cheeks, lips, and any other publicly visible body part.  As a man, I don't understand why there needs to be 150,000 different shades of lipstick, 93% of which are some variation of red.  No, I do not say those words out loud.

I helped Joan find a couple of the brands she was looking for (OK, I was pretty much no help at all), and then retired to the car to read through a scooter forum on my phone and listen to the Beatles channel or Sirius/XM.  I absolutely did not rush my lovely wife... shopping for cosmetics is serious business... most men don't understand this, because we have: soap.  Or, if you are an adolescent: Axe Body Spray.  Which, by the way, is NOT a substitute for soap.  I am basing that bit of advice on having spent time with adolescents in Steph's classroom over the years.

Lunch was good.  The waiter asked if we were in any kind of "time crunch."

"We are retired - I may sit here all afternoon, having you refill my soda and eating your breadsticks"... yes, we were visiting that "Garden" place.  The food was good.

The last shopping stop on our agenda: the grocery store.  On the Friday before a holiday weekend.  It was early enough that workin' folks were still wrapping up stuff at work before their 3-day weekend.  So, that left mostly retired folks.  Yes, like us.  Well, not exactly like us, because we generally go in with a list and do not wander aimlessly... leaving the cart parked diagonally in the middle of an aisle while they keep one hand on a corner of the cart (not sure if for balance or fear of losing the cart) to insure that they are making the aisle impassable.  Yes, similar to the way they park their cars in the parking lot.

We went to the self check-out area.  The guy next to us carefully parked his cart at a diagonal, effectively blocking any chance of exiting the confined self check area.  For anyone behind us.  Joan had a cart full of stuff that she had rung up and bagged before that guy could ring up 2 12-packs of soda.  Yes, really.  And then he needed help to figure out how to actually pay for those 2 12-packs.  Yes, really.  There were no breadsticks for me to eat while waiting out the cart-people.

It is a good thing we were not on any kind of "time crunch."  ;-)

Shuffling off...

... to buffalo.

Notice, that is buffalo with a lower case "b."

Off to Custer State Park today, with a plan to do the wildlife loop.  Most of the time we ride together, sometimes we each want a different ride... we both did the wildlife loop, an hour or so apart.  Here's my version: plenty of curvy roads on the way there...

Before getting to the park - wild turkeys!

They're big birds - it gets your attention.  Back to the roads...

Once in the park, but before I got to the wildlife loop... buffalo!

On to the wildlife loop...

Good to know; what about when they approach you?  They are huge, and not "big fluffy cows," like some people think.  Yes, they really can be dangerous.

Evidence of a fire in the past few years...

And, a whole lotta nuthin'...

Seriously - no buffalo to be seen.  Even the begging burros seemed to be taking the day off.  I saw an antelope way up on a hill - it looked like a light colored dot.  And then...

People.  That means they are out of their cars looking at wildlife.  WAY far away...

A little closer further down the road...

My only other close-up wildlife encounter made for a butt puckering moment...

Yeah, that was right alongside the road.

From there, I went into Custer for a bite to eat...

Belly full and back to the park.  I decided to ride on Needles Highway (we tend to avoid that ride because of the traffic)...

"Needles" gets its name from the rock spires - apparently early explorers thought they looked like huge needles...

Going through that narrow tunnel is like "a needle's eye"...

The traffic is always crazy right around Needle's Eye - the curves are tight, parking is tight, and everyone wants to get out of their cars to get photos.  When I got to the other side of that narrow "eye," I pulled to the side for a moment to wait for a lull in the traffic on the other side.  Two guys in a Triumph TR-7 stopped on the other side of the road to take a photo of me... "Wow - a Vespa here!  Never thought I'd see that!  I have a Lambretta at home.  That sure looks like fun!"  It was a relatively short conversation, because I got my lull...

Virtually no traffic once away from Needle's Eye, until you get to Sylvan Lake...

Another popular area in the park, with a couple of beaches, picnic areas, water craft rentals, and Sylvan Lake Lodge and General Store.  The highway beyond that opens up to some nice curves and good road...

I rolled past my four "stoned" buddies on the way home...

Didn't stop to visit today, though.  More curvy roads to ride.  I did stop for fuel on the way back to Hart Ranch... it's a new world record!  I went 163.5 miles and used 1.60 gallons of gas... if you don't want to do the math: 102.18 miles per gallon.  I had to look down the filler neck (it's full) and check the numbers again - this is crazy good mileage for a scooter this size.  I'm OK if anyone doesn't want to believe it; I have trouble believing it.  On my scooter forums, most people with Vespa GTS (250 and 300s) are getting mid-60s to mid-70s.  My theory: a lot of today's ride was along the wildlife loop and Needles Highway, where the speed limit is 25 mph.  Most of the curvy stuff has speed limits from 35 to 45 mph.  I may have exceeded that by a mile or two when there was no traffic.  ;-)

Joan's riding experience was pretty similar, since she covered much of the same roads, just a bit later... she didn't see buffalo on the main highway, but had them up close and personal on the wildlife loop.  She saw a couple begging burros.  And, she saw a couple mountain goats.  She didn't ride Needles Highway today, but road some other 35 mph roads.  And, she got 128 miles per gallon with the red PCX - a world record for that bike, too.

We met back home and compared notes.  Sat outside with a big furry cat.  Another lovely day, a bit cooler than yesterday and a bit more traffic.  A fine day for scooting through the Hills.

A Chamber of Commerce Day!

After the cool start to the morning, Mother Nature blessed us with an absolutely glorious day!  Bright blue sky, low humidity, temps around 80º as a high, and very little breeze.  A perfect day for playing on the scoot!  Honestly, this may have been the best riding day of this season!

The ride started off with plenty of curves.  I didn't take a camera to use on the bike, so this post won't be filled with shots of the roads; just my phone to get the current Scooter Tag and post a new one.

First stop: Mt Rushmore.  It has been several weeks since a visit there; still construction going on, so the amphitheater and area around that is closed off.  No idea of a completion date.  But, the carving on the mountain is still impressive...

I was going to get something to drink, and saw they had Buffalo Chili on their menu - a cup of it for $4 and change.  During the summers we spent in Yellowstone and the Tetons, I used to really enjoy taking the bike (a V-Strom back then) to Lake Lodge and getting a cup of Buffalo Chili and sitting down to a view of Yellowstone Lake.  Yes, the chili here tastes the same (same company as the food vendor), but a view of "the faces."  That doesn't suck.

Getting that bit of nostalgia done, I decided to take Hwy 244, that runs around the far side of Mt Rushmore...

No schedule, no destination - today was about enjoying the ride, so I wasn't concerned about making stops along the way.

Leaving the Mt Rushmore area, I encountered the only bit of traffic all day: 7 or 8 small rental scooters that couldn't decide if they were riding on the shoulder of the highway or swerving to the middle... I was happy to quickly get around them.  One more "road block": a pickup truck with Minnesota plates.  To digress, when we had the studio and I was doing any location shooting during the summer, it was a certainty that if a car sat through a green light or drove 15 mph less than the speed limit, it would have a Minnesota plate on it.  This guy also got around the scooter, then left his left turn signal on for several miles... and drove 15 mph under the speed limit... and when he did finally turn, it was to the right... of course, with no signal... after nearly stopping on the highway.  You might think this would enrage me, but I laughed about it.  Yes, really.  I was only behind him for a few miles and (as I said) not on a schedule.  When he finally turned off, I did not have another vehicle in front of me the rest of the day... well, if they were in front of me, they weren't being a road hazard.

Hwy 244 is a great road: a 50 mph speed limit for most of it, nice sweeping curves, lots of hills, and beautiful views.  From there, I turned left onto Hwy 385, rode past Crazy Horse and into Custer.  I stopped in Custer to top off the gas tank... 92.5 mpg!  How could you not like that?

East through Custer State Park - more curves and hills.  I stopped here to get the Scooter Tag (a General Store) and used my photo with the profile of George for the next tag (your scoot with something of National significance).

Through the park then a turn to the north on Iron Mountain Road once again.  No, it doesn't get old.  Especially with no traffic.  I stopped to get a photo of the Iron Mountain Road "Headquarters" sign...

A young couple on a Harley were on the other side of that sign and asked if I'd take a photo of them with the sign as a background... "Absolutely!"  (I think they tried for a selfie and couldn't get the whole sign in there.)  We visited for a bit.  They were from... Minnesota.  No, I did not say anything about Minnesota drivers to them - they seemed nice and were excited to be riding in this beautiful area.  They asked how long I've been here and seemed awestruck when I told them "About 5 weeks now - I'm here to enjoy the riding."  They asked about any other roads I'd recommend, and I showed them a couple things on their map.  They are here through the weekend, so they should be able to experience some of those great roads... although I will be surprised if they will find the roads this unoccupied over the holiday weekend.

Continuing on Iron Mountain Road, there was no on-coming traffic at any of the one-lane tunnels - a first!  I had the "splits" all to myself.  Did I mention what a great day of riding!!??

Through Keystone, out Hwy 40, and onto the curvy roads of Rockerville Rd and Neckyoke Rd for the ride back to Hart Ranch.  Home in time to give Rufus his supper.  It is all about the timing.  ;-)