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.