Stampede!

Brant the weather weasel made it sound like a fine riding day.  Do I trust him?  No, I don't trust any of 'em.  He was calling for a 30% chance of rain in the Custer area between noon and 3:00pm.  Of course, Custer is where I want to go, because we haven't had a Black Hills Burger & Bun Co. burger yet this week.  We decided to go for it.  It is supposed to be in the mid-70s in Custer for a high today.

It was absolutely gorgeous on the way to Custer...

On Playhouse Road, we came up on this 5th wheel.  There was another one in front of him, as well...

Snail's pace for the last two miles of this road.  They both turned the same direction we were headed on Iron Mountain Road (well after the low, narrow tunnels than they would NOT be able to get through)... one turned off into a campground, the other went straight, so we turned off on the west part of Playhouse Road.  This is crappy road surface, but at least we wouldn't be riding at 10mph.

On this stretch of road, I asked Joan to point at the road...

On my scooter forum, there is a douchebag who doesn't have a scooter, and thinks scooters are unsafe, but brags that he "takes curves at 90mph while dragging his finger on the road."  I said "douchebag, but I meant: dumbshit.  I will be Photoshopping Joan's finger so it drags on the road and posting it on that thread.  Yes, sometimes I am just entertaining myself.

We turned off Playhouse road onto Needles Highway, heading south...

No plan to go north through The Needles area.  This was more of a detour to get around the slow-moving RVs.  For the record: there are other roads that would be much better for RVs, that wouldn't be so many tight curves and narrow two lane (they were frequently over the center lines, especially in the curves).  But, they are on vacation.

Once back to Hwy 16, we pulled over so Joan could place our order on-line for Black Hills Burger & Bun Co...

She is so happy, she is dancing!  I decided to get in on the "dragging a finger" joke, too...

From there, it was Highway 16 through the rest of Custer State Park and into the town of Custer.  We found parking on a side street where there are a couple picnic tables in front of the County Courthouse.  Joan went to set up our picnic stuff on a table in the shade, while I went to get our food...

Yes, I am masked up.  There is a crowd in front of the restaurant, waiting to get a table...

I was 6th in line to get to their front desk.  Most people were putting their name in for a table.  When it was my turn, the young lady went to the kitchen and brought back our food; already paid for, including tip.  I worked my way through the crowd, down the block and across the street to meet my Honey for lunch...

This works good for us.  It was packed inside the restaurant, but we had plenty of space and were in the lovely outdoors.  I could even keep an eye on the scoots from our table...

After lunch, we headed out of town and back into the park.  We decided to go through the Wildlife Loop.  Traffic in the park was heavier than we've seen it this season.  We turned onto the road for the Wildlife Loop and had to wait in line to point at our season passes for the park.  We didn't see anything for the first few miles, and then - traffic...

Hard to see in that wide angle photo with the GoPro, but stopped traffic as far as we could see.  We thought there might be some good wildlife viewing once the traffic started moving.  We were wrong.  After 20 minutes with no moving, we decided to turn around and head back on the same road.  This van had the same idea...

... and then came across this buffalo on the side of the road.  Since they were in the wrong lane, we couldn't see around them.  And then...

A HUGE herd, and they were moving fast.  That same van again, going the other direction...

The driver was hollering "Stampede!  Stampede!  Turn around!  Get out of the way!"  Well, that was one option.  Instead, we chose to snug up close to the pickup truck and let him provide "interference" for us...

Again, the GoPro doesn't show just how close they were (we were literally right up on the bumper of that pickup in front of us.  There had to have been several hundred buffalo, with lots of mommas with calves.  I wouldn't call it "a stampede," but they were moving right along, and running between the cars.  We sat for at least 5 minutes while they ran by, looking for the best "break" between vehicles.

That was enough "wildlife" - it was getting hot, and I was feeling the need for some breeze.  When the buffalo got out of the way, we were able to get moving.  We'll do the whole wildlife loop again another time when it is cooler.

Back through the park and onto Iron Mountain Road.  I suggested a stop at the Iron Mountain Road Store, where I knew we could get some shade.  Re-hydrated with the ice water we brought, and hoping for some ice cream in the store... nope.  On the bright side, no traffic through all the fun curves on the way back to the resort.  Well, one slow down where there were cows on the road...

Again, the wide angle on the GoPro is less than great at showing this.  The cows just stood there, unlike the buffalo; still, we rode slowly between them.

One more "Whoa!" moment before we got home: coming around a curve on Spring Creek Road, my back tire slipped on one of those nasty tar snakes.  No harm, other than that "Oh, shit!" feeling as my hind end tightened up on the seat.  Back to the motorhome, unscathed.

A good day of riding.  Rufus was ready for some attention... well, ready for a treat.  Me, too... we have ice cream in the freezer.  :-)