You attract them...

That's what Joan said.

Another warm one in the Black Hills.  It tends to make me a bit uneasy this summer, because the heat gives fuel to any instability in the air, making for afternoon thunderstorms... and I don't have to tell you what sometimes accompanies thunderstorms.

Early afternoon, with the temps well into the 90s, I decided the Vespa could use some exercise.  Well, and I was yearning for some riding, too.  Joan preferred to stay in air conditioned comfort, and I understand that.  She did offer her Xmax again, but I was ready for some Italian quirkiness.  ;-)  (That's from a discussion on my favorite scooter forum regarding the differences between Vespas and almost all other scooters.)

I left the mesh jacket behind, but did have on jeans, boots, long sleeve heat gear shirt, helmet and gloves.  It was pretty warm while getting the Vespa ready.  Again, I left the camera behind, so this is a "ride report" pretty much without the photo essay.

Leaving Hart Ranch, the after-effects of the county re-doing the tar snakes is still evident - there is still that paper that they put over the top of them, and the tar snakes themselves get a bit slippery feeling in the heat.  I turned onto Neck Yoke Road and didn't have any traffic in my lane, and very little in the oncoming lane.  I expected more.

Making a right onto south Rockerville Road, it was more of the same.  I could ride any speed the Vespa and I could handle through the curves on this twisty road.  A short jaunt east and onto Playhouse Road.  There was a car that turned behind me from the highway, but it wasn't long before I couldn't see that in my mirrors.  Playhouse Road isn't usually busy, but this seemed almost eerie with the lack of traffic on a summer Saturday.  Then, just a couple miles from where this intersects with Iron Mountain Road, a string of about 25 vehicles coming from the other direction... I began to wonder if there had been an accident ahead, considering no traffic, then a lot of traffic.

No sign of any issue when I got to Iron Mountain Road.  No traffic, either.  I had the road to myself for miles, other than an occasional vehicle coming the other direction.  I don't recall ever seeing it this unoccupied.  It wasn't until coming up on the hairpin, 10mph curves that I came up on traffic: right in front of me, a car from Minnesota; in front of that, a full-size van from Iowa.  The van slowed as it came to the first hairpin curve... and then came to a complete stop.  In the road.  Going uphill.  Yes, there was traffic in the other lane, but there should have been no reason to stop.  Slow going to the next hairpin curve and... a stop.  More slow going until coming up on the parking area for a scenic overlook; I decided if these two in front of me pulled in, I'd go straight; if they went straight, I'd pull in.  I pulled in.  It was time for some refreshing ice water and a couple photos...

When I felt I had cooled my heels long enough for the slow traffic to clear, I headed out again.  Once more, I had Iron Mountain Road to myself, including both splits and a couple tunnels!  It wasn't until I got to the furthest north pigtail bridge that I caught up to traffic in front of me, and it wasn't the Iowa van.

A short ride to the end of Iron Mountain Road, then a right into Keystone.  This must be where all the traffic from the great twisty roads were hanging out: Keystone was packed.  There were cars parked on both sides of the road all the way up to the Mt Rushmore Memorial sign, no open parking spots in Keystone along the main drag, nor that I could see in the paid parking lot and the hotel parking lots at the northeast side of this small town.  The sidewalks were thick with people.  Some with masks.

Turning at the north end of Keystone, back onto the highway that takes me back to south Rockerville Road.  This is the only back-tracking on this outing, and still hasn't gotten old.  This is the best way to go south from Hart Ranch... well, some people might think the 4-lane Highway 16 is better, but those people aren't on two wheels.  ;-)

When I got back to Hart Ranch, I called my Honey to see if she wanted me to bring some ice cream home from the Hart Mart.  Well, let me clarify that: I am bringing some ice cream home, I wanted to see if she wanted any particular flavor.  ;-)

And now the "You attract them" part...  Hart Mart is intent on their safety measures, and I applaud them for that.  They have a hand sanitizer that you must use when entering the store; I knew the routine, and the lady behind the counter (with the plexiglass between her and customers) thanked me for using the sanitizer.  I am sure she says, "You need to use the hand sanitizer to your right when you come in," in her sleep.

They only allow 4 people at a time in the store.  No issue, because there was only one other customer in there, and she had her purchases at the counter.  I grabbed a pint of Wells Blue Bunny Cookies 'n Cream, and went to the counter.  The woman in front of me was unable to point the UPC barcodes towards the lady behind the counter so she could scan them.  "I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean - my husband usually does this stuff!"  I reached across her and turned her potato chip backs so the clerk could scan them.  The clerk thanked me.  The woman customer said, "I'm sorry this is taking so long - I don't know how to do this," as she fumbled with money to pay.

The clerk said, "That will be $31.25."

The woman gasped, "For potato chips?"

"You have two t-shirts, as well."

The flustered woman said, "Oh, I'm so sorry - I forgot about those!"  She fumbled putting the money back in her wallet and getting a credit card out.  I am not kidding about this next part: she put her credit card in upside down, so it couldn't read the chip.  The clerk told her to turn it around.  She put it in upside and backwards.  The machine said it couldn't read the chip and asked her to swipe the card.  She put it through the slot with the strip facing up.  In the meantime, she apologized another 50 or 60 times.

I said, "You're fine.  Take a breath.  Turn your card so the stripe is down.  Now, swipe it."

"Thank you - you're so nice.  I'm so sorry.  I couldn't do this without you."

I said, "My wife doesn't let me date - you're going to have to finish this on your own."

She said, "I'm so sorry," probably another 10 or 12 times.

I said, "Stop apologizing.  That's the problem with this country: there's too much apologizing going on!"  Then, a pause for effect, and, "I'm sorry I said that."

The clerk and I were cracking up.  It took the frazzled lady a few seconds, then she laughed, too.  Then I nicely asked, "Do you need help putting your potato chips in a bag, 'cause my ice cream is melting."

Yep, she apologized again.  When she finally got out of the way, I held my ice cream container up so he clerk could scan it and handed her the money.  It took about 10 seconds.  The clerk thanked me for my patience.  "Me?  I'm good.  Must be tough going through life being so sorry and not getting anything done."  The clerk and I were both wearing masks, but we could tell that each of us was smiling.

The ice cream was good.  I took a container from the back, so it wasn't hardly melted at all.  ;-)