So, you learned your lesson?

 

Normally when someone says that to you, it is because "you should have known better."  This time, it wasn't a big deal.

I took Rufus out for a couple walks this morning.  Got in a bicycle ride.  It's a lovely morning.  Joan said to me, "You probably want to get in a scooter ride today, huh?"  Yes, we call all our motorcycle/scooter conveyances "scoots."  There had been some discussion yesterday about going into Rapid City today to get the oil changed in the Equinox; when I mentioned that, I was told, "Go get in a ride... while you can."

OK.

I got on my riding jeans and boots, grabbed the X2 camera, and got ready to head out.  Joan saw the camera and said, "You learned your lesson about not taking a camera, I see."  I think it's cute that she thinks this old dog can still learn.

It was cooler and less windy than yesterday.  A later start getting out today.  I thought I'd make the same run as yesterday, because... really, it never gets old.  Of course, there wasn't a buffalo is sight anywhere along my route.  But, I shot some video anyway because... the camera was there.  It's another one of those "maybe I'll do something with it another day" kinda things.

The take-away today: a fine ride.  I may have learned something.  Traffic wasn't as light as yesterday, but the only real hold-up was going through the original part of Keystone (not the touristy Main Street" - a small Class C with a paper license plate was pulling a flatbed trailer (with a paper plate) and a UTV on the trailer (with no plate)... and it was driving about 16 mph in a 25 mph stretch that goes on for well over a mile.  They often slowed to 9 to 10 mph when there was a curve.  I got around them at the first passing zone outside of town, where the speed limit goes up to 55 mph, and they had sped up to 26 mph.

Lots of video that I'll sort through and post a couple photos.  This one needs some explanation: I was not riding in the wrong lane - I had the camera mounted on the motorcycle behind me, so this is the view from off the back of the bike...

 

There will be some "Jim from the back" images (as above) - feel free to insert your favorite "your best side" jokes here.

I moved the camera around a bit (above), since the buffalo weren't along the road today.

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Summer Romance...

No, not me - Joan still doesn't let me date.  I love that joke.  I'm talking about Rufus.  We have been on either side of our next door neighbors this season, and they have a lovely golden named Daisy.  Yes, I have mentioned her before.  When I take Rufus for a walk, he always looks that direction to see if Daisy is out.

Today, Daisy's Dad was putting her in their truck to take her down to the big dog park (there are two dog parks here).  Ruf saw Daisy get into the truck and immediately walked that way... they eyed each other, Daisy from the truck, Rufus from the grass...

This is the second summer they have "been friends."  I just thought this image was sweet.

 

Blue Moon...

 

If you said, "By The Marcels, 1961," you get 20 bonus points.  If you said, "Originally written by Richard Rodgers (of Rodgers and Hammerstein) and Lorenz Hart in 1934, “Blue Moon” was first recorded by singers Al Bowlly and Connee Boswell in 1935 and later became a hit in 1949 when released by Mel Tormé and Billy Eckstine," you get 10 bonus points for knowing how to use Google.

The Super Full Blue Moon tonight.   Super, because it is the largest, brightest full moon this year.  Full, because... duh.   And "Blue" because it is the second full moon this month.   It will be November 5, 2025, before we have a bigger, brighter Super Moon.   And it will be 14 years before we have another Blue Moon Super Moon... so get out there and howl at this one... or, at least, take in the splendor if it is a clear night where you are! 

 Sing the song if you remember the words.  ;-)

 

Buffalo...

 

The forecast for today: hot and windy, with a chance of running buffalo.

Some whippersnapper is going to say, "They are bison, not buffalo," to which I will reply, "Bite me."  Though the terms are often used interchangeably, buffalo and bison are distinct animals.  Old World “true” buffalo (Cape buffalo and water buffalo) are native to Africa and Asia.  Bison are found in North America and Europe.  Both bison and buffalo are in the bovidae family, but the two are not closely related.

I have called them buffalo since I was a youngster, and I will continue to do so.  The roundup in that will happen next month is officially called the Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup.  So, officially... bite me.

I got out early this morning (shortly after 8:00) for a motorcycle ride, with a plan to beat the heat and building wind.  It was plenty breezy as I rolled south on Hwy 79, a crosswind going west on Hwy 36, but I knew I'd have a tailwind on Iron Mountain Road.  I left cameras behind, and enjoyed listening to Breakfast With The Beatles on SiriusXM along the way.

Shortly after turning onto Iron Mountain Road - literally around the second curve - I saw fresh buffalo scat on the road... a sure sign that these big mammals are close.  Yep, close...

 They had been standing in the road, but turned towards the curve ahead when I pulled up.  No car behind me, no camera... so I took my phone off the handlebar mount to get that photo above.  When they disappeared around the curve, I proceeded slowly.

Lots more in the ravine to the left, across the road, and moving up the hill to the right...

 I am no dummy: I didn't get close and didn't make any fast moves; I kept an eye on my mirrors rto make sure any traffic behind me could stop in time.  Then, sat back to watch them.  About that time, a bus came rolling up from the other direction...

 When the road was clear, the bus and I moved on.  The rest of my ride wasn't as eventful, but there was hardly any traffic... not a single vehicle in front of me the rest of the way on Iron Mountain Road.  I enjoyed the ride, taking in the sights, the smells, and the feel of the bike on the road.

At my first re-hydrating stop, I sent Joan a text with a photo of the buffalo.  She send back: "DOOOO NOT PET!"  As if I needed that reminder.  ;-)

Nice way to start my day.

 

More Cat Walkin'...

 

It's what we do - the big furry boy and his Pops go out for walks; several times a day.  Last night, as the last rays of the day were coming in from the west, Joan took some photos once again...

 I was taking photos of Rufus along the way...

The boy enjoys his time in the grass.  I like our time together.

As promised...

 

Some stills of yesterday's ride through Vanocker Canyon...

After the shot above, I moved the camera from just behind the windshield to the chin mount on my helmet...

Out of Vanocker Canyon, through the small community of Nemo, then south on Nemo Road...
 

Everything is still green; surprising considering this is almost the end of August...

Two deer on Nemo Road, as I came around the corner...

Onto Norris Peak Road.  This is a 6 mile stretch of some wonderful twisties and steep grades...

Less than halfway along Norris Peak Road, I came upon this construction...

After waiting a couple minutes, I asked the young lady with the stop sign how much of the road is torn up... she said, "About 700 feet."  The roadbed is gone.  Within about 10 seconds of her answering me, that gravel truck you can see through the windshield dumped it's load... about two feet deep of loose gravel... "Oh, hell no!"  I did a U-turn and headed back towards Nemo Road, taking that southeast into Rapid City.

In spite of all the construction, it was a good ride; great curves, hardly any traffic.  Hard to imagine just two and a half weeks ago, these roads were all thick with motorcycles during the Rally.

Give me land, lotsa land...

 

... under starry skies above - don't fence me in.  If you said, "Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, 1954," you get 50 bonus points... mostly for being older than I am.

Rufus likes the site we are in right now - we have nothing to the port side of us...

 That is all "his," with plenty of room to roam.  Well, not officially his, but it is a nice open area with no RV sites (we are in the last site on this street).

Ruf and I went out for a walk this morning...

Joan took those photos from our dinette window, unbeknownst to us.  Yes, he really does walk on a leash.  Nicely.  Most of the time.  We walked quite a ways.  I think he wasn't sure of the way home, so I gave him some guidance.  Along the way, we came across a guy walking a little foo-foo dog.  The guy was very impressed with how Rufus walked on the leash.  He told me that their last cat, a Himalayan, passed away a few years ago, and how much he missed that cat; it lived to be 18.  His eyes got a bit misty as he spoke to and petted Rufus... while Ruf looked him right in the eyes.

Back home, Rufus got a treat then laid down for a bit; it had been a long walk...

Joan and I went out for breakfast afterwards, then a stop at Wally-World for groceries.  Joan has an important plan for the afternoon: she and Rufus are going to sit outside under the awning (after we trimmed some tree branches) and read.  I'm not sure if Rufus will be reading... he's a smart boy, so maybe.

Me?  I'm heading out for a motorcycle ride.

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Back from my ride - beautiful day: mid-80s, sunny, low humidity.  I headed north with a plan to run through Vanocker Canyon.  Welcome to Road Construction Season... Vanocker Canyon was fine, every other road I took had some degree of road construction.  Here's a preview, more will be coming - heavy gravel on the side road I usually take (to avoid the construction on the Interstate)...

 Out on the Interstate to get away from the gravel...

A quick run through Sturgis, for a look at what the town looks like the other 50 weeks of the year...

More photos and/or video later.

One last move...

 

Well, here at Hart Ranch.  Our "9 days out" is up and we're into one more site before we head south.  This move was easy - I could see the site we are moving to from my seat at the dinette window.  We got stuff prepped for the move (bikes out of the cargo trailer, patio stuff into the trailer, hitch on the Equinox) on our site while we waited for Storage to move the 5th wheel off our next site.

About 9:30, Storage made their move, and we moved the motorhome onto the new site; walked back to get the car and trailer; got the stuff out of the trailer and rotated it on the new site so we could pull the bikes right in.  Pretty easy as far as "short moves" go.

Getting the "fancy driver" set up on the new site...

The patio side, which has a nice shade tree that Rufus will enjoy...

Rufus is a happy boy...

I enjoyed the site we just moved from; the site next to us on the patio side wasn't occupied the entire time we were there.  In fact, when I took Rufus for a walk last night, the next 3 sites were empty at that time...

The last two years, Hart Ranch has seemed completely full most of the time, so it is a real change to have some empty sites this summer.  It worked out nice for us, since we were able to have a nice site "up top" for our "9 days out."  We're on this new site for the rest of our time here, which will be two weeks.  It won't be all "playtime," as we'll be getting ready for making miles once we leave here.

In the meantime, we'll make the most of the rest of our time here in the Black Hills.

It was nice we didn't have to wait until the 1:00 check-in time to make our move today: looks like a pretty good chance of thunderstorms in the next hour or so.

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Yep, just after I pressed "post" on the above, the rain started.  Good timing.

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The rain didn't last long and there wasn't much of it.

This evening, sitting out on the patio, as the sun was about to disappear behind the hills...

So, that was different...

 

I got out for a motorcycle ride this afternoon.  No, that's not the different part.  I have been getting out earlier generally, so I expected some traffic today.  It certainly met my expectations.  However, I was not held up by a single Minnesota driver... I know: one in a row!

With school started locally, the local folks are getting out and about for the weekend - absolutely glorious weather.  So, it was mostly "County 2" (that's Pennington County - Rapid City) license plates that were taking turns slowing down the traffic.

I decided to shoot some video for a remembrance of Playhouse Road.  I have mentioned this before, but there are two distinct sections of Playhouse Road: the first section is from Hwy 40 to Iron Mountain Road, the second section is from Iron Mountain Road to Needles Highway, in Custer State Park.  It got its name because the road runs right past the Black Hills Playhouse (duh), also in Custer State Park.

I'll work up the video another time, but here are a few photos shot through the windshield...

 Yes, cows.  Not the "fluffy" kind like in Custer State Park.  And a lot of bovine excrement on the road.  No shit.

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New House Update:

Front, side, and back yards have been graded...

Countertops in kitchens and bathrooms...

Shower doors on Steph and Dan's master bath (above).

Steph was excited that the A/C is on - it was 71 degrees in the house.