Puking all over the place...

 

Photos, or it didn't happen... oh, it happened.  We went for a ride, and I didn't shoot any video or photos.  Didn't even take a camera along.  Well, while we were gearing up, I did take this photo with my phone before mounting it on the bike...

 We rode a nice loop, hitting all the usual fun roads, including Iron Mountain Road.  And the traffic... wasn't bad.  Towards the end, we were behind a minivan and a pickup; the minivan was in front.  And surprisingly, it was setting a good pace.  Joan said, "You just know the kids in that minivan are puking all over the place.  Or maybe their in the backseat cheering Dad on while Mom is puking."  Apparently, keeping up a lively pace through the curves means someone is puking.  ;-)

For a while, there was a couple on a Harley in front of us - the woman on the back was taking videos with her phone, moving from side to side (around the rider's head), off to the left, over to the right... I don't think I'd be able to watch that video without getting motion sick.

 And speaking of photos: the people shooting bike images (on the popular roads) to sell on the internet are already out...

From another photo vendor the day before...

I saw on the news this morning that Interstate 90 will have "lanes open" south of Sturgis during the Rally.  The construction won't be finished, and there will be lowered speed limits, but the traffic will be open on both sides of the Interstate.  I am amazed, considering that there was no roadbed on a couple miles of that just 10 days ago.

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I made breakfast tortillas for us today... sausage, egg, cheese, bacon, and potato.  When I have the ingredients done, I crisp up the tortillas before combining it all.  I like this place (Hart Ranch), and I like cooking outside here.  Especially when we have the space (and double width concrete pad) of the RV sites in the main part of the resort...

I took a minute to take in the blue sky and friendly-looking clouds...

Looks pretty friendly, huh?  The weather guessers are saying we will have thunderstorms through the weekend, starting tomorrow.  Not the best way to start the influx of people for the Rally.  And speaking of influx: I was surprised at the number of empty sites as I rode my bicycle around this morning.  I'm anticipating that will change by Friday, as the character of the area morphs for the Rally.

The people two sites down with two dogs are apparently here for the Rally: besides the Harley out front, they have a large UTV, a couple trucks, and even though their RV is a toyhauler, I think they put a large cargo trailer into storage.  It looks to be parents (probably just a bit younger than us) and a adult son, and several granddaughters.  One young dog, one a definite adult.  The young one is always on a lease that is staked-out in the ground.  The older dog is rarely leashed.  This morning, while I was out walking Ruf, the older dog came running towards us.  It stopped about 20 feet from us and let out a deep "Woof."  Rufus looked back at him, puffed himself up a bit, and let out an equally deep growl-meow.

It was the young dog that backed off the other day while I was walking Rufus.  Now, the older dog was being careful to not come any closer.  For better or worse, Rufus stands his ground.  I saw the older guy sitting outside, and hollered, "You are going to need to put that dog on a leash."  He came running, apologized, and said something about, "He was just loose for a second..."

I told him, "This boy (Rufus) is dog friendly, but if they come up fast or aggressive, he'll go for the their nose and eyes with the claws and fangs."

"Sorry - it won't happen again."  That said, I do keep a close rein on Rufus's leash when we walk past their site.

We had talked about going to Deadwood today (right between the Days of '76 and the Sturgis Rally), but Joan saw the amount of bike traffic on one of their Main Street cams and decided that could wait until sometime after the Rally.

We're going to enjoy the day - by tomorrow, if the forecast is right, there will be thunderstorms for days.

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OMG... and I don't use that phrase lightly.  But, this situation warrants it.  My long time friend and music partner, Mark... bought an Emerald!  Apparently, I have been a good influence on him... more so than I thought.

Mark has played my Emeralds over the years, and he seemed to like them.  Not enough to buy one, though.  Until now, and the incredible sale Emerald had for their 25th Anniversary; he bought an X10 Slimline, which is very similar to the Virtuo I bought, but with different pickups.  For those who follow my guitar acquisitions closely: yes, I have an X10.  I bought it 5 years ago when Emerald first re-introduced this model.  It is not a slimline... in fact, the slimline model didn't exist back then.  The X10 is/was an acoustic guitar that has acoustic piezo pickups and a Krivo humbucking pickup.  I considered it an acoustic that bridged the gap with electric guitars.  Many (if not most) acoustic guitars have a pickup in them, but they don't have the electric guitar capabilities; the X10 does.  A Slimline X10 (and the Virtuo) are really full-on electric guitars that have some acoustic guitar capabilities.  If that doesn't make sense to the non-guitar players out there, just know that it is a pretty unique guitar.  And, Emerald already does some very unique things to the design and build of their guitars.

I am very excited for my friend - I think he is going to love his Emerald.  I was surprised when he and I were talking on the phone today, and he said, "I just sent you a photo."

"Holy crap - you bought an Emerald??"  The discussion expanded greatly from there.  ;-)  I am impressed that he kept that quiet until he had the guitar in his hands... it just arrived this afternoon.  Yes, he was playing it through most of our conversation.  I understand.  👍