Road Lessons/Day 2

Today seemed to be all about point of 

view.  From my perspective, as passenger, the view straight ahead isn't clear, due to the helmet on David's head.  So I look left or I look right, and I like just looking. I sit on the bike, no music, no conversation, just looking and my thoughts to occupy me. South Dakota is such a change from Minnesota. It changed almost right away, even though the border is an abstract thing, you know you aren't in the same state.  Crop fields seem to be measured in miles not acres, corn or wheat or sunflowers from here to the horizon.  And there seems to be as many miles between trees as well.  Everything was flat for hours, a seemingly vast and endless emptiness beautiful in its own way, your thoughts reaching out to find that horizon instead of getting caught up in the normal daily loop.  We began climbing up into the Badlands and I was looking to my right thinking about that endless green and gold flatness and I turned my head and looked left and saw a stunning and drastically different view:  the jagged and sky piercing rocks that rise up out of the earth, bleached almost white in the hot sun, a shockingly different landscape.

The view to the right

  It seemed to me that this experience epitomizes why I love to travel: its the constantly changing landscape, the chance you have to break out of the relentless thought loops that we get caught in. The opportunity to change your point of view by the casual turn of your head, I am reminded that it is sometimes just that simple to make a change in your  everyday life.  And that, my friends is why we are out here on the road, on a motorcycle....to make a change...to find out what is next in life.  

The view to the left

And now there are swarms of motorcycles on the road, all heading towards the Mecca of cycling: Sturgis.  A side trip to Wall Drug was an experience in navigating a sea of bikes and bikers. Every business welcoming bikers and their wallets! We headed west and stopped for the night at a KOA in Rapid City, it was a lovely cool night interrupted now and then by the rumble of Harley motors.

Main Street in Wall, SD "wall to wall" bikes

• Weirdest conversation: between Laurie and the owner of the Comfort Inn: which reality show family was better, Ozzy Osbourne's or Gene Simmons (I prefer Ozzy, just so you know)
• Quote of the Day: from the man in the Happy Chef cafe in a wheel chair, cast on one leg, braces on one arm and the other leg: "Don't hit a deer with your motorcycle." Turns out it was just a teeny fawn, but nevertheless he ended up in a wheelchair, temporarily.  He was still going to Sturgis, though.    
• Many lessons learned today:
• Lesson #4: Always bring a bottle opener
• Lesson #5: Make sure your map accurately depicts the type of road you want to travel on; this is important if you want to avoid gravel roads with an overloaded motorcycle.
• Lesson #6: Learn to embrace the backtracking and the detours. (see above)
• Lesson #7: Things are not always what they seem: (ie: the Badlands are not bad and the    Black Hills are not black) when the road sign warns of construction ahead, you may find it to be the "most beautiful ride yet!"
• Lesson #8: If you forget that you are wearing a full face helmet and try to apply lip balm, you are not going to be successful.*~*

David illustrates the loop