Cheyenne, WY to Rapid City, SD

Before leaving Cheyenne I dumped my holding tanks, filled my water tank and my fuel tank, then headed towards Rapid City, SD. Somewhere on HWY 85, about 20 miles south of Torrington, WY, chunks of rubber started flying off one of my trailer tires. It took me about 45 minutes on the phone (luckily I had cell phone service) with my road service before they finished getting all my info, including exactly where I was. There wasn't a highway mile marker right in front of me, so I flagged down a passing motorists and got pretty good info as to my exact location. Less than an hour later (I was told it would be at least an hour before the tow truck arrived) the tow truck arrived, the very grumpy driver changed my tire, broke a bolt on my spare tire rack, then sent me on my way with the blown out tire and the spare tire rack in the back of the toy hauler, neatly tucked in next to my Harley. Twenty five minutes later I was at a tire shop getting a new tire on my old rim.

The blown tire caused a bit of damage to my trailer :-(



I finally made it Rapid City, where I'm parked on the street near my friend's condo.


The view outside my trailer door.


The view down the street.


The view from my friend's condo.

Tuesday morning I'll move to Hart Ranch RV park for three weeks while I enjoy some riding in the Black Hills and other Sturgis Motorcyle Rally activities. :-)

NOT SOLD!!!

Well, my second buyer changed his mind, too. He decided he really wants one with an enclosed patio, which mine doesn't have. So, I'm back to square one. I'm beginning to think someone upstairs is telling me to FORGET THE WHOLE THING, which I'm just about ready to do. It's mind over matter. I don't want a house instead of a condo. I don't want a house. I don't want a house. I don't want a house. I don't.......

SOLD!!

Again!! Maybe!!

My neighbors, who have wanted to buy my condo for a year and a half I've recently heard, accepted an offer on their condo and I accepted their off on my condo. My realtor was on her way to fax me the offer contact when my buyers called her and told her they don't want to go through with it after all. GRRRRRRRRR!!!

Well, 24 hours later I accepted an off on my condo from the buyer who was the original buyer of my neighbors condo. Very nerve racking!!!

My work here in Cheyenne is now done. Saturday morning I'm heading to Rapid City for a few weeks. Hopefully the purchase contract will be at the FAX store when I arrive there. :-@

Propane, Pancakes and Thunderbirds

Wednesday I woke to empty propane tanks. This was totally operator error!! But this meant no coffee, so I was on my bicycle by 0700 hours, on my way to free pancakes and coffee. The line was MUCH longer today than Monday. I found a fellow WIN, Phillip B., and joined him in line.


Sally's Watering Hole saved the day.


They serve you 3 pancakes, but I tried to get one extra, "for Dianna", but it didn't work. Sorry Dianna!!

After devouring our breakfast, Phillip and I rode our bikes back to camp in plenty of time to watch the Thunderbirds Air Show. This was an historic flight for the team, for this was the first time a woman was the lead solo pilot. Maj. Samantha Weeks is in her second season with the Thunderbirds.

It's hard to get great shots of jets zooming overhead, but here's some of the pictures I took:

FREE Pancakes

With my newly repaired bicycle (yes, that's bicycle, not motorcycle) sporting all new shifter cables, I joined WIN member John C. for the two mile bicycle ride to the Depot area of Cheyenne. We departed at 7:00 AM!! Why, you ask?? Because.....


.......You can't go to the Cheyenne Frontier Days without doing the free pancake breakfast, once or twice or even three times. It's put on by the Cheyenne Kiwanis Club. They put it on three times during the week long Frontier Days - Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They boast feeding 10,000 people each day. That's 30,000 pancakes each day!!!

WOW!! Way to go Kiwanis Club!!



Here's just some of the 10,000 people waiting in line for Monday's free pancakes, coffee, milk and ham. The line moves along quite quickly. There's always a Boy Scout at the end of the line with a really tall sign indicating where the end of the line is. Since the line snakes around a bit, it can be a little confusing.


Lots of happy pancake eaters.


Where all the pancakes originate.

I'm already making plans to attend the event on Wednesday and Friday.

A Sunday Ride

Since it was Sunday I decided a motorcycle ride was in order. And since the Cheyenne, WY area isn't especially scenic, I thought a ride into Nebraska was a good idea, because I had never ridden in Nebraska and this was an opportunity to check that state off my list. I've now ridden in 26 states, I think.

I headed east on I-80 toward Pine Bluffs, WY, right on the WY/NE border. About 10 miles outside of town I began wondering, in this land of FLAT terrain, does Pine Bluffs really have pine covered bluffs. Well, about 5 mile later I saw them - huge bluffs, and yes, they were covered with pine trees.


I exited the interstate at Pine Bluffs and then took the old Lincoln Highway 30. It paralleled I-80 and this started my Nebraska part of the ride. I continued east on HWY 30 for about 20 miles, then turned left/north on HWY 71 towards Scottsbluff. Again I started to wonder about the possibility of a bluff in Scottsbluff. Before reaching the town, I pulled in at the Wild Cat Nature Center


And took the following pictures


It was a bit hazy, but there's some bluffs off in the distance. :-)

I continued on to Scottsbluff, got a bit lost, but finally found my way to HWY 26 which took me northwest for about 28 miles to Torrington, WY, where I then turn left/south on HWY 85 towards Cheyenne. On this last stretch, heading south, into the hot relentless sun, was the first time I ever remember praying for rain while on a motorcycle ride. It never rained, but eventually huge black clouds covered the sun and the temperature dropped drastically. :-)
The total ride was about 200 miles.

Lander to Laramie to Cheyenne!!!

The Wyoming State HOG Rally was over so I departed Lander on Sunday morning. But first I stopped for fuel. I bought 14.43 gallons for $4.67 per gallon, for a total of $67.55. I averaged 13.0 MPG. Not too bad. I had added a fuel additive, and continued to drive at 55MPH.

The drive from Lander, WY east on HWY 287 was soooooo boring!!! It was hard to stay at 55MPH and hard to stay awake. I kept creeping up to 60 MPH!!! I was planning on stopping in Rawlins, but it looked as boring as the Highway had been, so I continued on. I stopped at two rest stops between Rawlins and Laramie, but the rest stops didn't impress me very much either. So, I continued on to Laramie. I found the very RV friendly Wal-Mart, then settled into a cozy spot until the next morning. There were quite a few RVs in the parking lot when I awoke Monday morning. I did a little shopping, then headed out in search of the lowest priced diesel in town. I passed up an EXXON which had diesel for $4.55 per gallon, thinking I saw something cheaper when I rolled into to town Sunday afternoon. In addition to my diesel search, I was also looking for the Laramie Harley Shop. I found the H-D shop, purchased some special Harley motor oil, then continued my quest for cheap diesel. Well, I ended back at the EXXON and purchased 21.63 gallons for a total of $98.66. I had to swipe my card twice. I averaged 14.3 MPG. It's getting better!! Maybe my new tires are wearing down.

I then traveled about 10 miles to one of the nicest, if not THE nicest, rest stops I've every come upon. Well, it has to be a bit more special because it boasts the Highest Point on Transcontinental I-80. There's a Monument honoring Abraham Lincoln because of the highway being named for him.






I liked the rest stop so much I stayed there two nights. One of the nicest things about it, there are separate RV parking areas and Semi-truck areas. That makes for quiet nights, and good sleeping. And at 8640 feet the temperatures were very pleasant. I was sort of in a holding pattern, waiting to enter Cheyenne for the Cheyenne Frontier Days WIN Gathering. I didn't want to arrive at the gathering spot too early and wear out my welcome, but I was anxious to get there, get parked and set up and take care of some much needed stuff.


One of the more unusual vehicles to stop at the Rest Stop.

I hung out at the cool, high altitude rest stop until about 5 PM Wednesday afternoon then drove the 50 or so miles, taking the back road, HWY 210, to Cheyenne. A few WINs had already arrived at the Cheyenne VFW Lodge parking area. I found a pretty good spot to park with a good view of the refinery and the train, then battened down the hatches for the impending storms heading our way.

The End of the Rally

In reference to Barb's comment about every yard in Lander having a creek running through it, here's the creek that ran right next to my RV site.


Here's a shot of my RV park next door neighbors cooking buffalo burgers on Friday evening. They invited me to join them but I had just eaten my left over sub sandwich from the day's poker run.


Dog on a Hog!!


Saturday evening's festivities included the Awards Ceremony and a Pig Roast. I didn't win an award but I did win one of the raffle prizes - a cool Harley mesh bucket filled with lots of miscellaneous Harley items, including an X-large T-shirt that maybe will fit me someday, a picture frame, a frosty mug, leather cleaner, chrome cleaner, several key chains, some magnets and pins.......


When the Wyoming HOG Rally puts on a HOG Roast, they don't fool around!!
He was very tasty, and enjoyed by all!!

Saturday's Poker Run

Saturday's Poker Run took us north, up HWY 26. I got a chance to ride through the Wind River Canyon that I thought was so pretty on my way south to Lander from Cody.




These pictures don't do it justice!! I think what I liked so much was the train tracks going in and out of the solid rock tunnels. Of course there weren't pull outs where the best view were. The highway goes though 3 tunnels, 2 of which are visible in the first picture. The train tracks go through at least half a dozen.


Boysen Reservior - named after the berry, I guess.



Here's me and some of my riding buddies. I'm trying to steal Greg's bike.



Our final destination was the Holiday Inn in Thermopolis, which is famous for all the stuffed animals mounted throughout the property. There was a sign saying some of the display items are man-made.

After a visit to the Holiday Inn, we rode around Hot Springs State Park.



The sign on the hill says Worlds Largest Mineral Hot Spring


Wyoming's Hot Springs State Park is the third most visited park in Wyoming, after Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Hot Springs is home to one of the largest hot springs in the world. Big Horn Spring produces more than 1.4 million gallons of 135-degree F water each day. Five separate public and commercial facilities with hot mineral soaking pools, saunas and steam rooms depend on the ceaseless flow from Big Horn Spring for their hot water. Big Horn Spring is also responsible for the colorful Rainbow Terraces, a series of colorful travertine ledges built up over thousands of years by the deposition of minerals from the thermal water.

When I first passed through Thermopolis on Wednesday, the afternoon temp was in the 90's, so I didn't stop for a soak. On Saturday's poker run I didn't have time for a soak, so I guess I'll have to go back someday.

I ended up with a pair of 10's on Saturday's Poker Run. I'm doing better, but still not good enough for a prize.

Friday at the Wyoming HOG Rally

Friday morning around 9 am I departed, with several of my new found Harley friends, for the first of two Rally Poker Runs.


Here we are checking in for the Poker Run and getting our first Poker Hand Punch



Friday's run took us north on HWY 287 to Crowheart for a Poker Hand Punch,



Crowheart Store


Then to Lava Mountain Lodge (appr. 50 miles past Crowheart) for a Poker Hand Punch and $5+ per gallon gas.



Lava Mountain Lodge, at 9600' elevation



The view from the back of the Lava Mountain Lodge

Then we went back to DuBois (pronounced Do Boys) for a Poker Hand Punch and lunch at the Whiskey Creek Saloon. They had a lunch special for the Rally goers - $4 for a large bowl of delicious chili and garlic toast.


Nine Happy Harley Riders




These pictures were taken along HWY 287. I'm not sure what makes the lavender streaks in the mountains in the first picture, but they sure were pretty!! The red rocks were pretty, too.



Then we went back to Lander to the Breadboard for the last Poker Hand Punch and free sub sandwiches. Since I was still full from the chili, I took my sandwich back to my trailer and had it for dinner. I improved over my last poker run hand which was a pair of 2's. This time I got a pair of 4's. YIPPEE!!! After the poker run we had a free bike wash, a bike show, bike games and off-bike games. And from 8-9 there was a walking poker run in downtown Lander. I skipped it all and just hung out with my doggies and rested.