Sturgis, SD 473 km

Once again we spent a part of another very sunny morning at a Wyoming historical site: Fort Laramie. This fort played an important role in the development of the western USA. Over time it was everything from a fur trader post, pony express station to an army garrison quarters involved in the so-called "Indian Wars". Some of you may remember the TV show "Laramie" - old ones like us. We watched a movie on the history of the site and then did a self guided walking tour.

We met a soldier doing some baking. The bakery has to produce enough bread to provide each soldier with a large loaf per day, which meant they usually made as many as 700 loaves a day. The soldiers had to take turns being the "baker" if they knew how or not and as many of them were illiterate it proved interesting as they put the ingredients together.

The fort is in the process of being restored with several of the buildings completed including the cavalry quarters. They also have people stationed around the grounds and in the building in period costume ready to provide you with information and answer questions.

Just off the site of the fort is the army bridge built in 1875 of iron. A trike rider from Florida took our picture for us. 

 

Another one of our goals today was to see Mt. Rushmore. Which we did without stopping and paying a ridiculous parking fee. It looks as phoney in real as it does in the pictures but still quite a feat to get up that high and "carve" the mountain away. On the way here we also saw the Chief Crazy Horse carving that is not yet completed and has been in the process for many years.

On our way out of the monument we stopped at a chain saw artist's display where Norma decided she wanted a wooden bear. They did offer to ship but she has a better idea. Why can't Doug just make one for her using the tree that blew down on our bank in the big wind storm last summer?

We then proceeded toward Sturgis, the famous motorcycle rally town that hundreds of thousands of riders make an annual pilgrimage to in August. Sturgis BMW installed a new rear tire on Raindancer shortly after we arrived. There are lots of bikes around as there is a Vietnam Vets MC Club rally here this weekend. One thing we are noticing is the lack of the usual friendly wave that is common etiquette amongst travelling motorcycle riders. Is it because they are mostly Harley riders or merely there are so many bikes around people don't bother? 

 

Boy, did we ever time the end of our day right. It is now raining and the skies are pretty black.