Hot Springs to Wall South Dakota

Day 6 Hot Springs to Wall South Dakota

The day started in Hot Springs with a trip to Mt Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monuments. Both are what I would call a must see. Out of Hot Springs I went to Custard State Park drove on Wildlife Loop Road. As you can see by the pictures this road puts you ride in the middle of some great wild life ranging from Prairie Dogs to Bison and a bunch of stuff in between. The Bison will stand on the road. That's not to bad if you are in a car but on a bike I felt a bit exposed.

The Needles Highway winds its way through the pine tree forest gaining elevation along the way with some great switchbacks.When you reach the top the rock formations are something to see. Also impressive are the cuts made through the stone to make way for the roadway.

A quick stop at a lodge by Sylvan Lake allowed me to meet a man who called himself "On the Road Jack" . Actually I met Jack, up on the mountain when he showed me the proper way to position my bike prior to going into a one way tunnel. Jack is a Vietnam Vet who did three tours flying piper type planes for reconnaissance. Jake also has a son who is currently serving in Afghanistan. He joked that he is being paid back for what he put his parents through when he served active duty. I spoke to an employee and it turns out that Jack is a self appointed biker helper. When any biker in the area is stranded you can be certain Jack will be around to help. Unfortunately I did not get an image of Jack. He provided me a few good tips for places to go and see and roads to ride. A good guy indeed.

I first stopped at the Crazy Horse monument and was blown away by the size of this project. The Museum/welcome center is top shelf. My next stop was at the Mt Rushmore monument although I did not go into the welcome center. I was able to get a good view from the road. I sort of felt like Chevy Chase in the movie "Vacation" when he stops to see the Grand Canyon .

The ride to Sturgis was pleasant and the town turned out to be a larger than what I expected. Things are starting to pick up according to one local business owner I spoke to. In fact, he said that the hotels and camp grounds are reporting a higher occupancy rate at this time than they had last year. As soon as I arrived in Sturgis, a woman came up to me and asked me about my Pittsburgh Pirate Baseball cap thinking I was from Pennsylvania. It turns out that Terri (if I remember he name correctly) went to Langley High School and grew up around Crafton, PA. She and her husband now live in Minnesota. They will be spending the entire week at Sturgis.



From Sturgis the final stop of the day brought me to Wall South Dakota, the home of Wall Drug Store. The Drug Store is beyond belief. They still give away free ice water like they did during the depression and coffee (which was very good) sells for 5 cents a cup on the honor system. There's a box by the coffee pot.

The final duty of the day was to do laundry at a local laundromat. I met a nice lady from Minnesota and we talked about our travels. I also met an exchange student who is working in town. Her name was Gaukhar Tokmurzina and she was from Kazakhstan and lives in a town by the Caspian Sea. She will be here for a total of three months and then will go back home. She gets to visit three major cities and she is excited to see NYC, and LA. She is currently studying engineering at a university. I exchanged email addresses with her and asked her to send me a picture of her since I did not have my camera with me when I was doing my laundry, See the pictures below to see the image she sent.

Tomorrow I will make a quick visit to the Badlands and then will begin my trip East.