on the road again...

[DragonRider]

Is that the tale of the corpse......and not talking about your tire.

 

cant wait!!!!!!!

[cowpuc]

Hey Dragonrider,, when I get to the section in my report about Vogel do have the go ahead to tell the story of the first time I met you?? If not, its ok BUT that was hilarious... :rotf:

 

Seriously though, I wouldnt want to cause grief for anyone!!

 

Puc

[Squidley]

I wouldnt want to cause grief for anyone!!

 

Please do, were fine hearing about other peoples grief

[Huggy]

Ya makes me feel less depressed when I hear about the grief others have to endure.

 

[cowpuc]

A few years ago my daughter and I spent a week touring Yellowstone

just after it had burned. It was remarkable how long it takes for life to recover after a burn!

Another thing I remembered was all the extensive road work that

was going on in the area back then, this time the only road work Tip

and I saw was exiting out of the east gate, one small repair job going

on.. We sat at the light for about a half hour, no cars coming thru, nobody around,

hmmm. Jumped up and down and waved our arms at the camera that

activates the light. Not sure if it was this movement or the clouds of

radio active dust from EBR-1 (nuclear reactor) that activated the

lights but thankfully something worked or we would probably still be there.. Typical road

repair, never saw a worker, never was another car coming the opposite

direction, just quiet peaceful roadway leading to Cody..

Cody's a great town with lots of history!! Good food

too!! Be a great place for Venturerider meet-greet-eat-ride and eat

some more..

Upon leaving Cody, for some reason when I came to the alternate route (14A)

I turned and followed it.. Sometimes I get into trouble when I do this

and sometimes it works out. Gotta tell ya, this was one of those that it worked out - THAT is an awesome ride(14A from Cody to I-90)!! This road crosses the Bighorn Mountains on a roadway that took from the mid 60's to the mid 80's to complete, if

you ride it you will understand why this was so - an amazing

accomplishment for sure!! Also, definitely some of the steepest

grades I have ever encountered (excluding dirtbiking of course) on a

roadway!! The views off the mountains on the west side are

SPECTACULAR and the east side are just as stunning!!! A must ride if

you ever need a way into Yellowstone from the east and are on a

bike!!!

We saw lots of animals in the bighorns along with the mountain ranges

unreal beauty.

We had to boogy to beat the cold that was setting at high elevations

for the evening - easily headed into the 30's!!

The ride down the east side of the Bighorns was inspiring, lots of

switchbacks, coasted just over 23 minutes on this one before a stalled

car caused me to turn on the key and drop her in gear!!

Pulled into a little town called Dayton, a massive buck Muley ran

across the road in front of us right in the middle of town, Tip drew

her 9000 shot repeater from its holster and fired a round, if you look closely

at the pic you can see him standing in a side yard!! That Tippy is

mighty quick on the draw!!

Sacked out just north of town,, nice and warm having out ran the cold

and an all night lightening display in the mountains was beautiful!!

Woke up to this beautiful view of the mountains (things always look better

in the morning)..

Pulled into Custers Last Stand just as they were opening..

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument was truely an amazing

place. It brought the same "feelings" that one gets from

visiting Gettysburg or even Arlington for that matter (there is a

National Cemetery here too), only this place is different in that the

actual battlefield markers are laid where bodies fell during the battle. There is monument on the hilltop where Custer's body had

fallen with all the names of the soldiers of the 7th Cav who gave their lives . Amazingly the battlefield covers an area of over 3 miles - all

accessable from the seat of the bike - with grave markers and signage

of what-happened-where all along the way. The detail that is included

of how and why the battle was fought is shocking.. The tribal

encampment was spotted by Custers scouts from a mountain top over 14

miles away, in the vast valley where the little bighorn flows there

were over 20,000 indian ponys!!! Given facts like these sure makes

you wonder what on earth he was thinking - he was vastly outnumbered

but attacked none the less!! Being an Indian History kinda guy, I

was extremely pleased to see that our Government finally allowed the

Indian Tribes to place markers for their fallen in this sacred place

(brown ones in the pics) as well as renaming the actual area to honor

those native americans who fell in battle too.. They also have a

Memorial Circle to honor their dead and there is a gathering every

year here by the multiple tribes that is open to the public - we would

LOVE to go to this, dont have to worry about getting scalped cause I

got nothin to offer!! At any rate, this place is a must see, and a

place we will return to!!

The area is still owned by Indians and we toured and SHOPPED with the

Indian people. If you tour here watch out for their horses, they

wonder the roads like they own the place. We have a "Native Montana"

sticker on our bike (of course) purchased from these folks.. I gotta say though, touring the area revealed once again to me that these folks are still in very hard

times!!!

Edited August 29, 2013 by cowpuc

[Yammer Dan]

Keep chasing the front wheel Scott!! :clap2:Did you ever find the real Yammer??

[DragonRider]

I am sure you can tell it much better than I can Scott, be my guest, I will take just about anything for the Kids at St. Jude.............

 

 

Hey Dragonrider,, when I get to the section in my report about Vogel do have the go ahead to tell the story of the first time I met you?? If not, its ok BUT that was hilarious... :rotf:

 

Seriously though, I wouldnt want to cause grief for anyone!!

 

Puc

[cowpuc]

Every bike trip I have ever ridden has its truely sad times, usually

the sadness involves riding in an easterly direction - more accurately

described as heading home.. The following is truely the saddest part

of a bike trip I have ever encountered. Years ago I was exploring old

cow towns in Montana on another old Venture and came across this little town called Plevna.

I was admiring these old buildings and a cowboy in a pickup trucked

pulled up. I asked if he knew any of the history of the buildings I

was viewing. He told me to ask the old lady in the Post Office about

them so I did.. Inside the Post Office I met the sweetest, kindest,

elderly cowgirl I have ever known. She remembered the real

Cowboy days and had VERY sharp memories of days long gone by. Her

name was Ruth Sieler and she instantly became my friend. While

chatting with Ruth about an incident that involved two indians

attacking a stagecoach and a twelve mile old stage coach path ride on

the bike that would lead me to an old monument where this had happened,,

she all of a sudden got a smile on her face and said, I have something

that only you would deeply appreciate.. She went in the back room and

after a few minutes came out with this book - entiltle Plevna Montana

- 75 years.. We stood and chatted for hours while digging thru pages

and pages of Montana history!! At days end I mentioned to Ruth how I

would LOVE to get my hands on a copy of this book to take home to my

wife (Tip was home caring for kids - while I am on ride about), sweet

 

little Ruth signed the book and sent it home with me!!

The years leading up to this current ride Tip and I are on have always

been filled with "Scott, you gotta take me to meet Ruth and show me

Plevna" so thats where we headed after The Battlefield.

We pulled into Plevna, Tip immediately felt at home and recognized the

old buildings that covered pages and pages of the book.. We went to

the post office and it was closed. We rode around town and found some

 

folks playing with their kids in thier yard and stopped , after

explaining why we were there, asked the young couple if they knew

 

where an old townsperson named "Ruth" lived. The lady pointed across

the street to an ol home and said, right there.. I asked if she

thought Ruth was home and she said yes.. We parked Tweaks (our bike)

and I knocked on the door.. An elderly cowgirl came to the door, I

said "Ruth"? Yes was the response.. I said, its me Scott. She gave me

a distant look.. I said are you Ruth from the Post Office and than

explained to her about our meeting years ago.. She got a really sad

look on her face and she said - I am sorry but the Ruth you are

speaking of passed away 3 WEEKS AGO!! I about balled my eyes out!!

Ironically, this Ruth was just as sweet as the Ruth I had known. She

invited Tip and I into her home and we shared for a couple hours of

how my Ruth had passed on.. She offered to feed us and a place to camp

for the night.. I was in shock and couldnt think of any thing besides

riding that would comfort my soul so we said our goodbyes to this

sweet little Montana Cowgirl and headed towards South Dakota..

We slept out on the prairie in Montana that night - even the cows

mooing in the distance and Coyote howling didnt help my aching heart..

 

I finally got to sleep and woke to a fresh day. I cant say how many

times I have said to my wife and kids one of my favorite lines - "isnt

it amazing how everything looks better in the morning".. Tip looked at

 

me and said exactly that.. Things did look better but I will always

remember my friend Ruth and her genuine western hospitality and that little town called Plevna.

After waking up on the secluded prairie, we packed, rode a ways and I spotted it!! A gorgeous, although half eaten, Antelope buck laying dead in the ditch,, HORNS

STILL ATTACHED!!! Slowing down the bike, Tip instantly says, "you

going back?" and of course I was.. The ground under the deer was

soaking wet and VERY sticky Montana clay!! As I walked down to him my feet went from size 11's to size 15's in both length. width and WEIGHT hahahaha.. Despite his icky condition he was GORGEOUS!

I always carry a 16 inch pair of channel locks (my favorite hand tool of all times)

with me on the bike.. I have never encountered an Antelope before so what

happened next really surprised me.. As I gripped the Antelope horns

they just unplugged,, I barely even tugged on them,, they unplugged

--- the thought went thru my head of just like unplugging a sparkplug

terminal - weird for sure!!!

Covered in mud but still GORGEOUS,, that applied to the Horns - my

 

pliers and of course to yours truely!!! They did smell

funny so we wrapped them in plastic bags and attached them on the

carrier frame under the bike. Later, just before we got to Sturgis we

stopped at a Dollar store, bought some Peroxide and Frebreeze and

 

commence to clean the horns (and me) up. Short video link,,

 

Of course the odors associated with any dead animal gets riper as the

days go by and I would estimate this deer as being dead for at least 7 days,, it stunk

pretty good.. If you ever do something like this its best to try and

remember not to scratch an itchy mustache after handling such prize

 

possesions no matter how much it itches, or step on them or brush

against them for that matter.. Peroxide and Frebreeze does help though

- even on cleaning facial hair.. Tip says she is thinking of writing

the Frebreeze company and and letting them know about the new use for

their product.. LOOK OUT STURGIS WE ARE ON OUR WAY!!!

[Venturous Randy]

Another great story Scott. You make us feel like we are there.

Thanks.

RandyA

[cowpuc]

Keep chasing the front wheel Scott!! :clap2:Did you ever find the real Yammer??

 

Getting ready to bring the story back to life here Dan and notice this comment of yours,, allllllll those guys pointing to each other really had me confused (more clarity on this when I finally get to VOGEL in my story)... It took me a bit to understand why no one wanted to admit to being the REAL Yammer,,, my bald head still has the proverbial pirates "black spot" where it bumped your head so I KNOW who the real Yammer is!!!

[cowpuc]

I have a buddy who's favorite line is "its always something".. I have been coming out here since the 70's and this is Tips 2nd one. Our stop at "the rally" this year would prove again to be "something"..

 

It's amazing how the rally has changed thru the years.. It wasnt very long ago that the open road on a bike with a tent strapped on and headed for the nations biggest gathering was breathtaking, just following along in a line of thousands of others on motorcycles, an endless array of old flatheads/shovel heads/ironheads/choppers/bobbers proved to be quite exciting - especially when a person was riding an early 650 Yamaha like I was. My first year I learned that metric bikes were truly not a welcome site,, matter of fact these "real bikers" actually had a habit of burning metrics (I am talking about FIRE here) to show their distaste for anything other than the good ol American made icon.. My how things have changed..

 

On this trip our 83 Yam with a tent on the back and covered with the stickers of all the places we had seen not only was welcome but was admired everytime we stopped. Comments being made like - "that bike is amazing" "you two are hard core bikers" "wish I could get my wife to do something like that" and so on..

 

 

The "evolved" Sturgis rally and the journey there leads me to think they should rename it to something like,, Americas Toyhauler Extraveganza or Bikes In Tow Show.. At any rate its certainly shocking to see what its all come to be..

 

Tippy and I rode thru town, snapped some shots of the crowd and headed out past the Buffalo Chip to see if our camping spot was still "open". There is a real nice patch of open prairie a short distance east of the Chip that I have camped on for years and, yep, it was still unfenced and freshly hayed so we had our place to camp again..

 

One of the huge highlights of this years rally was going to be the launching of the 2014 Indian (Polaris) lineup. We had purposely timed our journey back toward home to catch this awesome event and WE MADE IT!!!

 

The unveiling party was quite a show, with introducing VIP's from Polaris, a live band (Tippy thought they were just to loud - I really didnt pay much attention/I was there to see the new bike line LOL), LOTS of people and the bikes were AWESOME..

 

 

A little while after getting in the gates they passed out arm bracelets that had LED lights in them.. The host made an announcement that these were going to be used in a very special way,,,, I had my fingers crossed, legs crossed and even crossed my eyes in hopes that the "very special way" meant that someone was gonna win a new bike.. Wishful thinking for sure but it certainly had me going!!

When they finally did roll the new line of Indians out there were a LOT of WOWS to be heard amongst the crowd, it really was an exciting atmosphere - well worth the stop!!

 

After the party was over we went back to our quiet prairie spot and watched a big storm come in across the prairie - there is nothing quite like the smells/sounds/winds and lightening coming off the Black Hills of South Dakota..

 

 

Test rides were being offered on the new Indians but our daughter was suppose to be home in a couple days to visit so we decided to head out and pick up a test ride when offered locally back in Michigan (which we did).. We made our way toward Wounded Knee by way of Rushmore.. After checking out Rushmore we came back thru Keystone and bumped into some local kids selling lemonaid so of course we stopped.. We love kids,, especially business minded ones.. The 25 cent drink was terrible but that didnt effect the 2 dollar tip we gave each of them..

 

We headed east to highway 44 (goes under Badlands National Park) headed to Wounded Knee.. 44 actually tips back up and comes into the little town of Interior which is one of the gates for the park - this time we turned off before Interior to head south down Bombing Range Road (gorgeous ride!!).. Just before we turned off we passed some folks on another Venture pulling a trailer - we didnt get a pic but we did SEE YOU and waved - who ever you were!!

 

We pulled into Scenic (corner of 44 and Bombing Range).. A little biker party was happening so we stopped to say howdy.. Really neat little spot with lots of photo ops,,,, thankfully those jail doors werent lockable - gave me the jeebers (see pics)..

 

 

Before we arrived at Wounded Knee we stopped for gas at a little gas station on the Reservation.. We were making good time and there were a couple little Sioux Indian kids playing around the pumps in a mud puddle and the little boy was admiring our bike and keeping a pretty close eye on us,, good for him.. After gassing up we pulled the bike over by his mom (sitting in the lot waiting for her hubby).. Wasnt long before I was playing in the water with em, I found a dime near the puddle and gave it to the little girl, she went bragging to her mom.. The little boy grabbed my hand and walked back over to his mom with me.. The little boy was whining about him not having a dime so I offered to take them treasure hunting, with the Moms ok - away we went... We found 63 cents around the lot and another 3 dollars worth of change in the tank bag on our bike hahahaha..

 

The history of the Wounded Knee Massacre, the museum, the cemetery and the area is awesome.. While not as impressive as the Little Bighorn park it sparked just as much historic interest for Tippy and I.. Years ago I lived almost across the street from a Sioux Indian (Dr. Cummings) back in Michgan.. He flew supplies into the Wounded Knee uprising back in the 70's.. There was lots of stuff at the museum about this at the museum as well as the massacre.

 

We left Wounded Knee and had a really nice relaxing ride back up toward Murdo, made the gas station there right after dark.. The attendant there noticed our Oregon Ducks sticker on our bike and LOVED it, we sat and chatted with her about our trip and I snapped a pic of her and Tip,, gotta love these South Dakota folks - young or old,, some really friendly people!! Went down 16 (runs parallel with 90) about 3 miles and dropped the tent for the night,,, camping again on the open prairie!!