This morning we bid a sad goodbye to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We barely scratched the surface of things to do there, but we had such a great time. I understand why people want to come to Sturgis - Unlike Daytona, there are places to ride! We really didn't have anything planned for the day, just a 280 mile ride to Casper, Wyoming. The morning began slowly as we passed back through parts of SD-16a and US-87S. These are normally wonderful motorcycle roads, but this time we got stuck behind some older lady in a Ford pickup truck who was evidently terrified of some of the steeper turns near the edge, especially when there weren't any guard rails. The way she compensated for this was to slow down to about 15 mph until she came to a curve where she slowed down to about 5 mph. Now anyone who has ever tried to keep a 900 lb motorcycle, 2-up loaded with gear upright in a steep 180 degree turn at 5 mph will tell you, it isn't real fun.And, of course, the road is too narrow, and the turns are too close together to pass, so I just held back a little as bests as I could so I could at least get up to 10 mph in the turns until I finally found a clear spot to pass her.
     We also had what I like to call another "buffalo incident" on the way through Custer State Park . We did see several deer, antelope and buffalo as we made our way through the park, but nothing prepared us for what we saw as we rounded a corner - there in our lane, running toward us at at what only be described as a brisk pace, was full grown adult male buffalo. We resisted the urge to stop and take a picture, because I'm not sure it would have been a good idea to stop in the middle of the road while a buffalo is barreling toward you at full tilt. So we slowed down and eased into the oncoming lane - luckily no one was coming - and quietly rode past, looking him in the eye and hoping he wouldn't make a sudden turn towards us. But evidently he was intent on going somewhere, so he gave us little notice and continued running on past without incident. Afterwards, it was all smooth sailing.
    Since we had a little extra time, we decided to stop off at a place in Hot Springs, SD called The Mammoth Site. The brochure said something about Mammoth bones, and we were passing through Hot Springs on the way to Casper, so why not check it out .
     As the tourguide explained, Mammoth Site is a place that about 26,000 years ago was a sink hole filled with water. Thirsty mammoths, always teenage males, tended to fall into the water, and unable to climb out, would drown. 61 of them so far, and they're still digging. there were a few other animals, but evidently the sink hole was a mammoth magnet. Rather than dig them out as is usually done, they built a building around the site and you can see the bones as they are being uncovered, mostly in the exact location where they were found. It was very interesting.
     Once we left Hot Springs, we followed US-385S down into the northwest corner of Nebraska where we turned west onto US-20W. I will try not to judge the entire state of Nebraska based on our experience in the northwest corner, but it was a little strange. First of all, US-20W in Nebraska was supposed to be a scenic highway, and there were some interesting hills and buttes. We found two marked scenic overlooks and stopped at them both. The first looked like it hadn't been mowed yet this year, and the trees had grown up to block the view . The only view we saw was a bunch of guys golfing at the 3rd hole. We had to walk back out onto the road to see the scenic view. The second scenic view had a huge dumpster in the middle of the parking lot, and even though the views were not that scenic, it was difficult to photograph them without including the dumpster in the picture. As we were coming to the end of our Nebraska excursion, we came upon a cattle ranch where at least 20 cows were standing at the fence, perfectly lined up side by side and staring at us as we rode by. we just decided that Nebraska was just a little too weird and breathed a sigh of relief as we crossed over the Wyoming border.
     The rest of Wyoming was pretty uneventful, just cattle ranches, but there was always that tease of mountains in the distance, making us just want o continue a little more. As we pulled into the hotel, we noticed a self-service car wash right next door. It was the perfect opportunity to finally wash of the weeks worth of dirt, and bugs from the bike.   It is now shiny again, and I can actually see out of the windshield.   Dinner was at the Applebee's next door as neither of us were up for a restaurant search.
     Tomorrow, we are off for Pinedale, WY at the base of Jackson Hole and Grand Tetons National Park. There's not much between Casper and Pinedale, or so we think now. Tomorrow will bring more adventure, I am sure.
    
314.0 miles today
4928.6 total

4.839 gallons today
122.143 gallons total