Day 2 - Torrington Wy to Deadwood SD
We stayed last night in America's Best Value in, which isn't.
Half of us were on the one side of the hallway and half were on the other side. Luckily, Nannette and I were on the side that didn't hear coal trains go past every 30 minutes. Apparently it was pretty miserable.
We got up at 6:30 and started getting ready to ride. My first trip out to the bike was a surprise though because it was raining. We packed the bikes and the car, then rode out to get some breakfast. After a few false starts, we wound up back by the hotel at a little cafe.
With 8 of us, we needed to pull a few tables together for us all to sit together. We ordered our food, then a large group of men in cowboy hats walked in the door. We had taken their spot. They do a weekly breakfast and we had stolen their spot. Nannette chatted with them for a bit and everything seemed to be ok.
After breakfast the rain had slowed down just a bit. We headed West out of Torrington toward Ft Laramie historic site. It sprinkled on us a bit, but never got too hard.
We watched a video at the visitor's center. It was interesting to see now the fort changed over the years. Then we walked around the buildings looking at how the soldiers lived. It kept sprinkling on us, and a couple of times it poured but we always seemed to be inside and missed out.
After an hour or so, we finally meandered back to the bikes and headed North. We rode through light rain for over an hour. 2 of the bikes have XM radio with radar weather maps. They kept telling us where the rain was and promising that it would end soon. We finally did ride out of the storms and the skies cleared. It was beautiful to see those wide open fields.
After we got gas and lunch in Newcastle we headed into South Dakota. Wyoming was beautiful, but the roads were mostly straight and flat. As soon as we entered South Dakota the roads became twisty and fanstastic to ride.
We rode up the highway enjoying the twists, turns, rises, and dips for about 40 miles, then we pulled up behind a couple of logging trucks. Its a buzz kill when you're on a great road and enjoying the speed and turns, then suddenly have to stop. Luckily the trucks turned off after a few miles, but by then we were into town.
We followed the GPS through Deadwood until it told us to turn right. But we couldn't because the cars were backed up and didn't seem to be moving at all. After a few minutes we decided to try an alternate route, but there didn't seem to be any other way. So we just wound up being even farther back in the line.
The problem turned out to be road construction. We had to wait 10 minutes until it was our turn to go through the road. It had rained here in Deadwood as well, so we got to ride through slippery mud for 1/2 mile to our hotel.
After we checked in, we wanted to go wander tow . n but we had no desire to ride back through that mud again. The hotel clerk told us we could catch the town trolley right out front and for $1 we could go into town, then back. We waited out front at the correct time, but traffic was blocked and eventually most of us decided to walk into town. It wasn't a long walk and we even found a shortcut.
As soon as we reached town, Nannette spotted a tour bus and headed to it. 6 of us decided to take the bus tour, but John and Angela didn't want to. So they went their own way and we climbed on the bus.
The tour was really interesting. We learned about how Deadwood was founded (gold trush), and about the whole town burning down. We learned about who owns what and who killed who and of course we learned about the death of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane.
We drove through main street, then headed up to the cemetery on Mount Moriah. The bus drove us right up into the cemetery to Wild Bill's grave. We got out of the bus and walked up to the grave where the driver told us Bill's story.
After the bus tour, we all kind of split up because not everyone wanted to eat dinner. But John and Angela were also hungry and went with Nan and I to find somewhere to eat. We tried 3 or 4 places and got very rude responses, so we kept going.
Eventually we stopped at the Stockade for steaks. It was a great meal.
Then 3 of us headed back to the hotel and 1 of us stayed to play the penny slots. I'm not naming names though.
We ended the evening out on the deck in front of the hotel rooms, sitting around a table and chatting until the temperature lowered too much to stay out.
We followed the GPS through Deadwood until it told us to turn right. But we couldn't because the cars were backed up and didn't seem to be moving at all. After a few minutes we decided to try an alternate route, but there didn't seem to be any other way. So we just wound up being even farther back in the line.
The problem turned out to be road construction. We had to wait 10 minutes until it was our turn to go through the road. It had rained here in Deadwood as well, so we got to ride through slippery mud for 1/2 mile to our hotel.
After we checked in, we wanted to go wander tow . n but we had no desire to ride back through that mud again. The hotel clerk told us we could catch the town trolley right out front and for $1 we could go into town, then back. We waited out front at the correct time, but traffic was blocked and eventually most of us decided to walk into town. It wasn't a long walk and we even found a shortcut.
As soon as we reached town, Nannette spotted a tour bus and headed to it. 6 of us decided to take the bus tour, but John and Angela didn't want to. So they went their own way and we climbed on the bus.
The tour was really interesting. We learned about how Deadwood was founded (gold trush), and about the whole town burning down. We learned about who owns what and who killed who and of course we learned about the death of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane.
We drove through main street, then headed up to the cemetery on Mount Moriah. The bus drove us right up into the cemetery to Wild Bill's grave. We got out of the bus and walked up to the grave where the driver told us Bill's story.
After the bus tour, we all kind of split up because not everyone wanted to eat dinner. But John and Angela were also hungry and went with Nan and I to find somewhere to eat. We tried 3 or 4 places and got very rude responses, so we kept going.
Eventually we stopped at the Stockade for steaks. It was a great meal.
Then 3 of us headed back to the hotel and 1 of us stayed to play the penny slots. I'm not naming names though.
We ended the evening out on the deck in front of the hotel rooms, sitting around a table and chatting until the temperature lowered too much to stay out.
Nan and I standing in Ft Laramie barracks
Penny, Drew, Ron, and Karen
Getting ready to ride from Ft Laramie in the rain
Ron and Karen on their Spyder behind me
Riding in the rain
Brian and Ellen
Clear skies ahead
Entering South Dakota
More South Dakota
Walking through Deadwood
John and Angela waiting for us to finish our bus tour
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