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And that was my stay
at Sturgis!
Saturday morning, knowing that the reservation on the cabin ended the next day anyway, Nathan and I decided to pack up and head west together. This was not something we talked extensively about -- his situation was unique and so was mine. (Last group shot)
Nathan had just left his job on Long Island and from here could either go back to Long Island or back to his home in Hollister, California. He was thinking of re-joining the army. I, on the other hand, had no job to return to, no freelance work lined up before September, and was still thinking through what the last couple of years had done to my career, reserve of goodwill, and abilities to take my career where I wanted in the immediate future.
Neither
of us wanted to head East.
But we had problems setting out. The weather was bad, for one thing, and so was Nathan's air filter, which he had taken off to clean, but which had broken at a critical weld. We could see no other safe solution than to borrow Neil's truck and go back up to Black Hills HD to get a new one.
We had to park farther away than if we'd had bikes -- they put car and truck parking in a neighboring business' lot. After hiking over to the store, it didn't take long for Nathan to get the part he needed, though the parts line was longer than the day before. I checked out some helmets that were on sale, thinking I could maybe pick up a half-helmet and ride a little cooler, but none of them fit and the one I really wanted came only in extra-small. Not even my head fits that.
We drove back to Custer through rain and hail. Fortunately, we arrived ahead of the storm and were able to get the bikes under cover before the hail arrived. We ended up waiting 'til 5:00 before the storms cleared enough that we felt OK heading out. Any later and we would have stayed another night, I'm sure.
I don't know why we didn't
take a more direct route southward, but for some reason, we headed north
toward Black Hills AGAIN, then across I-90 to Sturgis, then down on 85.
Most of this ride was fine, through great rolling hills -- the western part of the Black Hills I guess, and some of it was quite cold. We stopped at a little tiny place with two pumps and gassed up. It was getting dark and before too long we were out of the hills and into flat land.
I don't remember seeing a sign, but we gassed up in a little town and attempted to find dinner, though that didn't work out. We hit the road again, this time on a route that was flat, straight as an arrow, and thinly populated. Though it was night, it was clear we were beginning to travel through desert.
Shortly after starting out, I hit my dimmer switch only to find that my left switch housing was about to fall off! Two screws had come out and the housing was hanging on only by its wiring. Nathan loaned me some electrical tape and I taped things up best I could and we were off.
The road went on and on.
Finally, we rolled up into the first gas station in Cheyenne, Wyoming after a 136 mile stretch. I didn't even hit the petcock, though that's too many miles for comfort, frankly. Had I not been in overdrive the whole time, I would have run out of gas, I'm sure. Even Nathan was getting close -- he put in a gallon more than I did. We agree to find a hotel and I got a discount at a Best Western -- their last room -- and got it at half price. Somebody's looking out for me!
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