The Wild (Mid)west Adventures of the Shushing Librarian - Part 5

Welcome back.

Here are some of the highlights of the Wild (Mid)West Road Trip through the Black Hills with B and C.

Turns out, the roads throughout the Hills are excellent for motorcycle riding. It was intense to see how narrow the tunnels were. This one is located along Needles Highway. It was only 8’ by 10’!We stopped at the Crazy Horse Monument, which has been in progress since 1948 and may be the largest sculpture in the world once completed. No stay in the Hills is complete until you visit Mount Rushmore. Makes you feel kind of small, doesn't it?

We also stopped by Downtown Sturgis, home to the legendary motorcycle rally (which we missed). One afternoon, we took to the highway and made our way into northeastern Wyoming to see a site which is sacred to Native Americans and many tales of folklore: Devils Tower.

Another note of trivia: President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower the first national monument in 1906.

You may also recall that Richard Dreyfuss made a replica of Devils Tower out of mashed potatoes in the 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. At the base of Devils Tower.We also squeezed in a stop at each of the four Harley Davidson stores located throughout the Hills.We couldn’t pass up a wine-tasting of locally-made wine from Belle Jolí Winery, whose tasting room is located in Deadwood, South Dakota. C liked the Mon Cherry very much. It apparently pairs beautifully with chocolate. She just had to purchase a bottle for “her mom.” (So Mom? Did you get it or did she drink it all herself?!) Oh yeah! The entire town of Deadwood? A national historic landmark. The WHOLE TOWN. It’s home to the final resting places for Wild Bill and Calamity Jane.
On our last day in the Hills, we rented a boat and spent a lazy day cruising and swimming in Pactola Lake. David and Nancy Fisher, owners of Pactola Pines Marina, took excellent care of us. Nancy even offered to make a picnic of homemade broasted chicken and salads to take along. We passed, opting for a six-pack of Corona and lighter snacks. [Editor's comment: definition of broasted (not roasted): as in frying the chicken in a pressure cooker. You should try it sometime – it’s heavenly.] The week flew by. Leaving our cozy cabin and the beauty of the Hills was tough but we knew we had to start on our way if we were going to make it back to Omaha in time to return Ol’ Blue to the dealership.

But first, we had two more stops to make.

We decided to take Interstate 90 East across South Dakota and, hopefully, make it to Sioux City by nightfall. Along the way is the quaint town of Wall, home to one of the largest tourist attractions in the north: Wall Drug.What started as a small town drugstore (for a 230-person town), is now a sprawling shopping mall containing numerous gift shops and restaurant and their famous free ice water to weary travelers. And in this summer heat, you can’t get enough of free ice water!

After a quick breakfast and tour through Wall Drug, B and C decided to take a detour off the Interstate and travel along the Badlands State Scenic Highway Byway.

Traveling through the Badlands is possibly what it would be like visiting another plant: dry, isolated, no visible signs of life. And motoring around at high noon, during the summertime, was probably not the best idea.

(But does anyone listen to the information professional? HA! What do you think? Can you hear me screaming, turn back, turrrrrrnnnnnn baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!)Thank goodness for the visitor center at the end of the loop. B and C consumed an unprecedented amount of water before heading off to finish the loop and make their way back to the Interstate.

The plan was to continue to travel along Interstate 90 and, hopefully, arrive in Sioux Falls by the evening. We were fortunate to have excellent traveling conditions during our journey, despite the heat, but that would quickly change. The high winds presented B with a difficult challenge of maintaining balance of the heavily-packed Harley while traveling with a lot of semi-trucks and cars. After struggling against the winds, and losing a much beloved Yankee hat, B and C decided to get off the Interstate and explore another route. After consulting the map, they decided to travel south on Highway 53 to make their way back into northern Nebraska and seek the protection of the sparsely tree-lined roads.

Little did they know that Highway 53 wasn’t a true highway – well, at least a paved one.

They found themselves on 63 miles of a thickly covered gravel road, with swelling hills and low valleys cutting through uninhabited territory, winds still tempting to sweep them off their wheels, sweltering heat and very little bottled water.

After driving over two hours at 20 miles an hour (mostly in first gear), only seeing one car along the way (who offered no help), did they find themselves back on paved land. Delirious from the heat and grateful for finding themselves out of such a dire situation, they found a saloon in Witten, SD (population 43) to rest the almost overheated Harley and to quench their borderline heat exposure of a thirst.

I, The Shushing Librarian, was safely packed away but still managed to get covered in dust by all the wind.

Hey, these are the risks you take when you decide to take life by the throttle. You have to deal with elements and situations that are not normally presented to you in an enclosed bubble (i.e. car) which is makes this adventure so memorable. I can tell you first hand that B and C were never happier, than they were to find a Holiday Inn, Taco John’s, and a cheap liquor store after their venture down Highway 53.

In the end, we returned Ol’ Blue back to Dillon Brothers, surprisingly with no damage, with the addition of 2,250 miles. This newly converted biker chick can’t wait to be invited back for another journey with B and C.

I think I will ask Auntie Nettie for a new helmet (or one of these) for our upcoming birthdays.

Thanks for reading about these Amazing Adventures. Stay tuned for future installments, including parties, more visits with Auntie Nettie’s wacky relatives, and future critiques.

Thanks again sooooooooooo much to B and C for having me along with them, to all their relatives for amusing (and abusing me), and to the many people we met along the way.

(I am really not that weird. Have you see that Flat Stanley character, or the Roaming Gnome? So I'm androgynous and had a Winnie the Pooh sling? So what!)

As ever, please support your local library. Use your library card. You pay taxes. Those are your resources, so keep an information professional employed by using what you are entitled to, for nominal or no fees!