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Mount Rushmore was about 15 minutes outside of Custer and I was one of the first people through the gate this beautiful sunny morning. Rushmore is both more and less impressive than I had expected. It's not as big as you might think, yet it's stunning to think of the accomplishment of the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum. I stood in awe for a while then got kinda bored.
I took a few pictures and spent some time chatting with three bikers from Kentucky. They were nice enough guys but as soon as they learned that I was coming from San Francisco they all sort of withdrew. Unfortunately I found that to be a pretty common attitude. As soon as some big macho dude or tall-haired babe found out I was from SF you could see them withdraw. I never confronted anyone about their reaction but I did end up drawing out the 3 bikers at Mount Rushmore; they got as far as saying that "there's a lot of wierd ideas out there". I guess that passes for an enlightened attitude. I tried an experiment with them and said that I was actually from Oakland, just across the bay from SF and the home of Sonny Barger of Hell's Angels fame. All three of them seemed to relax a bit but still weren't as friendly as they had been. Still, it was a beautful day. I grabbed some breakfast at the cafeteria and some souveniers for my neice and nephew and headed into Sturgis about an hour away. Now I know why Sturgis is so popular; the roads in the black hills are made for motorcycle riding. Really fun.
Sturgis was a bit of a let down, not that I was really expecting much. The yearly rally had ended a couple of weeks prior to my arrival and the whole place looked like it was still trying to catch its breath. I stopped at "Kari's", a drive through espresso stand (the only one) where I had a nice conversation with Kari. As a lifelong resident she had some very definite insider info on the rally. It went something like this: "500,000 dentists and 50 real bikers all looking for any girl to flash her tits. When one does the flash bulbs are enough to blind a person. And the traffic, don't get me started on the traffic..." It goes on like that. I ventured that she must at least make some good money while the dentist convention is in town but apparently that's not the case. The rent on her 10' by 14' foot shack goes from $400/month to $2,000/week during the rally thereby ensuring that she works harder and makes less during the rally. Ain't life grand?
I finished my coffee and after stopping at the Sturgis HD store where I picked up a couple t-shirts, took off. My old brother-in-law Mike Ferriaoli was a Harley mechanic who had died a few years ago and I was thinking about him quite a bit as I rode through the tiny town wondering if he'd ever been here. I picked up an HD Sturgis pin for his grave before I left and then made tracks.
Heading east on route 90 the smoke from the wildfires obscured the horizon and at times I felt as though I was driving through a smokehouse, though I never saw any flames it was obvious that the place was burning up. The temperature was in the high 90's and the sun was a platinum ball through the grey smoke.
By nightfall I had crossed into Luverne, Minnesota where I grabbed a room, a turkey sub and slept like a baby. |
