Monday, September 24, 2007

CFO in Custer SD

Day 1. I headed out the door at 0730 on Wednesday 9-19-07. I met up with John at 0830 at the Big Steer Truck Stop on I-35 in Rice County. On other trips to SD, I've taken I-90 all the way to the Black Hills. This time we chose a different route, SD-44. We went down I-35 to hwy-14 and stopped at the Happy Chef for breakfast. We continued west on 14 to 169. Then 169 to 60. We stopped in Windom for gas.  The next gas stop was Parker SD. We stopped at the Missouri River crossing and took a few pictures,
then it was on to Winner, where we stopped for the night. We covered 450 miles and got to see a few new places.
Day 2. Thursday 9-20, John and I left Winner and continuted west on SD-44. We stopped for gas and a pop at the Cowboy Corner in Interrior.
From there we went to Hill City and had lunch at Subway. We then went to check into our hotel, the Bavarian Inn. We were a little earlier than most of the other CFO'ers, so we sat outside and watched people arrive.
Day 3. Friday 9-21, John and I took Stan and Mike on a 300 mile guided tour of some of the best roads around. We stated by driving through Custer State Park on hwy-16, Then went north on Iron Mountian Road (16A). On 16A we came upon a heard of Donkeys.
Through Keystone, and the east on Old Hill City Road. North on 385 to Lake Pactola.
East on 44, north on 173 to Nemo Road. Nemo Road to Vanocker Canyon and into Sturgis. We stopped on Main street to by T-shirts. Then lunch at the Sturgis Burger King. From Sturgis it was onto Whitewood then 34/24 to Hullet Wy. We gassed in Hullet and kept going to Devils Tower National Monument.
The next stop was the fire tower at Warren Peak, elev 6656' , John, Stan and Mike climbed the tower and talked with the Ranger. I, being terrified of heights, sat on the bike trying to avoid looking up.

After the tower, we headed south on 585, to 85, to 16, to Custer. A 9 hour tour!


Day 4. Saturday 9-22, John and I took a short ride up Needles hwy
and spent the rest of the day chasing the 1880 train along Old Hill City Road.
Then it was off to a prime rib dinner at the hotel. Pack up the bikes and get ready to head out by 0800 Sunday morning.
I had a whole lot of fun and can't wait to go back again next year. Even John, a dedicated H-D rider wants to come along next year too. It just proves, it's all about the ride, not the bike. 5 days, 1780 miles.....

Sunday, September 16, 2007

A few days to go until CFO

Tonight, I learned that John will be able to ride with me to CFO. John is one of the guys that I usually go to Sturgis with. This will be my 3rd trip to South Dakota with John this year, and my 13th trip since 1999. I think the plan will be to meet up south of the cities and head west.
Tomorrow, I have to change oil in the FJR and cut the grass. I should have no problem packing stuff for this trip. It's only 5 days and all motels so I wont need to pack camping gear.