Fred W and TMJ's Vacation Ride to the Great Divide

[Blind Squirrel]

Have you considered 385 south down to hot springs? I see you took a piece it North. It looks like a nice ride.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Great stuff!!

 

[gixxerjasen]

Well Fred, the trip might be over and you are headed home, but look on the bright side. Home is in just another beautiful place in the country...just a different kind of beauty. You could always be headed home to one of those places where it's flat and hot instead of just passing through.

Thanks for the report, I suspect TMJ has some fantastic pics still in store for this trip.

 

[Fred W]

duplicate forum non-sense

 

[Fred W]

Thanks Jasen, for the kind words. But as the old saying goes, it ain't over until it's over. Even just traversing the country in a hurry can have a few highlights. Hopefully we have a few good stories left before we hit the home base.

Day 11 - Spearfish SD to Sioux City IA

TMJ's bro lives in Eldon, MO, just south of Jeff City, down in the Lake of the Ozarks neighborhood. We want to stop there on Saturday night, so I planned a stop in between Spearfish and there, and that works out to be around Sioux City, Iowa.

Now, we could have slabbed it out I-90 to Sioux City, then south on I-29 for a while, but that is not the way I operate.

Instead, we ran a few miles east from Spearfish and then dropped back down through the Badlands, which we had only partially seen on the way out, due to the heavy fog that morning.

So we set out bright and early (as usual) after a quite good FCB at the Days Inn. They actually had some mini cheese omelets all made up, and they were a treat after so many places offering only (stale) biscuits and gravy.

Jumped up on I-90 for about 30 odd miles to Rapid city area...

We buzzed by about out 1000th one of these ranch entrance structures of the week

So someone needs to tell me, what the heck is the deal with these? Some kind of a western "fad"?

Got off I-90 onto Elk Vale road, to connect with SD 44, and gassed up here... (North America Tag-o-Rama participants take note)

And then ran SD 44 eastward through the Badlands. This morning we could actually see a ways into the distance...

This time, when we got down to the bottom end of the Badlands at Interior, SD, instead of continuing up through the park, we continued east on SD 44 for a good long while. Route 44 carries you "off the beaten track" somewhat. It passes through a couple of different Indian Reservations. You'll probably want to have a full fuel load when setting out. But, it was an experience unlike any you'll get on the busy interstate.

When we had been on the road a couple of hours, we were passing thru the Sioux town of Wanblee. There was one gas station / market in town, so we stopped for a cup of coffee.

It was quite a scene. Every other person either working here, or doing business, was an Indian. And there is a peculiarity they all demonstrated when confronted by us, which I assume was brought on by out appearance of being affluent white people. They will not look you in the eye. Nor will they even acknowledge your presence.

I guess we are insulated from the Native American way of life, being that we live in the "cultured" north east, and keep our token "natives" cloistered away up north in Maine, or running casinos down in CT. But this trip has been a real eye opener for us regarding the plight of the western natives. Not just these Sioux in Wanblee, but also the Blackfeet Nation towns we rode down through yesterday, and several of the other reservations as well.

At first blush you might jump to the conclusion that they just poor people as they are living in squalid conditions. But as we rode along today I had a lot of chance to think about it, and I wonder if it just isn't in the Native American's tradition to live this way? i mean think about it: Before the europeans came in and took over control (by force) what were they doing then? Living off the land. Nomadic life of sustainance, not striving to :"achieve" wealth, fame or fortune. Perhaps what is going on now is more of a continuation of those principles than the laziness most of us whiteys accuse them of?

Like i said, we had a lot of "thinkin' time" today. It was good.

Anyone else passing this way, I highly recomend the path we took over the nasty interstate. The roads are vast, wide open, lightly travelled, what traffic you do meet is easily passed, and the scenery along the road is far superior to the billboards and guardrails of I-90.

In Winner, SD we got on US18, which continued west and south, eventually into Nebraska. From there is was NE12 and US20 to the Iowa state line.

As you can see in the pics, we hit a little rain along here, so not too many pictures, but the advantage was it kept us pretty cool all day, and we had no problem running between 75 and 80 all along, except in the towns themselves.

More wind farms, which sure seem like a good idea to me...

Right after crossing the Missouri River into IA, it dumps you right into South Sioux City, where we have a room at the Super 8 (good price, and clean) but right next to I-29. Not much on the way of gourmet dining experiences available, certainly not within walking distance.

Maybe it is a byproduct of the vibe we picked up in the past two days, but we're playing it really low key tonight. Super 8 is surely good enough and only $69 instead of $150. And the Subway food **** is not nearly so eloquent as some past reports...

Nor is the beverage choice...

But strangely enough, we are feeling pretty contented tonight. Sometimes you have to stop looking for the brass ring, and just enjoy the moment. This is one of those moments...

 

[WBill]

Jst FYI: In many cultures, including the Native American tribes I've been around, looking directly in to another person's eyes is rude, aggressive behavior.

Thanks for the ride report and safe travels from here on! WBill

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Wonderful. It seems that you are getting the good out of everything. We don't always have to be at the highest pass, the tallest mountain, the most scenic anything. Being able to get the most out of everything you experience is a true gift.

With regards to the pole arrangement over the entrance to the ranch: Where else are you supposed to hang a horse thief? Especially if you want everyone to see.

 

[Fred W]

Jst FYI: In many cultures, including the Native American tribes I've been around, looking directly in to another person's eyes is rude, aggressive behavior.
Thanks for the ride report and safe travels from here on! WBill

Ahh, yes. I do recall hearing that before, but did not make the connection today. It is certainly a weird feeling for people to pass each other and never even glance or acknowledge their presence, but I guess that is mostly due to our own habits. Thanks for the enlightenment.

In retrospect, and considering how "uncomfortable" it made me feel in that brief experience, I wonder how much that sort of thing is responsible for the entire European misunderstanding (and subsequent rest of our awful history) with the Native Americans? I mean, if it is this way today, imagine how difficult it must have been to communicate a couple hundred years ago.

PS - Thanks for the kind comments Redfish.

 

[RadioHowie]

North America Tag-o-Rama participants take note

Fred...that tag doesn't count....can't see your bike in the pic.

Sorry, your rules, not ours!

 

[escapefjrtist]

Good looking day and route choices Fred! It's always nice to have an easy day on a long adventure.

--G

 

[Fred W]

North America Tag-o-Rama participants take note

Fred...that tag doesn't count....can't see your bike in the pic.
Sorry, your rules, not ours!

Oh, I know the rules, Howie.... That wasn't the claim (yet). See, I have to wait two days (or two tags) since mine was the last prior tag... Those are the rules. But, after the required waiting period, then I'll be posting up this photo in the North America tag thread:

And a new tag from the road, of course. What better way to play North American Tag-o-Rama than when riding across North America?

Tonight (Saturday) we are at Joann's brother's, so probably won't get a chance to update the travelog until Sunday night. Not likely to be anything too exciting, ride-wise over the next two days. Just hope to get from here to the Dayton, OH area, poised for the home stretch...

 

[bbdig]

A picture of TMJ in the "Bucket" on your way through Ohio would be good.

 

[Top_Speed1]

What a wonderful trip you two! Memories for a lifetime for sure, and great idea documenting it all "on the fly" as to not forget anything and write it as fresh in memory.

I guess now... all of our "after the fact" Ride Reports will be pale (no Indian joke eitha!) in comparison.

Great, great job!!!

 

[ionbeam]

...TMJ's bro lives in Eldon, MO, just south of Jeff City, down in the Lake of the Ozarks neighborhood...

You will be in the area of my roots. Lake of the Ozarks and the Bagnell dam was a favorite place to go. It's fun to take the Tom Sawyer and the Larry Don paddle wheelers. Just down the road is the Rolla School of Mines which as a little Stonehenge that was cut from stone using water. IIRC they closed the Memoryville USA Antique Car Museum in 2009, it was an unexpected high quality car museum.
Y'all have fun in MO. The roads can be tire eaters.

 

[wheatonFJR]

I'm sure he is not getting down to southern MO, just just in case, US160 between Alton and Doniphan is fun...as is MO34 from MO21 to Piedmont...or rt 32 through Bixby...

I never have the energy in the evening on trips to post reports, so major kudos to you Fred...and the beautiful TMJ

 

[RacinRay]

Good luck getting home Fred. My friend Jason and I are leaving Albany , NY tomorrow for a 16 day adventure tracing many of your steps. We're going to slab it out to Sioux falls the first two days and then start to explore Montana, Wyoming, Idaho etc. I hope we have a memorable (positive) trip.

 

[RacinRay]

I ment to add that Jason and I did the very cold covered bridges tour with you a few years ago. Jason had the old Moto Guzzi.

 

[Uncle Hud]

Fred: Inspiration; thanks.

 

[NorCal FJR]

Thanks for taking us along on your trip.

 

[Geezer]

It looks like you are planning to stop in Ohio tonight and head home tomorrow. Be careful around Columbus, the last couple of times I have gone through there they were using laser for speed enforcement on both the east and west sides of the city.

FWIW, I would not recommend that you take I80 across PA if that is where you are headed. You will enjoy going north and taking I86/US17 across NY a lot more than I80. Too many trucks on I80.