It’s time to move on from Spearfish so I pack up my stuff and have breakfast.  I lift the blinds in my bedroom and find a small herd of wild deer grazing right outside the window – I take a short video of them.

I sneak upstairs to have breakfast and try not to wake the gang up given they had a late night.  I finish packing up and get on the road sometime after 7.  Again I have been very fortunate in the generous way I have been looked after by my hosts and had a lot of fun.

I make my way up to Rapid City and call in on the ‘Black Hills Harley Davidson’ dealership.  I could not believe the size of the operation as they had well over 100 vendors set up in the carpark;

Harley riders can bring their bikes in and get them totally pimped up;

Obviously there is also a need to buy your Sturgis 2019 commemorative gold plated gun;

I spend a good couple of hours wandering around checking everything out;

I jump back on Stan and go a short way further into town and pull up at Cabela’s Sport Store.  I had to replace my travel belt as I had broken the buckle – I go in and find that you can buy anything that has something to do with hunting or camping;

I make my purchase and then make my way around to the Rapid City PD – I miss out on a patch as they don’t swap them but had more success from the Sheriffs Department next door.

From Rapid City I make my way out to ride around Mount Rushmore;

I did not go into the visitor centre as I was aware that it was closed for renovations – I should have done it while I had the chance in 2017.

From Mount Rushmore I had a great ride through the Black Hills before pulling up to refuel at Custer next to this fella;

Pete rides with his dog sitting in front of him and has done so for the last 5 years.  They had ridden all of the way from Florida for Sturgis and were now making their way home – no trailer for this guy!

From Custer I ride through the National Park and wide sweeping plains.  The ride is enjoyable and relaxing;

I pull up in Hot Springs and have lunch at the diner in the main street.  From Hot Springs it took me another hour to get to Chadron and it was pretty warm going.  I also crossed the state line into Nebraska;

I pull up in the carpark of Bauerkemper’s and go inside to find Bob.  I had met Bob back in 2017 when he helped me out by giving Fred a very much needed service.  The shop is one of the largest of its kind in Nebraska and Ranchers come from far and wide to buy/service their 4 x 4 motorcycles and side by sides.  They also sell dirt bikes and the odd road bike;

Bob appears and its great to see him again.  I follow Bob and he takes me around to his house which is on the other side of town – he has to go back to work to finish off for the day while I go in and make myself at home.  A short time later Bob’s wife Shelly and their 3 girls arrive back at the house and Bob is not far behind them.

Shelly cooks ribs on the bar-b-que (Bob says she is by far the better cook!) while we all have a great time in the back yard.  Eventually the bugs win and we call it a night.

Next morning Shelly cooks me bacon and eggs while I entertain her with stories of Australia.  Bob is off to work but will join us later when he knocks off around 1.

The girls and I are packed into the van and we head off as Shelly wants to take me to Fort Robinson to show me around.  The girls are dropped off at their grandparents in Crawford and we continue on to the fort.

Fort Robinson is a former U.S. Army fort and the main feature of Fort Robinson State Park, a 22,000-acre public recreation and historic preservation area located 2 miles west of Crawford on U.S. Route 20 in the Pine Ridge region of northwest Nebraska.  The fort has been used for many things over the years but most famously it was where Crazy Horse was killed when trying to escape from being held in 1877;

We then go for a tour of the fort in a horse drawn wagon;

Back in the car and its a drive through the Fort Robinson State Park;

We then got back to the Crawford and hook up with Bob and the girls.  Bob takes us on an adventure out to ‘Toadstool Geological Park’ – I am pretty sure that his family car is not meant to be driving on the rough dirt tracks we went on;

Bob takes us all to ‘Drifters Cookhouse’ which is a recreation of a old wild west town;

To live the American dream I have a piece of Pecan pie.  We only just finish up when a storm starts rolling in and we make a hasty retreat while having lightening/thunder all around us.

We make it back home and I just get Stan inside the garage under cover as the heavens open up with nearly 2 inches of rain in 20 mins.  Friends join us for dinner and we have a good time.

Sunday morning is quiet as the girls have gone out which gives Bob and I time to work on Stan.  We swing by Bob’s work and pick up oil/filter and come back and complete a service.  About 2 hours later Stan has a clean bill of health and is good to complete the next big stage of my trip (over 7000 Klms).  I will still need at some stage to change tyres and oil before I finish up;

Later in the day Bob takes me up in the hills to have a shoot of his black powder rifle.  I should point out that Bob spent 12 years in the army as a scout and ended up being a firearms trainer at West Point – I make sure I follow orders!

It was great fun learning how to load and shoot a musket rifle.  We have a few shots and then have to make tracks as the weather turns again;

We just make it out before the rain comes which is lucky as the family car would not have handled a wet goat track.  Back at the house we have dinner before Bob and I watch ‘The Mountain Men’ – an old movie with Charlton Heston but would have been far better with the both of us in it. ha.

Next day and Bob takes me on tour again.  First up we go to the local Museum of Fur Trade;

The museum covered the fur trade and the role of mountain men in it – the museum is located on the original 1800’s trading post site.  I found it really interesting and the collection of guns/ artifacts is incredible.  I even found a rifle used by Kit Carson.

After the museum we drove for about hour out to the Pine Ridge Reservation where we had a look at ‘Wounded Knee’ which is the historical site where several hundred Lakota Indians (mostly women/children) were massacred by the US 7th Calvary in December 1890.  We also had a look around the Pine Ridge township and it reminded me of the social challenges we have back home in relation to indigenous communities in remote areas.

We head back home and wind up my stay with having a pizza night and a laugh.  It has been a good stay and I enjoyed myself.  The next leg is to make my way north and hopefully get Stan and I into Canada.

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