We woke up early to go get some 5 cent coffees and homemade donuts at Wall Drug. A local family was there when we arrived and advised us to get the day old donuts for much less and still as good, so we took her word for it! These donuts were definitely worth it, and she was right..the day old donuts were great! We didn’t have too long of a drive to our next campsite, but we did have to pick up our motorcycle rental at 9AM so we couldn’t get TOO caught up in the Wall Drugstore (it’s very easy to).
We picked up our Indian Roadmaster motorcycle right on time in Sturgis, South Dakota. We beat the famous motorcycle rally by a couple of weeks, so we were lucky to get one. I followed Joey towards Horsethief Lake campsite in South Dakota. It was really fun for me to watch him ride around, and I’m sure it was even more fun for him to ride! We arrived at our campsite around 10:30AM, which was right on the lake and was a cozy little spot. I parked the car and hopped on the back of the motorcycle…I was SO excited to ride these winding roads.
It’s such a different experience riding the scenic route on a motorcycle compared to a car. We had great weather for it too..we both got a nice little burn from riding over 200 miles. We went to Mount Rushmore National Memorial and enjoyed the scenic loops of the Black Hills National Forest.
While taking pictures of Mt. Rushmore, there were many people trying to take pictures as if they were carrying the memorial..and then there was this crazy kid who was doing an ollie on the ledge!
We got back to camp around 4PM and we were so exhausted from riding in the hot sun. There were a lot of people in the lake, and I thought how nice it would be to dip my feet in the cool water..so we did.
We took the car out to get some firewood and ice, and while we were out we stopped at a local brewery called Miner Brewing Co. They had a great selection of over 10 different house brewed beers, and we tried a flight of six that were absolutely delicious.
We decided to check out Crazy Horse Memorial before heading back to our campsite, and we’re really glad that we did. As we were entering the memorial, we realized we didn’t have enough cash on us to get in (It was $11 per person, not per car, like most others). The entrance attendant must’ve seen the disappointed in our face and asked, “How badly do you guys want to see the monument?”..we said we’d really like to see it and he let us in for free..HOW NICE!?
Some of you may know the story behind this memorial, but it was a bittersweet visit. The memorial’s progress in the last 15 years has been almost nonexistent, and it was sort of sad to see an unfinished dedication that has been ongoing for half a century.
It was such a beautiful night out, and we were excited to get back to camp, relax by the campfire, and make some dinner over the campfire. Of course, we made some s’mores too! Tonight was our first night sleeping without our rainfly, and it was pretty amazing to be able to gaze at the stars while sleeping in our tent! Tomorrow we’ll reach out to the northeast corner of Wyoming to see Devils Tower after we return the motorcycle in Sturgis, South Dakota. Then we’re heading south to spend a few days in Colorado!