After church today, I debated taking a nap. The last three nights have had thunderstorms that have limited my sleep. But there weren't any storms forecast or on the radar this afternoon and I decided to head for Devil's Tower.
I went NW on US-16 to Upton, then turned north on WY-116 to Sundance. Then US-14 to WY-110 and Devil's Tower. I didn't go in to the Monument (been there; will be there again), just got something to drink at the Trading Post and then kept going north on 110 to Hulett and through Alva almost to Aladdin, then south on WY-111 to the I-90 frontage road. I took the frontage road instead of the Interstate because I wanted to stop and take a picture of the most unusual windvane I've ever seen.
The day was cooler than yesterday and the wind going up to the Tower was a tailwind. The Tower, as always, was magnificent and I kept looking for a Third Kind Encounter, but it didn't happen. North of the Tower, on the way to Hulett, the Belle Fourche River was bank full and had obviously been out of its banks in places. I had seen a few antelope on my way north to Tower, but after I left, it was mostly deer. The whitetails were thick east of Hulett, but all were well off the road. I saw several fawns and they were almost as cute as the pronghorn fawns I saw a week ago, cuter than the buffalo calves that Jim and I saw on Friday. Maybe not as cute as the burro colts, but definitely prettier. (I hope I don't offend any of you baby-burro lovers!).
When I got down to I-90, I stayed on the frontage road so I could take a picture of that wind-vane I mentioned. It's a Beechcraft B50 Twin Bonanza. My dad flew one for the Bareco Wax Division of Petrolite Corporation from 1957 to 1960, when they replaced it with a B55 Baron, a plane that was probably 25-30 kts faster than the Twin Bonanza. There aren't many of these things left because an outfit in San Antonio, Swearingen Aircraft, started buying them and using the wings to build a cabin-type plane with pressurization. The last one I saw flying was landing at Deming, NM, while I was buying gas there on my Epic Ride. The last one I'd seen up close is at the Ellsworth AFB Museum in Rapid City, and it badly needed some TLC. This one is very well maintained (so far, at least). Here's a link to the installation of the plane as a wind-vane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ga6eGj7O6I
The ride home from there was, as usual, beautiful, and peaceful. Very little traffic on either WY-585 or US-85.
While I was putting the cover back on the bike, a couple of travelers pulled in and asked about the campground. They're camped here tonight and will leave early in the morning to head to Devil's Tower, the Little Big Horn battlefield, Beartooth Pass, the Chief Joseph Highway, and many, many other great sights and roads. One of them was on a Super Tenere, the other on one of the new Tiger 800s. They're posting their adventures on ADV-Rider. Bryan, on the Tiger, is known as Sir.Waffles, and Aaron, on the Tenere is m6scout1, if you're interested in reading their reports.
I went NW on US-16 to Upton, then turned north on WY-116 to Sundance. Then US-14 to WY-110 and Devil's Tower. I didn't go in to the Monument (been there; will be there again), just got something to drink at the Trading Post and then kept going north on 110 to Hulett and through Alva almost to Aladdin, then south on WY-111 to the I-90 frontage road. I took the frontage road instead of the Interstate because I wanted to stop and take a picture of the most unusual windvane I've ever seen.
The day was cooler than yesterday and the wind going up to the Tower was a tailwind. The Tower, as always, was magnificent and I kept looking for a Third Kind Encounter, but it didn't happen. North of the Tower, on the way to Hulett, the Belle Fourche River was bank full and had obviously been out of its banks in places. I had seen a few antelope on my way north to Tower, but after I left, it was mostly deer. The whitetails were thick east of Hulett, but all were well off the road. I saw several fawns and they were almost as cute as the pronghorn fawns I saw a week ago, cuter than the buffalo calves that Jim and I saw on Friday. Maybe not as cute as the burro colts, but definitely prettier. (I hope I don't offend any of you baby-burro lovers!).
When I got down to I-90, I stayed on the frontage road so I could take a picture of that wind-vane I mentioned. It's a Beechcraft B50 Twin Bonanza. My dad flew one for the Bareco Wax Division of Petrolite Corporation from 1957 to 1960, when they replaced it with a B55 Baron, a plane that was probably 25-30 kts faster than the Twin Bonanza. There aren't many of these things left because an outfit in San Antonio, Swearingen Aircraft, started buying them and using the wings to build a cabin-type plane with pressurization. The last one I saw flying was landing at Deming, NM, while I was buying gas there on my Epic Ride. The last one I'd seen up close is at the Ellsworth AFB Museum in Rapid City, and it badly needed some TLC. This one is very well maintained (so far, at least). Here's a link to the installation of the plane as a wind-vane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ga6eGj7O6I
The ride home from there was, as usual, beautiful, and peaceful. Very little traffic on either WY-585 or US-85.
While I was putting the cover back on the bike, a couple of travelers pulled in and asked about the campground. They're camped here tonight and will leave early in the morning to head to Devil's Tower, the Little Big Horn battlefield, Beartooth Pass, the Chief Joseph Highway, and many, many other great sights and roads. One of them was on a Super Tenere, the other on one of the new Tiger 800s. They're posting their adventures on ADV-Rider. Bryan, on the Tiger, is known as Sir.Waffles, and Aaron, on the Tenere is m6scout1, if you're interested in reading their reports.
