CJ's Custer Adventures

[cactusjack]

DAY 5:

This morning was free time, so I hopped on the Nomad and rode to Sturgis. It's about 70 miles to Sturgis from Custer and let me tell you, it is a nice ride. It's about 40 miles to Rapid City, and the road is absolutely great, hills and lots of curves on roads in excellent condition. Well, for my money it just doesn't get much better than that. At Rapid City, I jumped on I-90 and rode the 25 miles to Sturgis in high-speed style. I blew some coin in Sturgis on shirts and gifts for people back home. Sturgis looks like a nice place when it isn't overrun with 400,000 bikers.

I took the same route back and stopped in Rapid City for gas, and then visited the HD shop in Hill City to pick up my obligatory HD shirt.

This afternoon we rode to Mt Rushmore and through Custer State Park, other than a pretty good dousing of rain for the last 10 miles or so, it was great. Mt Rushmore is more impressive in person than I imagined.

Today's mileage tally was less than 200.

Here's some highlights of the day:

Sturgis


Crazy Horse Memorial:


Mt Rushmore:


Enjoy, I'll post more tomorrow.

[ringadingh]

Mount Rushmore looks really neat, I'll have to see it for myself one day. I noticed gas is only $2.69 a gallon. Its been rising like mad here this week, as of last night its $1.04 a litre, or about $4.00 a US gallon. Its been $19.00 a fillup for me on the last couple tanks.

[1600bluekaw]

Great pics a rode trip that is on my calendar of the future. Enjoy, we back home are envious

[1600bluekaw]

I am a new member only about 2 weeks or so Ireally enjoy this site and all the info. The pics are great and it would be awesome to do some day. We will plan on making the next rally. Ride safe

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by Ringadingh

Mount Rushmore looks really neat, I'll have to see it for myself one day. I noticed gas is only $2.69 a gallon. Its been rising like mad here this week, as of last night its $1.04 a litre, or about $4.00 a US gallon. Its been $19.00 a fillup for me on the last couple tanks.

Gas is $.40-$.50 cheaper per gallon up here than back home in AZ. I paid $2.21 in Wheatland, Wyoming though. That was nearly a buck cheaper.

[ringadingh]

Thats probably a $10-$11.00 fillup compared to my $18- $19.00 ones here.

[davidjones1]

CJ thanks for the write up and the pic's I should have just quit my job and went it looks like it would have been worth it. :(
ride safe.

[cactusjack]

DAY 6:

Not much to report today. Most everybody went on either the Badlands or the Devil's Tower rides. I decided to do my own thing and rode into Rapid City to get a new battery put in my watch. What can I say...I'm lost without it.

Rapid City is about 40 miles from Custer and it is an absolutely gorgeous ride - usually. The ride there was okay, I was in the jewelry store for maybe 10-15 minutes and when I came out the sky had turned black and could hear thunder. I decided to ride east on I-90 to Wall Drug, but before I could get to I-90 it started raining. I pulled into a city park and donned my rain gear. I made it to I-90 and it was pouring rain. I thought I could outrun the storm, but the storm was moving east, just like me. I made it about 5 miles and turned around and went back to RC and hung out in a Flying J truck stop for about 30 minutes hoping the storm would pass. It didn't, so I filled the tank and headed back to Custer.

I got dumped on for about 20 miles and then it turned to hail. I made it to Hill City, where it was dry. I stopped to buy a t-shirt for someone and then hauled butt back to my motel. I killed a couple of hours researching my route home and then I went to meet Trip and the other staff members before we left for the big meal at the State Game Lodge in Custer State Park. Custer State Park is really cool, lots of twisties and everything is green. That's a real treat when you live where everything is shades of brown and tan.

After the meal and the group photos, Dan Lund came over and asked if I wanted to run the Needles Highway. I jumped at the chance and even though it was dusk, had a blast riding the 14 miles of twisties and hills. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Needles_Highway

Here's some photos from today:

Downtown Rapid City, this is what I saw when I came out of the jewelry store:


Here is the new area of the State Game Lodge where the dinner was held:


Here is a photo of the room where we held the dinner:


Here are a few Nomads for your enjoyment:


I have a big day tomorrow. Custer to Green River, WY - about 460 miles. I'll take pictures, weather permitting.

One more thing: I just want to say this was a first-class experience. Trip throws one hell of a get-together. The KawaNOW folks are some of the finest people I've had the privilege to know. I can't tell you how nice it is to meet the people that you have been bantering back and forth with for so long. The location was excellent (the weather could have been more cooperative, but what are you going to do...), the rides were meticulously planned and although there was one riding mishap, it was fairly minor and nobody was seriously hurt. If everyone gets home safe, you couldn't ask for a better outcome.

[MarkG]

CJ, I agree "this was a first-class experience." The KawaNOW folks that came to this rally were fantastic. Definitely looking forward to the next one in a couple of years.

Didn't get the chance to say good bye before you left this morning. Have a safe ride home. I'll start back to AZ the beginning of next week.

[Cajunrider]

Scott, This is Darlene, Mitch's wife. Delete that picture of me immediately, or you're not my friend anymore. I thought we were buddies.

[cactusjack]

DAY 7:

BD and I left Custer at 07:00 this morning and stopped for the night in Green River, WY. I didn't take any pictures today, so none will be posted. The last 120 miles of today's ride were from Rawlins to Green River on I-80. I-80 must be the most beat up interstate in the country. Add a 35 MPH headwind and it was a real treat.

I apologize if I didn't get to say goodbye to some of you before I left, or to those of you who may have left early. I sincerely enjoyed meeting everyone at the rally. The Custer trip is something I will never forget. I hope everyone arrives safely at their destination, and I hope to see you all again sometime in the future.

[cactusjack]

DAY 8:

Brad and I left Green River, WY this morning and headed west on I-80. The skies to the west were cloudy and dark. Surprisingly, we made it to within about 10 miles of the Salt Lake Valley before the rain started to hit us. We exited the freeway and suited up under an overpass. I purposely routed us onto I-215 as soon as we left Parley's Canyon so we could avoid the heavy traffic on I-15 in the urban area. We hopped onto I-15 where it meets I-215. We continued south on I-15 and pulled into Payson for gas. We were both hungry, so we went another 30 miles to Nephi where we ate lunch at a great cafe. If you're ever in Nephi Utah, eat at Lisa's Country Kitchen on the south end of town. It's a nice place and the food is good.

In addition to the rain, we fought heavy head and crosswinds all the way down I-15 past Cedar City. That's nearly 300 miles. I averaged 24 MPG today pulling my trailer while fighting the wind.

I didn't take many pictures today due to the weather, but here's a couple.

This was actually taken yesterday. We stopped at a rest stop on I-80 between Rawlins and Rock Springs WY. When we pulled in, the ground was moving - tons of prairie dogs were putting on a good show.


This one is looking from the rest stop to the south:


we stopped at a rest area today and this is what we were heading into. Note: we started getting wet before we were able to get out of the parking lot.


Lastly, I took this in La Verkin, UT when we stopped to figure out where our motel was:


I'll try to remember to take some photos tomorrow, the last day of my trip.

[cactusjack]

DAY 9: (final installment)

The last leg of my Custer trip proved to be very interesting. Having spent the night in Hurricane Utah, my first 200 miles of the day was going to be through parts of Utah and Arizona I had never seen before.

I started out by going east on highway 59, which took me right through the polygamist communities of Hildale, UT and Colorado City, AZ. At 5:30 AM, they appeared just like any other small towns. After about 30 more miles, I started gaining altitude as I approached Jacob Lake AZ. Jacob Lake sits high in the mountains at 7925 feet. It was windy and very cold when I stopped for gas. Continuing on, the highway took me back down to about 3200 feet. On my left were some massive sandstone cliffs I rode alongside of for 30-40 miles through some small towns (wide spots in the road, really). After stopping to photograph the Vermillion Cliffs, I crossed the Colorado River via Navajo Bridge at Marble Canyon. Between Lake Powell and the Grand Canyon, the bridge was nearly 500 feet above the river.

I drove maybe 20 miles more and turned onto highway 89, which took me through the Navajo Nation and on to Flagstaff. Flagstaff sits at over 7000 feet and was cool and windy. As I headed down I-17 toward Phoenix, I could feel the temperature rising as I dropped to 4000 feet. I pulled into a rest area and switched my leather jacket for my mesh jacket. The closer I go to Phoenix, the hotter it got. The last 120 miles were uncomfortably hot. It was only 103 degrees in the Valley, but I guess a week of cooler weather made me soft.

Anyway, I rode 469.1 miles to home today. Here's some highlights of the day:

Taken outside Colorado City at sunrise:


My Nomad at a rest area near Jacob Lake:


Here's the inn at Jacob Lake, where I stopped for gas:


These rock formations were in a place called "Cliff Dwellers":


Navajo Bridge 471 feet above the Colorado River: (this is the old bridge, built in the 1920's. It is one lane and now is pedestrian only. I was standing on the new vehicular bridge, which was completed in 1993.)


I hope you enjoyed my little travelogue as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you!

[schoeney]

Thanks CJ....welcome home!

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by schoeney

Thanks CJ....welcome home!

Thanks! It sure felt great to sleep in my own bed again.