We're Home and Getting Back To Work....

after a great vacation out West. What was planned as a Colorado High Country camping adventure -- turned into a Harley Davidson road trip through Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota (Black Hills & Sturgis!) and Wyoming -- all because of MUD. It's a long story -- but we learned on this trip that while things don't always go as we have planned, (even after months of planning and mapping) being flexible and having the right attitude sure can carry you a long way and we had an amazing journey.

We started in Grand Mesa, Colorado -- at about 11,000 elevation, we drove in an out of snow and mud, through the Aspen trees until finally coming upon a beautiful mountain clearing with a small lake (and lots of trout!). We camped there for our first night. Never, have I ever seen so many stars and galaxies.

The first state we hit after leaving Colorado was Nebraska -- where we were greeted by a giant dust storm with winds approx 80-90 mph. We saw it coming across the prairie and at first glance thought it was dust being kicked up by plowing -- but quickly realized that the dust cloud was far to huge to be plowing kick up. We stopped in the middle of the road and jumped off the bike to avoid being blown over. The duration of the blast -- about 1 minute.

We loved driving through Nebraska. Did you know that is where much of Dances with Wolves was filmed -- along with South Dakota? Blaise has been through Nebraska, but this was my first time. Nebraska truly is the Heartland of America -- and the kind and helpful people we met and chatted with at a local diner just reinforced that notion.

We shot up through Nebraska into South Dakota -- which was my favorite stop on our trip. All motorcycle enthusiasts are familiar with the "Black Hills" of South Dakota and Sturgis (Sturgis is home to the motorcycle rally every year.) Click on the Sturgis link above to check it out -- you won't believe it. As we are always in search of peace and serenity when we head out west, it is needless to say we didn't go to Sturgis DURING the rally!

We of course drove by Mount Rushmore, which in and of itself was quite impressive. However, we really couldn't wait to see Crazy Horse the great Sioux Warrior. I myself am very interested in Native American history and have read both Larry McMurtry's Crazy Horse and Lakota Woman an autobiography by Mary Crow Dog -- both of which provide great insight into this rich and fascinating culture. The Lakota/Sioux are a gentle and proud people and make it quite clear that the Black Hills are both a monument to their heritage and sacred to their hearts. The beauty and sense of spirit there is indescribable.

This first picture is of the model created by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski for the mountain carving. Ziolkowski and Chief Henry Standing Bear of the Lakota Tribe began a foundation to honor Native heritage in 1948. (Click on Ziolkowski's link above to read about this monument and to read about Ziolkowski himself which is also a wonderful story.) The monument itself is far from complete but you can see by the model below just how munificent a representation of the Great Warrior it's going to be.

There was much to do in South Dakota and it was breathtakingly beautiful. On the way back from the Black Hills we stopped in Deadwood, stayed in a nice Hotel/Casino -- played some blackjack and slot machines. We didn't lose any money, and I actually won $35 on a penny slot machine -- too bad it wasn't a $1 machine! We're not big gamblers, but Deadwood was an interesting little town aside from the casinos and is steeped in history.

Unfortunately, I thought we were going to be traveling by Jeep so I brought my 35mm camera which is rather cumbersome. Since we ended up on a motorcycle, it was a bit hard to take pictures with a big camera and I didn't take as many as I would have liked, but still got some great shots here and there.

On the way back through Colorado, we stopped to watch two fly fishermen. These two guys were also watching their "masters" fish.

We had a fantastic break from work and day to day responsibilities -- and made some wonderful memories along the way. Alas, it's time to get back to work.

As far as our unexpected change in vacation plans go -- sometimes things don't work out as planned, and sometimes it's that deviation makes it all the better!!