Spearfish, South Dakota.

Yesterday Yuka & I left Sioux City and headed for "somewhere in the Black mountain Hills of South Dakota...." We stopped in Mitchell, South Dakota and saw the world's largest bird feeder, the Corn Palace of Mitchell, South Dakota. Apparently, Lewis and Clark wrote that the Upper Midwest was some type of desert, unfit for growing anything of value. In a publicity bid to attract new settlers, the residents of Mitchell took their crops and nailed them to the side of the building in the 1880s. The idea stuck, but the corn doesn't always stick.



We took a drive through the Badlands National Park, which was incredible. I've never seen anything like it. The beauty isn't what you'd find in a traditional national park, but it's more of an austere, almost dreadful kind. We took a detour down a gravel road and saw bighorn sheep and bison. Seeing bison (aka buffalo) in the wild is a spiritual experience. We ended up on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on about 40 miles of gravel road, which was eerily desolate and empty. I felt the ghosts of Wounded Knee crying out.

Then we stumbled on the Black Hills.

This week is the 64th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. It is the largest motorcycle rally in the world--I heard there's something like 700,000 Harley Davidson bikes here. It definitely seems like it.

We stayed in Hot Springs, next to a small stream. We had some problems getting our tent together, but some bikers from Minnesota (Larry, Jim, and Roger) gave us a much needed hand, and I ended up staying up and drinking beers with them. They were really interesting guys and good conversation. I learned quite a bit about biking, life in the 60s, Minnesota politics, and life in general. It was a great educational experience. I am really learning to appreciate the brotherhood, respect, and courtesy that goes along with biking.

This morning, we made it out to Wind Cave National Park for a tour of Wind Cave, the 5th longest cave in the world & interesting because its unique formations. We saw some herds of bison & prairie dogs!

After that, we went to the Crazy Horse Memorial, a sculpture that was started in 1948 and will be the largest in the world after its completion (they've only finished his face--they still have to do the rest of the body & his horse). We got to witness a blast on the rock as workers tirelessly unveil this "ruin in reverse." To put this statue to scale, it will be larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza when finished. This is being built without any federal or state funding, as the creator wanted it to be a work brought from the American people, not something from the government.

We saw Mt. Rushmore which was actually pretty moving. It had just gotten done raining, so the crowd had thinned out considerably. It was Yuka, me, and about 50 bikers in chaps gazing at this monument when the clouds parted and the sun broke across the mountain. Seing all this natural beauty & touching monuments is really making me wonder why I don't work for the National Park Service.

Right now we're staying in a campground in Spearfish, just west of Sturgis. There are a lot of bikes. A LOT of bikes. It's a very modern campground, though. It has a playground, a swimming pool, shelters, laundry, a convenience store, and wireless Internet access. Who would've guessed you could be online in your tent?!?

Tomorrow, we're bound for Sheridan, Wyoming via Devil's Tower National Monument. I am just beginning to see the great beauty of America unfold in front of me, and from what I've heard it just gets better as you reach the Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons. I am keeping on this Oregon Trail, and America hasn't let me down yet.