Gophers and Cheese

There's something really nice about waking up in a tent at a very quiet, picturesque campground and fishing first thing in the morning before making a simple breakfast of oatmeal and campfire coffee. The wet weather didn't stop me from enjoying roads that I love including Needles Highway. Buffalo!  When I first experienced riding through a buffalo herd back during Sturgis 2007, I had a sort of nervous excitement and thought it was awesome.  Since then, I've ridden around buffalo a few more times and each time they freak me out more and more.  They are so big and so unafraid of people and vehicles.  They're still really cool though. I went to Wind Cave National Park for the first time.  It was actually my first time in any cave.  After a quick tour outside, we headed into the cave (down a staircase, not through that hole). Wind Cave is well-known for this "boxwork" formation. Crazy Horse: The weather clear...

I finished my ride through the Badlands and made it to Mount Rushmore. My campsite was very close to Mount Rushmore.  It was wet when I arrived but thankfully it wasn't pouring so the contents of my tent stayed dry. I did a little fishing in the lake.  I'm a novice fisherman at best and while I didn't catch anything big, I'm happy I caught a few small fish. I had an all-American dinner in Keystone and hung out with the presidents that evening. I picked up some stuff to make some proper s'mores back at my campsite.  Lots of people seem to love them but I became convinced that they're totally overrated.  The graham crackers and marshmallows are good but I think they need something besides plain Hershey chocolate in them.  Some caramel certainly wouldn't hurt. Coverage of my trip to the Black Hills will continue on Monday.  All weekend long, follow Mama Tried coverage on my Instagram account .  Hope to s...

February in Minnesota is a time to finish up winter modifications on your bike, plan that big summer trip, and/or reminisce about past adventures... because it's freezing fucking cold out.  For me, it's time to do the latter.  At the end of May 2014, I packed up my Road King and took a solo moto-camping-fishing trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota.  I didn't get around to blogging about it... until now. I assume this is making some sort of artistic statement.  I really don't know. It was very warm when I left so I was riding in a t-shirt.  While cruising along, I took a bee to the armpit.  It hurt and I had to pull over.  It's difficult to see, but here's the stinger I pulled out of my skin.  It's the second time I've had that happen.  The first time was to my neck. My destination for day one was Pierre, SD where I had a campsite booked.  In case you didn't know, Pierre is the state capital (no, it's not the Corn Palace i...