Road trip #4, day 1 - Riding out in search of a close encounter - Devils Tower, WY

July 23, 2011
Colorado, USA

Belle Fourche, SD -- Tim's belated birthday ride...

We did not ride on Friday but I cannot adequately describe the three-day weekend without mentioning we kicked off our mini road trip with a Kid Rock Concert at Frontier Days in Cheyenne, WY. The tickets, purchased in February for the Born Free Tour was our Valentine gift to each other. After roaming the streets of downtown Cheyenne most of the afternoon, we drove to the fairground area. We located a parking spot on the street, a good stretch of the legs away from the arena. We found a beer and a Mikes on the midway and slowly made our way to our designated seats.

The show kicked off with a tribute to the military. Three soldiers marched on stage and saluted the crowd while The Warrior Song played and the matching video flashed across the big screens. The crowd jumped to their feet cheering. The applause was patriotic thunder. Sheryl Crow opened, walking out in a mini skirt and cowgirl boots and hat. She entertained us with a bevy of her greatest hits and later joined Kid on stage for a couple of duets including the song, Picture. The weather was perfect, the house was packed, and the party zone was overflowing. It was great to see Sheryl Crow live, but Kid walked out and immediately owned the evening, the town and by the end of the night, our hearts when he sang Born Free with a giant American flag unfurled behind him. Cheyenne, WY will never be the same. The pyrotechnics and laser light show - especially during So Hot - were - in a word that does not begin with F - Awesome! We rocked for about three and a half hours. I could give you a blow-by-blow, but it is one of those things - you just had to be there. (See the end of this post for a slide show of us fooling around in Cheyenne before the concert.)

A man and a beer - life is good.

Military Salute/Tribute - Kid Rock Concert - Cheyenne, WY

The Grand-Daddy of all Rodeos had the Grand-Mommy of all traffic jams afterwards. Cheyenne is about 40 miles north of here. It was 2 am before we got home which set us back a bit on our planned daybreak ride out... it was more like 7 am. Yawn! There's nothing like a ride in the brisk morning air and new roads to travel and the promise of coffee at some little cafe along the way to make one forget about the loss of a few hours sleep.

We decided to travel 85 north out of Cheyenne - with a loose destination of The Devils Tower. We looked for breakfast in Torrington (the first town of any size so far) but found nothing besides fast food joints so we traveled a little further to the small town of Lusk, WY. We knew the breakfast at the Outpost Cafe would be worth the wait. It was. The food (breakfast) is well prepared and served up in generous portions at a reasonable price. The coffee is good and the friendly, efficient wait staff never let a cup get empty.

The 80 mile stretch between Lusk and Newcastle was long. That's all I got - long. Ha! At this point, we needed something cold to drink and found it at a convenience store where we met and chatted at length with a couple out of Colorado Springs who rode up on a Road King. The terrain changed on Hwy 85 north of Newcastle. I mean, it became a bit more interesting, as a rock formation and a bend or two in the road actually interrupted the horizon. It was a pleasant ride on Hwy 585 between a community you can almost miss called Four Corners and Sundance, WY.

We accidentally found the Harley dealership in sleepy Sundance, WY while looking for a statue of The Sundance Kid. Actually, Tim commented on a pickup parked in the middle of the street. We looked harder and noticed the H-D logo. When we looked over our shoulder we noticed the dealership. Deluxe Harley-Davidson of Sundance is really nice although basically a clothing and parts store. The staff was friendly and laid back. Tim found a hat and a do-rag he could not live without. I do not know why we did not ask about the Sundance statue because we never found it. It was good to see the street lamp posts of Sundance adorned with banners stating the name and branch of service of active duty and veterans in the area.

Digression: We endured a BS traffic stop by a local motorcycle officer in Sundance. We saw him coming toward us as we rolled toward the edge of town. He made a u-turn behind us, we suspect to confirm we had out of state tags, before pulling us over. Apparently, his interpretation of a STOP at a stop sign is the rider has to have both feet on the ground. I'm telling you, we made at least a 2 second stop whether Tim's feet touched the ground or not. And, I swear, at the time of the stop, not another vehicle besides that officer and us was rolling between the city limit signs. Of course, I mean no disrespect - the guy was just doing his job, even if his concept of a stop is debatable and even if he was rather over-zealous with his document check. I mean c'mon, for some reason he assigned relevance to the fact that the insurance cards are new (ie: dated recently -- just got them at the end of June - they expire in 2012) - Duh. Tim's drivers license, complete with motorcycle endorsement also drew a comment (it expires in 2015). OK. The registration on the bike expires at the end of the month (we have a whole nine days left on it and we had the current documentation in hand that does not expire until July 2012), but the officer made certain we understood that we would be illegally riding in Wyoming after the 31st. Duh! After detaining us for about 20 minutes, he finally sent us on our way with a verbal warning - put your feet down at a stop sign. Ha! We chuckled as we drove out of town because the officer said he had to be on his toes because the county fair started tonight in Sundance (it was mid-afternoon and not a soul was stirring in the whole town) and as soon as that was over he would have Sturgis riders to deal with... (maybe he was honing his skills on us). I am thinking the stop was detrimental to business, as about half way through - three more Harleys slowed down as they passed going the opposite direction, hesitated for a brief moment and rode straight on through.

Just outside of Sundance, we picked up Hwy 24 - the road to the Devils Tower. Probably about eight miles out, you get a glimpse of it. I believe the photo op pullover was about six miles out. Once the Devils Tower came into view, it dominated the horizon.

A couple of Devils Tower stats - 1906: President Theodore Roosevelt declared Devils Tower as the first national monument in the USA. Devils Tower is 867 feet tall, summit elevation is 5112, teardrop shaped top is about the size of a football field, the circumference of the base is 1 mile.

The charge to enter the park on a motorcycle was a reasonable $5. We took our time hiking the 1.3 mile trail around the base of the Devils Tower in biker boots and snapped a good many photos. I am happy to report the closest encounter we had was with a noisy squirrel and tourists with more small children than they could efficiently herd - I am laughing.

Attached to Devils Tower are many folk legends, a good many of them inspired by the reverence Native Americans have for the monument.

Legend of the Devils Tower - click for a larger view

I believe we both can say that visiting this rock far exceeded our expectations and we enjoyed the experience.

We continued on scenic Hwy 24 traveling through small town Wyoming. Hulett, the first town you reach after the Devils Tower has several restaurants, saloons and motels. We saw a sign designating the town of Alva (population 50) but that's all I remember about it. The tiny spot in the road called Aladdin (population 15) has one claim to fame, a 115 year old general store (it was closed already when we rode through). Another time, then.

Today's great 417 mile ride has ended in Belle Fourche (bell foosh), SD (population 5500 or so). Belle Fourche means "beautiful fork" and refers to the rivers that converge here -- the Bell Fourche and the Redwater. Sheriff Seth Bullock of Deadwood fame was instrumental in putting Belle Fourche on the map with the railroads. And, this is allegedly the geographical center of the United States. We will check that out tomorrow.

We have found accommodations at a small tourist court type motel - the Ace Motel which sits a block off the main drag and just over the river bridge from downtown. The motel room was a bit musty at first, but an open window and the ceiling fan circulating have about cured that problem. It is a bit "dated", old, somewhat threadbare, but clean. We do not have a/c, but the night is cool. We do have WIFI. There is a small TV, but who cares? Dinner was OK at the American West Restaurant which sits next to the Motel 6 on the southern end of town. (The difference between the not-so-low rate of the Motel 6 and the rate at the Ace Motel paid for dinner. Hmmmm...) Tim had a New York strip Philly steak dinner. I had a fried shrimp dinner.

We will wind down the day sitting on the bench in front of the room, enjoying the night breeze, sipping on a convenience store beer and talking about our day.

Here is the mini-movie of the day's ride:

Devils Tower Ride

Here is a slide show of the day's ride and The Devils Tower (78 photos):

Source material:
Devils Tower, Wyoming
Indian Legends of the Devils Tower

Just a few pics of us roaming Cheyenne, WY before Kid Rock concert (55 photos):

Vik and Tim - Cheyenne, WY before Kid Rock concert