Badlands

I'm kind of excited to be at the Badlands
I’m kind of excited to be at the Badlands

The Badlands are amazing.  It’s hard to know what to say about them, I spent a few afternoons and evenings exploring them, doing some small hiking and just taking it all in.  Scrambling up rocks, watching the sunset, hanging out with prairie dogs, watching the stars gaze silently back; it was all delightful.

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Wall, South Dakota

I originally ended up in Wall, South Dakota because it looked close to the Badlands on a map and still had an affordable place to spend a week at.  It’s a tiny town, made up mainly of stuff near Wall Drug, which is a different blog post.  I had a bunch of small moments in Wall, nothing worth a post of its own, but perhaps together a series of vignettes and thoughts.

Cow Camp - intriguing but not currently hosting campers of any variety (from a rural dirt road an hour or so out from Wall)
Cow Camp – intriguing but not currently hosting campers of any variety (from a rural dirt road an hour or so out from Wall)

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Needles to Nebraska to Nearly Tipping

Saturday (October 1st) saw me packed, up and riding before the chill had left the air.  I had a long day’s ride planned: a meandering route heading west into Custer State Park to ride Needles Highway, then down into Nebraska before finally back west to my room for the night in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

400 miles in about 9 hours.
400 miles in about 9 hours.

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The Shereen & Megan Count (October 7th Edition)

I can’t even remember how this came up, but at some point I was told to start keeping track of Important Numbers.

Days on Trip: 21
Miles: 2,300
Wet Rides: 5
Absolute Soakings: 2
States Visited: 10
Capitol Buildings Visited: 3
Local Beverages Sampled (unique types, let’s not discuss total count): 21
Local Beverages per State: 2.1
Distinct Lodgings: 8
Average Unique Pets Snuggled per Stay: 1
Scooter Parts Damaged: 4

Pikes Peak

Pikes Peak is the ultimate tourist trap.  Although there are over 50 similarly sized mountains in Colorado, this is the first you encounter when migrating from the East.  It’s famous for being big and famous.  It’s a long drive out and up to the top, a windy peak with viewpoints so high as to make poor photographs, too little air to breath and a shop full of food knick-knacks.  So of course it was totally on my to-do list and I took the ride up above 14,000 feet on Saturday (October 8th).

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