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.
Month: October 2016
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.
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.
Where the Bison-o Roam
I woke up refreshed on Sunday morning and enjoyed the first Airbnb where the final “b” actually meant breakfast. My hosts recommended the train depot in downtown Cheyenne and the Terry Bison Ranch on my way to Denver.
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 |
First Week in Denver
I’ve been having a great time here in Denver. My plan is to spend two weeks here, my insanely generous friends have been hosting me and I’ve had a great time hanging out with them, snuggling their pets and exploring their fun city.
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).
Sunday Stranding
I had a nice calm day planned for Sunday. I’d go downtown, visit the Denver Botanic Garden, maybe swing by Union Station and then head home to get some overdue picture and blog posting done.
That was the plan.
Denver: Week II
Denver is definitely my favorite city of the trip so far, I had a great time there and managed a little bit more exploring in my second week. Robin and Kevin also returned and it was great to hang out with them a bit more before heading off into the mountains.
Vail and Hanging Lake
After I left Denver I headed West, towards Moab. I left Friday night (October 14th), and had a beautiful drive through the mountains, ending up in Vail.