Walmart & Starbucks Save My Life!

It took quite a while to get to sleep since a inflatable pad, sleeping bag, and pillow made with chaps and jacket wrapped in a towel is not the most comfortable combination.  However, I finally drifted off only to be woken by flashes of lightning and incredibly loud crashes of thunder followed by a smattering of rain.  Nothing really came of it though and it was still hot in the morning so to this point we have seen two smatterings of rain with daily temperatures approaching or exceeding 100 degrees F.

This is the political season down here and there are political signs everywhere so I would be remiss in not including my favourite one to this point.  I saw it as we were leaving our hotel in Gillette, WY on Monday morning but thought is was representative of quite a few politicians so you're getting it whether our not you like it.



My favourite political sign of all time.
 

Since we have been riding for a week we decided to take a day just to pick up some creature comforts to help us get through the torrid days and the evening concerts.  Again, I'm embarrassed to admit it, but we headed straight to Walmart to pick up a cooler and two lawn chairs. Concerts are so much better when you can sit in a chair to watch them and drinks are so much better when they are not at the ambient temperature of the surrounding air.
 

One of the Buffalo Chip campgrounds

And, in order to keep contact with the world outside Sturgis we stopped at Starbucks for a coffee and internet.  As we were getting caught up a beautiful young lady sat beside us and started talking about Sturgis.  She was from North Dakota, lived in Rapid City, SD and until two years ago was a sports trainer for the minor league hockey club here.  Two years ago she decided to become a financial planner.  She said we had Canadian accents but after listening to her for a few minutes I realized how much her accent was like Frances McDormand's in the movie 'Fargo'.

After leaving Starbucks we rode to Rapid City H-D where there is a huge vendor market selling everything from wheels, tires, lighting systems, pin striping, exhaust systems, used motorcycles, and even GoPro cameras.  We didn't buy anything but it was amazing the things you can put on your Harley and lots of people were doing just that.  We even saw a woman dressed entirely in glittery material riding a Harley.  In the dealership a famous Harley artist had his paintings on display along with the model for one of the paintings.  Both were gracious enough to let me photograph them in front of the painting.

The Glittery Lady

The painting and the model.

Painting, model, & artist

Again the temperature was well over 100 degrees today and riding back to the Chip was an experience.  Sitting on top of a big air cooled engine in stop and go traffic feeling like your jeans are going to burst into flame is not an experience most people would undergo unless it was absolutely necessary.  The iced drinks we had when we got back to camp were excellent though.

As we were sitting in front of our tents in our new lawn chairs we were approached by two guys with sound and video equipment.  They wanted to interview both of us and take video of our bikes.  The two guys work for the Travel Channel and they may include some of our interviews in a three part series on Sturgis in the fall.  They asked us about our bikes, how long we had been riding, and what it was that drew us to riding. We won't know if we made the cut or not, though.  And I don't get the Travel Channel so I'll never know, I suppose. 

The Travel Channel Guy Peter Slack & assistant

Garry and me at our campsite

Sundown tonight was stunning.  The horizon was orange and the clouds were pink  and blue.  At the entrance to the Chip there is a huge hot air balloon in the shae of a beer bottle.  When they fire up the gas it lights up from inside.  Very striking.

The Chip sign at sundown

Beer bottle balloon

The two bands tonight were Buckcherry and Boston.  I had never heard of Buckcherry but they were surprisingly good.  The lead singer, who must have been 45 portrayed the persona of the angry young rebel, playing into the rebellious fantasies of all the middle-aged working guys and middle classers who could afford to be at the Chip to see him in concert.  He had the most incredible array of tattoos though.  I didn't bring my camera last night so I didn't take any pics of the band.

During the intermission a twenty-something guy pranced right in front of Garry and me  wearing a lime green Borat thong/bathing suit.  I have to admit that he was in good shape but that was just so wrong on so many levels!

Boston was incredible.  The new lead singer isn't as good as the original but he's still very good.  They did all the well-known Boston songs and had the crowd rocking.  One blonde young lady standing on a gold cart got into the music, and occasionally would lift her top as she danced.  She made a lot of guys very happy!

During concerts people have a great way of doing a standing ovation for a great song.  If they really like the music the guys who brought their bikes into the grounds start them up and rev the engines long and loud to show their appreciation.  It's awesome!  As for me, I put in my ear plugs at the beginning of the show and could hear everything perfectly.  The sound system here is amazing.  We can sit in our campsite about 3/4 of a mile away and hear everything even over the constant roar of Harleys.

It cooled down and by midnight the temperature was perfect for camping out.  We didn't do a lot today but took care of some business that allow us to be a little more comfortable as we camp in the middle of a hay field.