South Dakota Trip

Well bout time I update this journal. It has been a while. I will start with my SD trip in August. I combined a trip to my hometown of Marvin, SD and annual trek to Sturgis for the rally. Trip was great except as we all know time spent is just too short. Started out and spent time with my Dad which is always good to do. I lost my Mom 3 years ago this month so the month of October is not always the best of times, but we all learn to cope.
The first week home was road trips during the day and evenings at the Marvin Bar gotta get up there for the evening cocktail hour as we like to call it. In the meantime two of my friends Russ and Carolyn came through, they were on the way back from Alaska. They managed to ride their Honda Trike all the way up there and back and had a good trip. They worked with me here in Wichita. So while we were there, gave them the tour of the local area and then off to the bar at night.
The night before we left for Sturgis, my friend Joe, his brother Larry and another friend showed up so we all had a great old time. Drinking beer, shaking the dice and just telling lies etc. On Friday morning we left for Sturgis and spent the next few days out there. If you have never been to the rally, it is a sight to see with all the bikes, RV’s, you name it-you will see it. By the way all the young ladies etc. will add a special treat. It is hard to describe, you just have to be there. The riding in the Black Hills is some of the most beautiful country you can ride through. But a word of warning, you have to be careful as there are thousands of bikes on the roads. It is not something to take lightly. With over half a million folks there you can see why. And this year being the 70th rally it was a huge event.
The entertainment at night is something else to see. I have seen some of the best top name rock bands ever. Just to name a few that I have seen: Steppenwolf, Jethro Tull, Whitesnake, Heart, ZZ Top, Journey, Blue Oyster Cult, Styx, Kid Rock, Nickelback, Tesla, Toby Keith (not a rocker but a great country artist who loves this country). My favorites were Jethro Tull and Styx. Jethro Tull is not an individual but a British band, Ian Anderson is the lead singer and one heck of a flute player. Very unique style of music. Styx also great with the keyboard player who spins that keyboard around, he makes the show. Course there are many others, just too hard to remember them all. The ones above really stood out. Of course the "parade" as we like to call it is also a sight.  You will have to ask me about that one.
Also went down to Crazy Horse and met my friends Mike and Leslie. We had a nice lunch there then off to where they were staying in Custer, SD. A very nice campground and I know they liked it a lot as evidenced by their journal entries. So a brief summary of the August trip. I will make a separate entry for the trip home as that is another tail and I need to tell it as it has some important lessons there.