The Two-Day Birthday Bash

Yep, it's true. We finally caught Sturgis fever. What could we do? We were surrounded by motorcycles and motorcyclists thick as the crickets in Mitchell a few days back.

This was Custer yesterday morning, 70 miles from Sturgis and well into the rally. We stopped here on our way to another drive by monument viewing, this time Crazy Horse. It was beautiful enough that we decided to listen to a CD about the Sioux nation that we had picked up from the SD tourist information center. That and assorted other CDs about South Dakota accompanied us as we made our way into Wyoming (well you can't always get things coordinated perfectly, can you?).

If South Dakota seemed spacious, wait til you traverse Wyoming. It has the biggest sky I've ever seen with its own continuous show being performed by the clouds. At times the sky is the clearest blue with just a puff or two of pure white. At other times a hodgepodge of different shapes seem to be thrown together -- menacing black clouds atop wispy white ones, big puffy ones intersected by smudged gray streaks. It's fascinating to watch. At one point, little puffs dotted the sky, little puffs of hills and buttes dotted the landscape, and little puffs of sagebrush and scrub pines dotted the hills and buttes. It created a polka dotted tableau.

For lunch we stopped in Gillette and were greeted at the dining room's entry by an interesting sign.

Having ascertained that our feet were still with us and did not appear to be misbehaving in any way, we went in and enjoyed tasty beef and barley soup and ham and cheese sandwiches. Here's a photo I snapped right before we departed. I just like it.

We also toured the museum in Gillette, which had all sorts of wonderful artifacts and exhibits about pioneer and homesteading life, including an actual homesteading cabin (creepy shades of Ted Kaczynski) and a sheepherding wagon. What was amazing about the latter is that it was rigged up inside much like an RV today -- built-ins with a mattress on top, fold-up table, etc.

We cruised along, eventually forsaking the interstate and starting on the scenic route to Cody. Along the way, I discovered some family relations. (For those of you who don't know, Amsden was my married name.)

This was in Dayton, a town with an odd sense of humor about speed limits.

Apparently their unpaved roads are better than their paved ones.

The next 75 or so miles were the most jaw dropping scenery. It included a very aggressive climb in elevation and a descent that was nearly as rapid (all switchbacks and steep grades), buttes appearing out of nowhere, massive sandstone (maybe) streaked with red, verdant hills, grazing cattle -- all of it against the piercing blue, dancing sky. Debra shot these from the car as we high-tailed it through the high country.

Finally the view was too good to pass up and we pulled over at an overlook. There were two fellows there standing by their Harleys -- Sturgis attendees no doubt. They offered to take our picture, we offered to take theirs, and we struck up a conversation.

Turns out they, too, were heading to Cody. Perhaps, they said, we could meet up for a drink later.
Nice guys, we thought, as we drove off. Certainly not like the 400 pound toothless Harley boys who had sidled up to us at the South Dakota rest stop.

We got to Cody, found our dismal lodgings for the evening (that's what we get for making our reservations so late), and treated ourselves to some Mexican food on the main drag. After dinner we walked over to the Irma Hotel, the historic hotel owned by Buffalo Bill (who gave Cody its name) where Jim and Naresh were going for a drink. We didn't see them at the bar. Debra went into the gift shop and I headed for the restaurant. We each found one of them and the party began.

It was a perfect match. Naresh and Debra are each happily married, Jim and I each happily single. Both of them were complete gentlemen. Things got sort of strange when Jim started talking about having been a single parent who raised his son on his own. Then he mentioned that his son's name is David. Then he mentioned that David had a friend who Jim really considered his adopted son. His son and friend were ski team members. No, Debra said, surely they were springboard divers! Really, the similarities were spooky. Perhaps this was my doppelganger!

After Naresh and Debra said goodnight, Jim and I partied on. But before they left, we all agreed we'd get up before dawn and drive to Yellowstone for the sunrise.

With barely three hours of sleep (plus a lousy internet connection and, let's face it, much better distractions than blogging), we were off this morning, trailing their two motorcycles as they bravely made their way along the 52-mile scenic drive.

Think it was a cold ride for them? As a birthday treat, they bought us breakfast (which is where the lead photo was taken) and then they headed back to Cody.

I think we were so lucky to meet up with the kindest, smartest, best looking, and most generous Sturgis participants!!

We then spent the day at Yellowstone, and quite the day it was! The downside of going cross country and back in five weeks is that each stop is like speed dating -- trying to cram everything into a short period of time. Today it was stopping at a hot springs, meeting Brenda Sue who works at the park who told us about a great hike, going on the hike (during which, amazingly, I got a call from Peter and Betsy Bennett wishing me a happy birthday -- amazing not just because it occurred at exactly the moment that we had reached the farthest point of the hike but also because it may have been the only moment of the whole day when I actually had phone or internet service), cruising more, spotting buffalo, having to stop while the buffalo crossed the street, grabbing a late bite, seeing more sights, and finally heading out of the park to West Yellowstone and our hotel. Whew!

Debra took me out to dinner for my birthday. We dined on steak (which is fabulous here), toasted with wine and stout, and split a lovely birthday dessert courtesy of the restaurant.

Thank you all for the birthday greetings. I was moved to tears that so many of you thought to wish me well today. And I also really appreciate getting your feedback on the blog. Nice to know it's being read!