Moab dreamin to Deadwood drinkin!

Leaving moab left me thinking, “What beautiful place will I see next?” A better question would be what “different” beauty will I see?

My destination was Fort Collins, Colorado. That was before I got a hold of an old colleague and friend of mine Brian from my days starting out as tae kwon do instructor. His home of choice. Loveland Colorado. To get there I chose to cross the Colorado Rockies. Wildlife, Rocks of course, and tourist abound! All in all a good choice, but sometimes i hate feeling like a tourist. If you know what I mean! Could I rent the park for a day please?

 

A little rain came down on me for the first time, as I made my decent from the mountain. But no worries, the scenery was epic! There were rivers and rock face that made me want to become a climber. Not really though!!

Stopping in Loveland, which is pretty much at the base of the mountain, made for a nice stop! An up and coming town with good food, beer, and people.  As Brian said it used to be retirement destination, now it’s more young families! Thanks Brian and Kristy for a Chill evening!

 

The next morning onward to Deadwood!

PEW PEW PEW! As I shoot while riding my Iron Camel! I figured after Moab, if my harley is considered to be an iron horse, this bike has to be the Iron Camel.  It handled Moabs terrain beautifully but threw me off when it didn’t think i was handling it properly! DAMN Camels can get feisty!

There was absolutely nothing (ENTER EMPTY FARM LAAAND PIC HERE) heading into Eastern Wyoming until I got to the black hills. All I could think about was rolling into deadwood like they did in the ol western days. Tired and thirsty!!!! I like most, are fascinated with the old western hoopity hoopla! Deadwoods glorified story is one that most people resonate with. So naturally I had to make the trip.

The choice of hotel? Late 1800’s Iron Horse INN, a clean hotel with good breakfast! $66 a night….Oh and there were happy waitresses with a no nonsense attitude!

First walk down the main street and you can’t help but notice the signs, that say, SALOON, OLD, and SPEND MORE HERE!

OLD!

and Spend MORE!

I get it! I Don’t mean to be too condescending. It’s big business in a small town that has to compete with your disney lands and beach brochures.

The first night there I spent a considerable amount of time in Old time saloon #10, hanging with mostly tourists until the weeeeee hours in the morning! I wanted to sleep but you don’t sleep in the old west. One of the better watering holes in Deadwood in my opinion.

The story of the old west is one that should help  us understand what it truly means to live in this country. The freedom to choose where, what, and how we want to be. Listening to the stories about these folks below, makes you feel like were not that much different, just trying to make it different times.

Calamity Jane and Wild bill Hickok

Calamity jane said her dying wish was to be buried next to Wild bill! She got her wish!

Seth Bullock Towns first Sheriff!

 

After doing the touristy thing I found out there was a PBR rodeo in town. I’ve never been to a professional bull riding competition and it turned out to be just as crazy as I thought.

How did I do? My first Bull Ride!! 😉

The next morning I decided to check out sturgis. We all know Sturgis as the mecca of bikers every summer. I rolled into town thinking there would be loads of bikes and there were bikers but it was pretty much a ghost town.

 

So I checked out the harley dealer. I have to say owning a harley and now riding my BMW I actually felt a out a place. I didn’t see anyone going to the dealership with out one.

 

There is a motorcycle museum, which I liked but its not worth $11.

Checked out the full throttle saloon, a Reality show bar in Sturgis. Once again a ghost town at the moment. There was a family of three near the bar buying some t-shirts, other then that NO ONE!

After realizing this ghost town only ramps up during the Sturgis Rally, I thought I’d make a stop at the Fort meade Cemetery. Its a mile up a dirt road over looking, Fort Meade Medical Center. Now if your still reading this far, this part of the trip to Deadwood actually hit me differently. I was standing and checking out all the grave sites which are military only and those apart of the military family and there was this older gentleman, the only person there. Paying his respects to what I’m assuming is a family member.

It got me thinking about all these people in the late 1800’s who like today serve our military to keep us protected. In this area, forte meade was established in 1878 ,so most of the gravesites are from that era. Its one of the oldest military grave sites in the United States. Their job was to protect the settlement of the black hills and in deadwood at this time as well as military personnel from George Armstrong Custers 7th Calvary.

There was a heavy feeling being around those grave sites, maybe it was the setting, with the veteran, or maybe it was the thought that not only did the settlers take chances, but our military voluntarily or not, sacrificed so those who did not serve can live there lives in peace.  At a time when there were a lot of unknowns and those exploring through the west were only looking to give their families the best opportunities. We do it today but forget that we have so much more, then they did. I still here some people constantly bitching and complaining about, “If they only had! “:). I’ll get off the rant, but it does put things in perspective. Take chances, sacrifice, because in the end, someone, whether it’s your family or not will benefit by what you did, not what you didn’t do.

Deadwood and the black hills was a fun two day experience. I loved partying with other tourist, and since it was actually, truly, my first time away from people I knew, it made it a comfortable transition heading into what will be the next few weeks alone without the familiarity of family or friends. But I have that feeling I need to get back on the saddle and see whats around the corner. My travel ADD has set in and I’m eager to see whats east of me.