On our 3rd and final day, we woke up to a gorgeous blue sky and temps already soaring well in to the 80s. With so little time and so much to still do, we hit the dealership by 9am.Black Hills Harley Davidson is located in Rapid City, right off exit 55, I-90 on Harley Drive. http://www.blackhillshd.com/
Each year during the rally the store has over one hundred vendors, entertainment and free parking. I think the hours were 8am - 8pm...noticed when we drove by at night that it seemed to close early.
Was surprised to hit some traffic heading in so early...but then again, I am always surprised when I wake up too early for my liking and life is moving along at a quick pace. They had good traffic control though and we were in and parked in the back lot in a matter of minutes.
Spent a bit of time walking around but the temps started to heat up pretty quickly and though I am a bit of a party girl, 9am is a tad too early to have a beer. So hopped back on bike and headed to Spearfish Canyon.
Spearfish Canyon is located off 1-90 at exit 14. It's a nice ride with windy roads and lots of trees...the shade was a welcome break from the heat.
At the bottom of the Canyon is Spearfish Canyon Lodge, which during the rally, hosts a BBQ with vendors and tents.
It was now around 11am, five o'clock somewhere, so we stopped and enjoyed a refreshing beverage with our fellow bikers. Mike's Hard Lemonade can certainly be counted as breakfast/juice, can't it?
Always interesting rides around...
After ingesting my Vitamin C for the day, we walked through the vendors and found this very talented man pin-striping bikes.
Russ from Graybeard Pinstriping can often be found at many bike rallies and events. A pretty big crowd gathered to watch him paint 'Draggin' Baggin' on the back of this Cruiser.
From here we moved on to Deadwood, which is about 15 minutes away, and pretty damn fabulous, in my humble opinion.
Bikes and saloons lined both sides of the street...
Nice little Harley store downtown...
Ain't that a pretty site?
The bartender at the Wooden Chip casino recommended this spot for lunch and it was fantastic. Kind of a hidden gem between both of the main drags - Lee Street Station outside of the Martin & Mason Hotel.
Sat outside at Lee Street, had some sandwiches and enjoyed an icy cold bucket of beer watching the bikes cruise by...service was great, would definitely recommend for a quick bite.
Stopped into Saloon #10 for a quick refreshment at the original bar where Wild Bill Hickok was shot.
Enjoyed one last look at the bikes cruising down Main Street and moved along to our last stop at Sturgis.
G'Bye Deadwood...till we meet again....
Off to the Main Drag...first stop was Buffalo Chip
The parking lot is as far as we got because there was a $58 admission to get in? Hello?? What if you don't want to see the show? Can't we just walk around? No. Okay, should've done my research...was pretty bummed I didn't get to see the midget tossing. Moved along to the Full Throttle and spent our money there....
TruTV was still filming during our second stop at the Full Throttle
Extra parking in the back...
Plenty of entertainment outside the bar, there was some bungy thing and a daredevil motorcycle stunt show..
Bike, bikes and more bikes
Inside Bar Area...
Free FTS Tattoos!
Interesting clientele...
Burnout Pit - a/k/a wheely-spinny things
Bartenders preparing for filming...
Met some fun people
And then took off for the strip
Dinner was yummy...
Few more trips up and down the strip and it was time to say our goodbyes to Sturgis :(
They even had a sign for us....
Oh you will see us again, Sturgis....sooner rather than later.
Oops..what is that blue building calling our name from the side of the highway? Piedmont Casion Blue Bar. Time for one more? Aw hell, why not? Last stop in South Dakota.
Next day, up and at 'em for a 10 hour drive south to Utah through the hot summer desert...
you were so worth it, Sturgis.
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