Day 39. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, Ohio

Tuesday, September 29th.

Tom, being the music buff that he is, decided that since our route took us through Cleveland, Ohio, we must visit the Rock Hall of Fame (as it is known locally). Monday was spent riding the Interstate to get East as efficiently as possible. We had a good day and made our destination easily. Even negotiating our way into downtown Cleveland wasn't too bad thanks to GPS and Tom's calm directions. We had a lovely evening visiting a great restaurant owned by Michael Symons, one of our hero's from the Food Network!

We spent most of the day (Tuesday) at Rock Hall and could easily have come back for more. It was fascinating to learn of the origins of Rock & Roll from Blues, Gospel, Country and Western in the the late 40's and 50's. The exhibits took us through the evolution of the genre through to the modern day. They had amazing exhibits on Elvis, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to name just a few. There was an incredible amount of iconic memorabilia on display. Even the fact that the Rock Hall ended up in Cleveland was a fascinating story in itself. Eventually, the day wore on and we had to head out, riding just 30 miles further East to Mentor, Ohio, where James A. Garfield, 20th US president used to live.


The Rock Hall building, very reminiscent of the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, France. Not surprising considering both were designed by I. M. Pei:

 Johnny Cash's tour bus:

The first record I ever owned was by Herman's Hermits. And by a strange twist of fate so was Tom's!!!

 Michael Jackson's glove:

 Ringo's drum kit:

There was a beautiful Herb Ritts exhibit featuring his amazing portraits of Music Stars:

We had a wonderful day.

Days 35 - 37. Heading East!

Friday 25th, Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th

Over the last 3 days we have made some serious tracks Eastwards, leaving the Badlands on Friday morning and landing in Yankton, South Dakota for the evening. Notable features of that part of the trip were a significant lack of decent coffee and high octane gas. Our octane booster which had been carried in our saddlebags since leaving home was all used up in no time. Also, there were a lot of bugs and our windshields were a big mess when we pulled in for the evening.

Day 2 of this trek saw us continuing into Iowa and driving along route 20 for most of the day. Once again we could not find a decent coffee stop, there were lots of bug splats and a lack of high octane gas. We stopped in Cedar Falls, Iowa where we stayed last year. We really like this lovely town and finally had a decent Latte!! Also, a very good meal in one of the local Bistros and a sound sleep at the historic BlackHawk Inn one of the oldest continuously operating hotels in the country.

Day 3, we finally got out of Iowa and left the bugs bugs behind. We rode alongside the mighty Mississippi River along the Great River Road, which we really enjoyed and even found a lovely coffee shop for our 11:00 Latte! We then took our lives in our hands and rode the interstates around Chicago. Not an experience to be repeated and this was on a Sunday. I cannot imagine what it would be like on a week day. We made it across the entire state of Illinois and are now in Chesterton, Indiana for the night.

Total mileage for these 3 days is 924 after traveling in 4 States; South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana.

This photo of a small flower in the Badlands desert reminds me what determination can accomplish.

Day 33 & 34. Badlands, South Dakota.

Wednesday and Thursday 23rd & 24th September.

After a great stay in Deadwood we hit the road and took the long and scenic route to the Badlands National Park. This was another place we fell in love with last year and so we returned for two nights this time. We cannot say enough good things about the Cedar Pass Lodge which is a group of cabins within the park right on the edge of the Badlands themselves. We loved having more time here  and were able to take the time to hike some of the trails and really get into the Badlands themselves. We were surprised when a Park Ranger told us we could walk anywhere we wanted and wondered about damage to the land. As it turns out the Badlands themselves are eroding about an inch a year so they do not worry about foot traffic causing any impact. Having said that there were enough beware Rattlesnake signs to totally put us off striking off the beaten tracks into the undergrowth where snakes might be lurking.

We were lucky enough to see some great wildlife;

Finally some Big Horn Sheep!

 We rode around the Badlands loop in the morning when it was cloudy, the afternoon as the cloud broke up and then later on as the shadows lengthened. It was incredible how the light changed and altered the scenery.

Fun with our shadows!

Day 32. Deadwood, South Dakota.

Tuesday, September 22nd.

After a great stay, fantastic weather and superb riding we pulled ourselves away from Hill City and headed to Rapid City and the Black Hills Harley Dealership for a minor adjustment to Tom's bike. They took very good care of us and we were on our way within the hour. We drooled over the new 2016 bikes on the showroom floor - I have my next bike all picked out!!

We left Rapid City and rode up to Lead, through Spearfish Canyon and arrived in Deadwood for the night. Once again a beautiful day and wonderful riding on quiet roads.

 Spearfish Canyon

 Picnic Spot

Lunch companion

 Spearfish Creek

We had visited Deadwood last year and were looking forward to spending the evening there. We had selected the Celebrity Hotel & Casino to stay at - great rates for a luxurious room. I think they expected us to gamble on the slots, which I did briefly and without having a clue - won $6 on a $1 bet which I cashed in immediately!

 Hotel Lobby

 The only "celebrity" we saw; Herbie from the movie "The Love Bug"

We went for drinks at the Number 10 Saloon, where Wild Bill Hickok was shot. There was lots of memorabilia on the walls and sawdust on the floor - Brilliant!

On our return to the Hotel, having had a drink or two, I decided to try my luck at the slots again and promptly lost $4. At this point I quit whilst I was ahead - by one dollar - what a high roller I am!

Helicopter Tour Of Rushmore

We decided that we should go back to Mount Rushmore which we had visited last year and thoroughly enjoyed. Tom spotted a billboard advertising Helicopter Tours, so that is what we did for a  different perspective of this iconic landmark.

A rather small helicopter I thought. And a very young pilot....I wondered if his mother knew what he was up to!

Once we were up in the air the views were amazing. Tom sat in front and loved it. I was quite happy tucked in the back.

We were soon approaching the major landmark of the flight

What a unique perspective we got

This is Harney Peak, the highest US peak East of the Rockies

We got a birds-eye view of one the pigtail bridges on Iron Mountain Road. Just an hour earlier we had been riding down there!

We both felt very lucky to have been able to enjoy such an incredible experience on such a lovely day.

Days 30 & 31. Riding the Black Hills, South Dakota

We have had the most amazing weather over the last two days and we have ridden around the Black Hills really enjoying every moment. We rode down to the town of Hot Springs and visited the Mammoth Site. This was discovered in the 70's when a building contractor was digging the foundations for a housing development. Fortunately he recognized the importance of the bones that were uncovered and work stopped to allow the site to be excavated. Work is ongoing and a building has been constructed over the site to preserve it. 26,000 years ago there was a sink hole here which trapped large Columbian and Woolly mammoths. It is thought they slipped and fell in whilst trying to feed and couldn't get out again. Layers of sediment preserved their bones intact and this is the largest collection of intact mammoth specimens ever discovered. To date they have uncovered 61 mammoths and numerous other large and small animals. It was a fascinating visit and we now know more about mammoths than we ever thought we would.

 The bones are being carefully uncovered and left in place as much as possible. However they will remove them as needed to uncover the layers deep down. They dig for one month of the year and this uncovers enough material to keep the scientists busy for the rest of the year.

The objects that look like the soles of shoes are teeth still in place in a lower jaw. A mammoth grew 6 sets of teeth over its lifetime. As the old ones wore down they were replaced by a new set. After the 6th set was worn out the poor mammoth would no longer be able to eat and so, died of starvation.

After learning about mammoths we rode through the Wind Cave National Park and then Custer National Park. We saw plenty of Buffalo:

 and somewhat unexpectedly, some donkeys which were more of a nuisance than the buffalo! They would not get out of the road and caused quite a traffic jam.

We could not have asked for better weather to ride these amazing roads

 Needles Highway

Incredible vistas

and even a glimpse of Mount Rushmore