Our trip across much of the northern half of the country to get to the west side of South Dakota and Sturgis was fairly uneventful. Nearly perfect actually. We had good or great weather almost all the way, and once we got to about the middle of Minnesota, it started getting pretty warm. We were fairly concerned about what temperatures we might get in Sturgis, since we heard some prior years were over 100°. As it turned out, our two weeks in Sturgis were nearly perfect. Every day of the rally was low to mid 80s, and afternoon storms that are common in the area were frequent, but very few went through our RV park about 10 miles north east of the actual city of Sturgis.

Memorable events along the way were numerous motorcycle rides for errands, which were frequent and always fun. We also had quite the time getting through Chicago, as we hit it at about noon, and it took us close to four hours to get through the city. We would stay on or near interstate 90 nearly all the way from New York City to Sturgis, SD. So the comfort of Travel every day was good on the RV and our bodies.

One memorable stop was when we were near our Rochester Minnesota KOA park in early July. The hitch on the trailer where we keep the motorcycle while traveling, had begun to bend upward. Possibly because of the extra weight I have added inside the trailer in the form of cabinets and some minor new storage opportunities. Also, likely from storing the motorcycle too far forward in the trailer. It had gotten to the point where it was fairly obvious that a repair was needed, and I started looking around for a way to get that accomplished around the first of June. I eventually found a machine shop that was only about 3 miles from our RV spot in Rochester, so we packed everything up and trailed the empty trailer to nearby Manahan Machine Shop. Turns out we really stumbled into a great solution here, as they were friendly, professional, capable, and did a very thorough repair of the hitch and other damaged chassis areas of the trailer, finishing by Friday, July 4, even though I first contacted them and we dropped off the trailer on Monday, June 30. Delighted we found these folks, and the price tag seemed very fair for everything we got done.

Other sites on our way to Sturgis included Sioux Falls, South Dakota, please see some pictures and a video I took there. Weather was perfect at about 75 or 80 degrees almost the entire eight days we were nearby. We eventually made it to Sturgis right on Schedule on July 23. We would stay at Pappy Hoel campground, another recommendation from Gloria's friend Fred. For the record, they pronounce the Hoel part of that as hoil, rhymes with foil. Apparently, it's named after one of the original founders of the Sturgis bike rally. This campground dwarfs the word HUGE, as it has probably over 1000 RV spots in six or seven sections. All of the pictures or videos I took around our campsite were just of our corner of the entire property. Also on site is the Full Throttle Saloon, frequently just referred to as FTS. This place is a massive building, and is attached to the Full Throttle Distillery, another huge area of clothing and souvenir and liquor sales. The saloon also has a separate area outback, where they have a stage for live performances of well known musical talent. While we were there, the seven nights of performances included Hank Williams Jr, Gretchen Wilson, and others we weren't as familiar with. We went down to the saloon, most evenings, watch Hank Williams, and the place was packed. The saloon itself is way larger than any bar or tavern I've ever been in, and under its single roof was at least 8 or 10 bars one could sit up-to like any bar or any other tavern. The entire area of the saloon and tavern structures must have been a fully covered building of several acres. Of course, food was available as well, so even during the day, there were hundreds of people inside. Night time included an additional, separate stage area for music to be performed by lesser-known groups.

Weather for our entire stay near Sturgis was nearly perfect, around 82 to 88° every day. Small thunderstorms are common nearly every afternoon. Small fits their description, as our horizons would frequently look fairly gruesome, but we were seldom underneath one of the dowsings. One of our afternoons, we rode down to The Mammoth Site. Please see pictures I took here. I didn't get any video, but it's a very interesting place to visit, about 40 miles to the south just outside the town of Hot Springs. This is a live, ongoing paleontology dig that was discovered several decades ago. Bones of many woolly mammoths, and other creatures of the time are displayed, as well as still being unearthed here. Fascinating place.

On August 11, I flew back to the Seattle area for some more medical tests and follow ups. I stayed with our daughter and grandson, Jennifer and Aiden, up in Lake Stevens, just east of Everett, Washington. Between medical and similar commitments, I had a wonderful time with Jennifer and Aiden, did some karaoke singing, and visited many friends during what turned out to be a two week stay. I thought it was only going to be one week, but my cardiologist wanted to do a few extra tests, and they couldn't get me in until August 22, so we changed my departure plans to August 24, so Gloria and I can stay on target to leave the Sturgis area on August 29.

While we were in Sturgis, Gloria and I got tattoos at one of the many Sturgis tattoo places, and we met a fellow, Leo, with whom we became good friends. Leo actually lives near the Ozarks in Missouri, and has been tattooing for around 20 years, but this was his first time in Sturgis. He invited us to come to his area for another bike rally in mid September of this year, for which we immediately made reservations. As of this typing, we are still yet to arrive there, for a bike rally that runs from September 10 through September 14 this year. Leo invited us to take his boat out during the day while he's working tattooing 12 hours a day during the September rally, and offered us each a free tattoo during that upcoming stay!

That's about it for now. It's August 21, 2025 as I'm typing these keystrokes, and looking forward to my return to South Dakota by airline flight on August 24. Please see lots of pictures and videos I took along our entire way since New York, during this seven-stop portion of our journey!