Days 10 and 11 Billings, MT to Spearfish, SD 380 miles

I didn’t write a blog last night because it was my birthday so I took the day off from writing. Sarah and I wanted to check out Rob and Mariah’s coffee shop in Billings, so we got up at 7 and got all our stuff packed on the bikes. Sarah had a “secret mission” for my birthday and we had to be there between 9 and 10 so we got our bikes loaded and headed for some good coffee. Black Dog Coffee House, was adorable and the coffee was great.

We chatted about the trip, life and all the things and stuff. Just when we were finishing up Mariah walked in so we got to chat with her for awhile and she is equally as awesome as Rob and is a boss babe. She has a degree in business and they own several small businesses.

When we left the coffee shop, Sarah led so she could take me on her birthday mission. We headed east out of town for a bit then went into a neighborhood. The whole way I was thinking “it has to be bulldogs or something…yeah…definitely bulldogs…she knows how much I love them.” We turned down this dead-end road in the neighborhood and she went to the end looking for house numbers. I didn’t want to get stuck and try to turn my bike around in a tight place, so I stayed at the start of the road. As I was sitting there, this guy walked out of the house I was in front of and waved at me. So, I assumed “this must be where we are going.” I turned around and park in front of his house and Sarah joined me. After some polite introductions, Sarah explained that they were French Bulldog breeders and they wer kind enough to let us see their frenchies for my bday! We sat on his front porch and first he brought out the male, who immediately ran up to me and jumped up. I picked him up and snuggled him for a bit. Sarah seriously is the most creative thoughtful being on the planet. He brought out the female and she had just had a puppy. We thought the puppy was already gone but it was still there and so tiny and had just opened its eyes! The owner went into the house and brought out the baby. I had to contain myself from squealing…omg I have never held a baby Frenchie that small. It was a great start to my birthday!

I called Barry and he was still at the hotel doing laundry so we headed back to town to pick him up so he didn’t have to ride alone. I had originally wanted to do Beartooth, but I was worn out so we opted to do an easier route.

We took the I90 for awhile then jumped onto a side highway that was great. It was a lot of farm country but it was way better than being on the freeway.

We saw a ton of antelope and deer, and even had a deer run out in front of us. Thankfully, I saw it on the side of the road and it was a ways ahead of us so we weren’t in danger and we had already slowed down. We stopped at Deluxe Harley-Davidson, which is also female owned and operated. The dealership was really cool and the staff was great. One of the gals who runs the motorclothes department took us on a tour and we got to check out their service department. One of Rob Carpenter’s bikes was in there getting the motor rebuilt.

They also had 2 dynos side by side in a room with two garage doors. It was awesome!

We got back on the freeway and hauled ass to Spearfish. My friend Pat Kelley rode 575 miles from Colorado to meet up with us and celebrate my bday with me. Sarah and I got settled into the hotel and unloaded all our stuff.

We chatted with some of the riders and we talked about going to Deadwood, which was in the middle of their Cool August Night car show. Pat told us it was a shitshow to get into town so we opted to stay in Spearfish and get some food. Sarah and I headed up the road to main street, parked in front of a bar and walked to a restaurant up the street. We chatted and ordered food and Pat headed there to meet us. We had some food and caught up on all the things and stuff. Pat got me a card that he and his family all signed, and a great beanie that is black with white embroidery of their town. Now Sarah and I can be twinsies with her Spenard Bike Week beanie.

From there we walked over to the bar where our bikes were parked. Sarah bought a sweatshirt and I got a tank top that had their fun logo with the name “Back Porch Bar” on them. I put one of my House of Harley stickers on the mirror with all of the HA stickers.

We headed back to the hotel and got Barry and wen to the hotel bar. Eventually more of the group joined us in there so we all chatted and celebrated my birthday. After the hotel bar Sarah and I sat by the fire pit, which she got started for me and I made some phone calls to folks who had called me for my bday and I had missed.

We finally got to sleep in today, which was great. I got a phone call from my sister Meggie while I was still laying in bed which was nice to catch up with her a bit. Sarah and I got ready and found a coffee shop so I could get some work done with Si my Operations Manager since he was back from the show and we had a lot of stuff to sort out. I worked for a couple hours and Sarah got to facetime with her kids and family. She ran to Walgreens to get us some much needed qtips and looked for polaroid film. Unfortunately, there was no film in town, so she headed back to the coffee shop. I finally finished up all the work with Si and Sarah was chatting with another biker in the parking lot. He and his friend were on smaller bikes, but they had a truck they were towing them with. They were from Canada. We all chatted for a bit, then Sarah and I headed back to the hotel to drop off my laptop, grab my boots and helmet and hit the road to Mount Rushmore.

We stayed off the interstate, rode through Deadwood and made our way to Mount Rushmore. Sarah had never been, so we had to go. When we got there we both realized we were dehydrated and needed to relax a minute. Sarah got some ice cream while I got water for us. I called my bestie Christy and waited for Sarah and sat in the shade in a spot where I could see the monument. Sarah joined me and we headed over to check it out. We got some photos, did the tourist stuff then headed towards the exit.

As we were leaving we ran into a bunch of our group, including my dad. So, we hung with them and got a big group photo of all of us.

In typical “Dia style” we walked away from the group, told them we were “gonna go do some gangster shit” and got on our bikes and hit the road.

We had seen this sign for “Silver City” on the way there so we agreed we would go check it out. We were on our way there and we came up on a recent motorcycle accident. I was already a bit hungry and maybe a bit hung over and it was hard to see. Apparently after we made it through they life flighted him out of there. Say a prayer for our fellow biker when you read this, I am not sure how he turned out. We kept on heading back towards Deadwood and there it was, the sign for Silver City. It seemed so alluring and was only 5 miles away, so we turned left and headed there. The road was crazy tight, blind curves going up over a mountain and then back down the other side. I was in second gear almost the whole way…that’s how tight the curves were. As we were going around a blind corner an old truck was coming from the other direction and he was halfway over the center line. As we met in the corner I kinda freaked, and thankfully I was going slow and he moved over. We finally made it to Silver City…there is definitely no city there. We roll up the hill to enter town, past the old school house that is now a community center and at that point the road ends and it is all shit gravel. I motion and turn right on “Main Street” which is literally just houses and one B&B. I stop toward the end of the street and there is a gravel road up to the left that I think, according to my GPS, will connect to another road and we can loop back around and get the hell out of here. We head up the hill and as I approach the next street I realize “#&*$ we are in trouble” there is not street its an even rougher semi gravel semi grass path. Well clearly I am not riding down that on my big ass street glide. So, I literally stopped in the middle of the road, shut my bike off and told Sarah I was gonna need help. All day my knee had been hurting more than normal so I was worried about turning it around on a hill on gravel. Thank God Sarah is a badass. She pulled forward, backed her bike down the hill and turned around. She then got on my bike rode it up the hill and backed it up next to hers. I was pretty stressed out and hangry so I got some rice cakes out and we wandered around. There was the foundation and the remnants of an old fireplace that was made out of chunks of marble. It was actually pretty cool and probably super old.

As we chilled on our bikes, collecting ourselves and getting ready to head back out of town a car, the only other person we had seen in this town, pulled up and needed to turn down the street the bikes were parked in. Sarah, again badass, jumped up got on my bike and pulled it forward and pointed it down the hill so I would be able to just ride out of there and turn right on Main St and out. It was on a hill so she left it in gear and the car was able to turn down his street. I am not sure exactly what the problem was, maybe it was seeing the accident, maybe I was a little hung over, but I was really struggling. We agreed to just get out of town and go to Deadwood and get some food.

When we got to Deadwood we parked the bikes and walked down Main Street. The car show was over so town was pretty empty and we wandered to find food. We finally found a place in a hotel that was upstairs of the casino. It was almost 5pm so it was full of “early bird” old folks getting their dinner at 5pm. The food was atrocious. I ate enough to get rid of my “hangry” attitude and got a glass of wine to take the edge off. We headed straight back to the hotel and when we parked I immediately said, we should just go to town and I will write the blog and we can get better food. I grabbed my laptop and my coat and we headed to Main St. We parked and went to the first bar we came across. I wrote about half of the blog then I decided I should actually find better food so I did a quick search and found Kilian’s which is a gastropub on the edge of town. Thankfully, they had great food so we both got some more food in us and I was able to finish this blog. Tomorrow we are heading to Sioux Falls, SD. While I was writing the blog at the bar, Sarah called Fred Becker, my GM for my Wasilla store. He shipped his bike to California and went to the Harley Dealer Show and rode from there to meet us in Milwaukee. He answered the phone while riding, so we couldn’t hear him at all. He eventually stopped and called Sarah back and he was already ahead of us! He has been hauling ass! He is going to meet us in Sioux Falls tomorrow which will be great! We are also right behind the Harley-Davidson “Ride Home Group” that left from Washington so we are hoping to meet them on the road as well.