Ed & Beth Harvey

Ed & Beth Harvey
The Namesake of Our Group

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Headwest 2009 Day 5


WOW!! What a day. We left Wayne, Nebraska, and our wonderful hosts, anticipating a fairly easy 335 mile day. Instead we ended up with a 492 mile day. We took a little detour up to Wounded Knee then up to the Badlands. We saw where Wounded Knee occurred, but if you're looking for a visitor's center forget it. It's right in the middle of the Indian Reservation and it's not much. Just a small cemetery with a run down church, then an Indian run visitor's center that left a lot to be desired with two makeshift outhouses as bathrooms. I must say that the reservation was a little depressing. As soon as we arrived local Indians swarmed us to sell us their trinkets. Pam and Bryce got suckered into buying dreamcatchers.

We did make it up to the Badlands which was well worth the trip. The scenery and the landscape was unbelievable. I agree with Mike, how in the he#@ did the Indians lose on their home turf? We got some awesome pictures which we will gladly share.

We then turned around to head for Chadron, Nebraska which is where we are staying tonight. All I can say is that somebody in our group is living right. We know who it isn't, but we're not really sure who it is. On the way to Chadron we passed through where it had recently rained and we could see the storms in the distance. As we pulled into town we stopped for dinner and after we got into the restaurant it stormed and rained ferociously. When we finished and went outside the rain had stopped and we were able to dry off the bikes and head for the hotel. We are staying in The Westerner and I must say that the couple that owns the place is terrific. They had all of our reservations waiting for us and they got us in and registered quickly. They even have towels in buckets outside of our room for the bikes! What else could you ask for? We strongly recommend staying here if you're ever in Chadron.

Oh and one thing I forgot to mention is what genius engineer decided to put gravel on top of a paved road on the way to Chadron. The rocks and dust about killed us. It lasted for a few miles and surely made things interesting not to mention made the bikes filthy.

Tomorrow it's off to Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Spearfish and Sturgis!!! It's going to be an awesome day! Below is the track for the day with a few little gaps, but you can see most of it.
http://www.instamapper.com/trk?key=7346610321480342297

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