Joe and Yvette: June 2011

Wolfman's Wandering Rally 2011

Deadwood, SD

(Click on any picture to enlarge)

The 2011 Wolfman's Wandering Rally is being held in Deadwood, South Dakota. We left early on Saturday morning, on time for once! Yvette was so excited she got up before the alarm went off. She had everything packed and ready to load the evening before, so we actually left a few minutes early. The day was clear, and the sky was blue, and it was cool in the shade.

Travelling thru Glenwood canyon, we were amazed at how high the river is flowing. It's covering the bike path in several places, and is only about 5' below the railroad tracks on the far side. Unfortunately I didn't think to take any pictures. Crossing over Vail Pass, it was amazing how much snow is hanging around. There is still lots of runoff waiting to melt. It could get very interesting for those near the river this year.

We decided to go thru Denver to conserve time, nothing there worth taking pictures of. The traffic was heavy, and congested until we got north of Ft Collins, but it cleared out soon after.

Travelling thru Wyoming was uneventful. I took a couple of pictures, but the most interesting thing was the length of the trains. Dagne Taggert would be proud... We stopped for lunch in Wheatland, WY. Thanks to the GPS we found the Taco Johns that was advertised by the highway. As we at lunch we texted Jamey and Melanie to let them know how far we had gotten, and so they could figure out when we would get there.

Shortly after we left Wheatland, we headed east. We really enjoyed the two lane road, we had great luck with traffic. There wasn't very much of it, and we were able to easily pass everyone we caught, almost as soon as we caught them. We stopped in Lusk for a fill up, and again texted our progress to JameyT.

The last 130 miles from Lusk to Lead were the best of the trip. It wasn't long before we were in twisty roads going up and down the hills, covered in pine trees. We could tell when we entered South Dakota however, as the road condition went from silk to some of the worst pavement I've seen... Thankfully that didn't last long and we were soon on a nice smooth ribbon of asphalt running around the corners.

Lead is a quaint little town that reminds me of Eureka Springs as the town has lots of levels. The GPS took us up the right road to Jamey and Melanie's, but wanted to take us 100 yards further down the road. I saw Sherm's truck parked near what I assumed was Jamey's 5th wheel trailer as we passed them, then heard Jamey whistle. We turned around Jamey led us to a parking space, where he and Sherm! greeted us. Melanie came out and said hello, and they all helped us load our stuff into their house.

Melanie had made dinner, her famous Beer butt chicken, with grilled potates with onions and carrots... It was fabulous! Some of the best chicken I've ever eaten! I had to have two helpings.

After Dinner, we all sat around and chatted about old times and the plans for the rally... a good time was had by all...

JameyT and Sherm

Day Two

Woke up bright and early at 6:30 and couldn't sleep any more. Had a few minutes to myself but Melanie and Jamey were soon awake.Sherm arrived at about 8:00, Skid and Sandy showed up not too much longer after Sherm . Melanie made an egg bake for breakfast that was excellent along with some cinnamon roll squares. Jazz the dog was very attentive!

Sherm and Sandy

Skid

Yvette and a cinnamon roll

Jazz the dog

Once breakfast was over, and the conversations had died down, so about 11:00, Jamey led Melanie, Yvette and me on a short ride. We went down 385 to Nemo road. We went over to Norris Peak road to Hill City. We took the old Hill City/ Keystone road where we had a great time until we caught an inconsiderate local driving a cherry 65 mustang fastback who insisted on driving 5-10 miles an hour under the speed limit. I kept wanting Jamey to pass on the double yellow, but he told me later that often the cars will call the local LEO's and have them waiting at the bottom of the road for bikes who do that. Seems some of the locals (transplants from CA and OR) who have decided they don't like motorcycles, and this little power trip is their revenge... We stopped in Keystone for lunch, and ate some great mexican food at a place called Aruba's, then headed back. We stopped at Pactola Reservoir briefly then went to Deadwood to check out the Motel.

We headed back to the house to start preparations for the BBQ. The girls went grocery shopping, and I took a nap... Melanie made some excellent baked beans, Y and I premade the hamburgers (I formed them, she seasoned them) and we started to party while we waited. Soon Sherm, Skid and Sandy showed, and they brought John Hanneman with them. Next Stewey showed up with his new girl Ronda! She's a hoot, and Stewey seems very happy! The food was great, and the company even better...

Stewey, Rhonda And John

Fun was had by all, there will be more pictures tomorrow!

Day Three

Got up bright and early to meet the Gang down at the Cafe in the parking lot of the hotel. They have a really good breakfast, at a really good price. We socialized and hung out, then decided to catch the trolley that runs around and get a tour of Deadwood. We stopped at Tim Lizzies for lunch, then walked back to the hotel. More socializing and hanging out, then JameyT and Trouble showed up. We helped them set up the registration tent and table, and then hung out some more...

Breakfast at the Slots N Cafe

The Geek Squad

Condi, Kim and Yvette

Yvette, Lucky Al, Southern Draw

The Deadwood Trolley

Lunch at Tin Lizzies

Southern Draw and Stewey at the head of the table

Downtown Deadwood

Where's Swearengen?

Saloon Girls

Six-pack, Randy, and Daley Arrive

Daley

Redeemed, Sherm and Skid

Six-Pack, Randy, Daley, and Richard

Rem, Reverse, Flamekiller, Redeemed, and GrampaD

Brillo arrives

Wrong turn and KT

Nuptial Tequila shots

Copperhead, Wrong Turn and KT

Day Four

The day started great! This was the official start of the rally, not much was going on while most of the participants arrived. A few of us went to a gas station converted into a coffee house named the Pump House. It was a lot of fun, and served a decent plate of sausage biscuits and gravy for a reasonable price. We then headed over to the Vulcan Nation, a demo ride provided by Kawasaki to show off their new 2012 line of cruisers. I rode a Vaquero and a 900. The Vaquero is very nice for a cruiser, and the 900 would be a fun little local bike. But I think I'm keeping the Connie...

Skids best side?

The Deadwood Catholic Church

An overly spiffed-up Vaquero

Wrong Turn and KT getting a postcard made.

My Vaquero test ride

Love you Bebe!

Bubbles and Gambler

Lanny

Flying Willy and Leslie

Don aka Very Short Person

Boomer

Ace and Brillo

Day 5

Started out gloomy. There was a light rain off and on and the temps were in the low 50's. Two rides were planned for the day, a Ladies ride led by Melanie (Trouble) and a ride thru the twisties led by JameyT. Jamey's ride got sidetracked by a trip to the Vulcan Nation, a demo ride hosted by Kawasaki. We went just to look, but ended up staying most of the day there. We boys did take a ride up to Spearfish and ride back thru the canyon.

After a short while, both rides set out. The following are some pics from the Ladies ride...

A waterfall in Spearfish canyon

Photo op

Lunch in Sturgis

Condi, Corvette, Trouble, zmean1, Vicki and Bucky

After the rides we all met up back at the hotel, then wandered down to the VFW for burgers. The event was planned as a fund raiser, and we were glad to help out. Plus the burgers were very good!

VSP, Trouble and Redeemed

Solo

On the way back we saw this Indian parked behind a dumpster.

And no evening would be complete without Lemon Drops...

Trouble and zmean1

Day 6

JameyT decided to attempt to lead the twisty ride today. We wouldn't get sidetracked again today, and had a great ride. We moseyed down to Custer, and then up the Iron Mountain road, which was indeed very twisty. The weather decided to be gloomy again, but nobody let it ruin their fun...

Lucky Al looks guilty of something

Dr Gregory Frazier shows up

Flamekiller

Pre-ride meeting

Corvette riding in the rain

The Hill city to Keystone tourist train

Keystone

Lunch at the Silver Dollar Saloon

Fog in the higher elevations

One of several tunnels

One of the pigtails on the Pigtail Bridges

And one the bridges. The road goes over the bridge then loops down and under itself

Blue sky!

The Banquet

Southern Draw and some forks... he's very fond of forks.

We had a very special guest for the banquet. He is a renowned motorcycle adventurer who has circled the globe by motorcycle 4 times. He was a very entertaining, knowledgeable and interesting man. We were very fortunate to have him join us.

Dr. Gregory Frazier

Big Al and zmean1 emceeing the 50/50 raffle

Day 7

Today was a laid back kind of day. Quite a few of us were going to ride down to Hill City and ride the tourist train down to Keystone and back. For some reason I didn't take many pictures, maybe because I took a couple of naps...

That evening we went to dinner at a brewpub owned by Kevin Costner. It was completely full of his movie memorabilia such as his costumes, movie posters, and still shots from the movies themselves.

Pic by Kim

Day 8

Sigh... all good things must come to an end. We had breakfast at the Slots Cafe and said our goodbyes. We rode from Deadwood to just outside Denver with Flamekiller and Piper. It always seems to be more fun to ride in a group, especially when the group is made up of friends. The ride was very nice, the weather was sunny and cool. A couple of thunderstorms threatened us as we went thru Wyoming, but we rode between them with out getting rained on. The ride home from Denver to Silt was very warm and sunny, just the kind of weather we had wanted in Deadwood. Oh well, it was good to have a nice day when travelling long distance...

Bubbles and Gambler

Stopped for road construction

A beautiful day

A 70s era VW microbus. You don't see these anymore!

Kim and the Rocky Mountains

An overflowing Colorado River and the Glenwood Canyon

Day 9

Wait, what? We're home, how can there be a Day 9?

Well, mid-morning I got a call from Skid. It seems that he, Sandy and Sherm were in Cheyenne WY, and had decided to come south to Denver, then head west on I-70, bringing them right by our house!

They wanted to know if we wanted visitors, and emphatically said YES!

They showed up mid afternoon, and I put Sherm to work in the kitchen...

Since we had enchilada's for dinner, he didn't seem to complain much. We really enjoyed the extra time spent with such good friends, I wish we had even more time. Alas, I had to work the next morning, and they had to be on their way west.