Crossing the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally off the list

We live about 30 minutes from Sturgis. This past week was "rally week." For the past several weeks it's been impossible to not hear the rumble of bike motors at all hours of the day (even from inside our house!) as bikers from all over the continent came into the area to attend the rally and enjoy riding the beautiful roads through the Black Hills. According to the official website, over 500,000 riders came into the area for this the 78th rally -- which has come a long, long ways since the Jackpine Gypsies formed in the 1930's.

I had originally thought it would be fun to take the kids and go check the rally out. After having several people mention some of criminal activities that would be going on, the "clothing optional" aspect, the intense crowds and difficulty finding parking, I realized that maybe it wasn't the best idea.

But .... of course there was that internal voice saying, "you're here, only 30 minutes away from this thing that is a big, big deal to a lot of people. Why not check it out and be able to say 'ya, we did that.'"

So, Thursday after Jason got off work, we did it. We stayed about an hour which was plenty long with the kids in tow. Without children it would be an amazing place to sit and people-watch. We found easy parking a few blocks away, the "crowds" were nothing compared to life in China. We didn't observe any obvious criminal activity and the kids didn't take notice of the gals wearing nothing but paint and undies :) We got a quick taste of the rally, saw tons of interesting people and A LOT of really beautiful bikes. Definitely glad we went.

Where to drink (a lot!) and eat (a lot!)

Where to sleep

What to ride

Sending Jason packing --- into the Cloud Peak Wilderness

With Jason turning 40 this month I encouraged him to do something he loved for a weekend. Solitary backpacking. It's not for everyone, but is something Jason loves and hasn't done in some time. The closest "real" mountains to us are the Bighorns, about four hours away in Wyoming. After some research, he decided to head for the Cloud Peak Wilderness.

He took off Friday afternoon and returned Sunday with some spectacular pictures that he said I could share. In spite of having a stomach bug/altitude sickness the entire trip and encountering a high number of MOOSE along the way, he made it to/from the 13,000+ foot summit without problem. Way to go Jason!

Moose Sightings!!!

Embracing local food -- learning to cook BISON

I've slowly been coming to the sad realization that pretty much the only thing that grows really well on this side of the state is cattle ... and buffalo/bison. Learning to cook the area's "second meat" has intimidated me a little.

A friend gave me some buffalo steaks awhile back and although it's supposed to be "just like beef," I'd not felt confident cooking it. This week with no other meat on hand, I gave it a whirl.

I'd planned to marinate it for a stir fry, then realized I had no soy sauce and basically no vegetables. Can you make stir fry without soy sauce or veggies??? I did. I poured a bit of the following together and called the marinade good: balsamic vinegar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, molasses, sambal chili paste, oyster sauce, worcestershire sauce, lime juice and garlic.

The zucchini I'd hoped to use had gone bad and I resorted to some onion slices and frozen spinach. At the last moment I remembered I had fresh ginger which I would have liked to add sooner, but added it at the end and surprise the whole thing tasted really, really good. {Thank you Amber for the meat!!}

Hiking "M" Hill - Rapid City

Since we moved here folks have been telling us to take the kids hiking on M hill (so named for the giant M etched into it for the School of Mines). We finally tried it on Sunday and it was a lovely hiking spot, literally right in town but with the feel of getting away. A perfect quick outdoor escape with lots of unexplored trails to try next time.

 

Finding a sandy beach @ Angostura Reservoir

Since it warmed up, we have been on the hunt for a perfect water/beach spot in the Black Hills. We've realized that spending a summer in Leavenworth and also one at Priest Lake has really spoiled us on living near perfect lakes and rivers ... up until this weekend we'd had a really hard time finding a place that worked for us. Most of the "lakes" here are very small without real sand, and any beach area ends up being overcrowded. A friend mentioned to me that Angostura was large with great sand and we finally got to check it out on Saturday.

We were not disappointed. It is a large reservoir, southeast of the Black Hills that appeared to have sand beaches lined with cottonwood trees along the entire eastern edge. We arrived early and claimed a spot -- the sand was REAL sand, with a gradual entry into the fairly clear water and lots of cottonwood trees along the shore for shade. Perfect.

Getting the kids to 12,000 feet @ Rocky Mountain National Park

Last week we got to go camping for a few nights near Rocky Mountain National Park and it was amazing! It was so good to get away for a bit and be in midst of some really big (and totally stunning) mountains. I'm thinking this will be a two part post as there were just too many pretty places!

Camping with little kids can have some challenging moments, but overall Luke & Mabel did great and seemed to love every moment. Our campground had no running water and it's been a while since I went without a shower for days on end...but even that was sort of nice. It made it feel like "real" camping.  It was our first time going camping with the subaru -- definitely a very tight squeeze getting the four of us, plus camping gear, clothing, food and water for all of us for several days into the compact space, but Jason was his usual packing genius and got it all in! Whew!

We got to spend our first night in Denver visiting with our friend, William, from Peace Corps and his wife Laura, which was fantastic! We hadn't seen William since Luke was about 6 weeks old!

With William, then and now -- a lot can change in 5 years!

First day at Olive Ridge Campground - getting the tent set up with wonderful helpers :)

Day two: Our first stop & hike at Lily Lake

Driving the spectacular Old Fall River Road to the Alpine Visitor Center

Hiking up the Alpine Ridge Trail

Ending the day with S'mores, of course!

Seeing friends and Nebraska one last time

With our friends, the Deeds Family moving back to Indiana, we got to make one last trip down to Valentine last month. It was a very lovely weekend. Full of a lot of fun intermingled with a lot of repressed sadness over their departure. With their new home being over 1000 miles away instead of just 200, we are not expecting to get to see each other for a while and we'll probably not be visiting Nebraska anymore either :)

We will really, really miss our friends and have been feeling so thankful for the sweet time we had to live near them once again. It's been about four years since we said goodbye to them in Guatemala ... we're looking forward to see if God will place us nearby each other again in four years.

Starting a hike across the 'Cowboy Bridge' on the Cowboy Trail

Fun, hanging out time together

Smith Falls, the highest waterfall in Nebraska!