I then traveled to Rapid City (26 miles) to the Harley dealership where Kuryakyn has its vendor tent. Remember this because it plays a role later in the day. I had them replace a defective left hand grip (not really defective, the bike fell over and it bent) which they replaced at no charge. I then returned to the Rush-No-More campground to pick up Suz for our lunch date to deadwood. As we left the campground, we noticed that the sky to the West and North (where Deadwood is) was very black, so we decided to lunch in Rapid City (to the South and East)and visit the Harley store for "souvenirs". Good choice.
We had lunch, then off to the Harley store. While we were there, the storm that we had seen over Deadwood had moved South and East. It hit Rapid City around 1:00. I was lucky that I was able to get the bike into the Kuryakyn vendor tent just as the rain hit.
They let me in because I had done business with them in the morning - I didn't tell them it was a "freeby." The storm was so intense that you couldn't see 50 feet, and the winds whipped to 60 or 70 mph. It felt like the tent was coming down around us. Suz, of course was in the Harley building shopping!After nearly an hour, the storm subsided and I was able to depart the tent, but the storm was still over Sturgis and Deadwood to our North and West. We waited another 45 minutes before donning the rain gear and heading to Sturgis. As it turns out, Deadwood had a huge hail storm (ping-pong ball size) such that they had to break out the snow removal equipment to clear the roads. There was much roof and vehicle damage.
Luckily, the hail did not come as far East as Sturgis - and our campground! - The coach would have been seriously damaged and Dixie, who was in the coach - would have been badly traumatized - she hates thunder and lightning anyway. While our campground got heavy rain, and the roads were damaged from washouts, there were no serious issues. The campground owner was quick to get truck loads of gravel and a front end loader in to repair the roads and get the situation back to normal. Unfortunately, the storm blew out our King Dome, and we now have no satellite TV.
Wednesday arrived as a beautiful sunny day, albeit a bit cool (in the 50s). This was my last day to ride the Sturgis area before our departure and I took full advantage. I left around 8:30 after a breakfast of biscuits, gravy and sausage at the campground and headed for Devils Tower (in Wyoming).
You will recall that Devils Tower was featured in the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" as the site where the aliens landed to make contact with us humans (I love science fiction!). 
The tower is a volcanic plug which has been exposed over hundreds of thousands of years by erosion. it is very impressive! 
The National Parks Service now runs the site.
And there is a large field filled with prairie dogs!
From Devils Tower, I rode back to Spearfish, South Dakota. On the way I stopped at the McNenny Fish Hatchery, where they have a display pond full of trophy size rainbow and brown trout. The ones you see in the picture are at 24 to 30 inches in length and weigh from 4 to 8 pounds! What beauties!
From Spearfish, I followed highway 14a to Lead, where I had lunch at Lewie's,
then on to Deadwood, Sturgis and the campground. I arrived back around 2:30 after 178 miles, put the bike on the lift and prepared the coach for our departure tomorrow. I will be sorry to leave. The riding is so good in this area. But I know that it will be much less enjoyable once the "hordes" arrive this weekend.We leave tomorrow for Billings, Montana and then on to Glacier Notional Park. Until then, Cheers!
John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog.
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