Well, we did it! We left LA July 24 and arrived at Katmandu campground in South Dakota on the 30th. We would have been there a day earlier but because of rain we decided to spend the night in Wall, SD and put up our tent while the sun was shining. We also did a tour of the Badlands on the way to the campground. A total of 1780+- miles to get there but it was worth it.

The Badlands are awesome. Having lived in forested, humid areas all my life being able to see such distances and it being dry and mostly treeless was incredible. What a great start to our tour of South Dakota.

We had decided on Katmandu campground because it was supposed to be family oriented and the quieter crowd usually hung out there. There were a few drawbacks. One was the mile or more ride from the paved road down a gravel road to the camp itself. Harleys with belt drive do not like gravel, a rock in a belt can play havoc with your ride. The flush toilets were few and down at the bathhouse, all the rest were your standard outhouse type facilities.

The showers for the women were adequate and well ventilated, from what my husband said the men's were not ventilated at all and it was like showering in a swamp. Food at the camp would keep you alive but it was nothing to write home about and expensive. We rode to Rapid City to eat most days at a truck stop off I-90 at exit 55 called Marlin's, great food but like every one else they had raised their prices due to the rally.

We did the road trips to Custer State Park (saw buffalo, burros, prairie dogs, antelope and more), Norbeck National Scenic Byway which includes Crazy Horse Mountain, Needles Highway, Sylvan Lake, and Iron Mountain Road, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower (in Wyoming) the central hills, the northern hills and the southern hills. Our tours inside the parks and round about the area totaled around 1300 miles. We were usually the first ones up and out of camp, which did not make the party goers happy campers. On the second day we rode and came back to find our tent held down by two tables, our camping neighbors had stayed in that day and when the wind picked up they saved our tent and a few more, some they did not get to and they blew over.

We bought longer tent pegs the next day. We stayed seven days and at first the weather was great, cool mornings and warm to hot days but the humidity was low so riding was good. The fifth night we had a storm.

My husband had told me we were going to a place that had “weather,” he was not wrong. The wind blew so hard we thought the tent was going to blow away and it poured rain and lightening most of the night. Then day six was beautiful and we rode, but again that night we faced a storm, not as intense as the night before but enough to get your attention.

We decided to get out the next morning and it was good we did, news reports said the storms that came after that were even more intense with 3 to 4 inch hail and 60-70 MPH winds.

By then we were on the road again. We rode across I-90 headed East looking like we were both trying to make a right turn, we were leaned into the wind so hard. Found a great rest area near Chamberlain, SD. It has a museum of sorts to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, very interesting and a great view of the Missouri River. Met some folks from Alabama there also, small world. On the way home we decided to go see the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. It was a wonderful experience and very interesting side trip, amazing what they can make out of corn.

The rest of the trip home was good riding except for two days we spent in Columbia, MO due to rain. We made it home on the 13th of August, three weeks and over 5,027 miles later. Both bikes needed oil changes and a good cleaning, but what a ride.

Oh yeah, we made it to Sturgis for the rally one night. Got off the shuttle, walked down the street, took a few pictures, walked back to the shuttle and went to the camp. Too tired to go to the races.

Next time we are heading out before or after the rally. Prices are almost doubled during the rally as far away as 200 miles in any direction. I guess everybody thinks “bikers” are made of money. It was definitely an eye opening experience.

Well, we are back in LA and yes, the rain started, the first tropical storms of the season are headed our way and it is back to work Monday, as usual. Some things in life change..some stay the same. Until next time..

Ride Safe.

–Camy

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Who says life in California’s Delta region isn’t fun, sophisticated, and even suave? Proof of all that and more could be found on Saturday down at Isleton Joe’s restaurant and bar, where bikers, fishermen, locals, young, old, and in-betweens piled in for the 2010 SPAM Run and cook off.

Yes, SPAM that mystery meat – the maker, Hormel, says it’s pork shoulder and ham – but that may just be a lot of baloney. Packaged in the iconic blue and yellow can, SPAM has quite a cult following. Those versed in SPAMology, will tell you it was created right her in the U. S. of A. in the late 1930s. One hundred million pounds of the unique pink stuff went to feed the troops in WWII.

By 1995 there was a SPAM-sponsored racecar and sales toted up in the billions. There is a SPAM Museum, SPAM festivals, a line of SPAM clothing and other gear, and even SPAM music. It’s become a SPAMdemic. Like it or not, SPAM is as American as Rock and Roll and Apple Pie, especially when it comes canned. We are a SPAMnation.

Early on down at Joe’s, the cook off contestants shuffled in with SPAM in covered dishes, SPAM roasting on a spit, even SPAM in a “We be Spammmin’ Salad.” In the 1940s the Hormel Girls pitched the virtues of SPAM. In Isleton this weekend it was a pair we dubbed the SPAM sisters. Their SPAM salad came with its own Bob Marleyesque soundtrack. SPAM to a reggae beat? You bet mon.

Folks lined up to pay $3 for an “all you can eat” taste test and judging of such delicacies as “spegg rolls”, “Spamalies”, and Spammy beans. The proceeds went to the local elementary school.crowd

By noon, plenty of other folks had shown up. It was the usual eclectic crowd one finds at Delta doings. They came on Harleys, in trucks with fishing decals on the windows and gun racks over the seat. One dude putted up on his motorized skateboard.

A contingent of the BSA Owners Club of Northern California rode up. There were some Nortons and even a 1957 Velocette mixed in. Nice chaps. They found a seat by Joe’s front window and settled in for the festivities. They looked hungry, but not necessarily for SPAM. They looked more like a cheeseburger bunch. Maybe someone in the group ordered up a steaming bowl of crawdads, an Isleton Joe’s specialty. Maybe.

By the by old bean, the Beezer Boyz (and Girlz) will be at the Clubman’s All Brit Show on March 27 at the Santa Clara Fairgounds in San Jose. Want to get a ’72 BSA 650 Lightning for a $1? That’s what the raffle tickets are going for right now. Go to www.bsaocnc.org for more information. Cheerio!

Right on the SPAM can it says: “Fully cooked; eat it hot or cold.” What it doesn’t say is that you can also play with your SPAM, and that’s what the SPAM toss was all about. Teams of two squared off out in front of the restaurant to launch lobes of lunchmeat skyward. First they had to open the SPAM cans.

One young person opined: “It’s cat food.” A middle-aged lady lamented that as soon as the lid was off she had SPAM jelly in her hair. And she sure did. The tossing begins and SPAM goo was soon everywhere. One by one the teams went down until two young guys started sending each other out for football-like SPAM catches. The lads won slimy hands down.

Meanwhile, back on Joe’s brick-lined patio, the SPAM “tasting” was judged. The winner? The SPAM sisters of course; matching outfits count for something. “Tie-dye is a lost art,” they declared as they proudly displayed their handmade tees.

Later, the SPAM runners headed down river to Mait’s at Vieira’s Resort. The pirate boat chugged by down at the dock. The contest in the parking lot was beer pong. The winners got a case of – no, not SPAM – beer. But then beer goes good with SPAMacotti, doesn’t it? Maybe we’ll find out at next year’s SPAM Run. Maybe.

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