Westward Ho! Day 8

Sturgis or Bust (again) Baby!!

It was time to get on the road, so we headed through Colorado where it was a beautiful, still morning. Several hot air balloons dotted the sky and floated effortlessly in the breeze.

We passed groups of bicyclists riding and up and down the mountains as we headed back through Wyoming for one more night in Sturgis and took the opportunity to visit a couple of our favorite Sturgis area spots. First was Devil’s Tower.

We took our original picture here the first year I came to Sturgis with Sean, and have taken one each year since then, with whomever was on the ride that day. There have been as many of 12 people with us and as few as three. This year, it was just the two of us.

  

Stopping at the Stonehouse Bar, between Aladdin and Belle Fourche, WY, is also a tradition. 

Once again, we signed our names on the wall of what’s left of the building, always wondering if this would be the last year we could make our presence known before the entire, dilapidated house fell in.

And then back to Sturgis, where we left the peace and quiet of the road behind us and joined the half a million bikers in town for one more night before we made our way home.

We made it out to the Full Throttle Saloon just after a massive downpour.

The Throttle, known as the World's Largest Biker Bar, is famous for having its very own television show on TRU-TV,

But we'd been going there long before the show started and were already big fans of the whole crew there. We can attest to the fact that they work very, very hard, and aren't just there for the cameras.

We knew the next day would be a long one so we said our goodbyes and headed back to our tent for a good night's sleep.

Day 1 - 603 miles
Day 2 - 768 miles
Day 3 - 510 miles
Day 4 - 400 miles
Day 5 - 368 miles
Day 6 - 484 miles
Day 7 - 498 miles
Day 8 - 538 miles