We decided to take our time getting to Sturgis and go a different route this time. I was hoping for new scenery (spoiler alert, it was mostly boring lmao).
Day 1: Temple, Texas area to Abilene, Texas
We left our house with darkish skies in the distance. The weather forecast up until the day prior said to expect storms all day. We hadn’t seen a drop of rain and it was sunny. But, we knew by the look of the skies in the direction we would soon be headed that there would be some rain.
It rained very briefly about 20 minutes after leaving the house. The rain was welcome because it was hot! We didn’t even bother pulling over to put on our rain gear.
Not much further down the road, we ran into construction. It was triple digits, and we were stopped for 30 minutes just sitting there, as they had reduced this two-lane Farm to Market road to one lane.
Nothing else notable happened before getting to our hotel in Abilene, where we retired for the night.
Watch Video of Sturgis 2024 Day 1 on YouTube
Day 2: Abilene to Amarillo
That’s right, we are still in Texas! LOL. Today, though, started out pretty eventful. There was construction on the interstate. While there was no traffic, the lanes were torn up badly, and there were deep grooves. After going about 5 miles with no end in sight, we decided to take the service road. Now, in Texas, our service roads can end abruptly when you leave highly populated areas. Or, they can just take a turn and turn into a County Road.
Well, that is what happened here. The service road turned north (away from the Interstate) and turned into a county road. I had to find us a route (rather quickly) to head back south so we could connect to the interstate. I found a route (another county road), and it turned out to be gravel.
After about 1.5 miles or so on gravel, we finally made it back to the highway. After getting on the highway, we thought the adventure would end. The highway had other ideas, and our exit to get on another highway was blocked. The next exit was 8 miles up the road. Since we had no interest in backtracking, we took a tour of a town we didn’t know we needed, lol.
Thankfully, the rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Before getting to the hotel, we stopped at a roadside oddity for a quick picture.
Watch Video of Day 2 on YouTube
Day 3: Amarillo to Lamar, Colorado
The adventure continued this morning with a dead battery on the bike. Thankfully, my husband only had to walk about three miles to find a jump box (I have no sympathy; it was his fault the battery was dead, lol). We had meant to buy a jump box for the bike, as we have one in every vehicle, but we just hadn’t gotten around to it until now. That, of course, threw a code, and the check engine light was on. When we stopped for lunch, he was able to clear that.
After lunch, we made a pit stop to check out a metal dinosaur.
We quickly made it through Oklahoma and into Colorado, where we stayed for the night.
Watch Video of Day 3 on YouTube
Day 4: Lamar, CO to Sidney, Nebraska
It was a long day today, and man, it was hot! The sun beat down on us, and even sunblock wasn’t helping. Between these two stops, there is little to see other than the Dream Redeemer statue.
The one unusual thing we did notice on the side of the road going into Sidney in Colorado and Nebraska was several missile sites. We only know that because we have been to several in the past (now historical sites) and know what they look like. A satellite view from above affirmed this. These, however, seem to still be in use and, I assume, are part of the Minuteman III system.
Once we got to the hotel, we headed down the street to a huge Cabela’s, where we found some sun hoodies—they were very useful the next day! We also stopped at the National Pony Express Monument.
Watch Video of Day 4 on YouTube
Day 5: Sidney, Nebraska to Rapid City, South Dakota
We have travelled much of this section before. It isn’t very interesting until you get closer to the Black Hills, but we did stop again at Carhenge to stretch our legs and get an updated picture.
Once we got to Rapid City, we checked into our hotel and met my parents for dinner.
Watch video of Day 5 on YouTube
Leave a Comment or Suggestion