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Well, reading Eslbee's travel blog and remembering what a good time I had last year on my road trip... I'm oddly drawn to go back to...

are you ready for this? SOUTH DAKOTA -- http://www.travelsd.com/

I was just thinking about going on my birthday week (week of August 1st -- which I have off work) and driving down. It's 20 hours drive from Hamilton Ontario, and I know it's a 20 hour drive from Oregon where Dessi and Paloma live, so I'm trying to rope them into coming, even though it's the most demented travel destination ever. And it will be a tough sell. LOL

So I think it's like 99% that ZIGGY is going to come with me, and to top it off, I just looked it up and that week is the STURGIS BIKER WEEK in Spearfish, SD. LOL

So who's in?

CFScorp? Kirbs? I know you guys love biker rallies. Cough Cough. LOL

"So who's in?"

Me me me me me me me me me me me me ME!!!

First thing tomorrow I have to ask my boss if I can go, and I still won't be able to confirm right away (I'm travelling, so my boss won't be able to confirm anything for certain until he's back at his desk too) but I'm pretty sure that I can go. As you say, it's pretty 'out there', but so far in 2009 I have been to Kandahar, Dubai, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Cold Lake (including Bonnyville and Primrose Lake), Yarmouth (Metaghan River and Halifax too), and Quebec City (twice) so I'm all good with odd destinations.

My coworker Yves is a biker dude so I'll have to get some rally tips from him. Appropriate attire and inappropriate behaviour, and if we're lucky we might even meet up with him there! He's the nicest guy ever (I met him in Kandahar) and he'll probably like me even more when I tell him my plans

I just had a look at the trip on GoogleMaps and it's pretty uninhabited along the way, so I'll have to think about the possibilities other than an Obama-fest in Chicago. That one I would love to do!

P.S. And totally unrelated to this but I'm thinking of you, Jo, on this one... did you see that the NDP has a majority in NS now? My aunt won her $5 bet! He was the only good candidate (the liberal and tory candidates were apparently both brain-dead) so it looks like people finally refused to vote solely on party lines. Woohoo!

YAY YAY DOUBLE YAY! A mini-boardapalooza of TWO so far. WHO ELSE IS IN??? LOL

I am SOOOOOOOOOO happy you are coming!!

I'm wondering if we should pre book some campgrounds/motels as I heard that sometimes 600,000 bikers descend upon the state during Sturgis bike week. BTW, this is the 69th annual event, so don't tell me it won't be a big one. I'm pretty sure most bikers will think "69" is something to celebrate. LOL

I stayed at a KOA Kampground in East Belvidere South Dakota on my travels, and I remember it was HOT as HADES there (probably nothing on Kandahar though) but a refreshing pool and then one HELL of a hailstorm that night.

PS. yes, the NDP majority in NS was ALL the news on CBC today. Remember, I live in Hamilton, the only news we get here is about the Phonenix Coyotes possibly moving here (google Balsillie) and as I said to Paloma tonight, if there isn't a hockey slant to the news, it's not coming through the Hamilton airwaves. LOL

You all have a GREAT time! Have you looked into camping in Custer State Park and similar places?

Well... I am definitely curious to know more.

Any details ( privately sent or public would be good)
Some random topics might be how long you are going for, any estimated costs ( gas, hotels,) plans, etc.

I am cautiously enthusiastic!

There is no way I can, but I just wanna say it's a travel destination I love and want to go to again soooo bad. I just kind of went thru it a few years ago, and since the day I left I've always always wanted to go again. I'd kill to even live there. Have fun!

Bike week! No thanks!! Come down to Americade some year - it's in Lake George - you are welcome to stay with us.

A friend went one year to Sturgis bike week - he actually got arrested for peeing in public. LOL. His pictures were quite amazing, I have to admit! The people - wow.

I'm sure you have to pre-book accommodations - with all those people it's got to be a little packed.

Have fun!

LOL Bike week is not technically why we are going... it just coincides with the week I have off and adds an extra dimension to our wacky agenda. LOL

Cassia... no real plans as of yet. Here's what I know: The drive is approximately 20 hours and I am good for about seven hours per day, usually split. So that's three days to get there. Ziggy and I noticed Chicago is at the first 7 hour mark, so we might spend a day there, which puts us squarely into day four to arrive in South Dakota. Day two is probably somewhere in Wisconsin or Iowa. I'm a huge National Parks buff, so I like to hit up any and all national parks or monuments, and I'll be dragging poor Zig to anything that is even remotely on the way. I collect stamps in my "National Parks Passport" and I have dozens of them from my road trip last year. Free souvenir! It's great. Also gets you off the beaten path seeing amazing things you'd otherwise not see. I also happened to split the cost ($80) of a National Parks annual pass with my friend last year, as we were in Canyon country, and it was going to be $25 entrance fee to each of the parks -- Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon -- so it paid for itself that week. Bonus is I get to use it until Sept., and I do love the parks. If anyone meets us in there, we can all pile in the van and use my pass to get us in Badlands. IIRC Mt. Rushmore has no entrance fee, just parking fees.

I have off from work Saturday August 1st until Sunday August 9th. August 1st is my birthday, but that day will likely all be spent in transit. Day four would put us in Interior SD (Badlands) on Tuesday the 4th. I figure we'll spend the 4th, 5th and 6th bopping around the area, doing Wall, Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, Custer and even Spearfish or Rapid City for the Biker rally.

Zig and I will likely be camping or sleeping in the van, with a motel every few days if we feel the need for luxuries. HAHA! I am very cool with vandwelling and doing it on the extreme cheap, as that's how I travelled last summer, and that's almost my preferred way to travel. I am not a princess, not even a bit.

Fri/Sat/Sun the 7th, 8th, and 9th will be spent in transit getting back home. Again, I'd like to hit some national parks on the way home, possibly taking a different route home. I'm kinda hellbent on seeing every state before I die, and some that I still have yet to see are Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois. Michigan and Minnesota I've been to, but only for lunch or a day's shopping, so it would be nice to see more of those states as well.

That's the loose plan. Still waiting to see if Zig can get the days off work.

Plans for Monday morning:

9:02 - Talk to Fearless Leader about vacation days.

9:04 - Email or call Yves to find out if he's going. A mutual friend knows that he has gone before so we can definitely get some advice, and possibly have a friend to meet up with during the trip.

I'm good! My Fearless Leader had no problems and was nice enough to make suggestions for places to visit.

I got your SD road map in the mail, Jo! That's so funny. When I got the mail there was this envelope that I didn't recognise at all, and I often ignore junk mail but it was addressed to me and I was suspicious. So I opened it up and was pleasantly surprised, in fact I'm still laughing about it. It has added to my excitement!

I have the perfect Obama-loving accessory for Jo (bought while I was in Kenya, so it's cheap but fun) so we'll definitely have to stop in Chicago for the day. I'm also hoping that Yves will be able to visit Sturgis (he's having trouble finding time to get away from work) and another coworker knows someone who also goes so that may be another person to meet up with (although not so likely).

CNK: Sturgis and the bikers is a huge step up from the last road-trip where we spent the week with crack-heads in New Orleans (rebuilding houses in the Lower Ninth). In fact I seem to know of several really nice bikers so this may be a fun opportunity for a reunion if they can come!

LOL I sent Paloma one too, but I don't think she will be as amused as you were!! I love travel literature!!!

I'm so looking forward to the trip!!!

Good luck and have fun!
I will not be able to make it.

Oh my god, you guys are crazy for wanting to be in Sturgis during the big biker rally. I've seen pictures and it is absolutely wall to wall people. Good luck making your way around. I look forward to hearing how it all goes. Hopefully, it will be a wild time.

"Hopefully, it will be a wild time. "

Provided the wildness happens before 9pm then we're good!

You know that we're staying at a classy joint on the Friday night when the hotel amenities list "Interior corridor" twice!

NO WAY WE GOT AN INTERIOR CORRIDOR! WOW!! LOL

That's in Iowa though. I'm so excited!!

A little late... just wanted to report that after the air conditioning in the van broke on the way home from Sturgis, Adrienne rigged it up nicely for the ride home, and I made her take a picture of it so I could submit it to ThereIFixedIt.com. It was BRUTALLY hot on the way home -- high 90s and high humidity! UGH!

We made it in today on the site! WHEE! LOL

http://thereifixedit.com/2009/08/28/epic...-it-works/

That's my hand on the left. Ziggy snapped the photo. I'm so proud! LOL

We're such nerds, and the comments on our photo are entertaining me. The are surprisingly positive!

I feel so popular!