Rovin' 'Rauder's Sturgis Report 8/13/99

Hi Y'all!

 Well, Bessy and I were scheduled to leave Sturgis on Saturday morning but several things happened to change my plans.

 First, last night the curator from Bear Butte came over to give a talk on the history of Bear Butte. This involves a lot of history on the local Lakota (Sioux), Cheyenne and other native american indians. Bear Butte, I seems, has been a religious center for at least 2000 years. An outcast named Sweet Medicine founded a religious center there, and when his original tribe was in turmoil, he returned to them with four arrows symbolizing four laws. These saved his people (Sioux). Do not kill, commit adultery, steal or marry a family member. They still have these arrows, but they are obviously well hidden. Custer was sent west to find Bear Butte. It was that important. This is where Crazy Horse received his power to never be harmed in battle, and it worked. Much more has happened here than I can report on.

 I had known nothing of any of this. The mountain is used to this day for vision quests, the purification of young men. I don't want to alienate anyone, but I am into occasional meditation (not religion) and this morning I went up on the mountain. It is a powerful place that I will never forget. No, I will not and cannot explain. When I left the mountain, I had a great feeling of serenity, and I admit I felt it perhaps I really made the entire trip to visit Bear Butte, not Sturgis.

 I had expected to feel depressed when it came time to leave Sturgis and head for home. But when I came down from the mountain, I felt it was time to leave. It feft right.

 We rode down to Rice Honda/Suzuki in Rapid City, and no other MIGs showed up! I signed up a new lady MIG, however (I think) and headed back to the Lone Star Campground. Traffic was tough, even though I bypassed most of the traffic by using side streets. (The weekend traffic). When I entered the main road, I came upon a scene I will not describe. It was gruesome. It appears two bikes collided, and I've never seen so much blood. Enough said, except that no one wears a helmet here except wimps like MIG #229. On returning to the Lone Star, I find that my friend, Rex, who is the employee charged with doing all the stuff no one else wants to do, has twisted his knee badly and has gone home to St. Louis to the VA hospital. I'd really wanted to tell him goodbye.

 I had a strong feeling of "time to go", so I packed up and Bessy and I left by a back road to avoid the crowd as well as bypassing the scene of the accident. Many handshakes at the Lone Star. Good folks. Did I mention the campgrounds are on the edge of the Butte, and they are sacred? It's OK with the Indians, they approve of the new owners. So do I.

 Bessy and I headed north, not east. I've decided to go visit Anamoose, North Dakota, to see where my wife's uncle grew up, my favorite member of her family. I've heard of it for 25 years and have to see it (tomorrow). On the way, we travel up rt. 85 and are privileged to travel through some of the most beautiful plains grassland in this galaxy. The land is never level. It curves up and down, rarely abruptly except for the creeks and mini buttes. The latter are scattered across the land like spots nature simply forgot to properly erode. The road is a straight line, as far as the eye can see. We pass Hardy County. Never heard of it? Well it's the tyrannosaurus capitol of the world. I was impressed! It seems the best fossils of T Rex come from here.

 It grew cold as we entered North Dakota, and here our story ends for today, as it grew too dark for further observation. We currently reside in the Bismarck Motel 6. I'm thinking of getting Bessy her own room, we've grown that close.

 Bessy and JimG, aka LT, Rovin' 'Rauder and Fly (You had to be there)