June 17 - Tuesday - Mobridge SD to Miles City MT - 440 miles

 The motel in Mobridge did not have conti breakfast but they do have a restaurant but we opted to just head out. The woman that checked us in was a big motorcycle nut who started riding a 650 BMW when she was 50 and got a Suzuki 1300 after a couple years and very excited to talk to us about motorcycles. She toured all over until her husband died, and she re-married and is hoping to ride some more with her new husband. Good for her!
We left in the rain, light rain, so fully suited up, so no biggie. We rode at a nice 60mph for a few hours and came close to running out of gas since the part of South Dakota we are in has no people. Our last hope was Lemmon SD and they had two stations open. I put 4.3 gallons in my 4.5 gallon tank. Yikes!!

They had a diner across the street with a good crowd (which means a good place) and lots of locals in there taking dad out for fathers day. The woman running it moved to Alaska for 30 years and then moved back to Lemmon and opened this place. Lots of gorgeous Alaska photos on the walls. A few 2-5 year olds entertained the whole place the whole time we were there. Nice to see close families.

A minister chatted us up about our trip. He was coming don from Sturgus to "pinch hit" for the local minister. He rents his house each year to a motorcycle magazine for the annual bike week. He says it pays his taxes.
We went north and into the Teddy Roosevelt National Park and did the 30 mile loop inside the park. Lots of buffalo in there which were almost as popular as the prairie dogs to watch. Best part was flashing that Senior pass and getting in for free!!. Another $25 bucks!!
Google took us down afew gravel roads today that were really fun on the X300 since it is made for doing those. The Beemer would be twitching all over the road on those, so the X300 is a winner there.
The last couple hours were on Rt7 and Rt12. Rt7 is pretty much not used but in good shape with really nice views. Saw a pronghorn deer (Antelope?), really beauty, and we also say some other deer (Black-tail?).
We ended at Miles City which is an interstate exit so lots of places to stay. I chatted with the owner for a long time and he said the nice smelling stuff I kept whiffing today was sagebrush.
More rain tomorrow by the looks. Jeez..

And my brother (guess which one) passed this along today. Hope they have a good recipe for Prarie Dog as I have an ample supply out here..