The Rascal Diaries: 6/26/14 The Dragon Gets Her Wings

Rascal took her first mountains today, and proved herself by digging her dragon teeth into the curves and smoking the straight-aways.

Perfection named the day. Low humidity and skies with cotton clouds rode us out from Hot Springs. A leisurely day, we had no miles to consume, so we set out to explore the Black Hills. The loops and squiggles around and about these mountains are a true testament to engineering.

Up into Custer State Park, we saw prairie dogs, buffalo, burros and antelope. One crazed antelope played with us on the road and would have front ended us if we hadn't stopped. Yellow and purple wild flowers covered the hills, a sight we've never seen since we have only been here in August.

Travelled before, these roads are still an enchantment. From Custer we rode the Iron Mountain Road, route 16A. Switchbacks and the famous pigtail bridges, swirled us around Rushmore to view the Presidential faces through tunnels and at random turns.

Needles Highway let Rascal loose as she danced through the impossible stone monoliths that shoot from the mountain. Turns that layed us over toward the gravel didn't phase this young dragon at all. She ate them up, spit them out and asked for more!

A path led to a stream and we followed, dragging a bottle of wine. Freckled with sunlight, a rock was our venue and the stream was our music. Together we rejoiced in the concert of life and celebrated our place in time. So difficult to leave such beauty, we pushed on, congratulating ourselves on such a perfect day.

Then, the afternoon storm clouds that are becoming too familiar, popped up. Racing toward Deadwood, we were rained in at a gas station. Sitting for a few minutes, never really getting wet, we then swished out onto soaked roads.

Deadwood! Bike week sees thousands of motorcycles jammed into every possible parking space. This week sees families on their own tours. Many bikes are still here though, drawn by the Black Hills.

The Franklin Hotel shelters us from the increasingly severe thunderstorms tonight. Standing on the balcony of this historically registered building, watching a staged gunfight on the street below, I was transported back to another age. The question calls - would I have been the School Marm or Miss Kitty?