Saturday morning we take our last cruise around Sturgis. Also stop in the BMW showroom to check out all the newest bike models – but don’t really think that a major cruising lifestyle is in my future. Perhaps some riding along the coast of California or through the rolling hills of Italy, but not too serious. Head south to check out the dead presidents on a rock, then a ride along the Needles highway. The roadway is so named due to the roadside rock formations that are so beautiful and dramatic. We stopped by the grouping named “The Cathedral” and went for a hike. You can see how beautiful the rolling hills are in the landscape photo posted here. All over the area (and I mean for 30 miles in every direction), parks and resort spots were having barbecues, and we stopped at one by a lake to lunch and to enjoy the scenery. Then onward through Custer State Park to find some of the mighty buffalo – of course we didn’t come across the herd until we were just at the exit! Enjoyed watching them move slowly across the area – and the little calves running around – and then rode on until we arrived in the town of Custer. I squealed and requested a stop at the grocery store so I could get some yogurt and fruit..oh, and to look at the vegetables. Unfortunately, the restaurant we went to for dinner didn’t know about the availability of any fresh veggies, so only offered frozen ones from Sysco (as the beautiful student from Jakarta explained to me after I invited her to Boulder for a visit. Heaven forbid she think that Custer, South Dakota is truly representative of the United States). After dinner, we had a refreshing ride on the bike out to the as yet unfinished Crazy Horse Monument, where we wandered through the exhibits and then sat outside under the stars to watch a fairly corny laser light show on Native American culture. The most impactful visual of the evening, though, was a map inside showing where, all over the United States, the multitudinous tribes lived as of a couple hundred years ago. Our destruction of their way of life and very existence was incredibly thorough. Nuf said.