Thug Day 7

Day 7 (and some of 6) August 3 and 4

The Hamster dinner was a big success for Childrens Care (http://www.cchs.org/). I forgot the amount they raised (maybe around $250,000) but it all goes directly to helping the kids out here. Back East, the population is dense enough to support therapists in schools for kids with special needs, but out here, getting to all the kids is next to impossible. Childrens Care does great work.

Earlier in the day I took the BMW up to Rapid City to visit the HD dealer there. They usually have a large array of vendors and the soft economy didnt seem to keep too many of them away. The BMW's electronics drain some current from the battery constantly, so it needs to either be on a battery tender or ridden every few days. I have seen precious few "non-V-twins" since I've been here.

Yesterday, I spent the day sightseeing including witnessing a blast of rock at the Crazy Horse monument. I captured it, but dont know how to send big files. Ill work on it. Work there is progressing, but very slowly. They don't want any public funds, so it will take a lot of time to finish.

After that, Dave invited me to a private party hosted by Dave Bell at Daves home in the mountains of Spearfish. Dave was a great host and his place is spectacular.
Then, we went to Michael Lichters exhibit at the Buffalo Chip for a private party for the industry. I saw many of the recognizable builders there along with great bikes and memorabelia. Dee Snyder from Twisted Sister dropped in, as did Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Pat Simmons from the Doobie Brothers. I saw Dee, but missed Steven and Pat.

Michael was autographing books of his postcards and he put a nice note on one for Mark in Afghanistan. Ill send it to Streets to forward on to Mark.

I talked briefly with Randy Sampson of Milwaukee Iron. Just before I left, I read in a bike magazine that Milwaukee Irons assets were being auctioned off. Steel made in America was their tag line. A real bummer. I have no idea what happened since Gary passed away and Lee left. To see it all goneprobably through a bankruptcy proceeding really sucks. Dave told me that competition from China did them in.

We then headed out to Deadwood to a party at Danny Grays place. Great people and time flew by. I think it was after midnight when we got home.

We traveled in a SUV, which was great as a monster storm came through. When we got back to the hotel, my rain cover was missing. I went walking looking for it, but its probably long gone.
Today (Wednesday) will probably be an easy day. Thursday is the annual Hamster lunch and run and then Im hitting the road to get back home.

Thug