We were excited to get on the road for the first day of our nine day adventure. We had our Harley Davidson Electra-Glide packed to capacity. Both side saddlebags stuffed full, the touring bag in the back was full and I had all the clothes I could pack in a bulging canvas bag tied to the top. I mounted the back seat preparing to be one of those women I see relaxing in the passenger seat, and we took off west.
We rode an entire day, leaving early in the morning. The sunshine felt wonderful and warm, the wind was in back of us and we were elated to begin our trek. After riding west on Interstate 80 and connecting with I29 going north, we crossed the South Dakota border, we tired of interstate travel and thought it would be great fun to take a two lane road west, the rest of the way through South Dakota. There is so much more to see and experience on a two lane highway, so we chose highway 16 to take west.
Heading west on highway 16 we noticed there were not as many places to stop or pull over. That was not so bothersome at that point because we saw a small town with a gas station for a break every 45 minutes or so. We stopped frequently that day, not used to spending so much time "in the saddle". It must have been about 3pm when we were riding along that highway and a storm cloud came out of nowhere! The sky turned totally black and the wind picked up. We could smell rain in the air but had no where to go. We continued, battling a strong cross wind that practically took our motorcycle into the oncoming lane. Talk about scary! I pictured us being picked up in that wind and hurled to OZ to see the wizard with Dorothy. Then the storm really squalled and we were caught in a torrential downpour along with the wind. My poor husband could not see in front of him or keep the bike safely on the road and there was NO WHERE for us to pull over. We were forced to stop on the shoulder of this little stretch of highway.
So now we were out in the open, in tornado country, off of the bike, and literally trying to keep the wind from blowing the bike over. There was no place to take cover out there, not even a tree. Since my canvas bag was on top of the touring pack, Mike removed it and put it on the ground to make sure the bike was a little more stable. We stood that way in the downpour, holding up the bike for what seemed like hours. It was probably only a few minutes but you can imagine.
Eventually the rained stopped. Those prairie storms come and go quickly. We have experienced even more of them since, in South Dakota. So we strapped my wet bag back to the top of the touring pack and rode on west for about 20 minutes, to the nearest town with a gas station. We were so wet that I could hardly get off the motorcycle. My pants, boots, socks, and jacket were dripping wet. I even had water in my boots. I couldn't wait to change into some dry clothes at that gas station! I took the bag into the bathroom to find some dry clothes and guess what? Every stitch of clothing I had brought with me was wet too! A canvas bag does not withstand a downpour, and especially when set down on the ground in a running puddle of water during a storm. The bag had taken water from the top and bottom. I almost cried right then. But the sun was out and it was at least warm, and we had an adventure to continue. I literally took off my clothes to wring them dry and returned to my perch on the back of the motorcycle to head for Rapid City and our first night in the hotel.
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