Deadwood, South Dakota

We arrived a few hours ago in our home for the next few days and nights, an excellent RV resort in Deadwood, South Dakota, within the Black Hills. We are about 12 miles from Sturgis, South Dakota and about an hour away from Mount Rushmore.

Deadwood is a happening town when the Sturgis motorcycle rally is not happening. There are many casinos and bars and an actual nightlife. It is a historic place high in the Black Hills, whereas Sturgis is a small town except during the rally.

The Black Hills happen to be the oldest mountains on the North American Continent.

My last update had us staying at an RV park in Illinois. Last night we spent the night in what was basically a muddy mess in Minnesota.

Since my last update we have driven through or stayed in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota.

All of the States we have driven through have been beautiful.

South Dakota is probably the most desolate state by far with respect to places to stop, traffic, etc. It is truly a plains state. We went through hundreds of miles of corn fields before South Dakota. Once in South Dakota it switched to endless grasslands. To be frank South Dakota reminds me of the drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco in a way, but it is still unique.

The Sturgis motorcycle rally was August 6 – 12, 2012 this year. The rally ended two weeks ago. It is amazing to me that there are still a bunch of die-hard bikers here. I saw many bikers on I-90 as I was driving in.

I guess I will still have much fun riding my Harley Davidson Electra Glide amongst other bikers while I am here.

Tomorrow before I do anything, I will have to wash my motorcycle in place on the trailer before taking her off. She picked up a thick coat of white paste in Iowa, and rinsing it with water, nor rain in Iowa and Minnesota did not wash it off. So I will be delayed for at least an hour washing her. Once she is washed I will be off.

I plan on getting GoPro helmet footage of my ride as well as standard HD footage when stopped. I will post it on the blog when I get home.

That is it for now. Time to relax; it was a long 500 mile plus drive in the RV today.

By California Biker Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq.

The post In the Black Hills of South Dakota for a few days first appeared on Biker and Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Blog.

Indiana Countryside

Yesterday, August 23, 2012 and today, August 24, 2012 found me cruising my RV through and camping in Indiana and Illinois. I cannot begin to tell you how beautiful these States are.

First off, all of the states I have driven through since New Jersey have toll turnpikes which are basically freeways that you have to pay to have the privilege to drive on.

I decided that I do not like paying these tolls for my RV and motorcycle trailer since I am sometimes having to pay 75% more than a car. It is not that I cannot afford the tolls; it is that I think they are bullshit. Therefore, I set my GPS to avoid the toll roads.

Avoiding the toll roads is the best thing I have done on this trip. The reason being is that instead of driving on freeways, I am not driving on state highways off the beaten track.

In Indiana we drove all day through the most beautiful farm and tree laced land you could imagine. The landscape was like in a movie. We stayed in an excellent RV park right smack dab next to a huge corn field.

When I went outside just at sunset, all I could see for miles around was corn. I would love to live in a place such as this. I enjoyed an O’Doul’s and a cigar.

Today on August 24, 2012, we again drove off the beaten track from Indiana to Rockford, IL. We made sure to drive through Chicago, IL, but since we could not find an RV park near Chicago, we decided to head for Rockford with our next main stop being Sturgis, SD.

I am from Southern California where I was born and raised. I have traveled the world but I have always come back to California.

My trip all over the nation these past 38 days or so have made me question why I stay in California. The east coast is beautiful.

Indiana is truly a beautiful State; so is Illinois. However, I really liked Indiana. Heck we saw our first genuine Amish buggy with family in Indiana.

The people are nice, the entire State reminds me of Mayberry.

The next time I take a trip such as the one I am on right now, I may take 6 months to a year to travel around, so that instead of taking freeways, I can take roads off of the beaten track and really see the countryside.

So there it is, tomorrow I will be on the road again headed for Sturgis, SD which should take two days if all goes well.

Once in Sturgis, I will take the Harley Davidson Electra Glide off of the trailer, and ride all over the Black Hills and more.

By California Biker Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez

The post The Great American Corn Belt first appeared on Biker and Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Blog.