Sturgis T@B

sabel

So we spent last week in our Outback at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Got lots of questions about the T@B, but the best one was if we towed the T@B with our motorcycle. Started parking the motorcycle in line with the trailer and answered yes to the questions. Met lots of great people. Boondocked for seven days using the Zamp 80 watt solar panels with plenty of power. Great trip if you love motorcycles and T@Bs.

jdargis

Seeing you own an Outback T@B, possibly you can answer a question for me.  Is it a little bit a of challenge to hook up your sewer hoses to your dump valves, being the platform seems to be in the way?  

Nomad

Campgrounds /= Boondocking...But no hookups does = roughing it ;-)
Where did you find a campground? - Heard there were suppose to be a million people passing thru Sturgis since it was the 75th anniversary.
Have been hanging east river till today (now west river) to avoid the Sturgis crowd. Saw lots of bikers on the road today and all looked miserable as it's been heavy rain off and on all day today. Every gas station had bikers huddled under every overhang, some looking for a bar to take refuge in but none of the smaller towns have bars that are open on Sunday's.
Might hit Sturgis end of the week when the crowds are down/gone.

sabel

We stayed at the Devils Tower CG and while it filled up every evening it was not crowded or noisey. Had restrooms but no hookups. It's still 80 miles to Sturgis.
The grey water connection is easy, just have to reach under the plateform. The black water valve is a little easier I think since it's behind the platform.

sabel

To be perfectly honest I do have to get on my knees to connect to either of the hoses but you can see the black water hose without looking under the platform. The platforms are well worth it though.

Nomad

80 miles is a ways but considering the crowd, not bad. Did you have reservations or just wing it?

sabel

Winged it. CG only filled up during Rally and then not until late afternoon. Most people only stay over night and are on their way to somewhere else. There's plenty to do in the neighborhood and never get close to Sturgis. This was our 12th year. Never gets old to me.

Nomad

I'll have to try it - know several people that go every year and have friends in Rapid.

Nomad

sable - just spent 3-days at the Devil's Tower campground - you're right, it clears out each day then fills back up at night. There were people showing up as late as 10:00pm trying to find spots even though it was usually full by 8:00. Don't know why anyone would show up that late to a first-come, first-serve campground on a weekend - nut so. All nice big drive-thru sites. Was surprised though that 80% of the campers there were tenters.

Did you happen to see the crazies climbing the tower at night. I watched till 1:00am one night and there were still climbers on the side.

This little guy would come out of the tall grass every morning and night, nimble some short grass and them come sit right next to me for 5-10 minutes like he enjoyed company - felt bad I didn't have any lettuce...

Verna

I love Devil's Tower!

Nomad

Verna - A very unique thing.
And, the campground had shade. I fled there from the 101 degree heat. No place to hide out in the boondocks of NW SD. Der not be many trees in dem neck of the woods.

Nomad

Another nice thing about the DT campground - good cell coverage with fast LTE data.

sabel

We've been camping there at least once a year for maybe 30 years. My favorite. 
Fun to watch the climbers. They're allowed to climb at night but not stay overnight on the Tower, so they have to desend the same night. 
Did you do the lower loop trail? Also one of my favorite. 

Verna

PXLated said:

Verna - A very unique thing.
And, the campground had shade. I fled there from the 101 degree heat. No place to hide out in the boondocks of NW SD. Der not be many trees in dem neck of the woods.

The first time I went out West by myself was 2002. I wandered around, tent camping. I fell in love with  Utah. But something was missing. As soon as I got to Arkansas, I realized I missed the trees from Indiana. I'm used to trees, I have some wonderful tall trees in my yard. I love my trees.

Nomad

sabel - didn't do any hiking - was in a car accident a few years ago, screwed up the right knee, hip and lower back - doesn't bother me much until I hike - a couple city blocks and I'm done, knotted up.