June 29, 2009 Lori Potts

Paul; Lori; Needles Highway: Mount Rushmore and Losing Sunglasses

After driving to the H-D dealership to pick up Billy who had dropped off his Harley for a new windshield, rider’s back rest, handlebars, GPS, etc., we talked with Paul, the Harley salesman who sold Bob his bike, and he was fascinated about the story of Charles Fenton and wants to include it in his “book” he’s writing. He loves history and this is the best kind for him, when he actually gets to meet the people involved. So he wants to interview us, go to the Museum and see the Commission (he wants a copy too) and he urged us to do more digging about our grandfather. He is a lover of western history and explained that if you were a Captain in the cavalry back in those days, it would be like being a full Colonel today. That was a big deal according to him. He also is fascinated with the history of the area, and recited the story of the two trials of Jack McCall for murdering Wild Bill HIckok, and actually got to handle his guns even though they’re kept in a safe - he can talk anyone into anything. He really can.
We left the dealership and returned to Sturgis to pick up everyone else and go back to the Museum to meet the photographer from the Rapid City newspaper. We also got to meet Lori Potts, the lady who followed up on the initial story and tracked down Billy. She had debated whether or not to call but she decided that she would want to know if it was her grandfather, so she called. And that started this whole chain of events. Actually it goes back farther than that, back to the day I bought the raffle ticket in Thunder Bay. It’s really quite simple: Nat buys raffle ticket; Nat wins Harley in raffle; Lori calls Billy, and Billy calls us to tell us the story of the Commission; Griff buys Harley; Griff invites Nat to go with him to Sturgis to see the commission; Griff invites Bobby to go too; Griff invites Billy to go; Billy buys Harley; we ride to Sturgis.
Lori is middle-aged (meaning much younger than us), short, on crutches (the arm brace type), and has a kind and friendly face. She enjoyed telling the story and the attention she got, due to Billy calling her and asking her to join us for the photographs. Several pictures were taken and we expect an article in the newspaper tomorrow. Good for Lori for her persistence and following up where the newspaper had failed to follow up. We are very thankful, for her efforts have been a great boon to us (and especially Bobby who is ending up with a Harley).
We then hit the road toward the Needles Highway and Mount Rushmore, up to Deadwood, taking Route 385 through the middle of the Black Hills (which climb to more than 6000 feet), past Pactola Lake, a beautiful manmade lake, and into Hill City where we had lunch in a restaurant where each booth had a television set and its own remote. We continued on in the heat of the day and finally turned onto Needles Highway, The roads are curvy and hilly, a dream for a motorcyclist, but many of the turns were 15 mph hairpin turns. Our training was invaluable as we had been taught that in slow speed curves, you should look about 30 yards ahead to where you want to go for if you look right in front of you, bad things will happen. That training got Griff, Bob and I through these routes just fine (Bill was driving Sugar and Sandy in the car). En route you go through these one-way tunnels that are 8 feet high and twelve feet wide, I think. Some frame the Presidents on Mount Rushmore so we would dismount and take a photo before continuing on. Finally we reached Mount Rushmore. We could see men at the top preparing for the July 3 fireworks. We were told that people begin lining up at 6 in the morning for the fireworks and the parking lot is full by 10:30, after which they start parking along the highway. So we decided that is not something we want to get in the middle of, especially because we probably wouldn’t be returning until late-ish on Friday. The monument was made even more impressive by the thunderstorm in the vicinity and the dark clouds mingling with the white, puffy clouds and blue sky. A lot of pictures were taken, Billy especially liking those that added his head to the other four.
However, for me, it was a tough day on sunglasses. After recovering my Maui Jim sunglasses twice before after driving off, this time I drove off with the pair sitting on my saddle bags. Bob saw them fly off onto the highway so that was the end of those. He had bought a new pair at lunch, so he gave me his old pair that he had bought for a dollar, and I promptly lost those in a similar manner, all in the space of two hours. When I refueled at Sturgis upon my return, I bought a new pair for $9.99. They are aviator glasses. The lenses are huge. I look like an insect.