Rapid City, South Dakota

We arrived! Spent the day driving from Buffalo to Rapid City. We took a loop detour off I-90 to hit Devil's Tower and Deadwood. I had been in Deadwood with my Mom and Dad fifty years ago as a kid -- they preserved the old town but there are brand new hotels cheek to jowl and casinos everywhere. All of the saloons had slot machines. Not what I remember from before -- not a gambler (gambling is a tax on people who cannot do arithmetic) so would rather have the historical aspect than the noise of the slot machines. Was heading into Sturgis when I got a check engine light and the transmission started making a lot of noise at low speeds -- it was fine when I got above 30MPH but sounded like a hurricane when I was going slower. This would come and go so I'm going to the Ford dealership tomorrow AM. Before I left town, I had JiffyLube do a lot of work including changing the transmission fluid. We will see what transpires. Went to the fairgrounds and picked up our conference packets -- it's going to be brutal as the temperature is in the high 90's and supposed to get hotter. The demonstration tents are set up on an asphalt yard so with all the forges, we will have to be sure to stay hydrated. Looking forward to this -- as I had posted, I have been to every one since 2006. Day five!