Farthest West     08/04 – 08/05/21

Southern Hills RV Park, Hermosa, South Dakota

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran (about 500 miles).  When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set.  Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.  He had a dream . . . ~ Genesis 28:10-12a      Jacob traveled north.  Much further north than I originally thought.  Today, Haran would be near the Syria/Turkey border area.  Well outside God’s Promised Land.  Jacob isn’t playing around in his journey, he’s in a hurry to get to where he’s going.  Traveling until the sun sets (we learn later that it was a forty-mile day).  Through the desert.  With no company that we’re aware of.  I wonder if he’s contemplating the consequences of his deceptive behavior?  Is he repentant?  Or is he blaming Esau?  Or his parents?  How often do we accept that there are consequences for our words or behavior, but rather than truly repent, we foist the blame onto others?

Wednesday was a work day because once we move tomorrow, there won’t be much available.  So we spent the day cleaning and doing every scrap of laundry we could come up with.  And because I needed one lemon last week, and had to buy a bagful, I made my lemon muffins.  My, oh, MY are they worth the effort!  We left some out for instant gratification, and froze the rest for a later time.  They’re so good, you could eat one (or two, or three!) every day for a very long time, before you got tired of them.  Try the recipe at the end of the post, and give thanks to the God who made the person who came up with this recipe!  (It wasn’t me 😊)

On Thursday, we moved as far West as we’re going on this trip.  We’re in Wyoming now.  It took us two hours and 132 miles of driving, plus time to refuel.  Fuel – and gas – is really expensive out here ($3.55/gal of each!).  Fortunately, the camping fees are not, so it kinda balances out.

There wasn’t much of particular interest in our drive today, except Blaine had to be extra diligent because of all the motorcycles we traveled the roads with today.  There were quite a few, and there will be many more in the days to come.

Keyhole State Park, Moorcroft, Wyoming

Tomorrow begins the Sturgis Rally. In Sturgis, South Dakota.  Blaine wants to drive over and check it out one day, but I’m not so sure.  We’ll see.  So.  Since I don’t have much else to talk about today, let’s take the time to give you a brief history of this mind-blowing annual event.

The very first Sturgis motorcycle rally was held on August 14, 1938. The event was organized by the town’s motorcycle club called the Jackpine Gypsies who bought and developed large tracks, hill climbs and field areas where the rally would be held.

It was Clarence Hoel or “Pappy” who was credited for founding the event when he bought a franchise of the Indian Motorcycle Company (a manufacturer of motorcycles in North Carolina) in Sturgis during 1936. After that, he organized the Jackpine Gypsies.

During the first few years, the Sturgis motorcycle rally focused on racing and stunts, testing the participant’s various riding skills, courage and stunt creativity. By the 1960s, the rally action expanded with hill climbs and motocross. Audiences saw more daredevil maneuvers like the half-mile track racing, ramp jumps, head-on automobile crashes and board wall crashes, the reasons for the tremendous popularity of the event today. The only time that the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was not held was in 1942, at the height of World War II.  They didn’t even cancel in 2020 for the Covid pandemic.

Today, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally continues to reap the support and attendance of both participants and motorcycle fans all over the United States and in some parts of the world. In 2015, a record 739,000 attended the rally’s 75th anniversary. ~ rallysturgis.com

They’re anticipating another record-breaking attendance year of at least 750,000.

Here’s a few facts I gleaned from keloland.com:

• Just under 7,000 people live in the town of Sturgis
• In 2017, the official rally changed from seven to ten days in length
• In 2019, the average residential week day daily average was 11.30 tons of garbage
• During Sturgis that same year, the average daily garbage removal was 22.97.  And that’s just in the town proper.  Sturgis attendees can’t all stay in town, so multiply that over a huge area.
• Within Sturgis itself, that number was an additional 551.39 tons over a 24 day period (many riders come early and sometimes stay late), which cost the city (the tax payers) a whopping additional $32,680.89
• If this year’s rally reaches 750,000 that would equal 85% of the state’s 2019 estimated population of 884,659.
• The 2019 average Sturgis attendee was a 54-year-old who spent $374 a day, from Minnesota, Nebraska or Colorado
• In 2019, there were attendees from all fifty states. (How’d Hawaii get here?? 😊)
• The cost per attendee varies based on a lot of factors – how much you want to pay for:  an event ticket ($60-$275), food (budget at least $10/meal + $7 if you want a drink), lodging ($400-$2,400/week – to save money, we saw where some hotels had signs up “limit 8 per room”), alcohol ($1/beer – ??? all depends on what you want and how much you consume), gas (minimum $21/day once you arrive – most tours cover 300 miles in a single day)
• Their Legends Ride auction raised $149,000 for charity.  All proceeds go to Treasured Lives, a non-profit organization that helps survivors of sex trafficking.

Crime reports in two cities as of Friday, Aug. 10:

• STURGIS
  DUI Arrests: 84
  Misc. Drug Arrests: 84
  Felony Drug Arrests: 36
  Total Citations: 384
  Total Warnings: 1,715
  Cash Seized: $1,684
  Vehicles Seized for Drug Possession: 6
  Non-Injury Accidents: 17
  Injury Accidents: 27
  Fatal Accidents: 4
  
  
• RAPID CITY AREA
  DUI Arrests: 33
  Misc. Drug Arrests: 54
  Felony Drug Arrests: 20
  Total Citations: 375
  Total Warnings: 1,215
  Cash Seized: $1,055
  Vehicles Seized for Drug Possession: 0
  Non-Injury Accidents: 27
  Injury Accidents: 19
  Fatal Accidents: 0
  
  

I think you get the picture.  It puts a huge strain on all types of resources – restaurants, hotels, custodial, trash, police, EMTs, the Parks, etc.  Even the critters I think.  I don’t know where all these people stay during the Rally.  Maybe they just live on their bikes and ride around all over the western South Dakota area.  And we wonder if this year is especially difficult because no one seems to be fully staffed around here.  There are “Now Hiring” signs on almost every door.

Anyway, that’s it for today.  Try the muffins.  Seriously.  Try the muffins!  You’ll be sooo glad you did.  Or maybe you won’t.  They’re pretty addicting. 😊

DOUBLE LEMON MUFFINS – Need a total of 3 lemons

SYRUP:

½ C. sugar

¾ C. water

Zest of 1 lemon

¼ C. lemon juice (use zested lemon and add Real Lemon juice as needed)

BATTER:

3 ½ C. flour

1 T. baking powder

½ t. baking soda

½ t. salt

1 ½ C. sugar

Zest of 2 lemons

1 C. milk

¼ C. lemon juice (same as above)

2 eggs

2 sticks butter, melted

Additional sugar for topping

FOR SYRUP:

Combine sugar, water, lemon zest and lemon juice in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Cover and boil over medium heat for 4 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

FOR BATTER:

In a large bowl, combine flour baking powder, soda, salt and sugar.  Stir well.  In a small bowl, combine lemon rind, milk, lemon juice and eggs.  Stir well.  Add egg mixture and melted butter to dry ingredients.  Stir quickly, just to combine.  Pour the batter into greased muffin tins (or paper cups), filling almost to the top.

Sprinkle each muffin with about 1 t. sugar. 

Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until rounded and golden brown.  Remove from oven and place pans on a wire rack.  With a thin skewer poke holes all over each muffin going all the way thru to the bottom. 

While still warm, spoon the lemon syrup over the muffins.  Cool and serve.

Makes 18