Billboards litter either side of the freeway as you approach Sturgis. Most feature scantily clad women and boast names like Kid Rock, Bret Michaels and some more that I had never heard of, but Chris informed me they are popular bands.
At any rate, it wasn't what I had pictured. In some ways, it is a rather quaint little town, dotted with historic homes and a sweet little hillside cemetery. It has a Pamida, and a neighborhood grocery, a senior center and schools. Some areas seem a little run-down, there are a lot of bars, some of them are huge stadium size bars and most all of them are closed and boarded up whenever we're there, adding to the run-down appearance of things. I would imagine that if you visited during rally week there, it is a whole different town. The boarded up bars probably spiff up a little and open their doors in hopes of hitting it big and luring in a large crowd of bikers looking for a good time.
As for us, we'll keep planning our visits to Sturgis in the "off-season" and making our own kind of fun. This time we rallied our crew for a laid back barbeque with extended family we rarely get the chance to see. Our get-together included no scantily clad women and far less beer than the traditional Sturgis gathering. We simply ate and visited. The younger crowd kept themselves entertained with thumb-wars, card games, bubbles (courtesy of Aunt Traci, she's always got the babes in mind), a little baseball and a lot of haystack jumping and giggling in the barn.
I think Chris may quite possibly have the cutest grandparents....
Grandpa Ralph....
There isn't much sweeter than boys and their grandpas(or great-grandpas).
He and Owen had a cute little exchange about swatting flies. Owen informed him that he missed the one he was going for.
Aunt Traci and Grandma Zelpha....
Chris's Aunt Kathy and Uncle Allen (sorry about the shut-eyes Allen). For anyone trying to keep connections straight, Carla's brother and sister.
Chris's cousin Holly's little boy, Trey. He practiced some baseball with Chris. He was quite the little hitter and so very cute.
Our kids absolutely adore Kade, Tanner and Mikala, although I am not sure they realize just how lucky they are to have them as cousins, they are always so kind and patient with them.
Not sure about the face Lily was making....
We scarcely saw these three girls, they played and played in the barn, jumping in the hay and then taking turns burying each other in it.
Owen was a monster.
Thumb wars.
More thumb wars and lots of giggling.
There were many more people there that I never got pictures of, and in case I forget, and someday I wonder why I didn't get a better selection of pictures.....for the record, Ava was a mega-grouch and most of the pictures I did take were taken with her squirming and fussing on my hip. We thought maybe she was tired, but once we were in the car headed back to Rapid City, she was happy again and never napped or slept until after the waterpark closed and we were back in our hotel room. She is going through some separation anxiety right now and has decided she really only likes her family. So when we are out with a crowd, she will often get clingy and fussy and sometimes it's annoying, but babies are only babies for a blink so we just kiss her and snuggle her close and remember that in a blink she'll be one of the big kids leaping from haystacks in the barn.
1 comment:
Oh girlie, you disappoint me. How can you not know who Poison is? ;) Cute pics. I would most definitely only visit Sturgis in the off season, too.
Post a Comment