It was another hot day already when we arrived at the Dam. The tourist traffic we were warned about was abundant today. We turned our engines off and coasted down the hill to the visitor center. Our curmudgeonly tour guide gave us the behind the scenes tour of the facility. All in all a fascinating construction achievement. A commercial vehicle bypass under construction looms over the canyon over the Dam. Yet another engineering feat: I'd like to witness the spans of the bridge being put into place.
Supposedly there's only one body buried in the concrete, despite numerous deaths in the construction of the Dam. It's a dog who was the mascot of the workers. The labrador retreiver was killed when a truck accidently ran over him. The only time the site shut down from it's 24 hours a day schedule was to bury the dog. I'm not sure I buy that story completely.I split off from the group at the end of the tour and headed back to the ranch to change my oil. I'd shipped myself a couple of liters for the job. I'd spied a new Auto Zone store on the way in, and stopped at the office to ask Michael if he knew if they could rent me a sludge pan and let me recycle the oil there. Michael and his wife kindly offered a coffee can and a cut off water jug for me to change the oil there.
After I finished my oil change, I met another couple who couldn't believe I rode the scooter across the country. Paul and Maggie, in the convention organizing business offered me their hospitality if I was ever in Chicago. He said he could hook me up with a Harley for Sturgis. I figure if I'm going to Sturgis, I'm going on a Vespa.
I got a chance to meet the rest of the riders at the saloon, and get out pre-ride briefing. This looks to be a lot of fun.
A slide show from today:
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