Every time I think I know the United States, I see people, sights and places that blow me away and make me like this country and its people anew.

This was the case when I attended a reading of a book about black mormons in the US, also when I attended a gay rodeo at Rawhide with my kids. And again, when I happened to pass through the town of Wall, South Dakota at the weekend of the Sturgis motorcycle rally.

Grannies, yuppies, nazis, other '-ies' that defy definition, all roaring about on their hogs, and stopping to browse through the over-the-top Americana kitsch at Wall-Drug. It was a great experience: I wanted to take some photos of my kids with the bikers - the bikers wanted to be photographed with my kids, but my kids were scared of them. Great fun, nonetheless.

Wall and Sturgis are in the SW corner of South Dakota, a corner that compensates for the remainder of the state, which is quite drab, really. There you have the Black Hills, the Crazy Horse monument, Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park (well worth a look, with its herd of buffalo that routinely block traffic on the roads), the Badlands, etc.. It is a wonderful part of the USA to visit and I intend to go back there again and again.