Salutations all,
We have noticed in writing this blog post that the days have started to mesh together and we are forgetting the names of the towns we stay in. It is fascinating to be on the road this long and to have so many small towns pass by. It is interesting to talk with people, and the conversations are starting to seem routine, where are you from? Where are you going? Are two of the most typical questions. It has been funny to see people's reactions to our little adventure. While on the portion of the ride we passed through some Native American reservations. Not knowing what to expect we were pleasantly pleased with the amount of curiosity by the locals on what we were doing. We had a couple of people wave us down to talk, and an elderly lady gave us $20 for us to get some lunch. It was amazing to have so much compassion and bigheartedness. We have gotten so much support and kudos from people that we have know our whole lives to strangers we just met, it is reassuring to have the kindness of the world showed to you.
The twenty ninth day of our trip was fairly uneventful. We read the weather report, which showed that there was a storm coming into the area and it was going to last form 2pm until 2am. This revelation combined with a late start, and a trip to the bike shop to pick up some details (Rose needed a new bike computer and a tire), meant that we just stayed an extra day in Gillette. It was really fascinating to watch the lightning storm, and we were glad to be inside. Overall it was good to rest the legs and get some down time.
With our legs well rested and our bikes in spectacular order, we made our way to Newcastle on day thirty. It was a good ride. We had the wind at our backs, gently sloping hills in front of us, and the sunshine was steady, but not scorching hot. We were able to find accommodations at a nearby senior center, which allowed us to stay on a patch of grass they had, which seemed good enough for us. But there were trains going by all night long and street lights around. It was not one of our better sites, but it was nice of them to let us stay there.
From Newcastle we decided that we would make it all the way up to Keystone and to Mount Rushmore on day thirty one. The Black Hills are such a gorgeous and mysterious area. There are hills with trees, with giant rocks sticking out from under and looming above. Mount Rushmore was stunning as well; it is amazing what our recent ancestors accomplished there.
Day thirty two was a visually spectacular day. We biked through the rolling hills of western South Dakota and right through the Badlands. The Badlands looked like a vast, enormous lake that dried out thousands of years ago. It ended up being around 80 miles, one of our longest. We camped behind Our Lady of the Sioux Catholic Church in Oglala and watched one of the greatest lightning shows either of us has ever seen happen all around us.
Day thirty three got off to a rough start. Dan immediate had a massive tire blowout that ruined his tire. We were able to limp the 65 miles through horrible road conditions to Martin, SD. We decided to catch a Bennett County High School football game. They were playing Custer, a town we passed through two days ago. The BCHS Warriors lost to the Custer Wildcats 35-6, with the home team’s only touchdown happening as time expired. We stayed at a city park that allowed for overnight camping. We woke in the middle of the night to high winds, and some sprinklers spraying the end of our tent. After some rearranging we took care of the sprinkler issue, but the winds persisted through the night and into the morning. Exhausted, from little sleep, we decided to wait out the winds and stay at a motel in town.
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