except when it looked like the surface of the moon.
The first 50 miles of our 112 mile ride was either on a frontage road adjacent to I-90 or on I-90 itself (about 20 miles). We stopped for a roadside lunch in Wall. Our lunch spot was close to the "famous" Wall Drug - too close for my comfort. Some of the group went to visit Wall Drug, but I got out of town as fast as I could - it's just not my kind of place.
Leaving Wall we headed south to Badlands National Park (which is my kind of place) where we pedaled for 30 miles on the HWY 240 loop that goes through the park. As shown above, the Badlands looks like a moonscape - but as these two bighorn sheep by the side of the road demonstrate, it's full of wildlife.
The ride through the park was very enjoyable, with several tough climbs providing an opportunity to elevate the heart rate.
You may have figured out by now that we are not taking the most direct route across the nourthern U.S. We did not have to go over the Bighorns, or up Spearfish Canyon, or through the Badlands - but I'm sure glad we did!
After leaving the park, we followed a frontage road paralleling I-90 all the way into Kadoka. Upon arriving in Kadoka I called my cousin Terry Deuter, who lives in Kadoka, and he came over to the hotel for a short visit. He arrived in his sheriff's vehicle and in full sheriff attire - turns out he was on duty around the park as we cycled through it. We'll pedal right by his house as we leave Kadoka tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow we have another long day as we pedal 113 miles to Oacoma, which is on the west bank of the Missouri River across from the town of Chamberlain. Once again the weather looks great with only a light headwind predicted; and there is not much climbing so the day should not be too stressful. My cousin Susie (Terry's sister) lives near Chamberlain, but I doubt I'll get to see her - I did talk with her on the phone tonight. I don't have a close relative in every town in South Dakota - it just seems like it.
Steve
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