well, ironies of ironies: i had an awesome day with amazing scenery and i can't get any photos to load. so i get to tell you all about my day, but you don't get to see any of it. if i can get them loaded later, i'll try to have a special picture post.
the day started good and early, and i got out of town and on the road by 8am. heading north and west on 275, i was getting some good miles down, with the one downside that it was cold. darn cold. around 40 degrees cold. i had layered up in the morning, and i was actually mostly warm, except for my hands. those fancy new gloves i got, so i would be covered in rain and wind? well, they don't work so well in wind. in fact, they didn't do anything. my hands were very, very cold by the time i got to my first stop around 100 miles down the road. i was hiding one hand behind the tank and my throttle hand, which i couldn't hide, i had wrapped in a plastic bag to help cut down the wind. still cold.
luckily norfolk NE was a big enough time to have some regular retail outlets and i thought i would try and find some new winter gloves. i thought some nice hunting gloves might do the trick a bit better. the best place in town for finding such things was unfortunately walmart, but at least it was heated. lo and behold, the mighty walmart did not have hunting gloves, or any good winter gloves for that matter, so i had to improvise. one cheap pair of ski gloves and a roll of gorilla tape later, i have some insulated gloves that might stand up to the wind. i hope so, because i don't think it's getting any warmer. we'll see how they do tomorrow.
the rest of the day was excellent. nebraska has been the surprise state of the trip thus far, with lovely scenery and fun, windy roads through the country. some farms, some corn, some cows, even some forests and sage as you get further north. even though the walmart excursion ate up an hour, i still made it to valentine for lunch, just south of the south dakota border. just north of the border i got delayed again when we had to wait for an accident to get cleared on the highway. no one was hurt, but there were some oversized trucks that were having trouble getting through. by this time it was quite toasty, and i had been shedding layers consistently, but i was still sweating nicely, just in time for my long stretch with no laundry.
back on the road, and i just have to say, south dakota rocks! the landscape is beautiful, the roads are good and twisty and fun, and the speed limits are good and high. i had a great ride leading to the badlands and, thanks to an unexpected time change in my favor, i got to the park in time to ride through before stopping for the night.
first off, wow. second, it's a good thing i got there today, because i would have spent far too much time there and felt way too rushed tomorrow morning to enjoy it fully. i have to say that, so far, badlands is the coolest place i've been on the trip. amazing stuff. truly amazing. i spent far too much time at the first few stops because it was so gorgeous. i really wasn't set up for hiking, which is unfortunate, but i did manage a short little loop for a scenic overview. it was worth it.
in some ways, it's appropriate that i couldn't load any pictures, because there are some places that just can't be done justice with photographs. as a somewhat appropriate justice by the fates, my camera ran out of batteries about halfway through the park. i was a little bummed, but not terribly. the rest of the time was spent just riding through the park and absorbing everything. i stopped and had lunch at a picnic area, which consisted of my leftover subway sandwich and a bag of melted-but-tasty animal cookies. it was a good dinner, with the sun setting behind the rock formations and a nice wind cooling everything.
it was one of those places i could easily spend a week, or take pictures every minute, and still not be done. it was also the first place on this trip i wished i wasn't on a motorcycle. bike travel is just not condusive to hiking. i really want to return sometime and spend a few nights in the park and hike some of the trails.
after the park i headed into wall, SD where i checked into the best western (always the place to stay). i took a walk to the infamous wall drug, but it was closed early apparently, since it was only 7:30 and they were locked up tight. i spent 10 minutes sitting in a bar without service before deciding i didn't even want a beer and got some chocolate milk at the gas station before returning to the hotel.
since i went through the park today, i'll have plenty of time to get to cody wyoming tomorrow, and i can even stop in a little place called sturgis. i hear they like motorcycles there (though it should be pretty quiet right now). then i'll get to take my time through yellowstone and make it to butte in plenty of time.
almost home! crazy.
rftc,
scott
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