Wandering Retirees

Rapid City, SD to Dickinson, ND.

Today was a simple travel day. Because of the high heat, we decided to skip the 2 hour detour to Teddy Roosevelt National Grasslands. Kind of sad, but we were melting and pushed on to Dickinson, ND for the night. We had some fun along the way, though. In no particular order …  
We stopped for lunch near the SD/ND border and met 3 women taking a break from their travels. Two younger women (a couple?) were taking mom on a bucket list trip. Mom wants to visit all 48 contiguous states in her lifetime. They will be near fulfilling mom’s wish at the end of this trip, which includes the Dakotas, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming. Wonderful and interesting women. The two younger are also bike riders who expressed admiration and a bit of wistfulness about our trip across the country. Maybe they’ll find inspiration to try it for themselves.  

At this same stop we saw a cautionary sign that we’ve never seen before. Here’s betting you haven’t either. 😉 Connie has the pic attached. Amazing. 

We passed 10,000 miles this morning. We wanted a pic of the tripmeter, but it only turned over to “0”. Ugh. We did, however, stop along the side of the road and do a little happy dance. We had an audience of about 20 and they were very appreciative. We think. Pic also attached. 

Later we stopped in the shade of the only tree visible for a long way. Along side the road again, but it worked. Passing trucks gave us a breeze and a weather beaten antique shop (with old shot-put balls as door stops) providing a cold soda. We know how to roll!

On the way out of Rapid City, we rode through Sturgis, site of the annual August bike rally. A lot of road work going on and a lot of big, empty venues waiting for the 100,000+ bikes that will roll in. We tried to figure how and where they will all fit. Not sure of the answer and glad we didn’t have to fight our way through the throng. Amazing what humans will do in search of a good time.

We got a taste for the wide open prairie. It is green and brown and tan and red and not even a little flat. Rolling hills and sharp gullies are the order of the day, all day. So is the wind which is constant and can be relentless. We tip our hats at the kind of folks who can make a go of it out here, especially the farmers. Ranching and growing crops in support of the stock look like the lion’s share of agriculture, and the expanses are BIG. There was a sign advertising a “small” farm for sale – only 510 acres.

We noticed drill rigs and pumps for Bakken Formation oil and gas all along our route so far in ND. The Bakken Formation underlies Montana, ND, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Trains with Bakken shale oil pass through Philly and NJ on the way to east coast refineries and ports. It’s a long way to go.

Tomorrow, we’re heading across ND the long way to Fargo where we’ll spend the evening of the 4th. It promises to be another scorcher so we will move along with dispatch and as much air flow as we can manage. Hoping to get in a little early, before the revelry hits high gear. So an early start in the morning. In the meantime, Happy Independence Day to you all.

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Celebrating our big milestone.

Our cheering section!

Geomapping the exact location.

Random Americana.

Evidence of our morning obligatory ride through Sturgis.