We started the day with some bad news: no water (therefore no shower, clean up or breakfast). But farmers are a resourceful bunch and Dale was up early fixing the problem. Did you know that you could run water into your home "backwards" by hooking a water source to an outside hose spigot? It will work if your don't have a reverse flow preventer valve (as Dale did). Dale hooked up the irrigation water supply to the well pump, which then fed the house supply. I would have panicked and called the well fix it person and watched it being fixed (at about the middle of the day!). But Dale had water for our coffee and soon we were seated at the kitchen table enjoying our best breakfast yet. Thanks Dale and Myra. Being with you definitely added to the quality of our adventure.
Delayed a little we enjoyed a leisurely start and ventured into a misty and cloudy day. We estimated a modest day of travel to northwest Nebraska. Our plans changed on the go due to weather, as we dodged rain storms complete with "fireworks" for the occasion. There were urgent reports of quarter-sized hail and 60 mph winds were being broadcast and said to be headed our way. As well, there virtually trafficless roads. We went 50 miles and met only 5 cars in that stretch. We actually parked our bikes ON the road to enjoy a fruit snack Myra had packed for us and no cars came for almost 15 minutes. These two factors meant we were keen to go on. So ultimately we landed in Hot Springs, South Dakota by mid-afternoon (taking into account that we traversed our second last time zone change).
The scenery was stunning along the route in its own unique way, not limited to the geography but also the drama in the clouds as they fought pitched battles in the sky. There is a lot more sky when the terrain is flatter. It was great to return to secondary roads with ranches and farms dotting the landscape with a lot of space in between. Apart from a heart-stopping emergence of a deer coming out of the brush onto the road to give us a greeting, the riding was uneventful.
People have been very friendly, virtually every farmer we encountered waved or nodded approvingly, and even a coal train traveling beside the road gave us a short blast of greeting. We stopped in Gordon, Nebraska, for lunch, joining many locals who were clearly ready to enjoy their July 4th celebration, but still very interested in our strange presence and were very pleasant. They definitely love Country music and western themes.
As we rode, I imagined what the early settlors must have endured as many of them passed this way. Also, I remembered the famous native American tribes that lived here, such as the Plains and Lakota (written about by Mari Sandoz, who was born and died here, in "Crazy Horse" and Dee Brown in "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee).
Tomorrow we will brave the holiday traffic and crowds to see some of the Black Hills sights.