South Dakota...

...is an endless sea of treeless hills with a wind that rivals any I've seen. (I'll post some pictures before I hit the road.)

I fought 40 MPH crosswinds across Iowa, enjoyed the 40 MPH tailwind when I turned north, and fought the same 40 MPH crosswind all the way to Murdo, SD. Murdo is an interesting place. The main street is 3 lanes wide and runs from the interstate to the top of one of the hills where it turns to gravel. Two or three of the side streets are paved as far as the end of the houses. The houses I saw all needed a good coat of paint. I don't think there's a Home Depot within 100 miles of this place. The "downtown" area consists of a truck stop/convenience store/restaurant, another restaurant, several "museums" that look like they are left over quonset huts from the Second World War, and this Super 8 Motel.

Other than dodging big trucks, the only real excitement that happened on the way to this garden spot on the plains was a truck with about 40 tons of soybeans that had overturned on a ramp onto the freeway at Sioux City, IA. The road was closed while the local police scooped the beans out of the left lane. I took advantage of the delay to stop at a rest area where I talked to a guy who was just cruising around the middle of America on a Honda Gold Wing. The CB paid for itself this trip, as the southbound truckers warned their buddies of the slowdown.

Today, I'm only committed to about 130 miles of bucking headwinds until I get to Rapid City. From there it's sightseeing at Rushmore, Crazy Horse, The Badlands, and the Black Hills. Then I'm off toward Wyoming and a search for a place to sleep tonight. Tomorrow should be about 7 hours on the road to Ennis.

More to follow.