Anticipation (MA to MT: Day 4)

Day 4 of our trip (July 31) was filled with a lot of anticipation. We were preparing to leave the farmlands and enter grasslands, ranch lands, and places of (yes!) interesting geology. We left Bellevue, NE after replenishing some of our supplies and returned to Iowa to head north along Highway 29 toward Sioux City, South Dakota. This route follows the floodplains of the Missouri River, and was about the flattest land we encountered. Just to our east, however, the loess hills were visible (the remnants of great dunes of very fine sediment blown into creation at the end of the last ice age). We got close, but not close enough to touch.

Also of interest, and that I have not yet mentioned, was the number of bikers (motorcyclists) along our route. We had been in the company of bikers headed west since the Eastern Time Zone, bur their presence was becoming more and more commonplace. For those of you not paying attention to these things, the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, began on Monday, August 3. The number of people - on bikes, towing bikes, bikes in trucks, etc. - headed for the event was incredible! On this day, we were headed for Rapid City, SD, which is not even a half hour from Sturgis. I had known that this was a big event, and I had been unable to find a hotel room in the area that would allow cancellations and refunds, but we had no idea! For now, anyway, we were excited to witness the crowds.


We had a nice lunch in the warm, dry, breezy air of South Dakota before returning to 29N and then rejoining I-90 W in Sioux Falls. Once we were headed west, we really began anticipating our next major tourist destination: Badlands National Park. Unfortunately, we had many hours to go before reaching the park. We watched instead the thunderstorms brewing across the plains, enjoying the sight of multiple storms fully visible in this big sky country. By the time we reached Chamberlain, SD, the storms had cleared and we were under major wind advisories - not to let up until 7:00 p.m.; in other words, we were going to drive across most of SD in heavy winds before we reached the Badlands and, eventually, Rapid City. We stopped at a rest area and scenic overlook, and enjoyed magnificent views of the Missouri River below the bluffs. I also really enjoyed the windy weather (my favorite), the rippling amber waves of grass, and our first "poisonous snake" warning.


The drive to the Badlands was long and difficult on my knuckles. The wind was blowing our 16-footer around, and the roof of the cab often sounded like it was going to rip off. Still, the dramatic weather made for a gorgeous crossing, and by the time we reached the Badlands, the winds had died down. We arrived at Highway 240, also known as the Loop Road, just in time for the "magic hour," that time of glowing setting sun and deep shadows that means you just can't take a bad photograph. Perfect! If it hadn't been for truck and car and family and cats and exhaustion, I could have stayed there all night! I won't describe scenery - if you've been, you'll know, and if you haven't, you need to go. Photos will have to do. Sunset and darkness fell as we finished the loop and returned to I-90. We enjoyed the gorgeous sunset, driving through the badlands and grasslands, watching the bats swooping across the road, and seeing the moonrise. And my mama is one bad mother trucker!


By the time we left Badlands, it was completely dark, and while we meant to stop at Wall Drug (advertised for 100s of miles), I was just too exhausted and vetoed the idea in favor of getting to our room in Rapid City. As it was, we were dining on crackers in our hotel around 11:30 p.m. Our most exhausting, but most exhilarating day yet!