We left Walnut under clear skies, although an hour later than we intended. About 50 miles into the second leg of our trip, we’d pick up 29 north into South Dakota, a road I now refer to as “Debris Highway”. Last year, Bill forgot to latch his saddle bag lid before getting on the road and it flew off, narrowly missing my windshield. We parked on the shoulder and walked back until we found it, scuffed but in one piece lying in the weeds. In 2009, we went to Sturgis with another couple and while riding north on 29, Bill swerved to avoid a plastic cooler lid in the road, pointing to it with his foot. I swerved and pointed at it with my foot, to warn our friends behind me. At the last second, the wind lifted up the lid and it connected squarely with all five of my toes, at 80 mph.
No incidents this year, however, and after stopping for breakfast in Sioux City, we turned west on I-90 and began the last of our stretch.
In Chamberlain we turned off and met up with a Facebook friend, Maria Birch, at the DQ just off the highway. Last year we met at Jan’s Frosty King in Kimball, and I so look forward now to our annual ice cream stops! She is a hoot, and we enjoyed catching up and having more than a few laughs before we got back on the road. This stretch is always very windy and hot, the wind beating you from all directions. Dark skies waited for us in the west, and five miles before we reached our exit, the weather radio warned of 60 mph winds and hail. The Black Hills in the distance were barely visible in the whiteout of rain. We were soaked to the bone when we turned into Perkins to warm up with some coffee and see if we could wait it out a bit before putting up a tent in the rain and mud, which we ending up doing. Soon we had camp set up, and I was thankful to be warm and dry.
I woke a few hours later to a sound I cannot describe. My first thought was wolf or coyote, and I thought perhaps I was dreaming until I learned our neighbor heard it too. We”ll see if it returns tonight.
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Wonderful seeing you and Bill again and having a good catch-up over some ice-cream. Enjoy your trip!