Day 24, July 8, 2015, Wall, SD to Pierre, SD, 119 miles and 2550 feet of climbing.  Today I had to “eat another elephant.”  The first half went down well and was so delicious but the hind quarter was tasty and a little tough!   I got an early start out of Wall, SD at 6:00 a.m.  It was another gorgeous morning with a temperature of 65 degrees, a gentle tail wind and overcast skies.  Spent the first 2 miles on I-90 and bid interstate riding farewell (for this trip) as we accessed Highway 14 to Pierre, SD.  (Note: last night I figured out that the I-90 we have been riding on is the same road as the Ohio turnpike.)  We road through prairie grasslands and rolling hills, that were dotted with a few scraggily trees.  Everything was a lush green.  I had a conversation with several local boys at a coffee shop and they said they have had lots of rain and that normally their land is dry and brown this time of year.  It was once again quite breath taking.  Every so often we would come across a small town, signs directing you to ranches and herds of cattle.  The wind picked up and it was smooth and fast riding.  At the halfway point we had our second SAG stop of the day and when I got back on the road the wind had shifted and was directly on my nose.  So, as I said earlier the “hind quarter” of the elephant/ride was much more difficult than the front quarter.  However, I “made peace” with the wind, put my head down and ventured forward.  I arrived in Pierre after 8 hours of riding and concluded that I had, had another wonderful day on the bike.  On the ride into Pierre we crossed the Missouri River and entered into the Central Time Zone.  At the motel we were treated to a cooler of iced “tall boy” beers.  The first one went down real quick and went straight to my head.  The second one just may keep me from finding where dinner is served tonight!!

 

Wall Drug recruited some talent from Jurassic Park to help lure unsuspecting tourists off of I-90 and into their tourist trap.

 

Getting onto an interstate for the last time on this trip.  It was "hazy" all day.  I heard that it is due to forest fires up in Canada.

 

 

I wonder what it would be like to live in Cottonwood?

 

Or in this little town?

 

This structure seemed to be sitting out in the field all by itself.

 

This field of bailed hay caught my attention.  This picture does not do it justice.  It was quite surreal.

 

Ahhh...one time zone closer to home (and my Wild Rose!!)