Category: RA 2011

RA49: Two New States

Posted on July 18, 2011July 20, 2011 by Rich

Vermilion SD to Sioux City IA Another pancake start to the morning, this time at Café Brule on Main Street in Vermillion SD. This is a rather upscale “gourmet” sort of café geared to the college set, one of the most civilized eateries we’ve been in since maybe that Wallwebbers soup place way back in Okanogan WA. The pancakes were tasty but not high scoring on the Kimmie scale due to a tough texture, and smallish size. It’s getting to be that I hardly want to start my day without pancakes. I’m hoping when we get to the Ohio Valley

RA48: Distractions

Posted on July 17, 2011July 18, 2011 by Rich

Yankton SD to Vermillion SD Jack and I exited the motel early enough to catch Bill zipping by on his way out of town, and so stopped him to say hi. Instead of following him out, we elected to ride a few miles north to a breakfast place and start our days off right. Pancakes were involved. Winds from the south today but not too strong. We headed toward Vermillion on both eastern and southern segments. Temperature rose well into the 90s as we rode, with sticky humidity, and the headwind southern segments were actually preferable for the cooling effects.

RA47: Double Happiness

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Rich

Yankton SD I felt energetic this morning and got up to explore around Yankton while Jack lounged in the room wearing out his netbook. I found Yesterdays restaurant for breakfast (coffee, eggs, hash browns, ham, and pancakes) and the morning paper and stayed probably 90 minutes, then checked out Kmart (new cheap bike lock), the bank (cash), and the Fox Run Golf Course (for possible round later today). When I returned Jack was just leaving to meet Bill and Gary for lunch, so I went along. Another large milkshake at Roy’s Drive-in! We considered bowling this afternoon but the lanes

RA46: Muggsy’s

Posted on July 15, 2011July 16, 2011 by Rich

Tyndall SD to Yankton SD Gary was up fairly early in the Tyndall city park, and announced that he would skip breakfast in order to try to beat the heat and winds. Jack and I rose slower and eventually regrouped at The Corral cafe on Main Street. We contemplated a simple beverage for breakfast, but of course, we eventually broke down for a full egg, pancake, hash brown, and toast affair. They make good pancakes, too, and the service is real friendly. Winds this morning appeared to be primarily out of the south but seemed to have a small westerly

RA45: All-American Small Town

Posted on July 14, 2011July 15, 2011 by Rich

Randall Creek Campground SD to Tyndall SD Very good camping last night at Randall Creek Campground. Breakfast this morning at the Pickstown Bait and Tackle store, eggs and pancakes. Gary and Bill confirmed their decision to ride to Yankton today. Then a climb out of the river valley heading east on SD46. We encountered basically two problems today. The constant SE wind, almost diectly in our faces, was certainly the first. The second was the 95F temperatures with high humidity. As we rode this morning the wind speed continued to pick up, and pretty soon I stopped cycling and started

RA44: Great River Camping

Posted on July 13, 2011July 15, 2011 by Rich

Snake River Rec Area SD to Randall Creek Campground SD I slept great last night at Snake Creek Rec Area and woke up refreshed. We packed up and retraced back up the 3 mile hill to climb out of the river valley, then headed east on SD44. Dark gray clouds hung overhead as a moderate headwind came directly at us from the east. The riding conditions for the last few days certainly haven’t been favoring us. I fell into my “infinity” mode, spinning along at a comfortable pace for the headwinds, while Jack seemed again to tackle them in better

RA43: Whatcha Gonna Do?

Posted on July 12, 2011July 15, 2011 by Rich

Fort Thompson SD to Snake River Recreation Area SD Steady rains in Fort Thompson SD for most of last night. Soothing at first, then, as they continued and intensified, it became a little worrisome that they were going to interfere with our riding day. Almost on cue, though, the rains stopped around 6AM and allowed us to pack up and move out. The night was very peaceful by the river – this was a good site. Full of crickets, though, that seemed to like the dry conditions beneath the tent floor. When we packed up our tents all of us

RA42: Into the Fog

Posted on July 11, 2011July 15, 2011 by Rich

Pierre SD to Fort Thompson SD I awoke early and went down to the continental breakfast. As I ate, a lady motel clerk walked to me with this morning’s Pierre newspaper and asked if I’d seen it. On the front page was a full color picture of Scot King, a bicyclist headed around the country on a two year mission to reach every state capitol, honoring military vets. The clerk had seen a bicycle out front with the same kind of yellow panniers (Bill’s) and thought he might be staying here, but looked in the computer registry and couldn’t find

RA41: Rest Day

Posted on July 10, 2011July 15, 2011 by Rich

Pierre SD This should be the shortest post yet, because Jack and I did almost nothing today. Did we see the state capitol or roam around Pierre? Nope. Did we check out a decent restaurant or two? Nope. Did we do any shopping? Nope. In fact, the two of us never even left the King’s Inn motel. Continental breakfast, serious wi-fi/blog catchup, watch golf on TV, work on route options, use in-house laundry machines. Bill and Roger came over to visit. We discussed route options and decided it’d be a lot smarter for them to stay in our room tonight,

RA40: The Joy is Back

Posted on July 9, 2011July 10, 2011 by Rich

West Whitlock Rec Area SD to Pierre SD Up this morning with a mind that, if winds were the same, we’d stay here for another day to recuperate and wait it out. The rangers told us that we might not be able to stay since there was a fishing tournament going on, but I’m not sure what they are smoking, really. The park has acres and acres of open grounds, and yet they tell us they are full and can’t allow our tiny one-person tents. Government workers…. We hit the bait shop for breakfast. Our pancakes were given a second