6/23/11 Rest day in the Black Hills (LeAnn)

Woke up to a beautiful sun glowing across all the treetops. Finished eating and decided to go down to the lake to pump water and wash clothes. Washing clothes by hand is much more involved than one would think. Wash twice, rinse twice, ring out water three times, hang to dry. I enjoy the simple tasks of living, it really helps me to appreciate everything so much more now, but I don't plan on going back to the easier way any time soon. Walked back up the steep hill to our campsite, lounged, ate dinner, played cards threw pine cones at eachother. After dinner we explored the top of the hill we were staying at and found the stalks of the mullin plant to be the perfect fighting swords. We fought for a while and enjoyed the scenery. Then back down the hill to camp and had peanut butter sandwiches for a late night snack.

6/22/11 Black Hills (LeAnn)

Woke up and ate Malt-O-Meal. Whooohooo, gotta love the malt-o-meal!! Went around town- bike shop, library, grocery store, hardware store bike shop again after my valve on my tire snapped in half as Ben was pumping it with air. Took the bike trail/highway with no shoulder all the way out of Rapid City and to Sheridan Lake. Uphill! This was the most challenging day for me. About 20 miles of steep hills and we were loaded with more fuel, water and food. Exhausted, we finally made it to Sheridan lake and I jumped into the water as fast as I could. It was cold, but not quite as cold as Lake Superior this time of year. We continued biking around the lake to try and find a campsite. Campsite again loaded with Rvs and expensive, so we carryed our bikes up a steep hill off the road. We trudged over lots of fallen red pine trees infested by the mountain pine beetle up the hillside til we finally found an opening good enough to put up our tent. The sun sets early when your smack dab in the middle of the Black Hills. Beautiful!

6/21/11 Rapid City (LeAnn

We biked the rest of the way to Rapid City. We hit rain again halfway. Soaked, tired and hungry we got into the city late and decided to treat ourselves a little. We hadn't eaten much that day besides Malt-o-Meal and granola bars, so we liked the idea of a Buffet. I was happy to introduce Ben to his new favorite restaurante- The Mongolian Grill. We came into the restaurante wet and starving and we happy to fill bowl after bowl full of fresh vegetables, noodles and sauces. Ben absolutely loved it and continues to mention the idea of eating at a Mongolian Grill again when we hit another big city. We've decided to save up our money and splurge when we find one again.

That night we found a picnic shelter at a trailer park to be an ideal spot to set up camp. We just set up our sleeping bags and pads in one corner on the cement and with our bellies full and one set of dry clothes to change into, we were content. Until we heard voices and were woken up by two teenagers (a guy and a girl), who happened to walk into the shelter. Ben talked to them for a while, while I tried to sleep. They were both very friendly. Then back to bed for a good night's rest.

6/20/11 Rainy Badlands (LeAnn)

Woke up early 4:45am! Left the bridge, ate breakfast, then the rain started. Biked back up the crazy steep hill to the Badlands. Rain kept pouring down. We stopped at a little tourist shelter with one wooden table in the center. I set up my sleeping bag and took a nap while Ben returned some petrified bones, kept an eye out for tourists, and played solitaire. Rain kept pouring, I woke up to random tourists gathering around the shelter giving us strange looks and inquiring about our adventure. Ben and I entertained ourselves with card games and fighting eachother (martial arts), until the rain finally let up a little around midday. As we left towards the scenic highway, a very friendly family from Wisconsin pulled up alongside us in their van and asked if they could take our picture, then they stopped again and their little girl came running and offered us $20. At first we refused, but the girl was very insistant, so we excepted the money and continued biking throughout the day. The amount of postive energy that people have toward us on our journey continues to amaze me every day.

We continued biking through the Badlands (again) and made our way to the little abandoned town of Scenic. Made dinner - spaghetti and cheese and a picnic table in town. Continued biking. We found a spot to camp alongside the highway on the top of a beautiful grassy hill.

6/19/11 Badlands Interior (LeAnn)

Woke up late since only grocery store in Philip was open 10am-2pm on Sundays. Got groceries, stocked up on water and headed the to Badlands. A few miles before we saw the most amazing rainbow ever!! It completely covered the sky. Got into the Badlands late as the sun was setting. The park ranger let us in for free, otherwise it cost $7 per person for bikes (rediculous!) Rode through the badlands, night set in, we couldn't stay at a campground filled to the brim with RVs, it just didn't seem right. So we biked another few miles till we found a bridge to sleep under. Set up our sleeping bags and pads in the dirt and ate trail mix and cheese for dinner. Crazy barn swallows with babies that made very strange noises kept Ben up for a good part of the night.

6/18/11 Wind, Hills, and Heat (LeAnn)

We left the roadside park after I took a meditative morning run and swam 1/2 mile in the lake/swamp next to our campsite. Biked west toward Midland through the worse wind and hills yet. It took us all day just to go 20 miles. We were very entertained along the way with lots of cows staring at us (every once in a while we even got them to moo at us). Got to Midland exhausted and hungry. Stopped in at Just Tammy's (the only food source in town besides the gas station) and ate omelets and hashbrowns. Rested for a while, then off to Philip. Storm came in and rain clouds chased us halfway to town until they finally caught up with us. Got to Philip late, grocery store closed early, Malt-O-Meal for dinner. We slept in an abandoned park filled with Cottonwood trees. Good, but exhausting day.

6/17/11 Oahe Damn and Toad (LeAnn)

We left early from Sugar Bear's house. Stopped at the grocery store to restock on food, then headed up to check out the Oahe Damn five miles up and five miles back, but completely worth the detour if you check out the video clip we posted you'll understand. The damn was said to be releasing more water per second than Niagara Falls and had all of its release valves wide open. It was amazing to see how much power water can have.

After seeing the damn, we headed uphill out of the city, west toward Hayes. The hills were the biggest we've biked through yet and again there was nothing but fields and pastures as far as the eye could see. Our new philosophy: bike until we find the perfect spot to set up camp. It's worked perfectly every time so far. So we biked until sunset again and came to one lonely roadside park in the middle of nowhere, right before the town of Hayes.

Ben and I set up camp and began to brush our teeth in the tent. A middle aged woman and her son pulled up in the parking lot to use the restrooms. We continued brushing our teeth and patiently waited for the people to leave so we could get out of the tent to spit. But they took their time, the woman talked on her phone as the boy (about 6 years old) played with something. It wasn't long before I realized what that something was he was kicking at. In the glow of the one street light that shone down on the sidewalk I saw something hop. We were just close enough for me to see the small hop of the toad and to realize what it was. The boy continued kicking at it and alternated small snickered evil boughts of laughter with picking up the toad and kicking him again. Finally, the mom hollered for the boy to come so they could leave and and the boy threw the toad onto the sidewalk with a splat. I write this in memory of a great beautiful American Toad whose life was taken, but not in vain, for Ben and I decided from that moment on that we would fight for toads across the world and never let our mouths stay closed again, even when they are filled with toothpaste.

6/16/11-Sugar Bear (LeAnn)

We woke up late and had a wonderful breakfast made for us. Added on to everything else we made sandwiches and got fruit and were sent off to Pierre with wonderfully content souls.

It was hard riding, extreme heat, gravel roadsides and west winds don't work well with biking. We got to Pierre late and were just able to do a few of our errands before the stores closed. We spent the rest of the daylight at the library, blogging, looking up routes and trying to find a campground to stay in. The Missouri river was flooding and all the city parks were under water. We looked for a place that would be ok to pitch our tent, there was nothing. Soon a storm came in and as the library was about to close, a very nice woman searched frantically for a place for us to stay.

We waited outside underneath the the library rotunda as the storm raged through and took a few pictures of some very evil looking clouds. After a while, the librarian lady pulled up in a little pickup truck and we shoved our bikes and gear into the back of the cab as the rain completely drenched us. 3 miles down the road we came to a trailer park rested alongside the charter native american school and that is where we met Sugar Bear. We were greeted by the old hippie and his pitbull named Riot as we walked through the door. It was so good to have shelter over our heads and a warm meal as the storm raged on outside and the entire city kept its fingers crossed that the levies wouldn't break that night. We stayed up til midnight talking and joking with Sugar Bear as he sipped on beers and Jag and played his favorite old tunes for us. We had a comfy pullout couch bed for the night and good company. South Dakota has certainly lived up to its name for good people.