Day 19: Hot Springs, SD to Rochester, MN 641 miles

Today wasn't the kind of day that made me fall in love with motorcycling, but it got me where I needed to be to enjoy tomorrow. As I knew would happen, once Paul flew home yesterday, I'm anxious to be home, too. I miss him and our cat, house, and gardens. And so I did long boring miles today, mostly on I-90 in order to be that much closer to home. I did take time first thing this morning to ride through Badlands National Park. It is eerie and beautiful at the same time, definitely awe inspiring.

The Park is chiefly known for three things: as a protected prairie ecosystem, as unique geology containing mammal fossils, as containing a wide range of wildlife. I did see a prairie dog running across the road. It was much smaller than I thought it would be.

To get to Badlands from Hot Springs, I took SD-79 north, then SD-44 southeast to the Park entrance. This zigzag allowed me to escape the worst of the early morning sun in my eyes.

After I exited the Park, I hopped on I-90 heading east for what seemed like endless miles in South Dakota. There was very little traffic. Oddly, hardly any of the license plates were from South Dakota. The majority were from Minnesota with a few from Washington state in the mix. I gave up looking after awhile. There's not much else to look at other than hay fields, hay bales and the occasional cow. At least there were construction zones to break the monotony.

I was interested in passing through Oacoma, SD which is just west of a series of lakes formed by the Missouri River. For those familiar with "our" stretch of I-90 through the Berkshire town of Becket, you'll recognize that there is a sign that indicates that the next highest point on I-90 west occurs in Oacoma, SD. Sadly, there is no mention of Becket as being the highest point when headed east through Oacoma.

I was glad to finally leave South Dakota and ride into Minnesota. There really isn't much difference except it gets gradually flatter the further east one travels and there is more corn grown as opposed to just hay. The speed limit also reduces to 70 from 75. The traffic also increases, but drivers are quite courteous and not once did I find someone hanging out in the left lane. Based on my small sample, Midwesterners are more like Canadians in that respect. They drive in the right lane unless they are passing. It made for a much more pleasant experience for me. The final 50 miles of my day were brutally windy. I hope someone can explain to me why regardless of my direction of travel during this trip, the wind has always been on my left. I think I'm even starting to walk leaned to the left!