End: Chamberlain, Soth Dakota
Distance: 705 miles (1128 KM)
Gas: Rawlings, Wyoming, 2,97 gal @ 3.719 Total $11.05; Casper, Wyoming, 2.912 gal @ 3.949 Total $11.50; Lusk, Wyoming 2.703 gal @3.899 Total $10.54; Martin, South Dakota 4.683 gal@ $3.899, Total $18.26; Kadoka, South Dakota 1.564gal@ $3.869, Total $6.05
Campsite: Super 8, Chamberlain,South Dakota; $88.25
We were able to refresh by staying in the motel instead of a campsite. We were talking with someone at the motel that said she thought our bikes would be blown over by the high winds that went thru Rock Springs last night. I guess it was a good decision to not rough it.
We had a continental breakfast, finished the blog, packed up and hit the road. Our goal is to get back to the Sault as quick as we can so we can see Grandma Furkey.
Our plan is to go thru Casper, thru northern Nebraska to get to South Dakota, covering as much territory as we can. We had a quick, smooth trip to Rawlins that was about 105 miles north east of Rock Springs. Once we headed north towards Casper, we were blasted by west winds. We motored along on an angle against the wind for about 45 miles. I had to stop to reset the top of my camper as it was almost blown off. All along the highway, you can see wooden wind fences to protect the road against gusty winds. I can't imagine how bad the roads would be in the winter. As we were being ravaged by the winds, the terrain in the area was quite different. The arrid landscape had more green vegetation, a few more trees and the rock had a lot of a crimson red colour.
From Casper, we continued east to catch Hwy 21 towards Nebraska. Again, the winds were strong, but once we took the east cutoff, the winds were at our backs and it was smooth riding again. The road was in good condition for us to ride about 70 mph. As soon as we hit the Wyoming/Nebraska border and entered Nebraska, the road turned from good to amazing. The road was so smooth, with no snake tar lines.
We went thru some typical terrain...flat, dry, expansive but later, we after we went thru Chadron, Nebraska, we saw some very impressive rock formations along the Crazy Horse Highway.
Later, the land became very flat, expansive and hot. I recall seeing a freight train before Mile 167 and it ended at Mile 168. I was surprised that the train would be about 1.25 miles in length. Later, I saw another train that was over 2 miles in length. The landscape is so flat and huge, the trains are able to be incredibly large.
The sky was bright blue with a few bright white clouds. Temperatures started to rise and went from 95 degrees, to 103 degrees. It was blistering. We had to continually drink and drink and drink as it was so damn hot. Ironically, for all of this trip, we have had to wear long sleeve shirts and long pants to protect us from the sun. We had packed a lot of shorts and T-shirts, but can't wear them. I guess this is a good learning experience for our next venture!
We followed the highway to Merriman, Nebraska, where we turned north towards Martin, South Dakota. In Martin, we filled up, ate a bit and then headed north for 58 miles to Kadoka, South Dakota.
It was getting late, but we still wanted to cover more territory, so we decided, from Kodoka, to take the Interstate 90 all the way to Chamberlain. We travelled for 14 hours, over 1100 km, in 100 degree temperatures. We decided to once again stay in a motel so we can be fresh for tomorrow's long ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment