The sun was bright and cheerful at 8am. The wind was strong but not worrying me. The temperature perfect for riding but just a tad high for hiking about the falls. Garrett took some shots of me posing like a ninny at the surprisingly impressive Sioux Falls. I took a picture of the old water works between the trees. I also took a photo of Garrett's luggage, burned by his big exhaust can yesterday. Another hour and he would have had toasted T-shirts and baked boxers. We headed out from Sioux Falls on the I90 west to see the famous Mitchell corn palace. I mean come on...some chap nails 1/2 corn cobs on a tacky plywood shed in 3 colour pictures and it becomes a major USA attraction? Across the road is an American rendition of a castle (wince) but I did spot Merlin coming to work there. Nice truck Merl...As we progressed westward the sky ahead looked ominous. I was leading at that point and Garrett was flying wing-man. I was furiously working out our speed westward and the storms progress eastward. I decided to pull up under an overpass and ask Garrett his opinion. Good move JK. Garrett reckoned we should give it 10 minutes. Then he saw the storm grab the earth ahead and he reckoned it could become a tornado. As the storm swept down on us the fury of the wind was awesome. I did my best to capture it as Garrett struggled in the blast to get his camera out. Suddenly a group of Harley riders sought refuge beside us. The storm blew past like some demented curtain of hatred and the scene as it fled eastward was beautiful. We were awe struck for 15 minutes and then gathered our gear and quickly set a fast pace to the next town and a warm motel. As we approached the Missouri river the views were spectacular. We agreed that South Dakota is worth a visit. The Harley guys stopped here in Chamberlain too. Pizza Hut and photo downloading soaked up the night. Day two and the 148 mile adventure was just great.
No comments:
Post a Comment