Wow, what a contrast. When we woke up the temp had dropped to 62. On the advice of a native we departed from viewing Mt Rushmore on route 385. During that ride the temp dropped to 57 degrees. From 107 to 57 in 18 hours.
The wind was still roaring through. Our mileage has dropped significantly fighting head winds of at least 25 mph. It never got to 80 today so was a very comfortable ride temperature wise, but miserable with the wind. It is predicted to be calmer tomorrow, but hotter. Maybe we'll get a good balance.
Had a yellow Corvette pass us today from Fayette County GA. Lots of Harleys on the road recently. Someone at the desk ask us if we were in from the Iron Horse Rally. I guess that's why all the bikes.
Saw our first mountain goat today munching away on a plant next to the Mt Rushmore memorial. As we were getting ready to leave the parking lot we saw another one walking up the handicap ramp. He didn't look very handicapped.
Our next stop is Glacier National Park and then on to Calgary. I'm not sure of the availability of Internet access in Canada so we may have spotty reporting for a while.
The pictures include about 6 shots of the badlands that should comprise a pan view, but I don't have the pan software with me. I'll have to complete it when I get home.
Due to the wind we had to make frequent stops so didn't make great time. Hopefully we'll do better today. We ate at a "Old Country Buffet" tonight. I can recommend it. Lunch was at the slowest McDonald's this side of Bradenton FL. That's another story.
Updated stats. Highest temp was 107 in South Dakota.
Lowest temperature: 57 in South Dakota.
Jim.