Thoughts of South Dakota

Before I get started, I want to relay that it has come to my attention that it is not so obvious to all that all the posts are available to review. On the left side of the main page under "blog archive" all my July posts are listed, but my June posts, all 25 of them, are hidden, as are the 2 May posts. To see them click the "July (25)" heading, and all 25 posts will reveal theirselves (same with May (2).) This may come in handy for those new to this site especially my first post (in May) in which I tried to explain why I was doing this. Enough already....
South Dakota surprised me; I wasn't expecting it to be the great ride that it was. I have already mentioned our stay in Rapid City, and what a "jewell of a town" it really was; well South Dakota was gem of a state. The day of leaving Rapid City, carried me to the Badlands. The Badlands reminded me, slightly, of Arches Nat'l Park; a vast array of eroded rock and sand shaped into bizarre towers and dunes, colored by oxidized metals and various minerals. After the Badlands came the Pine Ridge Reservation, obviously not a tourist attraction, but rather, a reservation for the Oglala Sioux. I had looked forward to going through Pine Ridge, probably due to the Ian Frazier books, On the Rez, and The Great Plains. In anycase, it wasn't that Pine Ridge was much different, or any different for the most part, in appearance, it was just that it was a part of the country that represents a history that has been obscured,distorted, and shunned, so that I, and most people will never really know or fully understand it. I am not sure why, but riding through there just felt special. And having mentioned feeling special, it is fun to note that on about 8 to 10 occasions, while going thruogh Pine Ridge cars, sometimes filled front and back with people would honk, cheer and wave their hands at me. Sometimes it was a lone truck who would honk and wave. Throughout this trip people, on the whole, have been freindly and would wave, especially big trucks and motor cycles, but none with the enthusiasm as encountered on the Pine Ridge Reservation. I am not sure why all the fuss, but I think maybe any variation from the drudgery of the norm was due for slight celebration. (I think it might be fair to say that I was not the "norm".)
The land past the Badlands including Pine Ridge was cattle country, open range, and hilly. Hilly, did I say hilly? It was up and down, up and down, and, one-more-time, up and down. The wind was in my face; it was a good thing I wasn't in a hurry or it might have become tedious, which it didn't. Then something interesting happened; I crossed the Missouri River. This changed everything. About 10 miles before the Missouri River I felt humidity for the first time on the whole trip. As I aproached the river I went up and down 3 bigger than usual hills, then crossed the river, went up another hill, and low and behold it was flat. It was as if I had crossed some sort of boundry that separated the "west" from the midwest. The farms were much bigger now, more cultivated ground as opposed to open cattle range, with the equipment all about. Towns now were real towns with businesses, houses, churches, and schools. Before a "town" on the map might have consisted of one building that served as a post office, eatery and a bar, sometimes even having a gas station and convenience store as well.
Well, on into Sioux falls and then into Wisconsin....