The second day of the trans-American road trip started early with the aim of me getting a run in before we started out. I woke up at 5:45am and hit the gym, I thought I would get an hour run in. Problem was that due to the freezing temperates and snow outside, someone had decided it would be a good idea to keep the gym nice and toasty with the thermostat set to 80f (26.5c). It was like being back in Texas but with a crap treadmill that was stuck on an incline. Still I really wanted to get something done to offset sitting in the car all day so I started off at my warm up pace and within 5 minutes I was an absolute mess. I hate to say it but I gave up. Tiredness, heat, elevation, crap treadmill with no cup holder all played their part, I was not a happy bunny. And before anyone starts thinking why didn't I just go outside, I did think about it, but by the time I had changed into something warm enough for the outdoors I wouldn't have had any time for the run.
Because of the aborted run, we got away from Bozeman a little earlier than expected so we were confident of getting the ground covered. As I said yesterday, today's target was mainly to eat into the massive amount of miles left to do (about 2,400) and to have a quick stop at Mt. Rushmore where four former United States Presidents have had their likeness carved into the rock face. But an added bonus was to be thrown in. As we headed along the I-90 we started seeing signs for the Battlefield of the Little Big Horn. Having covered this topic at school I was interested to see what was there and as it was no more than 400 metres off course we took a drive down the side road to have a gander. Basically, not a lot to be seen. There is a monument and a big open space, what did I expect? Custer's last stand while leaving a mark on history did little to the place where he died.
We got back onto the road and started chewing up the miles again. 4 and a bit hours later after some bad weather, awful truck driving and at points zero visibility through an increasingly dirt covered window screen we started to get within smelling distance of Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota.
Now at this point I started to get nervous, we had had to divert a little further off course than I thought to get there and I felt a certain pressure on me that it better have been worth the extra drive. I had seen Ewan McGregor visit there during his round the world motorcycle trip and not being overly enamoured with it so it was with some trepidation that we approached the area. The town of Keystone which its sole purpose it seems is to provide food and lodging for visitors to the attraction, appeared to be deserted with big "Closed for Season" signs be displayed everywhere we looked, not a great start.
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We carried on up into the Black Hills and got our first glimpse of the monument. Long story short it is alright. It is a spectacular achievement and the visitors centre that has been built around it looks good. There is an amphitheater at its base which during summer months must be great to watch plays and concerts under the dramatically lit rock face. However in February with a light snow falling and freezing temperatures it was good just to grab some quick snaps and a fridge magnet and get back on the road.We crossed through another time zone, Mountain to Central which meant another hour lost and some more snow storms caused some interesting moments of snow blindness but we passed through that and the rest of the day was plain sailing. Just before we reached today's termination point we had another roadside sign moment telling us we were passing De-Smet the home of Laura Ingalls-Wilder (think little house on the prairie). We rolled into Sioux Falls, SD at 10pm on the dot and an early night is calling.
Tomorrow should see lots more States covered and with any luck we should have the end in sight by Friday.
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