Grasshoppers!

There are so many grasshoppers...! It's seriously ridiculous. They were jumping at my legs, face, chest, bike...struggle. Some were bumming rides up the hills, and they would make funny noises on my tire. I kept thinking I was getting a flat, so I would stop and a grasshopper would just jump off!

Today we biked 95 miles from Kadoka, SD (the dead town) to Pierre, SD (the hopping capital of South Dakota). The first 20 and last 40 miles were brutal. The sidewinds were killer, and drafting was near impossible. ...it wasn't a true sidewind or headwind. It was just awkward.

I rode the first 20 miles on my own in my drops. It worked out pretty well, and I ended up being the first into the checkup point in 1880s Town. Boy, South Dakota is very proud of the fact that Dancing with the Wolves was filmed here. I didn't find a pin, but I got some more postcards for my collection. I don't really know what I'm going to do with them all yet.

Lunch was at mile 33, and it was only 9:30am. We packed up sandwiches, and then I headed out on my own again. I was listening to music on my phone, and then it died. Struggle. Kristin, Timmy, Todd, and Sue caught up to me just before the mile 60 check point. It was nice to be able to draft off of them.

The last 40 were quite the struggle. Lots of grasshoppers and lots of wind. Sue pulled me in even though she says we pulled equally...it's not true. She pulled me in. We were the first two in after a little bit of a struggle reading the cue sheet. Never ask me for directions...! Struggle. Is that enough 'struggles' in a paragraph? Since we got in early, we got to unload the truck once a few more people trickled in. Haha, I just never learn.

I let my tent dry out, and of course I got impatient so just put the rain fly on a little damp. Kristin and Timmy apparently got some awesome blueberry shakes, so Isang and I decided to go for a short run and then find the amazing shakes. Man, I am so out of running shape. We took a dunk in the river at the end of the run and then set out to find the shakes. On our way over, we ran into Janet who gave us a room key for the showers.

After a little hike, we found the little ice cream stand. Isang got a blueberry shake, but I opted for the coffee shake. Dessert first, dinner later. We picked up dinner at a Mexican place on the way to the showers. We walked into the Governor's Inn and asked the front desk for directions to room 121, which was written on the back of the card. Isang even got directions for wireless login and password. Our card wouldn't swipe, but we heard the TV on so we knocked on the door. A guy answered, which was weird since it's a girls' shower room. I flipped the card over, and River Lodge printed on the back. We were at the wrong hotel! Struggle. River Lodge was just across the street, so it all worked out. Oh goodness, I would do something like that...

(326) stretching (327) basically happy people (328) the unknown (329) the art of knowing what to overlook (330) color schemes (331) spiral notebooks (332) postcards (333) solar energy (334) fun sized candy bars (335) washing a car to make it rain (336) life jackets (337) taking action (338) using your hands to determine left and right (339) spending the day in your pjs (340) candy stores (341) pita chips (342) Wonder Bread wrappers (343) blue daisies (344) quiet time (345) crooked cobbled streets (346) Dull Center, Wyoming (347) the slap of a closing book (348) milkshakes (349) colorful exotic birds (350) nature walks