Day 24  Wednesday July 10.  Wall to Pierre, SD.  117 miles

Some days are just harder than others. Today was one of those days. Because of the long day ahead, we loaded at 5:15, ate and were on the road by six.  It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. The winds were out of the SSE, and we were heading east, so a bit of a head wind as we headed into the huge farmlands of SD. They seem to go on forever, most of them in hay growing or with hundreds of giant hay rolls in the fields. Not much else to see. Just miles and miles of hay fields, a periodic patch of corn and every few miles, the landscape was interrupted by a building or two. Every 13 miles or so, there was a cluster of buildings and they called it a town. Not sure that16 people really makes for a town but that's what they call it. A guy at an auto parts store told me that the towns are 13 miles apart because that's how far the trains (steam locomotives) could go before they had to fill up with water again.

The road just goes on forever out here, up and down these huge rollers. We ended up climbing over 3,000 feet just up and down these long hills today. The last 30 miles or so were into a decent

headwind. At times I wondered if I was even going to be able to make it down hill! Were it not for Yuval, Amy and Jen, I' m not sure I could have made it today. Thanks for letting me bring up the rear much of the day. We finally arrived in Pierre about 3:30, having just entered the central time zone.

On days like today, over 8 hours pedaling, you get a lot of time to think, even though much of the time my mind is numb. Today, I said a second rosary, and dedicated it to Kay Barrow, one of the administrative assistants at CSS.  Kay is in her late 80s and still comes to work every day. She's always on task and gets her work done. I figure if Kay can keep doing it, I can surely make it up the next hill. Thanks for being my inspiration today, Kay!

Tomorrow will be a bit shorter, but wi some steeper climbs. The forecast calls for even stronger headwinds. So it's off to bed. It's not even 9.  Goodnight.

Be well. Do good.

Don