Biking, Day 20: August 5, 2009

Day 20: Highmore, SD to De Smet, SD
Distance: 100 miles
Route: 14East
Lodging: Cottage Inn, $40, lovely motel

Laura Ingalls Wilder. She wrote about her adult life living in De Smet, SD in the Little House on the Prairie books. I was never a big reader of these books, but De Smet present day is just lovely.. There is an adorable downtown area, gorgeous fields, and a ridiculous amount of references to Laura Ingalls Wilder and tours including any part of the town that may have been touched by her. According to my motel owner, 60,000 people pass though De Smet in the summer to tour all of the Little House on the Prairie memorabilia. Tourism is amazing.

I woke up this morning in Highmore, SD. I was tired. I got some coffee and breakfast and bummed around my motel room for a bit. I watched the news, and watched the story of the two news women who were held in North Korea and then rescued by President Clinton. I can't imagine something like that - the fear, uncertainty, being without my family. A similar story, about the three hikers that accidentally crossed the Iranian border, is a reminder that our government really isn't so bad.

I hit the road around 8:30am. The wind was a headwind again, which was making the ride slower than I wanted. I decided to take a lot of breaks during the day to make it easier. My first stop was Miller. I got coffee and remembered it was Beth's birthday (her last name is Miller). I forged on. It was getting hot, but the South Dakota scenery was gorgeous. A lot of people don't like farms and flat lands, but I do. South Dakota has a lot of corn and soybeans.

Next, I stopped in Wessington. I love these small towns. I remember one sign: "Friendly town with room to grow". I got a drink and a snack in Wessington. The other thing that I love about these towns is that I don't lock my bike every time. Sometimes I lock my bike up, but when I feel safe, I just leave it. People leave their cars running when they go into convenience stores (C-Stores, in SD terminology).

Next, I went into Huron, SD, which was probably the biggest city I have hit in SD since Rapid City. I thought about stopping for the day. But, to be honest, Huron wasn't that great. Maybe I just hit the outside part and not the charming center city, but Huron, known for having the largest Pheasant, was not as alluring as I had hoped. I decided to push on 30 more miles to De Smet, of Little House on the Prairie fame.

I hit about 10 miles to De Smet and I was officially on the Laura Ingalls Wilder historic highway. The scenery around De Smet was beautiful. Finally, I pulled into De Smet. I went down into town to get some dinner before I checked into my motel - the Cottage Inn. I knew I was too tired to go out after I had checked in.

I got dinner and checked in to the Cottage inn, which advertises on its road sign - "Service with Style and a Smile" and welcomed Laura fans. I talked with the woman for a while. She told me about all of the places to see in SD - Watertown, the Laura Ingalls Wilder tour, and that SD has more natural lakes than any other state. We talked about the midwest, and she said she could tell I wasn't from the east coast because i actually talked to her. She gave me a room that she gives to her friend when her friend arrives, and only charged me $40, not the $50 her husband had quoted me on the phone. Pays to be nice, literally. She was wonderful.

I went to my room and planned the next day - weather could be an issue. I plan to stop in Brookings at the bike store there because I'm almost worn through my back tire, then I can go to Lake Benton, the first city in MN, Tyler, or Tracy, MN depending on the weather.