Lead to Custer, South Dakota
This is a shot of a lush valley we rode through about 10 miles after we left Lead this morning (July 10).
Shortly after that, in the small rural crossroad of Rochford, Linda from St. Louis (on the left) and I posed with a giant flamingo on the porch of the store. (Note the flamingo’s Hawaiian get up).
Beyond Rochford, we began riding on a packed gravel road for 10+ miles. This is what the road looked like.
It was a rough and difficult ride, but I enjoyed the first portion because there was a riot of colorful wildflowers. Here are some of them. This one is called Bee Balm.
This spectacular neon blue one is a penstemon. I collected some seeds in the hopes of propagating it.
After leaving the flowers behind, I just ground out the miles until I reached the high school in Custer where we are sleeping tonight.
Tomorrow, we ride by Mt. Rushmore, so be sure to check back.
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Carole, I was just able to read your adventure (in reverse!) and get caught up with your journey. What an amazing experience. Hope you get the pedal clips figured out before you become disfigured:) What a beautiful and varied landscape God created, from the wildflowers to the grandeur of the rugged mountains. So glad you are capturing it in this blog. Stay happy and healthy! Lisa
Thanks. It’s really good to hear from you.
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Mom, I really find your first hand documenting interesting. My favorite site was the buffalo and cowboy sculpture. We have lots of scrapmetal at Redband Ranch. Maybe I can make a fish or something. I remember going to The Big Guys with Grandma Atherton. Love, Billy
Yes, I remember visiting “the big guys” (Mt. Rushmore) with you and Jake and Grandma. It was lots of fun. But someday we should come back and bike or drive the Norbeck Scenic Byway again. It is a treasure!