Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Day 2 of My Trip to South Dakota.

We woke up with the sun this morning at the Faulkton City Park. There was no dew and the tents were dry at sun up. We had about 50 drops of rain during the night. I thought for sure we were going to get pounded. There was lightning a ways to our north, but it never came south.
We packed up and were on the road by 0830.

We continued west on US-212, and came across huge fields of Sun Flowers. As far as you could see!

Soon we crossed the Missouri River.

After crossing the river, the terrain changes from crop land to pasture land. Real rolling pastures... Not the "Pasture Land" of Oregon, Bob...
We spotted this little guy. He was not sure about getting his picture taken. He kept trying to stare me down!

We had a very late breakfast in Faith and when we were done, it looked like it was going to rain. Weather.com showed storm clouds on the radar, but the weather radio mentioned nothing about rain. We decided to risk it and rode into it. We got a light sprinkle, but not enough rain to get my jacket or gloves wet.
We made it to Belle Fourche and set up camp at Wyatt's Hideaway Campground. We've been here just about every year since he opened 11 years ago. It's a great place to camp. Quiet, clean, and safe, with great washrooms!
The weather has cooled off and it looks like a good night to be in a tent. The rest of our group will show up Thursday or Friday.


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12 comments:

  1. I love, love, love sunflowers. Thanks you, how beautiful, an ocean of my favourite flowers.

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    1. The Sunflower fields were huge! There were at least 2 varieties growing in separate fields. The larger ones pictured above, and a variety with a much smaller flower.

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  2. Glad the weather is cooperating.

    Love the fields of sunflowers. So pretty.

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    1. I thought so too! The weather is kind of a mixed bag today!

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  3. Erik:

    I've never seen a pasture of Sunflowers. That was a great photo, I like yellow

    It's great that the weather has cooled off, makes it more bearable

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast
    My Flickr // My YouTube

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    1. It's a completely different kind of pasture land here...hehehehe

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  4. That is a great shot of the field of sunflowers. It is a real contrast to the next image crossing the bridge. What happened to the nice fields?

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    1. The "west river" area is a lot more grazing land and less crop land. The change isn't quite that sudden, but it changes from east to west.

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  5. Erik,

    Pretty cool. I hear - though I've never actually proven it - that the flowers turn with the sun. Also, supposedly (according to Ted Turner) buffalo is the wave of the future. It's easier to graze than beef and they don't produce all the methane. If it weren't eight bux a pound I'd switch.

    Where are those mods? I didn't miss them, did I? I wonder about that every time I see you powerhousing on the miles. Did you install some kind of A/C? It just must not be as awful as it is down here... I've got 10 miles since I arrived, I think.

    Brady
    Behind Bars

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    1. You may be right on them facing the sun. I notice in the picture, they all face the same way...

      Go back a couple of posts. I did a page on the subject of comfort modifications... just for you.

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  6. Erik - I saw a few fields of sunflowers on my way home too, they do move to face the sun. And a real buffalo (up close)- great photos. I take it you guys are on your way to Sturgis - ride safe, have fun.

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    1. Yes, we're camped in Belle Fourche, SD. It's about a half hour from Sturgis. We'll be here until next Wednesday. Then I think we'll head to AZ and NM.

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