Yesterday we officially ended our journey through the legendary state of South Dakota and ventured into Wyoming. It might be suprising but South Dakota actually turned out to be one of my favorite states so far. Other than the boring farm lands and crazy weather we had to endured for the first three days, our adventure through SD had been filled with beautiful prairie land, gigantic green mountains, and nice people. My favorite day so far turned out to be the day we rode through the Badlands national park. We rode through some beautiful eroded landscapes and crazy mountains with steep up and down hills. My second favorite day is the day we rode through the Black Hills going into Wyoming. I was told that the Black Hills was once the holy land to the Native Americans and I can tell why. The enormous mountains were covered with tall pine trees and rock formations. Although it wasn't easy to climb up and down mountains, the ride was very rewarding.
When we rode into Mt. Rushmore, the roads were covered with cars and peole everywhere trying to get to the camp ground on top for the firework that was going to happen that evening. We met another cyclinst from Switzerland who was biking from Boston to Seattle for the Lance Armstrong foundation by himself. I was suprised at how many Illinis we met once we got to Mt. Rushmore. People were interested in what our cause was and we gladly explained to anyone that was interested.
Wyoming definitely has the wild west feel to it. The landscape seems much drier and the weather is much hotter. Fortunately, we will be riding through some pretty flat lands for a few days until we hit Yellowstone.