Evolution

It’s five o’clock in the morning and I can’t sleep, simply because this world and more specifically my country is glorious. I have been staring in awe at the spectacle before me. People from all over have joined me and are too just as baffled by everything surrounding us.

Three full weeks in and I’ve made it to South Dakota. Most of my ride through the state has been much less than impressive. Flat lands, Flat lands, and then if you go long enough you’ll run into some flat lands. There was one stretch where I went 60 miles and almost had not seen a gas station. I was riding on fumes wondering where the next station was and finally I came to one in Agar, S. Dakota. It was closed for the holiday weekend. I tried the gas anyway and it didn’t work. So luckily a few miles up the road I found another. I know I’m a geek but it was cool filling Issy with one of those old school pumps. It didn’t have digital dials, certainly no credit card slot (I was surprised and thankful for the fact that they even took credit cards), and they had 4 pumps total from two machines. I felt like one of the characters from easy rider, although I’m hoping for a better ending.

After mishaps like this one and seven and a half hours of riding I finally made it to Badlands National Park. It was actually perfect timing because I arrived right around sunset (which if you know me at all, I prefer over sunrises.) as I entered the first overlook I was speechless, yes I know it seems unlikely but I was at a loss for words. It’s almost impossible to describe the emotions going through your mind, the enormity, the colors, different shapes, natural statues, height, depth, and the paths Mother Nature has carved into the stone like a child on Halloween. But what amazes me the most is the history. Like most places I’ve seen I have not had a great background in. I knew I was going to be close to the badlands and that it was supposed to be cool. I owe this one to Katie R from college great suggestion.

The “Badlands” is an ancient coral reef which was filed with fish and vegetation. You can actually go different places in the park and see fossils of the wildlife that lived in the reef. In the 1800’s homesteaders had come into the area for hunting. Which after thinking about it was overwhelming, I felt like I was a part of something huge, so complex that I could hardly fathom the intensity. Millions of years ago the Badlands were all under water, where we stand fish swam. Hundreds of years ago man could only cross it with a mule and a bag, and today a boy can fly through it in 45 minutes on a motorcycle. If that doesn’t prove evolution then I don’t know what does. This was it, the defining moment for the trip. It was a privilege to experience such a thing.

After I decided that I couldn’t rush through this, that it deserved some actual time and effort I got a bite to eat at this bar called the Horseshoe (I had to go to a bar it was one of two places open the other also a bar and the only dining area in the park stops serving at six thirty) At the Horseshoe the bartender was really cool, woman in her thirties lived in South Dakota and had the mouth a sailor would cringe at. She cooked up a mean pepperoni Dijorno though. This was the bar where the Sturgis Bike rally is when they come through South Dakota so I was happy to bring Isabella to her first Biker bar. When you walk into this place there is 3,000 dollars worth of money taped to the walls. Different amounts from different countries it was neat (yes I just pulled a Brady Bunch).

After the food I doubled back to the campsite area where I determined I was going to stay for the night. This is the tree that I slept under. I couldn’t get the pictures to come out as awesome as the view truly was but the mountains were cool to see in the moon light. For some reason I could just picture Batman. That sense of pride, strength, and freedom that Batman represents were out there staring right back at me. I have loved being alone during this trip, I go and come as I please, I see what I want to see for how long I want to see it. Times like this though I do wish that someone could be there at my side and witness it with me the sounds of the wildlife, which out here includes Rattlesnakes, the sight of the moon when it rises in about an hour, even the chill of the night which certainly helps you to appreciate your jacket. I caught myself being mad at my jacket early on in the trip and remembered this quote from the Alchemist.

“The heat lasted until nightfall, and all that time he had to carry his jacket. But when he thought to complain about the burden of its weight, he remembered that, because he had the jacket, he had withstood the cold of the dawn. We have to be prepared for change, he thought, and he was grateful for the jacket’s weight and warmth. “

It would be nice. But I think I’ve learned more solo.

Today I’m checking out Mount Rushmore definitely one of the top five places I’ve wanted to go since the trip began. I’m going to try and take a short nap and then up with the sun. Also if you continue reading you’ll find out about my second day in Minot.

(This is that sunrise I went to go see.)

One Mile at a Time.