Badlands National Park

Today we spent the morning in Badlands National Park. It is an awesome place. Very arid and barren, but beautiful. The rock formations were formed from the erosion of sediments deposited from many events including the erosion of the Black Hills and the Rocky Mountains and also from an ancient volcanic eruption. The deposition stage is over and the rock formations are now being eroded at a rate of 1 inch per year (I think) and it is predicted that the Badlands will be completely eroded away within 500,000 years so make sure you put this place on your "must see soon" list. We got up early and were able to do our biking and hiking before it got too hot and before all the other tourists descended upon the place. It's the best way to get the true feeling of the desolation and openness of the park.

The Missouri River July 27th
Where we crossed the Missouri River the water is a clear green-blue. It sits in a river valley surrounded by undeveloped hills and was an impressive sight. The terrain had begun to change from the rolling farmlands of eastern South Dakota and when we completed our climb (6% grade) up the western side of the river valley we trully felt the change. The farmlands turned to ranches and the herds of dairy cows changed to herds of cattle. It was quite a hilly ride for a while, but we got plenty of practice gearing down and settling into that deep breathing, slow peddling, positive self-talking stage of bike riding. Today was the day we crossed the 1500 mile point of our trip and also set another high daily mileage total... 89 miles!

July 28th - White River to Interior
Prairie Dogs chirp! And they sure look like that Wack A Mole game at Funland when they pop their heads out of the ground and disappear again just as quick. We saw them on our way to Interior on the open high plains. There is honestly nothing between White River and Interior. We saw just a few isolated houses, some herds of cattle, numerous prarie dog colonies, but nothing much else. We left White River(population 52) and came to a small grocery store serving an equally small Indian Reservation city after cycling 41 miles. Once we left that area it was 28 more miles before reaching Interior (population 72) with equally as much of nothing in between. As we crested the top of our last hill the Badlands scenery stretched out before our eyes. The change was stunning. Tomorrow we leave for Rapid City and we will have another day of cycling through "the middle of nowhere". That is not meant in a negative way, it is really amazing to see this country of ours. Where else can you get the sense of the vastness that still exists?

Interior, South Dakota

We have arrived at the Badlands. It's HOT! We were worried about the heat and the miles we needed to travel so decided to leave at the crack of dawn this morning. We hit the road at 6am and saw an incredible sunrise coming over the ridge as we were cyclying west. The early morning hours are actually a wonderful time to ride. The air is cool(er) and crisp, the light still has that pink hue to it which makes everything look that little bit cleaner. The terrain of South Dakota changes tremendously once you have crossed the Missouri River. We are now in the west. It is wide open, dry, arrid, and incredibly beautiful. I know none of the pictures I've taken will do it justice. Tomorrow we will visit the park and do some hiking. Maybe tomorrow my brain will be working better and I'll do another posting. Right now, the heat and miles (73 today) have taken it's toll so Dave and I are going to get some dinner and go to bed!

Prophetstown Echo Newspaper Article

Delaware couple ride bikes from Cleveland to Bellingham

by Stacie Barton

Mary and Dave Lippiatt of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, were spotted around town on Thursday and Friday, July 12 and 13. They pedaled on bicycles laden with packs, as they trek across country this summer.The couple plan to spend about three months riding, starting in Cleveland, OH and ending up in Bellingham, WA. Riding about 50 - 70 miles a day, the two ended a days ride here in Prophetstown, with a stay in the State Park.Mary is a teacher, and Dave a book seller. They say taking this tour has been great, and they have met so many nice people along their way.In Indiana, the two recall, they were having a hard time finding a campground. The customers and staff at an ice cream parlor wouldn’t give up until the two had directions and were on their way.Getting in a trip to the laundromat and stocking up on some Thicksten’s popcorn, the couple continued on their way. They said they really enjoyed visiting Prophetstown, and loved our beautiful State Park.

Parkston, South Dakota

We only managed about 55 miles yesterday coming out of Sioux Falls. The day started fairly comfortable, but the heat just continued to build until it reached the unbearable stage around 4:00. At that point we shortened the day's itinerary and headed south to Freeman. We found the city park located conveniently next to the city pool! The definition of city is very much different here in rural America. So the evening consisted of meeting the owner of the local grocery store who very nicely put some Gatorades in the cooler for us to pick up in the morning. The store opened at 7am but he assured us that if we were leaving before then to just come on in, he gets there about 5am every day and the front door would be open. We took a dip in the pool, set up the tent in the park and went to sleep at sundown. Today is not quite as humid, but the heat continues to build. We have ducked into the city library at Parkston and plan to only bike about 20 more miles today. If you want to check on our route, we are biking west on State Highway 44. We'll be doing the same across the Missouri and on west into Rapid City. Then it's the Badlands and the Black Hills.

Thanks again for all the emails. We love to read them.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

We have taken a rest day here in Sioux Falls before beginning our trek across South Dakota. It's a very nice city. Many parks and a bike trail that loops the city. It's hot and getting hotter but I guess that's what you have to expect for late July in South Dakota. We will be making room for lots of water and sports drinks in our bags. We are heading for the Badlands and the Black Hills before heading over to Wyoming to see Devil's Tower.

We made a great discovery on our way into town yesterday. One of our favorite groups, The Cowboy Junkies is playing TONIGHT and there are tickets available and they are in our price range! How lucky is that. So we will have a night filled with good music, good food and good libations before heading out tomorrow.

A quick recap on the last few days:
Friday: Humbolt, Iowa
Saturday: Spencer, Iowa - a new record today - kind winds and a specific destination for the evening helped me beat my mileage record AGAIN. I am now up to 87 miles traveled in one day. I'm not sure if I have 90 in my legs, but only time will tell.
Sunday: Spencer to Rock Rapids, Iowa
Our goal was to be here by Sunday morning so we could meet up with the first day of RAGBRAI and we made it. We started out about 8:15 am on our way to Rock Rapids and we saw our first cyclists at about 9:15. That meant that they had traveled almost 70 miles already! Of course they were biking at an incredible speed and looking quite the serious cyclists, but they had time to give us a big smile and call out a good morning greeting as we were slowly going west. At first the cyclists came in small packs, but within the next hour it was a steady stream. When the main pack was coming through it was an incredible sight. The westbound lane was being used as the passing lane and the eastbound land was packed solid. We were hugging the far white line and praying that there would be no head on collisions. Luckily everyone out there were competent and experienced riders so no one got hurt in the process. I don't think they minded too much that we were out there, we got lots of greetings and my face started to hurt from the constant smile I had plastered on my face.
Now it was starting to get late in the day and we began to see all sorts of bicycle people. Some were serious, but moving slow and some were just there for the beer! I saw one lady ride by wearing pink pajamas and pink fuzzy slippers and she was having a great time. The preferred greeting from this group was "You're going the wrong way!" There were all sorts out on the road and somehow they needed to travel 77 miles to the end of day one. But we had the feeling that the various sag and party buses would start their sweep and many would be riding most of the way to Spencer.

Monday was a tri-state day. We left Iowa, traveled north into Minnesota for about 15 miles, went through Hills, Minnesota population 525 and then crossed into South Dakota.

Out of time again. Tomorrow we're off on the road again. Hopefully the winds will continue to be kind!

Here are some pictures Ohio to the Mississippi River. Who knows when I'll have more to share, I'm thinking that One Hour Photo shops may be hard to find in South Dakota! If you want to see the pictures more clearly double click on the picture and it will blow up really big! There may be a better way to post pictures, but I'm new to this blogspot thing.

Our farewell committee

And we're off

Home Sweet Home!

Monon, Indiana

These flowers bloom instantanously at sunset. You hear a pop and then each petal unfurls. Amazing. In the morning the flowers are dead and a new crop is ready for the coming night. There must be a lesson in this. (I know this is our of sequence, but I just couldn't leave it out)

Sunset over the Maumee River

An Ohio sunset

I told him to turn right at that last intersection!

It's hard to find good beer out here!

The rural midwest

The roads of Indiana

Meeting some famous friends

Ottawa was the site of the first Lincoln/Douglas debate for the Illinois Senate. Wild Bill Hickock worked on the I&M Canal.

Ottawa Illinois

Campsite C along the I&M Canal trail.

Prophetstown, Illinois

Dave and I get the mayoral tour of city hall

The hills of northwest Illinois

Grandview Guesthouse

This was a well needed break from our tent!

Gallena, Illinois

Relaxing at the Grandview Guesthouse

Waiting out the storm

Crossing the Mississippi

Another milestone

Today just after leaving Hampton the odometer hit 1000 miles! What more can be said than that!

Quick Update

Clarion, Iowa

This needs to be a very quick message. I am using the librarian's computer! She took pity on me when she told me all the computers were busy and my face fell! Iowa is beautiful. Rolling hills and miles upon miles of crops and peaceful roads to ride. The quietness of the countryside is a certain way to calm your mind and quiet your soul. We are riding the route of RAGBRAI (www.ragbrai.org) in the opposite direction in the hopes that Sunday morning we will be riding west and seeing 10,000 riders riding east. That will be quite a sight and quite a thrill. Here's where we've been:
Monday: Dubuque
Tuesday: Dyersville (www.dyersville.org) - Home to the Field of Dreams baseball field and St. Francis Xavier Basilica. The church is amazing!
Wednesday - Cedar Falls - we were chased into the men's bathroom of the state park by a severe thunderstorm and waited there for about an hour before we made a dash for the nearest hotel!
Thursday - Hampton

Beautiful weather today! But the first days of the week were very interesting with the storms rolling across the state. We luckily were always 1 day east of the worst of it,but it made for some amended travel plans.

Rain Delay

We left our guest house this morning after a scrumptious breakfast and good conversations with the other guests. That's one of the nicest things about staying in a home instead of a hotel. We made it as far as Main Street when the skies turned purple and the thunder started to rumble. It is now two hours later and we have encamped at the local library and need to decide what to do next. Riding in the rain is not so bad, but an all day rain, possible further thunderstorms and big hills may not make for a good day on the bike. Maybe we'll be in Illinois for another day.

Bridges
We've traveled over a few bridges here in Illinois. They can be a little nerve-wracking. One bridge over the Illinois River was a bit steep, high, and long for my liking. There was no pedestrian walkway and I think I like biking in the car lane anyway. The sidewalk is on the side closest to the water and that's not where I always like to be! So the theory is, take up enough of the lane to make cars stay behind you and peddle furiously until you reach the other end. AND resist the urge to look over the side. We passed one bridge over the Mississippi that looked very steep and long and I was happy that we chose to bypass that one. The bridge near Dubuque is only 1 mile long and not too steep so that will be good. I'd love a nice view overlooking the Mississippi but preferably not while I am peddling my bike and dealing with traffic!

More Updates

July 12 - Prophetstown, Illinois
This was our toughest wind day. Nice gusty winds out of the Northwest, just where we were heading! But we put in our biggest mileage day (82 miles - my record has been broken!) and found the greatest little town and the greatest little state park campground. The town sits along the Fox River and has the greatest homepopped popcorn ever! The next morning we were searched out by the reporter for the hometown paper, interviewed and photographed and were given a tour of City Hall by the Mayor of the town. All of this happened just because we were in town and people came up to talk to us. It really is amazing how friendly people are and how proud of their towns they are.

July 13 - The Mississippi River! Fulton, Illinois
We road from Fulton to Savanna along the Great River Road and saw the Mississippi a few times along the way. Today (July 13) we are in Galena, Illinois just ready to cross the Mississippi into Iowas. But not today. We are staying here for 2 nights in a lovely guest house, giving our legs and rear ends a well deserved rest. This area of Illinois is not the flat state we all imagine. The glaciers missed this area so there are many rolling hills. Our legs got a taste of the challenges to come on the way into town today. We're headed to Dubuque from here and the locals say there are many hills between here and there, so the flatlands are finished for a while!

First Aid Kit comes in handy!

We left Ottawa on a bike path along the I&M Canal which was a nice break from the cars and roads. The only thing bad about bike paths is that the surface is not always the best for skinny-tired bicycles. Going down a small hill we noticed some washed out sections of trail. Dave managed to navigate quite nicely. I however avoided the washed out section and rode directly into some deeper gravel. My front tire went one way, my back tire went the other and the bike went down! Dave dropped his bike and picked mine up off of me. Nothing more than minor scrapes and scratches and the wind knocked out of me, but I've got a good case of road rash on my right leg. We've used a few more paths accross the state, but find the back roads are actually much nicer to ride on most of the time.

Ottawa continued

Ottawa, Illinois turned out to be a great little town. It was the site of the first debate between Abe Lincoln and Stephen Douglas when Lincoln was running for the Illinois Senate. Again, we met some wonderful people who were thrilled to share their town with us. The town has a little book store and a coffee shop! So Dave was happy to get lost in some books and I was thrilled to get lost in a latte.

Ottawa, Illinois

We've not found too many libraries along our route, so here are a few highlights. We are now biking along the Illinois River and enjoying a break from the hot weather. We've got some nice pictures to share, but first we need to find a one hour photo shop! Small town America can still be found our here and it's a nice thing to experience even if that means a lack of those conveniences we tend to take for granted.

Monday
We crossed into the Central Time Zone.
Later that same day we crossed into Illinois and stayed in the city park in Askum, Illinois. A couple from Minneapolis, Minnesota were also staying there. The mayor had given us the keys to the restroom for the night and shown us where to drop them off in the morning. The town police officer stopped by to say hello and the man across the street told us to stop by if we needed anything. This town is along the Adventure Cycling map series so crazy cross country cyclists are not a new thing for them.
I got to experience my first thunderstorm in a tent. Quite an impressive light and sound show when viewed from the inside of a tent!

Tuesday
Marseilles, Illinois along the Illinois River
Another hot day for cycling. People all thought we were crazy to be out on the roads, and maybe we were. We are sampling each and every flavor of Gatoraid and Poweraid!
Along with the heat was a strong and gusty southwest wind. So we decided it was a very good day to head northwest. Illinois roads are set up in a grid pattern so we stair-stepped our way to the final destination. Traveling north was fun - but traveling west was another story!
Trip mileage = 560 miles!!!!!

I've reached and exceeded my computer time limit at the local library, so the story will continue another day.

Indiana!

We crossed into Indiana yesterday morning near Monroeville. But I couldn't find any "Welcome to Indiana" signs for a photo opportunity. Rural Indiana has many open, quiet country roads which are nice to ride, but many also turn to gravel with no warning. The day's are getting hot, but the winds have been light so the biking is good. We've already had many miles of quiet riding along acres and acres of corn and soybean fields. There will be many more to come I suspect.

Yesterday was our biggest mileage day so far - 78 miles. That also ties my record for most miles in one day. Thanks for all the email messages we've received so far!

Defiance, Ohio

We are waiting out an impending thunderstorm in the local library. Good timing as far as thunderstorms go since we were just pulling into town and needing a break as the skies turned purple. We may reach Indiana today, it all depends on the weather, the wind and our legs! Here are some highlights from the last few days:

• Northeast Ohio is quite rolling, and Northwest Ohio is not nearly as flat as Delaware.
• It is very disheartening to learn at the end of a 70 mile day that tonight's campground has no showers
• But, when the lifeguards let you swim for free in the cool, clear rock quarry that shower doesn't seem so important! And it's very easy to wash short hair in the water pump outside your tent
• Lattes are few and far between in the rural midwest.
• Everyone is interested in your story when you pull into the local diner on a bicycle.
• 40 miles into a brisk, stiff, really strong headwind is quite enough for one day.
• The librarian in Defiance lets you bring your bike indoors during a rain storm and then finds her sister-in-law to drive you to the local coffee shop to pass the time.

Mileage total so far: 190 miles

Berlin Heights, Ohio

Day 1 was a beautiful way to start our bike trip. Sunny skies, light wind from the north and cool temperatures. We put in 54 miles and decided to call it a day. Found a nice campground just outside of Oberlin, Ohio and went to sleep by 9:00! The skies were clear and we watched fireflies light up the night from the skylight of our tent. Today is just about the same weather, so another lucky riding day. We just finished a yummy breakfast in Berlin Heights and will head down the road in search of another campsite for tonight. Not many options for camping around here so Dave is pouring over maps and we'll be asking some questions along the way. We had hoped to get to Luckey, Ohio tonight where we had a reservation at the Hoelter residence, but that seems to be about 70 miles from here. Too many miles to put in today, so we need to go to plan B. The Ohio countryside is beautiful and peaceful so it will be a good day for riding.