Day 7 (already?). To Valentine, NE

When we woke up yesterday there was a huge blob of doom on the radar and we decided to stay put for the day in Marshall. We really didn't fancy another day in the rain and we desperately needed to study some maps, search the internet and come up with a rough plan for the next week or two so we know which direction to point our front wheels.

It was a productive day and we have mapped out a plan to hit some of the highlights of Colorado. If you have ever looked at a road map of Colorado you will see that there are numerous scenic routes over the high mountain passes. We could spend a month there and not get to ride it all - but we hope to hit some of the best.

This morning we were up early and heard of the torrential rain that fell south of us yesterday - 6" in an hour in Sioux Falls where we would have passed through! Good call not to go then. But today the skies were clearing and off we went.

We said good bye to Minnesota and Route 23 that we have traveled on for the last day and a half;

 and Hello to South Dakota!

The day grew warmer, the scenery changed to the open rolling plains we remembered from last year and we made excellent progress. We even took a detour into Mitchell, SD to see the Corn Palace - the only one in the world.

 The scenes on the side of the building have been made with corn cobs!

After that minor detour we crossed the Missouri River;

and then turned South to ride into Nebraska. We are staying in Valentine, a small western town surrounded by farmland. We have just enjoyed excellent Black Angus steaks for supper. Off to bed for an early night and we continue our trek SouthWest tomorrow.