West to the Dakotas

When I left the McDonald's in Algona, I cruised north a couple miles to a very nice little campground by Lake Smith. The evening cooled off nicely, and I actually used my sleeping bag, which has been rare this summer. Many nights it doesn't get cool enough to make me want to be inside of it. Given the relatively cool temperature that night, I had a heck of a time getting out of the tent in the morning. I just wanted to stay in my sleeping bag.

When I did get on the road, the cool didn't last very long. When I rolled in to Pocahontas, Iowa, at about 12:40pm, a thermometer read 99 degrees already. At that point I just wanted to get out of the sun, so I found a little diner for lunch. I think the waitress got sick of refilling my ice tea. I had a hard time deciding whether I should just hit the road in the heat of the day to get to my destination, or if I should wait a bit. Remembering how the humidity holds the heat through the evening, I decided that it wouldn't be that much cooler, and I really wanted to get to Storm Lake to possibly take a swim before settling for the night.

With 32 miles left to go, I hit the road at 2pm. I didn't want to know what the temperature was. At the 16 mile mark, there was a small spot on the map called Varina, IA. I don't know if it's actually a town, or just a small collection of houses. There was a Catholic church there, so I sought refuge from the heat in it's shade. I'm very glad that small towns don't feel the need to lock the doors to their churches. I filled my water bottles, drank them, and filled them again while sitting by the front doors.

The last 16 miles were just as hot and humid as ever, but I made it to Storm Lake, IA. Right when I got to town, I went straight to the first grocery store I saw (which happened to be a Wal-Mart) and bought a peach and a fruit tray and ate them in the air conditioned entry way of the store. Yes, I bought a fruit tray and ate the whole thing. It was delicious. From there I pedaled through town towards a place to camp on the east side of the lake near the water park.

I arrived at the campground, paid the $11 for a site, and started to set things up. After my tent was standing, the host of the campground came by and said that there was some inclement weather on the way with some high winds. I called my parents to see if they could give me an update on how things looked on the radar map. After some deliberating, we decided that 70+ mph winds may not treat my tent very well. By looking at the animated weather map online, my dad estimated that I would have 30 minutes to tear down my camp and get to a motel. This was the fastest I've ever taken down camp and packed my bike. I ended up tearing the screen next to the door of my tent a little, but I got things packed up as it started to drizzle. I pedaled as fast as I could towards the nearest motel. The sky was getting very dark.

The Lighthouse Inn (kind of a fitting name, given the situation) was the first place I came to. I found the owner outside talking to some other guests. He understood my situation before I even spoke, seeing the ominous stormcloud backdrop beyond me, with my loaded bicycle. We walked to the main office and he said, "You may want to park your bike in that corner, I think some wind is coming." Just as we stepped inside, all of his lawn chairs disappeared from in front of the office. The wind had arrived. He got me checked in and led me to a room where I could keep my bicycle inside with me. From in my room, I called my parents as I watched the lawn chairs blow back and forth across the parking lot, the owner close behind.

As I was looking out the window, I saw a very bright flash as the power went out. At first I was wondering where the "boom" was, expecting it to be a lightning strike. It turns out a tree fell on the transformer right beside my room. The owner came by my room and knocked on the door to ask if I could give him a hand. He gave me a flashlight and we went towards the basement. I stood at the door as he went around to the other guests. The storm left us almost as abruptly as it had arrived, and we got to see a little bit of sunset on the horizon while the sky overhead was still black with storm clouds and thunder was booming from the east, where the storm was headed.

After chatting with the owner of the inn for a bit, he gave me some food and then we got in his truck to go survey the damage. The wind had blown across the length of the lake and nailed the campground where I had previously been set up. One of the campers was tipped over, two trees were uprooted, and one giant tree was broken off about 6' off the ground. Much of the town was without power.

The following morning I went out and snapped a few pictures of the damage near the campground before hitting the road for Sioux City, IA, where I would stay with my cousin Amber. The weather forecast called for another blistering hot day, but I lucked out and found clouds all day. It was still hot and humid, but not nearly as bad as the day before.

Several relatives of mine live in the Sioux City area, so for supper after I arrived, most of us gathered at my cousin Justin's house for supper, just outside of town. I really enjoyed seeing this group again, as it had been a while since I'd connected with most of them. Laundry and a comfortable home to stay in were also nice perks of my time there.

The following morning I set out across the river into Nebraska, where I would meet up with some family and friends that were coming up from Henderson. I had an awesome tailwind for the first part of the morning that put me in good shape to beat their van to our meeting place. I decided to kill some time in Ponca, NE, at a little coffee shop. I ended up talking with the employees and two of the patrons about my bicycle trip as I sipped my coffee and waited for the Henderson van to get closer.

The sky had started to darken by the time I left the coffee shop. I made it about a third of a mile before the sky opened up. I quickly pulled off to a picnic shelter to wait it out a little. After the brief storm passed, my tial wind was gone, but I wasn't far from the intersection where we were going to meet.

When I got to the intersection, my mom, grandma, grandpa, a few aunts/uncles, and some friends were waiting. I had the opportunity to ride a different bike for a few miles at this point. My uncle Mike has tuberous sclerosis (I'm pretty sure that's what it's called) and can't walk or communicate very well. The home that is caring for him recently acquired a bicycle with a seat on the front where Mike can ride while someone sits on the back to pedal and steer. We got Mike strapped in and I rode with his bike for a few miles across the South Dakota border. My friends Adam, Jay, and Mike rode along side for this stretch of the road as well.

Once in South Dakota, I switched back to my regular bike. Adam and Jay then continued to ride with me to Vermillion, where the whole group of us stopped for lunch at The Roadhouse. Several of the people present contributed a little something towards the "Feed Neal Fund" before taking off back towards home. They did a lot of driving for not a lot of time spent with me. It was nice to see that kind of support.

When I left Vermillion, Jay continued to ride with me, and Adam drove ahead with my gear to Swan Lake Christian Camp near Viborg. At 38.5 miles, I believe taht this is the longest stretch that anyone has ridden with me to date. When we got to camp, we took a dip in the lake right away. It was great. I've spent countless hours in that lake over the years that I was a camper, counselor, staffer, or Bible leader at camp. It was a great way to cool down at the end of a pretty long day of cycling. Shortly thereafter we dried off and raided the camp refrigerator for leftovers. Everyone loves Mary's leftovers. Best camp cook. Ever.

After eating, Adam and Jay hit the road for home. They had to get back to their jobs. Hmph....jobs.

That evening my friend Doran picked me up and took me to our mutual friend Nathan's place to hang out for the evening. There was a small group of people there intending to have a campfire, but the bugs were too awful. We stayed inside and played boardgames instead. I didn't end up getting to bed until close to 2am, which is 4-5 hours after my usual bed time.

The next morning I slept in and then had lunch with Mary, the camp cook. It was a hot afternoon, but it was less than 30 miles to get to Freeman, my next stop, so it wasn't a bad afternoon. I got to my friend Stacey's house in time to see her and her husband Jeremy head out the door to go to a wedding. I spent the evening hanging out with their children and their baby sitter. By "hanging out" I mean I played around on the internet while the babysitter babysat.

Yesterday I took the day off and went to Sioux Falls, SD, with Nathan and Doran to run a few errands. I picked up some new inner tubes for the bike, some water purification tablets in case I get caught in a pinch out west and need drinking water, and a Camelbak to carry more water so that I don't end up in a pinch out west. I also went to a thrift store and got two shirts to replace two of the shirts I've been carrying. One of my shirts (a snap shirt) doesn't stay closed any more because I was wearing it when I got bumped off the road by the flatbed trailer, causing me to play "slip-n-slide" with the pavement.

In the evening, I did a little stitching on my tent to close up a small hole in the screen, put new tires on my bike, and visited with my friends Brad and Bethany that stopped by.

This morning I got up and looked at the weather, and I decided to wait for a front to pass. They said there was an 85% chance of rain at 12pm. Now that I'm taking the morning off, the chance of rain has dropped to 15%. Oh well. I'm getting blogging done. I'll leave after lunch.

The last town that I'm going to see in South Dakota is going to be Lemmon, SD. Lemmon, SD, is about 400 miles from here. I'm going to be in South Dakota for a very long time. We'll see what the internet situation looks like out west. I'll probably be relying mostly on public libraries, which could make internet access spotty.