Feeling a wee bit Nervous

Finally got WIFI that works,  so sitting in my tent typing away – not the most comfortable but the mosquitoes have come out to play so it is safer in the tent.

If you look back I’ve added some photos of Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore and The Badlands.

So why am I feeling nervous – 2 reasons – (1) I’m very aware of the time disappearing by and that I have a date with the Statue of Liberty and Dad in New York City – (2) I’ve been incredibly lucky with the weather so far and that could well change and in turn affect how long it takes me to get to New York City.   The area that I’ve been cycling through for the last couple of days had been hit by a 3 inch deluge of rain a few days before I got there – Nick, who I met last night, had to decamp and move to a motel for the night – the motel then got a power cut due to the rain fall.

So in spite of above I took things easy yesterday and had a short day on the bike to Pipestone and visited Pipestone National Monument – this is where the Native Americans,  for generations, have quarried the  red pipestone;  carved it into pipes and to finish it off,  heat it and rub bees wax into it to give it a beautiful finish.   Really interesting museum and information centre and I got to see some of the work in process. The short walk to the quarries themselves (where only the Native Americans can dig) was really pretty with lots of wild flowers.

So good progress made today from Pipestone to St James and took a wee bit of time out to look round the End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum in Currie.

I’ve been told that the good weather is going to continue for the next week (unlike the poor folks in Texas) so I’m going to keep making progress and heading East towards La Cross,  where Bertie is going to have a wee check up and I’m going to get a new memory card for the camera – current one seems to have packed in and I’m having to rely on my phone for taking pictures.

Night all and love to everyone back home and everyone I’ve met while on the road.