Day 4: Mt Rushmore & First Couch Surfing Experience

Yesterday was a total bummer since it got cut short by strong winds in South Dakota. From what I heard from the locals, it was the strongest winds they've ever felt gusting from 60-80mph. The danger was real and it was evident when I left the motel and got back on I-90. An overturned truck. I guess I made the right decision to stop.





Today, I was to visit the Bandlands National Park which I was told not to miss out on by a fellow forum member. He was right, it was something that had to be seen when you visit South Dakota. Now, we have Badlands at home but they're Mickey Mouse compared to the ones in South Dakota. It was really something.





My next destination was Mount Rushmore. I was more looking forward to riding the mountains than seeing Rushmore since Rushmore is just a couple of faces sculpted into rock. I've never ridden real mountains before either so this would be a new experience for me. As the mountains were becoming more visible in the distance, I was getting pretty excited. Eventually I hopped onto one of the mountain roads and it was just heaven. Banked turns, 270 degree ramps, tunnels, lookout points...you name it, it was there. That continued until I got to Mount Rushmore where I stopped to take a picture and left. There was no sense in me paying the fee to get into the memorial area when my purpose was just to see it...which I did.





[Video to be added when uploaded]

Later on, I made it to Custer Park which was more twisting turns. I was loving this. How am I ever going to enjoy riding in Ontario again? I've spoiled myself.

Tonight was the night I was supposed to make it to a fellow ADVRider's (Osman) house in Boulder Colorado for couch surfing. This meant that I had to exit South Dakota, cross through Wyoming, and arrive in Colorado within a few hours. During that trek, I noticed huge storm clouds brewing on either side of me. I was pretty lucky since the storms missed me the whole way there. Even luckier because the strongest part of the storm was only 1-2km away where I could see heavy snow falling on the pasture. I did get some snow but not really that much. As I progressed through Wyoming, I noticed that the elevation kept increasing as the temperatures kept decreasing. It got to the point to where it was about 3 degrees which is pretty cold. This called for some drafting so the first pickup truck I saw was the one I was going to follow all the way to Boulder.

I made it to my destination and Osman and his wife prepared dinner for me which I was very grateful for. The past few days I've been eating fast food and it was nice to have some real food for a change. They were very accommodating and it gave me a sense of home. Osman took me out to a local couch surfing meet where I met other travelers with similar interests and after that, we called it a night.