Sturgis - Aberdeen

Leaving the - sometimes crazy - town of Sturgis, I headed for Newell where I arrived in the evening.
The had two great public parcs but some inhabitants told me you could't camp in it.
I found a spot in the garden of the house of Doug and Kathy.
There was a waterhose to shower and I had breakfast in the morning on one of the tables in the parc.
Very nice weather in the +25 degrees + area.
I left for Faith and there was nothing in between, just prairies.
I found a nice spot in the parc and did some radio and shopped for some food.
Nextday I left for Eagle Butte but first I cycled trough Dupree. In between al poor soil and very hot.

I ended up in the evenin in Eagle Butte where the most (95%+) of the inhabitants were of native origin.
Local police send me to the public parc but it was a no-go since there were some youngsters in cars, most probably with open windows sharing some stuff. Cycled trough town to search nicer spots but there weren`t any. In the local gymnasium people were playing b-ball. One of them send me to the `main` where most probably people should be able to shelter me for the night as weather seemed instable again.
The main is a Youth Project were children can play and learn thanks to the Cheyenne River Youth Project and all off its volunteers, some of them families. The woman in charge contacted her supperiors if I could stay over there and replied positive. I had a nice warm lunch - pasta - and some beverages.
I slept in the sporthall together with another 10 volunteers for the project, most of them from a Lutheran mission in Missouri as I got info correct. A rather big fan held the hall cool but I had to sleep with earplugs to be able to get some sleep.
In the morning I had breakfast togheter with them and left before children came in from town.
They can participate in a broad range of programs over ther as can be read on http://www.lakotayouth.org/
They all do a perfect job and are more than 100% motivated as I could see.
Donations are more than welcome via on http://www.lakotayouth.org/help/monetary.html


I headed for Gettysburg with a very strong headwind, I couldn`t go faster than 8 km/u and it was very hot and dry. After some 7 hours of cycling and just before I was going to cross the Missouri and the Central timezone, Robin and her husband stopped over. They came from a funaral in Eagle Butte. They asked if they could help me to go to Gettysburg since it was definitivly out of reach for the eveneing and weather was again, unstable. They brought me into Gettysburg by car. In town it was possible to camp in the beautifull parc with a free hot shower, electricity and very high trees ! perfect.
I pitched up tent and did some radio on 20 meters. The next day weather was very unsettled and I decided to stay put for the day. I visited the bakery, museum, old school, blacksmith and had lunch in the old people`s home for 6 dollars. Since it began to rain and didn`t stop during my visit I checked in a few times in the parc where waterlevels started to rise out of control, I was on one of the higher spot still water reached my tent an I had to dry it in the public restrooms where I slept for the night as it didn`t stop raining...
In the evening I had an appointment in the barbershop Hair With Flair in Gettysburg. Sandy was so friendly to do my hair and it was a ok and even more so.. she did it for free ! So if you`re in the neighbourhoud call now ;-)  (605) 7659626 hahi.
I was able to work OT4A Theo on 14188,5 kHz at 20:31 UTC with 55 and he was 59 with his big array and power of course, second contat with Belgium..

On thursday I cycled for Ipswich and camped again in the public parc with restrooms and water.
The place stood 95% blank since it rained very much.
It was VERY hot during the day and in the night it became 100% humid and temperatures didn`t go under 25 degrees C. I worked some 15 contact on 20 meters all over the US and Canada with nice signals and heard Nelson VE7FTL and Ken VE7IR again on 20 meters ! Also made some contacts again on PSK.
I couldn`t sleep very well and sweated as a horse. It`s still the same right now in Aberdeen and temperatures will go up again for the next 5-6 days every day to 35/40 C and high humidity.
I bought a bandana to protect my head since the hair is`s a bit shorter.
I saw the Cathedral of the prairies yesterday in Hoven, very nice church in the middle of nowhere and saw a lady with yellow eyes in the local groceriestore, very uncommon..

I will go to Duluth on the westside of lake Superior and from there I`ll stay on the southside to Sault St. Marie and into Michigan to Buffalo / Niagara since the wind is coming from the east (not supposed to !) and weather is very hard to cycle in so .. shorten the ride a little and stay in the vicinity of `bigger` towns and not go to remote like going north of the lakes.