Day 30: Silo to Silo

144.7 km

Having a wish to do most of the day's cycling before the heat set in, I woke up at 5:30 am set off into the rising sun. Riding in the morning is so refreshing and it felt very comfortable to be back on the bike. The wind was strong today and out of the south which didn't help me much at first, but after a while it changed to blow out of the south southwest which gave me a slight push in the right direction. I thought to myself that with this wind direction, a kite would be perfect to provide an extra pull. 

The first 70 km into Dighton was very pleasant, but after the rest stop I started to get enough of the monotonous surroundings consisting of endless fields and the straight road plowing through it all. Although it was very fascinating and I was regularly amazed by the grandeur that was displayed, I felt like I had been staring at the same thing for several days, and I started to wonder if I had moved at all. Endless fields, silo, small town. Fields, silo, town... 

I continued with the temperatures rising and before long I reached Ness City. I found a nice and cool pizza restaurant to relax while I downed a medium sized pizza. The map indicated that there was a cyclist-only lodging/camping in the neighboring town called Bazine so after a long break, I clipped into the pedals again and headed eastward. Despite the short stretch, I was exhausted when I got there and welcomed the sight of "Elaine's Bed & Breakfast Bicycle Oasis". The map warned that reservations were appreciated and I had earlier made several unsuccessful calls. However, as I pulled up the driveway to the bed & breakfast, I met an older lady and her husband. She told me she had turned down several others for the whole weekend because she was expecting company but managed to squeeze me in if I was ok with camping, which I was more than fine with. She and her husband Dan were about to leave, but they left the door open for me and said I was welcome to use the shower while they were gone. She said she knew I wouldn't steal their TV or anything since I had nowhere to put it. Even so, this kind of trust wasn't something I would expect from strangers anyway. 

After taking a shower and setting up my tent, I heard loud sirens howling from somewhere in the town. I knew that sirens were used as warning for incoming storms and tornados in towns in the midwest, but there was not a cloud to be seen in the sky so the sirens had to be for something else. After a while, several firetrucks passed by and after the return of the couple, I learned that a tanker had crashed and was on fire just down the road.

Elaine offered to let me do some laundry and invited me to supper at her brother's farm with their friends later. They were all very nice people and I knew from the start that they were probably very religious as well. After a lovely meal and having several people pray for my safety during the rest of the trip, Elaine, Dan and I drove back to the "Oasis" and I headed straight to bed under the full moon.