Saturday, July 25, 2015

Across America Trekkers Have a Busy Day of Site Seeing

July 24- We woke up excited this morning! We had a full day of site seeing ahead of us- first to see the Crazy Horse Memorial, then to see Mount Rushmore! We took a bike path that led us through untouched nature to the first memorial, and then hopped on a 9 mile uphill route to see the faces in stone. Climbing to Mount Rushmore was some of the toughest biking we had done, which made arriving at the top that much more incredible. We got honks of encouragement along the way and smiles of disbelief as we rode up to the summit and to the grand viewing platform. We enjoyed tortillas and fresh fruit for lunch at the summit, before beginning the 3,000 foot descent to Rapid City. Upon reaching the city, we did some much needed laundry and got some complimentary bike repairs from a friendly shop in town. We stayed the night with wonderful yoga instructors who graciously opened their home to us and where we met another cyclist who is touring the perimeter of the United States. We made grilled cheese with fresh rosemary and ripe tomatoes for dinner, and washed them down with a tall glass of mint tea made from our host's garden.