Life on the frozen tundra of South Dakota Life on the frozen tundra of South Dakota

Day 1 - 08/24/2012 - Sioux Falls, SD to Fairfax, SD

Day 1 - 08/24/2012 - Sioux Falls, SD to Fairfax, SD

The first leg of the journey. Sioux Falls, SD to Fairfax SD.

The day was a regular work day for me, which made it difficult to stay focused on my occupation. My mind would continually drift toward my trip. Finally, 5 PM arrived and I rode home to finish packing. I ate a quick bite to eat, and loaded my bags onto the bike. I had mostly packed them the night before so I only had to throw in a few last items.

My son helped me by making sure my tires were properly inflated. He used my bicycle pump, which is rather slow but works. I'll use it to top off my tires versus taking the time to fire up the air compressor. However if the tire is flat, you get quite a workout trying to pump them all the way up with a hand pump.

Tundra Boy helping out by pumping up my tires.

I said my goodbyes and left the house. My first stop was only about a half mile away at the local gas station. I topped off my fuel tank, and then hit the road. I rode south on Cliff Avenue. On the south edge of town I passed by the football field of my alma mater, the University of Sioux Falls. I stopped to snap a photo. Go Cougars!

Home of the greatest football team in the world: Bob Young Field

I continued south on Cliff Avenue until I reached Harrisburg, SD when the road turned to gravel. I then headed east until I came to another "T", and continued to work my way south west until I reached highway 18. From there I stayed on 18 all the way to Lake Andes. I had travelled on highway 18 before, but never all the way to the river.

The clouds were looking slightly menacing. Not like I was going to hit a big storm, but it did look like I was going to get a little wet. Thankfully I never did hit any rain that evening.

Highway 18 heading east. Looks kind of like rain.

Just outside of Hurley, SD I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. Sometimes when I'm riding I don't feel the vibrations, because my entire body is vibrating from the motorcycle. This time however, I did feel it. As luck would have it, there was a turn-out into a field where I could quickly pull over and answer before it went to voice mail.

The phone call turned out to be my cousin Joel. He had been out to the farm earlier that day and had been cleaning out the garage. He had a big pile ready to go to the dump, but had some questions about another pile. While I was out there he asked me to go through it and make sure there wasn't anything I wanted to keep in the second pile. I told him I'd go through the questionable items in the morning before I left.

Stopping while chatting on the phone with my cousin Joel.

At the time of this writing, our family farm no longer had anyone living on the property. My grandmother lived there during the summers until the late '90s. My father was the primary caretaker of the property until his passing earlier this year, at which time my uncle Doug took over the main management responsibilities. The farm land is rented out to a local farmer, so it doesn't just sit idle. The farm house and buildings, however, do sit unattended most of the year. The house is still in good shape but the buildings are mostly gone.

Still heading east on highway 18. The wind was picking up.

The rain was holding off, but the wind was starting to pick up.

Getting closer to Lake Andes.

The sun was just going down as I came into Lake Andes. I had been to Lake Andes before, but I was young and as I rode through the town frankly I had no memory of ever being there.

Watching the sun begin to set.

Getting close to the river.

At Lake Andes highway 18 jogged south and joined up with highway 46 at Pickstown. Just to the west of Pickstown I crossed the Missouri river. The Fort Randall Dam is located here so I stopped and snapped a picture.

Crossing the Missouri river at the Fort Randall Dam.

By the time I got to the other side of the river it was quickly getting dark. I had about 25 miles to go and I was keeping my eyes open for deer. Colliding with a deer would definitely put a damper in my trip, and probably a dent in my face.

The road to the farm is an unremarkable gravel path off the side of the highway. Finding it in the day can be tricky, but this was the first time I ever tried to find it in the night. Unfortunately I drove past it on my first attempt. About a half mile down the road I realized I'd missed it, so I had to turn around and back track. I found it on my second try.

The gravel road is not maintained very well and is a bit precarious on a motorcycle. I went slow and didn't fight the bike when the handlebars wanted to twitch. I've found if I keep a death grip on the handlebars then I have a hard time keeping the motorcycle under control. However if I loosen my grip and let the bars wiggle a bit the bike tends to keep itself upright.

I hadn't seen any deer the whole way, until the last 1/4 mile with the farmhouse in sight. Two deer jumped out of the ditch in front of me. Thankfully I was moving pretty slow so it wasn't a close call.

I arrived at the house and went in. Because nobody is living there, we turn off the electricity and water when we're gone. Thankfully I had remembered to pack a flashlight on the bike, otherwise it would have been interesting to have found my way through the house and down into the cellar to turn on the main breaker. Without a light it's as dark as the inside of a cow down there.

With lights and water turned on, I went back upstairs. I had parked the bike on the walk in front of the house, but for some reason this was making me uneasy. The wind was gusting and the air smelled like a storm was coming. The sky was overcast, but I didn't see any other signs of threatening weather, such as lightning. Still, I decided better safe than sorry and rolled my bike down to the garage. As it turned out, it never did storm that night but I felt better with my motorcycle under shelter.

Once I got somewhat settled, it was about 10 PM. The television only received one channel, so I sat and watched the news. I spent some time reading a book, and then turned in about 11 PM.

During the night a small animal like a squirrel or raccoon ran across the roof. It was a little creepy being alone in this farmhouse miles from anyone else. When I turned out the lights it was completely dark. The quiet was deafening, with only the occasional sound of a wind gust breaking the silence. However it wasn't bothersome enough to keep me awake and overall I slept pretty well.

Continue on to day two...

Return To The Main Motorcycle Gallery

This page last updated on 06/28/2018