Pipestone, De Smet, Pierre

Before we left the motel in the morning I talked for a bit with the owner, who was also a motorcycle rider and has been one for about as long as I've been riding. I would have guessed that he was in his 60's, but it turns out he was probably 80, based on the fact that he mentioned that he had  a son who is  62. We stopped in Slayton at the Slayton Bakery, where we had a good breakfast at a very basic and authentic small town restaurant. Right across the street was the Left Bank Cafe, but we were all happy with our choice, possibly because of the waitress, who was very young, very pleasant, and very pregnant.

Downtown Slayton

The town of Pipestone and Pipestone National Monument is only 30 miles to the west on State  Road 30 and we arrived and wandered around the museum to learn a bit about pipestone (calganite) a hard clay that is found between layers of quartzite, and that was and is used by Native Americans to make pipes (for smoking tobacco and other dried  plants), jewelry, and other items. The stone has a deep red color, and is easily carved. Back in the 1800's Pipestone items were very much sought after and a good pipe was worth a horse in trade. There are three quarries at in the park, and only Native Americans are now allowed to quarry the stone  there. Of  course outside the national monument there are other places in the area where pipestone is found. The trail goes by the three quarries  as well as a waterfall, and we spent another hour or so walking it and enjoying the pleasant and cool (for mid-July) day.

Quarry tailings - mostly quartzite

Prayer offerings - the pipestone quarries are  sacred to the Native Americans who mine them.

The Oracle (rock formation in center)

Spitz on the trail

Geo contemplates the prairie

Always nice to see a waterfall

We followed State Road 75 north out of Pipestone (town) and back to US 14. The road very gradually increases in elevation as it heads west, the land becomes less hospitable to farming with shorter corn and soybeans, and more areas where there are no farms at all - in Minnesota US 14 is like riding through one vast farm, alternating soybeans and corn.

We stopped in De Smet for lunch and because I had the idea that everyone wanted to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder buildings in town (the house that pa built, the surveyor's cottage, the schoolhouse), it turned out that no one was really interested, and I had toured the town just last year. In fact at lunch I realized that I've been to De Smet, South Dakota more often than I've been to New York City.

Back on the road we continued under cloudy skies and there was even a sprinkle or two, but it looked like the storm activity was to the south. The temperature was a pleasant 80 and  there was little traffic except at a few construction delays.

One of  several  places where  there was a construction delay

In Minnesota we rode by dairy farms, but in South Dakota we  began to see beef cattle, and finally horses in the fields. One of the great things about riding out in the open on a motorcycle rather than inside a closed vehicle is that the smells are so much more vivid. Of course that can work against you when you  ride by a hog farm or feed lot...

We are spending the night in Pierre, the state capital, which is on the Missouri River. Tomorrow we should get into the Black Hills area near Rapid City.