Philip to Pierre, SD

Posted on July 17, 2004 by Kevin

We awoke to a rainstorm this morning, which delayed some of the folks who usually like to get a very early start, but the rain cleared and I got going around 7:15 with Meg, Brian, and Robert after the usual 6:30 breakfast in the schoolhouse. The clouds hung around for a while, which thankfully kept the morning a little cooler than usual.

The rolling farmlands continued. The scenery that these provide can be spectacular at times, but the long 53-mile march to lunch in the village of Hayes was probably the slowest stretch that I have done to date. The remaining 37 miles to Pierre seemed to take even longer. As we crossed the Missouri River into Pierrre, we also crossed into the Central Time Zone, our third time zone on the tour so far.

Pierre is a pleasant little city, the second-smallest state capital in the nation (the first being Montpelier, Vermont). We stayed at the Indian Learning Center, a comfortable place, but unfortunately on the edge of town, a couple miles from the town center. Most of us walked to Jack’s, another steakhouse, for dinner, because it was the closest place in walking distance.