Day 8 – Prairie Winds

Our last night in the Badlands turned out to be very hazy. I was hoping to have a star trail picture, but between the haze and the occasional passing headlights, it just wasn’t to be. I did get a couple of stills though.

We packed up camp early and we’re rolling just after sunup. It was a very hazy day but very pretty for the first couple of hours. By mid-morning, the prairie winds picked up with a vengence. Continuous 30-35 mile per hour gusts battered us most of the day. It was difficult to keep lane position on the 2-lanes at 70 mph (most highways are posted 65 or 70 out here) so we decided to forego the interstate entirely today. Turned into a hard 11 and 1/2 hour day. The last couple of hours were pleasant once we started getting into some trees and hills to break the wind in Iowa. We ended up back at the same hotel from exactly one week ago. The push for home tomorrow.