Friday, July 4, 2025
Day 34

Rest Day in Deadwood, SD

Miles: 0
Elevation:
Time: hours minutes

Total miles: 1,280.79 (1,711.79 w/ Uhaul)
Total Elevation: 59,629
Total Time: 129 hours 20 minutes

Happy Fourth of July!!

Today was a day we’d been looking forward to! To celebrate Independence Day in a small town and to see the community.
The host at the KOA camp kindly drove us into town around 10 and we spent the next several hours walking, reading historical information and just enjoying ourselves. Around noon it rained and we laughed how it almost always rains on our day off. There’s something so restorative to sit, sipping coffee and watching the rain fall. It was still about 70 degrees and the smell of the rain was soothing.
We enjoyed lunch at Jacobs Brewhouse where we sat at the street facing open air bar/table, watching the world go by. A lovely couple from Rapid City joined us and we spent the next hour chatting. They were both mortgage brokers so you can imagine we had a lot to talk about. Todd was also retired Air Force, like Drew, so it felt like we’d known them forever.
The parade began at 3 so we walked over and sat on the grass in front of the school. It was touching to see the crowd stood as the National Anthem was played. Nearly every parade participant threw candy for the kids. They were ecstatic! So fun to watch families enjoy the holiday.
After the parade, we decided to take the trolley back to the KOA camp. It had multiple stops so we got an unintended city tour as well!
The evening was spent preparing for tomorrow’s ride to Custer along the Mickelson Trail. And while we didn’t log bike miles today, we did walk 5 miles. It felt so good!
As we turned in for the night, we felt so fortunate for our beautiful country and our blessed lives. The struggles of yesterday are already fading.