Drunken trip notes

This isn't the debrief, but just some notes on the trip, after a bomber of beer (or two).

Sturgis and the Black Hills: Fantastic roads, great for bikes or cars, but surrounded by miles and miles of nothing but flat terrain and straight roads. I loved my time there, but hated getting there. It's only 6 hours from home, but can I take the 5 hours and 275 miles of nothing to get there?

Of all the towns I passed through on this trip, I was most impressed with Torrington, WY and Valentine, NE. Torrington, WY: This little berg just hit the right notes for me. It seems to be fighting above its weight class for fast food franchises, and seems to be born by the railroad that runs through town. It's in the middle of nowhere, and I can see it getting isolated in winter. I think it'd be a good town to live in if you wanted a quiet town, but still large enough to get stuff you needed. It'd be a place to live if you never came out of your house and kept your shades drawn. Valentine, NE: a nice town, again in the middle of the plains, in the middle of nowhere, but has a lot more terrain going for it. Passing through town, it seems to also have rafting on the river as an income maker. Unline Torrington, if I lived there, I'd be out on the front porch a lot. Not sure what I'd be doing there other than rocking back forth and waving to passersbys.

Pierre, SD was also hidden in a valley so that you can't see it if you're not within a mile of town. Seems too off the beaten track to be a state capital, but it is the geographic center of the state. I'm sure government drives the economy as much as Ag does.

As I passed through a lot of towns I wondered what people did for a living in them. I kept coming back to government or agriculture. They are the county seats and the local train station. They are usually located on some terrain feature, usually the confluence of two rivers.

Space is big, really big. So is the US. If you're west of the Mississippi expect travel in hours, not miles. The further away someplace is, the harder it is to estimate how long it'll take to get there. You'd figure the math would be easy as there's few stoplights or stop signs, but anytime you have to make stops to refuel and eat, all time estimates go out the window. I didn't expect this. I Do expect this in the mountains, as you don't know what speed you'll be going at any time, and there's no straight lines between locations.