Day 18 – Yankton to Springfield

37.4 miles today – 845.4 total milesWhat a contrast. After the near record highs of the weekend we are expecting near record lows. The low tonight is forecast to be close to 50 degrees.

We had a wind out of the North today between 20-25 mph. This gave us a strong crosswind most of the day. On the way out of Yankton we stopped by their new Super Wal-Mart and Keith did his some window-shopping.

We took a different route out of Yankton than the AC route and followed highway 50. it’s a two lane road with an 8+ foot wide shoulder. We gained over 300 feet, but did it over about 8 miles so the limb was easy except for the strong crosswinds.

When we left Hwy 50 there was a detour saying that our road (Hwy 52) was closed. We asked someone and they said that it was passable so we went anyway. There were two bridges that had been replaced and the work was almost complete with fresh pavement. The person we talked told us that we needed to turn by the “Graffiti Schoolhouse” on Apple Tree Road as the road beyond this was completely closed. Since this was the route we were scheduled to take, it was no problem. We just hadn’t heard of the “Graffiti Schoolhouse” before. While traveling the road, two other people stopped to tell us that we needed to turn at the “Graffiti Schoolhouse” to get into Springfield. This is another example of the kind people you find when bicycle touring.

When we made it to Apple Tree Road, sure enough, there was an old, abandoned schoolhouse covered with graffiti. I’ll post a picture of the schoolhouse with today’s photos.

We found a nice little park in Springfield with cabins. We got one of the cabins for the night to shelter us a bit better from the wind and cold. The cabin is only about 40 feet from the Lewis and Clark Lake, which is on the Missouri River – a beautiful setting.