I'm back in Albuquerque from Tour de Kota and the car ride back with Elisa. Back posted commentary and photos will follow (maybe a day or two posted every day starting tomorrow), so scroll down starting then.
I made it to Watertown yesterday afternoon. Much is eerily the same. I drove to Highland park and walked around the old neighborhood for a while. Later, I called up Rodney and Carol. I drove over to their house and we spent the rest of the day talking and driving around looking at all the places I remember. Rodney showed me some fascinating research he's been doing into the history of my great, great grandfather Carl Ludwig Rau. He made a request to the National Archive and has received a good number of documents related to Ludwig's military service during the Civil War.
There are two important places I didn't visit: the farm and the lake, but I'll catch those on the drive home with Elisa.
Headed to Milbank for a bus ride to Yankton in a bit. It's cold (~ 48 F) and rainy in Watertown this morning. I hope that weather pattern doesn't persist, as that would make for significantly sub-optimal biking conditions.
Exhausted after a 12+ hour day of driving. Colorado was most beautiful.
Today: Albuquerque, NM -> Kearney, NE
Tomorrow: Kearney, NE -> Watertown, SD
Saturday: Watertown, SD -> Milbank, SD and then Milbank, SD -> Yankton, SD.
I'm finishing up work for the day and then starting to pack for my journey from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Milbank, South Dakota for the the Argus Leader's Second Annual Tour de Kota. I am very much looking forward to the tour. Bicycling touring in general is a magical kind of experience that recharges the mind and body. It's a challenge, but it presents an opportunity for a kind of weighty contemplation that's increasingly difficult in today's hectic world, but so important for the spirit. There's that and a kind of a connection to the people and the land that's priceless. Argument, politics, and deadlines disappear. They are replaced by Methodists selling breakfast sandwiches and pleasant ladies with hot dogs and Gatorade.
It's hard to fully describe the experience. When you travel down those rural roads and are meet with such open arms by people so happy to see you, you witness the essence of this fine nation. It is quintessential Americana, without question.
For certain, this tour will be different than the RAGBRAI that I did last year in Iowa. I won't have my good friend Spenser to travel with, and the tour won't be as big, in terms of participants. It will, however, be a powerful homecoming for me. Eastern South Dakota has been my family's home for many generations, and I haven't been back in an awful long time.
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| 1890 - Great, Great Grandfather |
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| 1909 - Great Grandfather |
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| 1930 - Grandfather |
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| 1951 - Mother |
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| 1976 - Me (child on right) when I was roughly two and a half years old with Grandfather and Grandmother |
I'm registered for this year's Tour de Kota:
Sunday, June 11th through Friday, June 16th - Yankton to Milbank (462 miles).
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