Kyle, South Dakota

On the beaches of South Dakota

Actually, I am about a day away from Kyle, another of many small places I have visited along the route. The United States is full of empty spaces. Plenty of room to grow.

In the last couple of weeks I have started walking down to the beach near us on occasion, which is a long walk - more than 3.5 miles - but it gives Arlo a chance to run off leash. I actually have to check the tide tables, because at high tide you can barely step on the beach, whereas at low tide it's over 100 feet from the top of the beach to the water. The whole point is for Arlo to run, so I need a little beach to work with.

Yesterday I felt lousy and tired and almost did not get my 10,000 steps in, but the thought really bothers me, so I sucked it up and put in 8,500 steps after 4:30 PM and barely hit 10,000. Such a change in mindset versus when I started back in October with a declaration that I am not the type to be fanatical about keeping to something every day. My streak is up to 75 days.

I have walked over 1,420 miles to date, and the border of Nebraska is right at 1,500 miles, or 3,000,000 steps Since I walk about 40 miles each week, I should get to Nebraska within two weeks, before the 4th of July. After my never-ending trek through Montana, it feels like I just got to South Dakota and now I'm almost through, but this will be more the norm.

There is a number I am watching; it's close to 35,000 now. That's the number of steps I have to make up to get to 11,000 average per day since the start, and I am short because I started with a more modest goal. I believe that at one point, before I ever thought about averaging 11,000 steps, that number was over 100,000, so it is coming down. It's one reason I keep walking over 12,000 steps average month after month, even though I tell myself I should rest a bit. The other reason is that I like my long morning walks, and Arlo likes them, so we may just keep going.