November 14, 2022 Valentine, Nebraska To Winner, South Dakota

Holiday Inn Express

Winner, South Dakota

November 14, 2022

My day started at 315 am as I awoke cold, which makes sense since the temperature was around 15 degrees. I slept in my flannel lined pants and a puffer jacket, a fleece "thing" that covered my head and neck, fleece lined slippers, a sleeping bag, a barn coat over my head and a Pendleton blanket. I was good from 9-3 but then I was cold. I got up, fired up Hi Ho Silver and sat in the truck for a long time with heater on.

Getting up at 315 explains why I am pretty tired at 5 pm, and why I decided to get a hotel room for tonight.

It was a dreary, overcast day. The drive from Valentine to Mission was still pretty. The drive from Mission to Winner was awesome -- flatter than the Sand Hills and even with the cloud cover it seemed like I could see forever. Mission is in Todd County which apparently is the third-poorest county in the country. Too bad they can't charge admission for the landscape; I would definitely come back to see it in the sunshine.

Here are the photos I took in Valentine before I left.

Way to make me not want to buy a pair of pants: