RunAcrossTheUSA.com

[Matt]

Tonight we are in Dixon, a small South Dakota town that consists of a house and a bar. If you are trying to locate Dixon on a map, look about 10 miles north of Dallas or about 18 miles east of Winner.

We are camping at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hull who have generously provided showers and food. The food--cantalope, chips, deviled eggs, and barbequed beef--was great. As we were getting fairly tired, the Hulls tell us it is a good thing we stopped at their home. Apparently the next house is about four miles down the road.

Homes and businesses are getting farther apart. In fact we didn't see another business after we stopped at the Dock 44 restaurant at noon.

Today we crossed the Missouri River and the terrain has changed considerably. There are many hills; in fact, these are the most hills we have seen in weeks. The scenery consists of many miles of swaying grass, bales of hay and grazing cows.

The Strollometer hit a new record today: 126 degrees. The weather stayed hot this afternoon. In fact, the Strollometer registered in the 120s for a long time.

The heavy miles are taking a toll on some of the equipment.
> The good news is that our axle is holding up okay.
> However, we noticed a flat tire at the end of the day and will have to fix the flat in the morning. [My parents are going to buy us some new tires and tubes and will find a way to get them to us.]
> This afternoon we noticed we were running low on water; after checking our 2 1/2 gallon water bladder we discovered a slow leak. We will to try to patch the bladder; if that doesn't work we will have to get another bladder soon.