Back Home Again . . .
The rain came down heavy about 2am this morning. In fact it was so loud that I thought it was hailing until I looked outside. I just hoped it wouldn’t keep me from getting out of here this morning.
Jan and I were up about 7am, even though we didn’t plan to leave until about 10. That let us have nice slow breakfast with coffee and breakfast sandwiches. Then it was time to say our goodbyes with Nick and Terry until what will probably be next year sometime.
So we both cranked up a little after 9:30 and got ready to head out. I let Nick be the guinea pig and pull out first and was relieved to see he didn’t have any problems getting off the grass and onto the road. But my departure wasn’t quite as easy.
I put the rig into gear and very gently gave it a little throttle. I moved forward a foot or two before the wheels started to slip. Before it could dig in, I stopped and put the rig into reverse, backing up several feet past where I had started. Now on more solid ground, I slowly started forward and once I was moving, gave it more throttle than before.
This time when the tires started slipping a bit, I just continued on, because though the tires were spinning a bit, I was still steadily moving forward without digging in. Then after a few more seconds I was on the road and we were on our way.
Whew!
We followed Nick and Terry down to the I-90 interchange, where after a quick wave, they headed west to Billings, and Jan and I headed east for the East Belvidere KOA about 250 miles away.
The trip went very smoothly, with a couple of 10 mile two lane under-construction sections, but we were about to keep our 55mph speed with no problems. Our first rest stop was at the 80 mile mark, where Jan said she wanted to take over the driving for a while.
And that 80 mile stop also marked our return to our home state of South Dakota. We’ve been South Dakota residents since 2008 and it’s now time to renew our drivers licenses. With this first renewal, we have to do it in person, but after this, we will be able to do it by mail.
Jan drove for about 100 miles until we made another pit stop, saying she wanted to drive again tomorrow. She likes driving in the rolling hills and wide-open spaces of South Dakota. Not a lot of traffic and the towns are few and far between.
Around 2:45 we pulled into the East Belvidere KOA, and since we already had a paid reservation, we were quickly escorted to our site. Since we’re only going to be here for one night, we just got a site with electric and water only.
As it turned out our park is at the same exit as a tourist attraction called 1880 Town that looked very busy as we came by. It looked interesting but we’ll have to check it out next time through the area.
After getting set up we both ended up taking a nap until a little after 5 we walked over to the park restaurant. Our meals were simple but good, with Jan having a really good chili cheese dog and fries. My Buffalo Burger was also delicious as well.
This is a very nice KOA park, well laid out and landscaped, with all the amenities.
All the sites are long pull-thrus with 30/50 amps and water, and some with sewer.
And back behind us, we found this very nice GMC rig.
A little later while we were watching TV, Jan said “That rig looks familiar” as one went by. Turned out to be Bob and Molly Pinner, the directors of the Escapees’ Escapade that we just attended. They’re heading back to Virginia, by way of Goshen, IN to check out the location of the next Escapade there next May.
I told them how much we enjoyed the recent Escapade, and talking about the next one.
Tomorrow we’ve got a 230 mile trip to the W. H. Lyons Fairgrounds in Sioux Falls. On the way we’ll make a stop about 20 miles down the road in Murdo, SD to diesel up at the Pilot there.
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Thought for the Day:
You can lead a man to Congress, but you can’t make him think. – Milton Berle
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