Tag: hitch

Happy campers

The new hitch seems to be working like a dream. Yay! The only time we really felt any swaying today was when we got hit by a super strong gust of wind. It made the drive to our next campground much more pleasant (the lack of swaying,  not the wind).

Dignity of Earth and Sky

I had hoped to make two stops on our way to Midland, South Dakota, where we are staying tonight. The first was the Corn Palace in Mitchell. And the second was the Dignity of Earth and Sky statue at the rest area in Chamberlain.

Greg put his foot down over going to the Corn Palace, so that was a no-go. I didn’t give him a choice about seeing the Dignity statue. We were going!

Dignity of Earth and Sky is a 50-foot high stainless steel statue that depicts a Native American woman holding a star quilt. I thought it was pretty impressive.

I felt a little like I was taking my life in my hands by following this path, but I did it anyway.

Also at the rest area is a Lewis and Clark interpretive center. Greg and I took a tour through that as well.

Then we hopped in the car to continue our journey.

Almost immediately after leaving the rest area, we crossed over the Missouri River.
And we got to see some hills! Okay, one hill.
And lots of fields of sunflowers.
And a whole lot a nothin’.

When we arrived at the campground, the temperature was 100 degrees.

Needless to say, there was no way I was going to be able to drag Greg outside to do any additional sightseeing. Sigh.

Tomorrow we are off to Hill City, where the real fun begins.

Plans gone awry

The last two days have been a bust. Our plan yesterday had been to ride our bikes on the greenway along the river.

We loaded the bikes onto the car, and just as we were getting ready to head off, Greg got an alert on his phone that lightning was in the area. We decided to wait until after the thunderstorms had passed, but sadly, every time we checked the weather report, it looked like thunderstorms were imminent.

We eventually took the bikes back off the car and went to the movies instead. We can happily attest that the new Fantastic Four movie is worth the money — assuming you like science fiction, that is.

The thunderstorms waited until the middle of the night before they hit, and boy, did they hit! It was quite the show of thunder, lightning, and wind.

Lucky Greg got to go out in the pouring rain at 2:00 a.m. to make sure the cover hadn’t blown off the bikes.

New hitch!

This morning, we hitched up the trailer and took it into Sioux Falls to get the new hitch installed.

While we were waiting in the showroom, I had the pleasure of visiting with an elderly gentleman who was waiting for a pickup truck that was getting a sprayed-in bed liner.

From what he told me, his post-retirement job is to pick up used trucks from auto auctions and deliver them to the truck dealership he works for. He gets paid $8 an hour, which he told me is a raise from his original payment of $6 an hour.

There is no doubt in my mind that if he voted, he voted for Trump. I’m coming to the conclusion that Americans have pretty similar values. The differences between them are their experiences (largely resulting from where they live) and media exposure.

These guys looked like they were conducting major surgery while they worked. It was hilarious.

Weekday camping

I absolutely love camping during the week (as opposed to weekend camping).

We are currently staying at a Yogi Bear Jellystone campground, which is geared toward families. This place was absolutely packed this weekend. Look at it now!

We practically have the place to ourselves. Weekday camping is THE BEST!

Tomorrow, we are off to Midland, South Dakota. It’s a one-night stop on our way to our final destination on this leg of the trip: Hill City, South Dakota.