It’s not that we didn’t trust the Ultrastar to do well on a longer drive but we thought that we might as well baby her after such a long stay in the hospital. We were both still a little tense on the drive, not playing any music along the way in order to keep our sense clear for anything that seemed abnormal. We were actually on the edge of being hypersensitive about the vehicle. But, seriously, can you blame us? Even though she ran like a dream the first two months of the trip she also ran sub-par for the ten test runs we took after she started to show symptoms of sickness. I hate to say it but it may take a few drives to once again build up my confidence in the girl. But we both know that she will overcome and shine through like a beacon in the night. Anyway, she made it there fine. She actually made it there great…as great as she had gotten everywhere that we’ve been so far (well, with the exception of Avon I guess).
It’s amazing that in only two weeks you can settle into a different lifestyle and so quickly almost forget about what you had been doing for the time before then. We had been away from camping for so long that we almost forgot how much we love to do it. And love it we sure do! Although we were very grateful for the spot at Jurren’s Repair and really enjoyed our stay in Avon, we were both relieved to be out in the open air beside the Missouri River.
I mean, after all, it is the reason we sold the house and bought our twenty-eight feet of love. For the opportunity to be out in this beautiful country of ours, talking with people from all walks of life and taking in all of these natural areas that were all designed just for our enjoyment. How lucky are we!!
I don’t know much about the might Missouri River except, of course, that Lewis and Clark and the forty-three others in the Corps of Discovery canoed the river going upstream a little over two-hundred years ago. At some point, though, they split into two groups, one to follow the Missouri to the headwaters and one to travel west by land. Unfortunately they had no idea that a few large mountain ranges lay in their path, throwing a wrench into their plans and extending their journey quite a bit.
Anyway, so we’re finally back into the groove, sitting around a blazing fire under star blasted skies (I know I already brought up the whole starry night thing but it really is a spectacular sight). Also two friends of ours, who are also on a two-plus month U.S. road trip and on their way to Duluth, Minnesota, were in the area, making Platte Creek our rendevous sight. It was awesome to see them especially being that they were only the second set of familiar faces we’ve encountered so far. Even though it had only been a little over two months since we had last hung out, there were plenty of stories to be told on both sides. They got much farther than we have since June, spending time in the southwest, cruising through California to the northwest and back east over the Rocky Mountains. Of course stories of Avon were forefront on our minds but descriptions of the Appalachian Mountains and shorelines of Michigan were not ignored. Originally they had only planned to stay until Sunday but we were able to, quite easily, convince them to stay with us until Monday (ever since the tire blowout in the U.P. on a Sunday we have designated Sundays as “no travel” days). So Monday morning we wished each other good luck with big hugs, said our good-byes and each headed off into opposite directions.
Our goal for Monday was to get to Badlands National Park, a three hour drive west. We were originally going to stay off the interstate (another little goal for the trip), but being that this was only the second run after Avon and the interstate has mile markers (just in case), the interstate it was. It was a real nice drive though. I mean, I guess it’s kind of a boring drive in that the exits are pretty far apart and there’s not much of anything in between. But there are always those wood billboards with hand painted descriptions of all the upcoming attractions every hundred feet or so to keep you entertained. The General Lee. The 1880 Town. The Badlands Petrified Garden. The World Largest Prairie Dog (not real, of course, but they do say it weighs six tons). And you can’t miss the signs for Wall Drug, the mother of all tourist traps.
Apparently the way it got so popular is that when people were making long journeys across the dry, hot land of South Dakota, Wall Drug advertised FREE ICE COLD WATER, a temptation not many people could easily pass by. So to this day they still offer ice cold water to those who stop in (and as far as I know it’s still free).
Anyway, the drive went really well and the Ultrastar ran like a gem, suppressing 99 percent of our breakdown paranoia (I think that no matter what vehicle you drive on a trip like this you almost always have at least a small part of you ready for it at any time). We still didn’t play any music during the drive (keeping those sense keen!) but I told Kev that on the next run we’re ROCKIN’!!
So, like I said, the land across the middle of South Dakota is pretty barren, beautiful yes, but definitely barren. Long segments of rolling hills followed by stretches of flat grasslands with interruptions of sunflower fields snuggled comfortably in between.
Then every forty miles or so you’ll come across a small town of a couple hundred people to break up the monotony. But being that they are so small you drive past them quicker than the blink of an eye and then back into the great wide open.
I used to get a little uncomfortable with big open spaces, kind of like the opposite of claustrophobia (there has to be a name for it, I just don’t know what it is). I always chalked it up to living in an area where even if there aren’t a ton of houses (which is a hard feat in southeastern PA) there were hills to obscure seeing things even a few miles away. It gave me a sense of security whereas the open space left an opportunity for vulnerability. After being forced to be in Avon for a couple of weeks (I hate to say it that way, but it is kind of true) and having the time to take in the openness, I don’t have those feelings anymore. I’m not saying that Texas and parts of the southwest still don’t freak me out a little, but I’ll save my issues with that for another time.
One of the neatest things about driving into the Badlands from the east is that you’ve just traveled through hundreds of miles of open grasslands with nothing else in sight. You turn south onto route 240 from I-90 and all of the sudden enter into a whole new world. This is no exaggeration either. It seriously looks like a planet that Captain Kirk and Spock would beam down to from the Starship Enterprise.
Just out there in the middle of nowhere, sitting unsuspectingly amidst the barren lands of South Dakota. Absolutely remarkable!! Unfortunately dogs are not allowed on any of the trails in the park (bummer) so we were restricted to traveling along the main roads throughout the park. It’s not like it mattered though. There was beauty everywhere you looked, no matter if you were walking on roads or trails or just sitting outside the RV watching the bluebirds and magpies playing in the fields…or just snatching up whatever the last campers left behind.
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