Part 1: Big Helps

So after seven weeks on the road we finally crossed the grand Mississippi River at Nelson, Wisconsin, connecting to Wabasha, Minnesota on the other side, and continued to Zumbrota to pay a visit to some friends of ours. They were the first familiar faces that we had met up with since the start and the sight of them was refreshing to say the least. There were big hugs and storytelling and laughter that went into the night making it feel like a visit home. We were also able to get an appointment at the local mechanic recommended by our friends (they seem to be the most trustworthy one’s to go to) for our first oil change and a replacement for the one we shredded a week before in Michigan. We probably didn’t actually need to get the oil change quite yet but like I said before, you have to baby her a little, she’s 21 years old.
So we were off, back on the road, well oiled and ready to go. We got a late start that day and decided to stop at Sakatah Lake State Park only an hour west of Zumbrota. We ended up staying for only one night, both of us anxious to get to another state. I’m not really sure why. It’s not like we didn’t want to spend more time in Minnesota. I guess we were both yearning for a change in landscape, even though we knew it wouldn’t happen for a while. Although it was only about three and a half hours until we hit the South Dakota line, in the over 90° heat it seemed like an hour or two longer. We pulled into Sioux Falls for a break, knowing that we’d be at camp in a mere twenty miles west of there, and visited the well-known downtown Falls Park.



We jumped back in the Ultrastar, anticipating a short half hour drive until we could prop our feet up and relax for the night. We proceeded out of town and onto the on ramp of 90 west when we felt some hesitation in acceleration. Weird, but sometimes you can’t look too far into a single event…but you can’t ignore it when it continues to happen for next four miles down the highway. Neither of us are real hip to the mechanics of the Ultrastar but both agreed that it felt like it had something to do with the fuel filter or pump or something in between. Knowing that we were heading toward much more barren and desolate areas in the Dakotas we turned around and headed back to Sioux Falls to find someone who could help us out. After a bit of running in circles and going to garages that couldn’t fit us in until a week from Tuesday we found a truck mechanic that could get us in the next morning. So we stayed outside of Sioux Falls, an option we liked more than spending an unexpected night(s) in the middle of nowhere.
By noon the next day we were back on the road with a new fuel filter that they thought had probably never been replaced. Problem solved?? Well, we hoped so but were still very aware of any hesitations that we felt while driving south on 29. The coast was clear until Union Grove State Park where we set up camp for two nights sitting atop a hill looking out across rolling hills of grasslands and cornfields. It was a spot where you could see a storm brewing from fifty miles away.



Two storms hit while we were there, the first one alone dropping over four inches of rain. Apparently this area, normally dry enough to prevent green grass from growing during this time of year, has had an excess of moisture the last few months. So much that low areas of fields everywhere are completely inundated with water, making them look more like wetlands than agricultural areas. The irrigation systems are all set up and ready to go but, this season, Mother Nature is taking it into her own hands. The mosquitos are worse than past years but, on the upside, the rain has made for bumper vegetable crops and amazing sweet corn that could easily replace a piece of candy.
So we headed west, again, looking to check out some state parks and recreational areas along the Missouri River, partially covering the route that Lewis and Clark charted over 200 years ago. We passed through a few towns of 10-15,000 people and many more of 500 people when the hesitations started up again, but more prominent this time. I know we were both frustrated and disappointed at this point but were much more concerned with finding a town that might have an accommodating garage for an RV before we got stuck on the side of the road. We passed a town a few miles back but didn’t want to risk stopping to turn around and not be able to get going again. We’d have to settle for the next town that we saw and hope that it would have the capacity to help out some strangers that were running dry on ideas.
As we drove down Second Street into Avon, passing the football field, track, a baseball field, the community school (K-12, graduating class of 24 last year) and swimming pool to the intersection of Main Street to find not one, but two garages. We pulled into the first one we came to, met the head mechanic, Ray, described the symptoms and told him that we had the fuel filter replaced two days prior. “Well” he said “the next logical place to check is the fuel pump but I won’t be able to pick one up and put it on until tomorrow.” Knowing that we didn’t feel comfortable traveling any farther and also feeling fortunate that he could get us in to work on the girl, we agreed.
As you would expect from any town of 600 people, within a few minutes one of the (three) local police officers pulled in. Hearing of our mechanical setbacks he gave us a warm welcome and offered for us to pull the RV into the park across the street where there was electricity, water and public bathrooms that we could use as we needed.



Another unexpected night in and an unexpected town in South Dakota but we couldn’t have been happier in how accommodating and welcoming the town was. We took the dogs for a walk around town, seeing most of the ten miles worth of streets within the town limits. Everyone was real friendly, waving and smiling as they passed us on the walk (although I’m sure they were just as curious as to who these new people were). The town had everything that a person would need: a bank, grocery store, electronics store, hardware store, two bars, three garages, two greenhouses (one with fresh picked vegetables from their garden, which we were running low on), a meat locker, post office, furniture store (new and used), medical center and hair salon.



There was nothing more we could do about our situation that night than walk over to Tolsma’s Cove, one of the two bars (on the right side of the street, towards the grain elevator), and had a cold beer and a burger…just what the doctor ordered. Just as we had suspected, a lot of town had already caught wind of the new arrivals. The bartender and owner of the Tolsma’s, Julie, said her dad came in earlier saying that he saw some new people with two dogs and that “we must be in town visiting someone.” By the time we left that night we had people offer us showers at their house and tell us to send them postcards along the way to keep them updated on our traveling progress. Not a bad reception for stopping at a luck-of–the-draw town in southeastern South Dakota.