Author Archives: Sparky
Badlands National Park
We drove most of SD 240 on Saturday – about 25 miles of very scenic roadway through the Badlands National Park. We ended up in Wall, home of Wall Drug, which I have already described. This is to record some of the beautiful photos that I took in the Badlands.
STW2 Hop 5: Interior SD to Rapid City SD
87 miles via US 44 and US 16. Cumulative tow miles: 878. Truck miles: 163. Cumulative truck miles: 1118. This was a “bonus hop” – a hop that was added to our original plan. I had planned to spend 3 nights in Spearfish SD, using one of the days to visit Mt Rushmore. But when … Continue reading
Wall Drug
If you travel anywhere near South Dakota, you will see signs for Wall Drug in Wall SD. Lots of signs. As you get within 100 miles the signs appear about every quarter mile. I don’t know how many billboards Wall Drug rents, but it must be thousands. Eventually your curiosity will get the better of … Continue reading
STW2 Hop 4: Mitchell SD to Interior SD
217 miles via I-90, SD 244, SD 370 and SD 44. Cumulative tow miles: 791. Truck miles: 227. Cumulative truck miles: 955. This hop revealed the full drama of the South Dakota landscape. The first 80 miles, from Mitchell to the Missouri River, was flat and boring. Then, suddenly, a big dip to the river … Continue reading
STW2 Hop 3: Fairmont MN to Mitchell SD
192 miles via I-90. Cumulative tow miles: 574. Truck miles: 207. Cumulative truck miles: 728. It doesn’t get any simpler than this: get on I-90, go almost 200 miles, get off. A straight shot west. Boring, but very efficient. No stops whatsoever, until we got close to the destination and got lost for about a … Continue reading
High school plus 50
When I graduated from high school at 18 the thought of getting back together 50 years later was like looking into a distant mirror: you couldn’t see the image very clearly and, in truth, it seemed illusory. Now, looking back 50 years, the image is very clear and the mirror seems very close. Those 50 … Continue reading
STW2 Hop 2: Oelwein IA to Fairmont MN
202 miles via IA 281, US 218, US 18, I-35 and I-90. Cumulative tow miles: 382. Truck miles: 341. Cumulative truck miles: 521. Another easy trip through beautiful farmland, with a couple of Amish buggies at the start. Nice day, flat terrain, a good audio book (Every 15 Minutes by Lisa Scottoline) to listen to… … Continue reading
STW2 Hop 1: Stoughton WI to Oelwein IA
180 miles via US 51, US 151, US 20 and IA 150. I have been to Dubuque before, but it has probably been over 60 years. Things have changed. The route – primarily US 151 – is a very nice 4-lane road that winds and dips through some beautiful rural countryside. Despite the intermittent rain, … Continue reading
STW1 wrapup and STW2 preview
We have completed the first segment of the Second Trip West. Time for a wrapup. 7 hops covering 27 days. 1439 tow miles, 2936 truck miles. Total campground cost: $1,344.68 ($49.80 per night). The most expensive stop was at the Niagara Falls KOA where I paid a premium for the not-very-premium premium site – nearly … Continue reading
Things I don’t understand, wifi edition
We are staying in a place (Interior, SD) with almost no Verizon service. It takes minutes to get or send a text message. If a call is received (and Jett’s phone did ring once), the call is immediately dropped. I can’t use the internet on my phone. My phone’s hotspot is 100% dead. So why … Continue reading »