As the title suggests, the past month and a half has had its twists and turns. Some decisions have been painful while others have just been down right annoying. Nonetheless, they have all been learning experiences that will keep us on our toes as our travels continue, but I digress. Much has happened on the road to learning.
We reported, previously, of our travel to the west. What excitement we could not divulge was the fact that we were carrying a secret stow away. An additional passenger whose presence was concealed until we reached the point of reveal. Now that the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, and the surprise has been executed we can report that a certain grand-daughter stayed onboard with us when we left Pennsylvania. Stacey, the eldest grandchild, has been bouncing along with us on our way across the states. It was her intention to surprise her Uncle Ryan, Tez's son, in Minneapolis and it was a successful operation. It was difficult to refrain from posting pictures of this little red head as she passed over new borders and posed at the sites unseen, but we found it within us to hide her inclusion on our Westward travel. You may have noticed the absence of current pictures in our Instagram feed and then the sudden burst of photos that have showed up within the past week. Now that we are back on track and Ryan has been surprised, things should be returning to normal.... well almost. School has got to come into the picture somewhere.
Our Michigan stay was fun, but we ventured to other states for attractions and muses of the sort. Our only adventure in the state of Michigan was to a far off place called Holland. An educational and cultural experience, Holland was, and we came away with a better sense of our connection to the Dutch way of life. Indiana found us touring their zoo and an RV & Motorhome Museum. I was unaware that this even existed. Camping has come a long way and we're just getting started. Wisconsin Dells turned out to be quite an attraction and we blindly wandered into it during our first night on a quest for food. Our jaws were unhinged at the site of hundreds of tourists doing tourist things. Campy exhibits and novel pirate miniature golf were among the attractions. According to our waitress, this amount of activity was slow compared to a non-corona virus environment. Beyond the Dells, there wasn't much, but we did find a cranberry tour an hour away where we learned of Wisconsin's non-dairy delectable. Minnesota is much different when the temperatures are above the freezing mark. This was our first time in the state as shirt & short donning tourists. It was much more appealing and Tez got her Ryan time and Ryan got the fore mentioned surprise. South Dakota was our introduction to the wide open spaces of the prairie. Take the flatness of Ohio and then remove all of the trees. Hundreds of miles of prairie and roadways cut in between. There is life out there. According to the hundred or so "Wall Drug" signs enticing you to stop by. There are also a number of retired firetrucks that accompany the "Firehouse Brewery" billboards. It is not until you reach the Western half of South Dakota that the signs are true. Rapid City was where we put down the jacks and spent the week cramming as much splendor as we could. From Rushmore to the Badlands. From Spearfish to Crazy Horse. The West end of South Dakota has much to offer. And by the way, you can't see it all in a week. It was here that we also made our attempts at creating a residency in South Dakota. Tez did quite a bit of research and after discussing it, we decided that South Dakota was the way to go. Low financial impact and limited physical presence were among the top reasons for choosing South Dakota. South Dakota was also the place where we decided to turn in the tired old Trailblazer in lieu of a newer vehicle. We had honestly been searching for a couple of weeks, but it was in South Dakota that we purchased a Grand Cherokee. It was these last two events that have been making us question our decision to turn left when we should have turned right.
With schools back in session, the granddaughter has adopted the mobile classroom as she travels with us. However, there was no solution for keeping her away from her mom and siblings and so our trek to get her back to the state of New York was going to be an unfortunately familiar one. We hung a U-turn and began fast-tracking East. This is never and easy task as there is no time to just breathe and it adds to the necessity of filling the fuel tanks more frequently. It was, however necessary and so we tightened up our belt and headed East. Three days on the Laura Ingalls Homestead on the Eastern plains of South Dakota. A great experience if you want to hear the kiddies scream in agony due to the loss of internet and show them what life on the plains was really like. Honestly it was fun to sit on the lonely prairie with only a handful of campers. Stacey was on the horses so much the tender was letting her take the reigns. Then it was four days on a farm in Iowa. We nearly lost the awning due to high prairie winds on the way there. A loose latch caused the armature to come free and unbeknownst to the driver the fabric became a parachute and sustained some damage. Luckily we caught wind of the unfolding predicament, (pardon the puns) and we were able to pack up the awning temporarily until we arrived in Woodward, IA to assess and correct the problem. Just imagine two and a half individuals on the side of the highway with the RV turned into opposing traffic and away from prevailing winds. I climbed on top to wrangle the fabric and the girls put all their might into correcting the operation of the armature. There was minor damage and no one got hurt. We were even offered assistance from a nearby farm worker. We took what time we had to visit the covered bridges we had seen during our winter travels and, by far, it was a much better and warmer experience. From the bridges of Madison County, IA we spent three days near Peoria, IL visiting and eating way too much with family, Lisa and Gary. This was probably the only moment we did get to breathe and take in the pleasure of good conversation and laughter. We stand today parked in Batesville, IN where we await the weekend rendezvous to trade off a red head for some much needed New York grown provisions. It seems a fair trade and after fast-tracking for the past two weeks, this is a most welcomed stay.
During the stress of our rocket like movement East, the revelation of our residency tasks began making themselves known. Our well thought out intention of creating a domicile residence in South Dakota has come with hiccups. The kind of violent hiccups that make you want to vomit. Our first complaint has been with our choice of mail service here in SD. It's turned out to be somewhat inconvenient and not as well organized as we had been led to believe. They nickle and dime us to death just to check our mailbox. It turns out that even the employees have complaints and the disdain for their employer has direct and documented effects on the service. It's a good thing nothing important gets mailed there. Then came the purchase of our new vehicle. As can be imagined, the vehicle we were sold is not the vehicle we now possess and each discovery of missing or inflated features creates a loathing for the salesman who claimed to be different than the rest. We are doing our best to embrace the truck as our own and center around the fact that it is getting us from one place to another without cause for worry that the next stop will be the mechanic. Insurance for our wheeled chariots is our next headache. South Dakota has had four hail storms this summer and this is quite common. The frequency of this unwelcome hard water from the sky has caused insurance premiums to shoot up dramatically due to the damage that solid balls of water cause when dropped from the lower atmosphere. And finally, if one insurance folly wasn't enough, a second insurance problem has arisen. It turns out that Tez's employer doesn't offer affordable health insurance in South Dakota. Not sure if it has anything to do with hail, but this problem is certainly raining down on our parade. This has been a lot to unpack over the course of two weeks and has stirred up a ton of irritation. As the week slowly moves forward, though, we hope that the dust will settle and we can start looking at solutions to ease these unforeseen complications.
In the meantime, we will enjoy the last few days with the red-head, sitting peacefully in the southeast corner of Indiana plotting out our move into Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas. We will take a break from site seeing and just relax with puzzles or putz about the RV with the vacuum cleaner and the wash bucket. The adventure continues and we'll continue to do it with SD driver's licenses in our hands and plates on our steeds, as soon as they arrive in the mail.
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